Possible prompts:
1. Why do you suppose Elisa dresses up in a special way to go into town?
2. Why do you suppose Elisa expresses interest in "the fights" (boxing matches)?
3. How well does Elisa's husband understand him?
4. Why do you suppose Elisa avoids looking at the caravan driven by the tinker (pot mender) while she and her husband are driving to town?
5. Why do you suppose Elisa cries at the end of the story?
I grew up in a rural area just outside a small town. Rarely did I go into town to for dinner. When my parents and I did make the trek, we always got dressed up. We didn't dress like we were going to a wedding, but my mom and I often wore dresses and small pumps, my dad a button down vest. We would dress up to go to the local restaurant, nothing fancy, but the act of dressing up would make the evening special. I think that Elisa dresses up to go into town for the same reason I used to dress up to go to town. When you live in a place where there is no hustle and bustle, you invent your own occasions. Elisa dresses up because she is going to town to have a fun, relaxing evening with her husband. This is special because it is rare. The rarity makes dressing up seem natural and appropriate. They are celebrating and who wants to celebrate in work clothes?
ReplyDeleteI am choosing to go off the prompt and compare Elisa's life to the life of the flower itself, the chrysanthemum. I think it symbolizes Elisa's narrow life, and how her time is consumed by gardening. In one instance, Henry denotes how powerful she looks, similar to the strong flower that she gardens; beautiful, long, and healthy. It is noted that her house is orderly, similar to the area the flowers are planted in. Elisa thinks of herself on an equal plane with the flower. She loves the flowers, it is a way for her to communicate with people. For example, when the tinker mentions the chrysanthemum she grows more chipper, as if apart of her was awakened when the flowers were mentioned and she became alive. I also believe it could be argued that the flowers are similar to the way women are treated, however I have no explicit evidence to support that claim. Except, the image of the tinker leaving the flowers on the side of the road, and tossing them away to clear the path.
ReplyDeleteAs i read this story i began to think why the author decided to use chrysanthemums instead of any other flower. As i sad the story and learned more and more about the flower i realized that there is a major similarity between the chrysanthemums and Elisa. Like Elisa, the chrysanthemums are lovely, strong, and thriving. Their flowerbed, like Elisa’s house, is tidy and diligently ordered. At one point in the story Elisa even identifies herself with the flowers saying that she becomes one with plants when she tends to them. Also, when the tinker notices the chrysanthemums, Elisa mood shifts from being somewhat annoyed to visibly brighting, as if he had noticed her instead.
ReplyDeleteElisa deciders to offer the chrysanthemums to him, at the same time offering herself. The tinker just dis-acknowledges it though. His rejection of the flowers also could possibly symbolize how women have been rejected as nothing more than mothers and maids. I think that Elisa believes that the flowers are beautiful but unimportant and not 100% necessary. I think that Elisa has little self worth and compares herself to the flowers believing that she is only a decorative and non-important person with little value to the world.
I think Elissa is obsessed about this type of flower she grows. It seem she puts a lot of effort and care to them. I think that the fact that the dinner made her so excited was because she was not used to do anything, but working her flowers to be perfect. one can see how much time Elissa spends in them. When the old man came to her and mentioned her about the flowers one could feel her excitement in her tone of voice giving instructions to him with devotion.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the story some might think that she started crying because the man left the seeds on the road, and she really thought someone liked the flowers as she did, but why I think she started crying was because it was by then that she realized that she was putting to much effort in work and not getting to enjoy life. i think that is why she asked to have " a lot of wine " in the dinner by the end of the story.
At the beginning of the story, Elisa seems perfectly content with her husband and they have positive interactions before the caravan man comes. However, during his visit she becomes very interested in living his very hard life. This, as even the caravan driver says himself, would not be the "life for a woman." (Or at least say the gender stereotypes of this class). Her odd attraction to this mean, I believe, comes not so much from a physical connection (it even becomes apparent he does not see himself fit for her) but rather from her yearning of a more free life. There is also evidence that her husband is a very structured man, and she comes across as a very independent a free-thinking woman. Henry specifically says how long his errand will take and when they will depart. Elisa also stiffens up in his presence while she seemed to become less refined with the other man, once even kneeling on the dirt: "She stood up then, very straight, and her face was shamed." Her instincts tell her this is the right thing to do however her husband and (it might as well be said!) society's pressure tell her to stand up and act more proper. Finally, her interest in the fights at the end show again her wish to escape societal pressures to be a posh woman. In secret, she would much rather see the men fight than drink wine in a nice restaurant with Henry.
ReplyDeleteElisa is so frustrated with life that she looks to the tinker for stimulating conversation and even sex, two things that seem to be lacking in her life. Her physical attraction to the tinker and her flirtatious conversation with him bring out the best in Elisa, turning her into something of a poet. Her brief brilliance in the tinker’s presence shows us how much she is always thinking and feeling and how rarely she gets to express herself. When the prospect of physical and mental fulfillment disappears with the tinker, Elisa’s devastation suggests how dissatisfied she is with her marriage. She’s so desperate to transcend the trap of being a woman that she seeks any escape, trying to banter with her husband, asking for wine with her dinner, and even expressing interest in the bloody fights that only men usually attend. None of these will truly satisfy Elisa, though, and it is doubtful that she’ll ever find fulfillment.
ReplyDeleteElisa probably expresses her interest in the fights because in that moment, she yearns to feel the adrenaline, the power, and the strength that comes with a fight. She obviously tries very hard to be a good, kind person. She works hard to care for her chrysanthemums, she works hard to keep her husband happy, and yet, she herself is unhappy. It evidently hurt her very much to see her chrysanthemums on the side of the road, dumped like yesterday's garbage. Her chrysanthemums are a large part of her life. In some ways they are the only things that keep her going. Knowing that in the morning she can wake up and tend to her flowers, and see how much they've grown is enough to put a smile on her face. Or, at least keep her content. Elisa's husband seems to notice that she is not completely happy, but he seems rather clueless about how to remedy it. He is trying very hard, by taking her into town, and offering to let her see the fights, but in Elisa's mind he will never understand. Maybe she doesn't even understand how she is feeling. The one absolute feeling she has at the end of the story is weakness, which is why she asks about the fights. She wants to talk about strength, as it may help her to act stronger.
ReplyDeleteI think that Elisa dresses up to go into town, because it makes her feel feminine and pretty. When Elisa gardens she sounds very manly. The way the author describes her stature as "...blocked and heavy in her gardening costume..." makes me think of a woman who is a tomboy. Also, whenever she was around her husband, who seems to be one of the few things that brings ease to her life besides the chrysanthemums, she acted very rigid and stiff, however I think this is because she isn't comfortable with her more delicate, vulnerable side. When she's gardening it's her turf and she has all the power and say in the situation. This seems to make her embrace her masculine side, but when it comes to the household and other things she doesn't have the call for orders, her husband does. I think this is why when she's around her husband she seems to get nervous when he sees her in more powerful positions. Then, when he offers to take her out to dinner she gets very dressed up and puts a lot of thought into the way she looks. I think this is when Elisa goes into the girlier side of her personality. I thought this was because despite her unique way of being and desire to be strong, and respected in her home, she didn't seem to satisfy her husband. I think she dressed up in order to make herself feel more confident and also see her husband be proud to be her husband.
ReplyDeleteI believe Elisa cries at the end because of the statement made by the caravan driver. He tells her his life would be no life for a woman, though to Elisa his life seems full of excitement and adventure. Elisa's only adventures are probably into town for dinner. Other than that, I believe she may be torn between her own desires and what society says she should be doing.
ReplyDeleteI also strongly agree that Elisa's life can be compared to the chrysanthemums that she plants. They can be strong and happy, or delicate and pretty just like her. I think it is interesting that to Elisa, gardening seems to be a secret language. When she is speaking to the caravan driver, she speaks about her chrysanthemums very expertly. "The man caught up her laughter and echoed it heartily. "'Sometimes not for weeks and weeks,'" he said. He climbed stiffly down, over the wheel. The horse and the donkey drooped like unwatered flowers." This quote also struck me because the author chose the compare something to unwatered flowers, as if gardening is all Elisa knows. I'm also really curious as to why Elisa chose to give away some of her prized chrysanthemum sprouts, though she boasts about how she has the biggest flowers around.
I think Elisa cries at the end of the story because she realizes what she is missing. When the tinker comes he opens her eyes to a life far more exciting than hers. It changes her perspective on her lifestyle and life as a whole. She also realizes that she is completely capable of living as he does. She doesn't need to rely on her husband when she has skills of her own. She doesn't like it when the tinker talks down to her in particular. She wants to prove that she is capable of the way he lives and she realizes it is what she wants. When she passes the tinker's wagon and cries it symbolizes her passing up an opportunity to start a new life. Elisa is a strong woman and she is very independent and wants feel as if she is. She yearns for more power and control over her life. She cries for what she never even got the chance to lose.
ReplyDeleteI think that Elisa dresses herself to this degree in order to prove to herself that she can. She spends so much time in the garden, working hard, that she wants a change. She doesn't want to wear workman's clothes, but wants to be a "beautiful" woman. I utilize quotes simply to clarify that beauty is subjective. For she doesn't really need to dress herself up to be a beautiful woman. She already is, and always is. But I think after seeing, the tinker, and after his saying that she can't do what he does, she kind of remembers how a woman is "supposed" to look, and dresses herself up as such. Towards the end though, she realises that this is just not her, and is saddened by this, because she can never live the lifestyle that she would want to.
ReplyDeleteIt really stood out to me when she started crying at the end. She has finally realized how weak she is. She had feelings for the pot-mender after they shared an intimate moment together, concerning the connection between the hands and the plucking of buds. When she states that she knows how strong she is now, she really means that she is not strong at all. She acts like a strong person, and talks about how strong she is- but we know as well as she that she is not strong internally. I feel like she is a really emotional person- the way her mood changes frequently, and that she does not release her emotions. Instead, she buries these emotions away thinking that she can bulk herself up- when in fact she cannot carry the emotions any more. This is why she cries secretly. She is stubborn and hides her feelings- just like me. She pretends to herself that she is on top of the world and that nobody can shake her. Sometimes this can be really bad because people do get hurt, and we all need to express what we're feeling.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning sentences of the story, the author uses an in depth description of the landscape where our story takes place in order to gently summarize the plot of where we are taking off. Their home is situated between mountains, in a low valley that is often capped off by a shield of fog. His description seems to be describing a pot, or some other sort of container, which is actually specifically alluded to later on. I believe that this symbolizes how Elisa is cut off from the world. The only excitement or socializing that Elisa sees is always within her homestead. Almost as if she's closed up within a pot. We can see this desire for socialization when Elisa stares at the men her husband is doing business with, and how it almost seems as if she is flirting with the tinker as he comes by to her home.
ReplyDeleteI believe Elisa cries at the end of the story due to the fact that she finally realizes how beautiful life is and the people in it. She went to this mans home just as a visitor but seeing his smile on his corpse she finally noted that death isn't something to fear, but something you have to understand that it's apart of life. She didn't cry out of sadness but happiness. and how precious life is, and to enjoy it so that when you die, you die with a smile on your face, not regretting it.
ReplyDelete