GCSE English Literature

Shakespeare
13 Topics
Understanding Macbeth
Character Analysis of Macbeth
Character Relationships in Macbeth
The Context of Macbeth
Language and Dramatic Techniques in Macbeth
Themes, Motifs and Symbols in Macbeth
Understanding Romeo and Juliet
Character Analysis of Romeo and Juliet
Character Relationships in Romeo and Juliet
The Context of Romeo and Juliet
Language and Dramatic Techniques in Romeo and Juliet
Themes, Motifs and Symbols in Romeo and Juliet
Understanding the Tempest
19th Century Novels
20 Topics
Understanding The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Chapter 5-10 Summaries of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Character Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Themes in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Understanding A Christmas Carol
Character Analysis of A Christmas Carol
Themes in A Christmas Carol
Understanding Great Expectations
Great Expectations Character Analysis
Themes in Great Expectations
Understanding Jane Eyre
Character Analysis of Jane Eyre
Themes in Jane Eyre
Understanding Frankenstein
Character Analysis of Frankenstein
Themes in Frankenstein
Understanding Pride and Prejudice
Summary of Pride and Prejudice
Character Analysis of Pride and Prejudice
Themes in Pride and Prejudice
Drama
38 Topics
Understanding An Inspector Calls
Character Analysis of An Inspector Calls
Themes in An Inspector Calls
Understanding Blood Brothers
Act 1 Summary of Blood Brothers
Act 2 Summary of Blood Brothers
Twins Character Analysis of Blood Brothers
Supporting Characters Analysis of Blood Brothers
Themes in Blood Brothers
Motifs and Symbols in Blood Brothers
Understanding The History Boys
Act 1: Summary of The History Boys
Act 2: Summary of The History Boys
Character Analysis of The History Boys
Themes in The History Boys
Understanding The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Part One: Summary of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Part Two: Summary of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Primary Character Analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Secondary Character Analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
1 of 2
Prose
19 Topics
Primary Character Analysis of Animal Farm
Secondary Character Analysis of Animal Farm
Themes in Animal Farm
Symbols in Animal Farm
Understanding Animal Farm
Chapter Summaries of Animal Farm
Understanding Lord of the Flies
Chapter 1-6 Summary of Lord of the Flies
Chapter 7-12 Summary of Lord of the Flies
Primary Character Analysis of Lord of the Flies
Secondary Character Analysis of Lord of the Flies
Themes in Lord of the Flies
Symbols in Lord of the Flies
Chemistry – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
Odour of Chrysanthemums – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
My Polish Teacher’s Tie – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
Korea – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
A Family Supper – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
Invisible Mass of the Back Row – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology
Poetry
30 Topics
The Farmer’s Bride: Love and Relationships Analysis
Eden Rock: Love and Relationships Analysis
Walking Away: Love and Relationships Analysis
Letters from Yorkshire: Love and Relationships Analysis
Follower: Love and Relationships Analysis
Mother, Any Distance: Love and Relationships Analysis
Love’s Philosophy: Love and Relationships Analysis
Neutral Tones: Love and Relationships Analysis
When We Two Parted: Love and Relationships Analysis
Porphyria’s Lover: Love and Relationships Analysis
Sonnet 29: Love and Relationships Analysis
Before You Were Mine: Love and Relationships Analysis
Winter Swans: Love and Relationships Analysis
Singh Song!: Love and Relationships Analysis
Climbing My Grandfather: Love and Relationships Analysis
Ozymandias: Power and Conflict Analysis
London: Power and Conflict Analysis
The Prelude – Stealing the Boat: Power and Conflict Analysis
My Last Duchess: Power and Conflict Analysis
The Charge of the Light Brigade: Power and Conflict Analysis
1 of 2
Previous Topic
Next Topic

Odour of Chrysanthemums – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology

GCSE English Literature Prose Odour of Chrysanthemums – Telling Tales Analysis – AQA Anthology

D.H. Lawrence was born in 1885 and grew up in the coal-mining town of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. He was an author of short stories, novels, poems and essays, and many consider him one of Britain’s greatest writers.

‘Odour of Chrysanthemums’ was first published in 1911 as part of his The Prussian Officer and Other Stories collection.

Plot summary

The story follows Elizabeth Bates, a mother of two and pregnant again. She waits for her alcoholic miner husband to return home after work. Although she angrily assumes he is drinking somewhere, she becomes increasingly fearful about his absence. A neighbour looks for him, and it is reported that her husband has died in a mining accident that suffocated him.

Her husband’s dead body is brought home. She washes the body with her mother-in-law, who grieves openly and talks about how good he was as a child. Elizabeth, however, doesn’t feel the same sense of loss. She reflects on how they never really knew each other. Also, she thinks they lived completely separate lives despite the pretence of unity in marriage.

Characters

Elizabeth Bates

Elizabeth is a long-suffering miner’s wife who feels bitter towards her husband. When she learns that Walter has been in an accident, her only fear about his death is whether she can “manage on the little pension and what she could earn.”

She is surprised, and even embarrassed, by her lack of grief for his death. She realises that, due to their resentment and emotional detachment, she had never viewed Walter as a fully rounded person. As a result, Elizabeth decides to embrace life as her “immediate master” and change her outlook.

Walter Bates

Elizabeth’s husband is depicted as drunken and mean-spirited. He spends most of his earnings in the pub and gives little money to his own family. In death, he is described as “a man of handsome body, and his face showed no traces of drink.” Only through death does he lose Elizabeth’s unpleasant image of him, and she can see his humanity for the first time.

Walter’s Mother

Walter’s mother reacts to her son’s accident in a highly distressed way. She repeats that he was a “good lad” when he was young and that she can’t understand why he became “a handful of trouble” as an adult.

She describes him as a “lamb”, seeing an innocence in him that doesn’t fit with the tales of his drunken selfishness. This suggests that, like Elizabeth, Walter’s mother didn’t know the adult Walter well. It is much easier for her to remember him as a child when she did have a stronger connection with him.

Language, Form and Structure

  • A third-person omniscient (all knowing) narrator tells the story.
  • Lawrence writes dialogue with a dialect and accent that reflects the Nottinghamshire area where he grew up. When wondering where Walter could be, Mrs Rigley suggests, “‘E’s ‘appen gone up to th’ ‘Yew’.”  This helps to give a sense of the local community in which the story takes place.
  • The accents of Elizabeth and her father, is more of Standard English, suggesting they come from a different area. This enforces her feeling of being an outsider, “separate” from those surrounding her.

Themes and Symbols

Different kinds of love

Children and their parents are shown to have a more profound love than exists between husband and wife. We see Elizabeth’s caring relationship with her father, as she gives him tea and he worries about her life with Walter. Although she snaps at them with irritation, we also see a tenderness from Elizabeth towards her children. For example, she laughs affectionately when John complains about the darkness. She also acts protectively in hiding the news of Walter’s death from Annie. Finally, we see Walter’s mother, who is overcome with genuine grief about her son’s death. She can see past his flaws because of her unconditional love for him.

In contrast, Elizabeth’s marriage to Walter is depicted more physically. She reflects that there was “nothing between them” except for “exchanging their nakedness repeatedly.” Little love has ever existed between them. Instead, there has been resentment and bitterness, which causes a sense of detachment. Elizabeth only fully grasps the lack of love in their marriage after her husband’s death.

Gender roles in society

Men in this society are the workers, mainly employed as miners. They also spend a lot of their evenings drinking in pubs.

Women’s responsibilities lie in the domestic sphere, looking after children and their houses. Elizabeth notes disapproval of the general untidiness of the Rigley’s house. She is quietly judgemental about Mrs Rigley as a result.

The story’s opening establishes how women live on the edges of this industrial community. We see an unnamed woman with a basket moving to avoid a train. She finds herself “insignificantly trapped” between the train and the hedge she is pressed against. This alerts the reader about the uneasy existence of women as they go about their domestic duties in the town.

Elizabeth is shown to deviate from the expected gender roles in her lack of emotional reaction to Walter’s death. Instead, she more philosophically questions the nature of life and death, and gains a new perspective on the world.

Symbol: Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums are used to symbolise the close nature of life and death. Elizabeth notes how they remind her of more unhappy times. This includes when Walter was first brought home drunk and had “brown chrysanthemums in his button-hole.” A vase of chrysanthemums is also knocked over when they carry Walter’s dead body into the house.

On the other hand, Elizabeth also associates the flowers with her marriage and the birth of her daughter. Therefore, chrysanthemums represent the duality of life and death. Lawrence could be suggesting that we can perceive the world through a happy, loving perspective or a more bitter one.

Previous Topic
Back to Lesson
Next Topic