"Odour of Chrysanthemums" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

. It was written in the autumn of 1909 and after revision, was published in ''

The English Review ''The English Review'' was an English-language literary magazine published in London from 1908 to 1937. At its peak, the journal published some of the leading writers of its day. History The magazine was started by 1908 by Ford Madox Hueffer (la ...

'' in July 1911. Lawrence later included this tale in his collection entitled '' The Prussian Officer and Other Stories'', which

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

, his London publisher, bought out on 26 November 1914. An American edition was produced by B W Huebsch in 1916. Lawrence later adapted the story into the play '' The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd''.

Plot

Elizabeth Bates is the main character of the story. She has two young children and is pregnant with a third. She is waiting for her husband Walter, a coal miner, to come home. She thinks that he has gone straight to the pub after work, and she feels angry. It turns out to be something completely different. In the end, she's come to realize that they never did know each other.

Symbolism

Industry

* Locomotive * Mines * Machinery: stands for the cruelty and violence, the alienation of life * Noises: threatening and described in detail

Vegetation

* Vines: the vines remind of vegetation, thus life, but also of the crown worn by Jesus Christ * Chrysanthemums: flowers offered by the husband on anniversaries, also kind of flowers deposited on graves at funerals * Yew Tree: name of the pub where Elizabeth doesn't dare to go, tree that typically stands in a cemetery * Grass: cut by the locomotive that passes by

Biblical names

* Anne: mother of the virgin Mary * Elizabeth: significance "House of God" or "House of Abundance", is supposed to be sterile but brings life forth * John: John the Baptist, beheaded and martyred

Life and death

* Children * Chrysanthemums (see Vegetation) * Fertility and sterility * Light versus darkness: colours of the hair, furnace of industry and fire of death, candles, nighttime, fire of warmth and life in the hearth, life versus death

Narration

Film

In 2002 the story was adapted into a short film by

Mark Partridge Mark Henry Heathcote Partridge (23 November 1922 – 13 December 2007) was a Rhodesian politician who served as the minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Defence. Early life Partridge was born on 23 November 1922, at States Mines, East ...

. The film won first prize at the

Milan Film Festival Milan Film Festival (MFF), also known as Milano Film Festival, is an annual film festival held since 1996 in Milan, Italy. It was founded as a competition of only local short films. It became an international film festival in 1998 when it also st ...

Standard edition

* '' The Prussian Officer and Other Stories'' (1914), edited by John Worthen, Cambridge University Press, 1983,

External links

* Cushman, Keith (2010)
Critical materials: 'Odour of Chrysanthemums'.
within the portal: "Odour of Chrysanthemums". A text in process. of the University of Nottingham. * The University of Nottingham (2008)
Portal to "Odour of Chrysanthemums". A text in process.
writing on the text by scholars of the University of Nottingham. 1911 short stories Short stories by D. H. Lawrence Works originally published in The English Review Short stories adapted into films {{1910s-story-stub