Steinbeck's Female Characters: Environment, Confinement, and Agency

Abstract

Steinbeck’s Female Characters: Environment, Confinement, and Agency proposes that the female characters in John Steinbeck’s novels The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, and his short story “The Chrysanthemums” have been too easily dismissed. In all three works, female characters, who are often read as secondary characters, can be seen as strong women trying to break out against the social norms that force them into the background of Steinbeck’s fiction. I have chosen these works in particular as they best display the power struggle between men and women.

This project investigates all three works in order to find scenes and dialogue that show the female characters Elisa Allen, Ma Joad, and Cathy Trask working toward a new way of living in a male-dominated society—and at times threatening or participating in violent behavior in order to be accepted and understood. I analyze how gender is portrayed throughout all three works and pay particular attention to the figure of Cathy Trask in East of Eden, who is treated harshly in scholarly criticism, but whom I argue shows Steinbeck at his most progressive in regards to female characters. These female characters in his texts are, in fact, complex figures who reflect the displacement and oppression Steinbeck is famous for writing about. I include key readings of criticism both on the works themselves and, to the extent to which it is helpful, readings on gender and literature. I use biographical material about John Steinbeck that reflect his awareness of gender roles.

The investigation concludes that Steinbeck felt sympathy for women and the societal roles they were forced to occupy. The characters of wife, mother, and prostitute are indicative of the lack of professional paths offered to women at the time. Steinbeck’s depiction of women was not an expression of dislike for the gender, but rather, a means to show the restrictions society places on women because of their gender. This conclusion provides readers and critics with another lens through which we can view his female characters and his work as a whole.