Abstract
   
     John Steinbeck was a famous twentieth-century American writer who won the Nobel Prize of literature in 1962. Many of his works focused on the theme of feminism and The chrysanthemums was one of his representative works which depicted such theme. This thesis tries to study the awakening of Elisa’s feminist consciousness to reflect women’s strong eagerness for freedom and equality in that father-controlled society, and demonstrate further men’s negligence to women in that society by illustrating Henry and the tinker’s discriminated attitudes toward Elisa.

Key words: The Chrysanthemums, feminist consciousness, awakening, disillusion

摘    要

约翰•斯坦贝克是20世纪美国著名的小说家，同时也是1962年诺贝尔文学奖的获得者。他的大多数作品都以女性主义为主题，而《菊花》就是斯坦贝克反映女性主义的代表作之一。本文试图通过研究伊莉莎女性意识的觉醒，来反映父权社会下女性对平等和自由的渴求，进而通过分析亨利和补锅匠对伊莉莎轻蔑的态度来揭示当时社会下男性对女性的轻视。

关键词：《菊花》； 女性意识；觉醒；幻灭

1. Introduction
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) was an American writer whose achievements were in the same position as Faulkner’s and Hemingway’s. As a winner of Nobel Prize of Literature in 1962, Steinbeck made great contribution to American or even the world literary career. Speaking of Steinbeck, most people may talk about his long fictions such as Travels with Charley and In Dubious Battle. And his three long fictions, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men were more important and made him widely known for winning the Pulitzer Prize. What’s more, John Steinbeck was also good at writing short stories, most of which were included in Long Valley. He was awarded the O•Henry Award as the most outstanding short-story writer for four times. The Chrysanthemums was one of the classic works in Long Valley.