Out of the Fence and into the Ring: Steinbeck’s Engagement with Public Issues in “The Chrysanthemums”

This article on Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” argues first that women should have access to more challenging public spaces, finding that men have actually surrounded their own competitive spaces with invisible yet sufficient protections that are far less confining than those women experience. Second, in a more subtle move, the story develops this theme beyond its immediate focus on gender and moves into an aesthetic realm, suggesting that, like Elisa, artists and writers should move into more competitive public spaces. The story thus becomes an aesthetic manifesto, Steinbeck’s call to fellow artists to join him in publicly engaged artistic work.