1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述）

john steinbeck, the winner of the 1962 nobel prize in literature, is regarded as one of the greatest american writers in the 20^th century. recognized as “a giant of american letters”, steinbeck is well known in the us and the western world. his works mainly probe ethnic, social, cultural and environmental problems in american society. belonging to literary realism, steinbeck strives to explore the lives of downtrodden people and reveal the dark side of society. steinbeck is also noted for his description on the relationship between man and nature. most of his works are set in southern and central california, especially in the salinas valley. in almost all his works, steinbeck expresses sympathy to the dispossessed and the wretched who are swamped in decay and desolation.

this thesis aims to analyze one of steinbeck’s most famous short stories—the chrysanthemums. in the chrysanthemums, john steinbeck vividly depicts a great but pathetic female image elisa, which is the core of the thesis. elisa and her husband henry live in the salinas valley and run a small farm. confined in the desolate valley, elisa’s dream of going out can never be realized, therefore, she puts all her hope to the chrysanthemums, wishing that they can be taken outside one day. yet, the appearance of the potter destroys elisa’s dream and makes she eventually give in to reality. this short story profoundly reflects women’s struggle in front of the ruthless and hypocritical world. women’s desire for freedom are suppressed by the patriarchal society.

since the chrysanthemums is one of steinbeck’s best-known works, there are a lot of researches on the short story both at home and abroad. the short story has been scrutinized from various perspectives such as characters, themes and environment. for instance, in hou wenjing’s paper, she analyzed the short story from points like symbolism, character and environment description. she particularly focused on analyzing the depiction of elisa, trying to decode the character in front of her audience. in yang shenghua’s paper, when appreciating the character description, he emphasized elisa’s physical features and description. through analyzing elisa’s action and mentality, he tried to expose elisa’s sexual desire. in qin yanyan’s dissertation, she elaborated on the works of steinbeck in different periods with the theory of ecological criticism. her analysis was based more on ecology and philosophy than literary criticism, thus providing a new perspective for the research. all the articles are valuable references for my thesis. however, there are few discussing elisa’s living crisis both physically and mentally. therefore, this thesis aims to analyze the predicament that elisa is faced with and figure out the influence that henry and the potter have on elisa. moreover, this thesis attempts to summarize the common dilemma troubling women like elisa at that time. to ensure that the thesis is logical, convincing and well-written, sufficient resources will be consulted.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

this thesis discusses elisa’s struggle and predicament in the patriarchal society, revealing her living crisis physically and mentally. physically, elisa is denied of her female beauty, only considered to be a strong woman for her capability. it is ironic that her flair is derided by other men. spiritually, elisa desires going out of the valley, yet, her dream can never come true. her fantasy finally disillusions when she sees the abandoned chrysanthemums by the roadside, realizing that she herself is betrayed by the world. the thesis will develop as the following steps: firstly, an introduction to the writer and the plot of the short story. the literary review will also be included in this part. the second and third part will discuss the character’s living crisis from the physical and spiritual perspective respectively. the third part will focus on elisa’s appearance and physical features. in addition, elisa’s sexual desire can also be reflected through these features. the third part will study the relationship between elisa and her chrysanthemums, which plays an important role in the disillusionment of elisa’s dream. at last, a conclusion will be made to summarize all the points.

since it is a thesis about literary criticism, abundant literary critical theories such as feminism will be added to guide the whole thesis. besides, the thesis will also consult the original story, the chinese translation version and sufficient relevant academic papers.

3. 研究计划与安排

before 6th january : settlement of the title

before 20th march: submission of the outline

before 30th april : submission of the first draft

4. 参考文献（12篇以上）

[1] demott, r. amp; b, railsback. prospets for the study of john steinbeck [j]. resources for american literary study, 2009(32): 9-47.

[2] gregory, p. j. steinbeck’s the chrysanthemums [j]. explicator, 2004(62): 164-7.

[3] osborne, w. the texts of steinbeck’s “the chrysanthemums” [j]. interpretation, 1977(9): 34-39.