Astronomer's Wife & The Chrysanthemums
Recently, I saw a movie about female tennis champion – Billie Jean King, and although I have never been into the feminism (neither can I say that I quite understand it), her character woke up some other kind of sensitivity in me. After this – to me significant change – I could not help myself not to notice different approaches of John Steinbeck and Kay Boyle to the similar thematic. They both deal with marital relationships and it was quite interesting to view lives of ordinary married couples through both “male” and “female eyes”. While Steinbeck opens his story describing the Salinas Valley in December metaphorically referring to the Elisa’s character, Boyle jumps directly to Mrs. Ames’s inner world. Although both writers give us pretty clear picture of their characters, Boyle does it with more emotions aiming our feelings immediately, unlike Steinbeck who leaves us more space to think about Elisa Allen. Mrs. Ames from “The Astronomer’s Wife” and Elisa Allen from “The Chrysanthemums”, two women in their best ages, did share similar lives. They were loyal wives, of decent beauty and good manners. They were married for some time, without any chil
that has been neglected for a long time. On the other hand, Mrs. Ames did not stop to flirt with the plumber. But she was enjoying different kind of awakening than Elisa. The plumber’s presence was giving her a feeling that she has forgotten. He was everything her husband was not. His strong figure and the depth of his voice kept her on the ground as strongly as she ever wanted. And from the senseless dreams she was living in together with her husband, there was something different she could feel. And she did not want to stop flirting. She did not want him to leave her, simply because “there was a young and strange delight in putting questions to which true answers would be given. Everything the astronomer had ever said to her was a continuous query to which there could be no response.” Kay Boyle gave to Mrs. Ames more feminine look. She is somewhat conservative: “The astronomer’s wife put on her white and scarlet smock very quickly and buttoned it at the neck,” but her red slippers were revealing her passion and need for attention. She is aware of herself and unlike Elisa, she is open to the flirting. Steinbeck made Elisa harsh and resistant. Her conversation with the handyman was almost rude, thus making a big barrier between the two. But this
Some common words found in the essay are:
Steinbeck Elisa, Elisa Allen, Valley December, Boyle Ames, Kay Boyle, Jean King, , astronomer’s wife, Allen Ames, steinbeck elisa, “the astronomer’s, kay boyle, elisa allen,
Approximate Word count = 869
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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