Chrysanthemum DiscussionBy studying the different schools of criticism and using them to decipher the inner workings of novels, short stories, and poems, it becomes apparent that they all share one common factor: a theme. The theme of a story is the overall idea or vision revealed by the entire story (Kennedy, 195). Although many themes seem similar, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find stories with identical themes. Two stories with similar themes, however, are "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These two stories show the damage caused by male domination in the past. The short story “The Chrysanthemums” gives an insight into the life of its author; John Steinbeck was born February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. The location of the story closely resembles the Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and its bread. “Salinas was a typical small American town, [differing] only in its location and a few distinctive features” (McCarthy 3). The story begins by showing the setting: “The tall gray flannel fog of winter closed the Salinas Valley to the sky and the rest of the world. » Although it does not directly illustrate the theme, the setting plays a role in the construction of Elisa Allen's "prison". ". The main protagonist of "The Chrysanthemums", Elisa Allen, is a middle-aged housewife who also has a passion for growing chrysanthemums. This passion expressed in planting these flowers brings out the repressed romance in her The fact that she is childless seems to have sublimated her maternal instincts to produce extraordinary flowers. Nevertheless, "plants and flowers cannot make up for the middle of paper..." Nius soon tells Ophelia that she. has to seek out Hamlet. Much to her dismay, Hamlet rejects her, and this begins a downward spiral for Ophelia. She begins to act depressed, and everyone begins to think that she has gone mad. negative placed on Ophelia leads to her death It is not certain whether she was murdered or whether she actually committed suicide by drowning. The events of "Hamlet" and "The Chrysanthemums", although different in appearance, show a very similar subject. The problem of male dominance is shown in both situations to devastate women's emotions, showing respect and obedience. for male characters, women actually harm each other. This theme of male domination destroying women's psyches has been and will continue to be a major theme in literature..