The tone in The Chrysanthemums, by John Steinbeck gave me a sense of envy toward men. The main reason why I get this feeling is because Elisa Allen is a hard working housewife who doesn't really have much of a life but to stay at home and tend to the garden and the house. She enjoys her garden and her husband but feels that there could be more to life. In the beginning of the story there is no hint of her being at all envious toward the men in the story. Then, when the big stubble-bearded man comes along in the wagon who fixes pots and pans, the mood changes after she starts to talk to him. She then becomes interested in how he lives his life in his wagon. .
Elisa's curiosity in the man grows and she starts to have these feeling of what it would be like to live in the wagon and to travel the road, with freedom and no inhibitions. She becomes very upset when he said that the wagon is not a place for a woman. That right there changes her whole tone from being happy with everything that she has and is. Then she gets upset because this guy is telling her where her place is. She gives him the chrysanthemums and sends him on his way. She then goes into the house and takes her bath to get ready to go out. .
While taking her bath it seems like the mood changes again she turns into a feminine woman again. The reason I say this is because while trying herself of she poses in the mirror, looking at her body. She tightened her stomach and threw out her chest and looked over her shoulders. This is a typical thing that a woman would do in the mirror to look at her feminine body, trying to see if they are still beautiful. .
Then the mood changes again when her husband comes home from doing his business with the cattle. All he did was compliment her in telling her house nice she looked all dress up. She takes this as an insult, but he didn't mean anything by it. She goes off, telling him that she is strong.