"The Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D.H. Lawrence demonstrates how certain symbols and events hold different meanings for different people. The odor of chrysanthemums is normally a refreshing aroma, except when the odor symbolizes unpleasant memories. Likewise, the arrival of a husband home from work should be a pleasant occasion, but for Elizabeth, the main character in Lawrence's story, it was an event that was anticipated with mounting hatred.
One of the most striking elements of the story is the tension that builds. The whole family, especially Elizabeth, is focused on the arrival of the father. Elizabeth grows increasingly impatient. Often, she is on the verge of wild emotions, but she keeps herself in check. The reader, along with the wife, starts to sense that something may be wrong.
Elizabeth is not a typical, loving spouse. It is clear that she despises her husband because of his drinking, and because of the emotional effect that it has on her. She feels it beneath herself to go to the tavern to look for him and bring him home. Yet she reacts to every noise outside the home in anticipation of the arrival of her husband. Elizabeth clearly has problems demonstrating emotion; this could be the reason why her husband has resorted to drinking.
Elizabeth's lack of warmth is demonstrated in her reaction to the chrysanthemums, which are seen throughout the story, and symbolize the death of the love relationship between the husband and wife. In the first appearance of the chrysanthemums, Elizabeth reprimands her son, John for picking them, "he tore at the ragged wisps of chrysanthemums" (Lawrence 337). She herself breaks off a twig of "wan flowers," holding them to her face as if remembering more positive emotions in times past (Lawrence 337). Elizabeth absentmindedly sticks the flowers into her apron. Then her daughter is delighted at the "unusual event" of seeing flowers in her mother's apron, begs to smell the...