Odour of Chrysanthemum by D.H Lawrence

This short story is the pioneer example of D.H. Lawrence’s ideological perception of family. It conveys the crucial necessity for understanding someone, especially your partner & making allowances for him or her in life. In this story Elizabeth Bates never understood her husband & therefore failed to let him indulge in his own interests. This caused him to be distant from his family & to get closer to the outside world such as pubs & even work.

Elizabeth always made wrong assumptions about other people & thereby inculcated a falsified guilt in them. This was clearly visible in her wrong assumptions regarding her son's whereabouts. I suppose the reason behind this is she's unhappy & bitter about her life & maybe even without her knowledge this bitterness seeps into the lives of other people thereby making their lives miserable as well. This is exactly what happens to her children & her husband. Her bitter nature is clearly evident in her cruel remark regarding her father’s remarriage. The old man, as he himself says, has got married simply because he needed a companion at his old age. Elizabeth’s Victorian ideology that one shouldn’t get married at old age doesn’t let her look at her father’s situation from a sympathetic eye. She directly judges his act as improper for an old man.

Another major aspect highlighted in the story is her failure to read her husband. She was never in a position to understand Walter. He went to the pub because he didn’t find happiness at home. It was alcohol, his friends & his work that helped him get on with life. According to my belief this lack of understanding led to his death. When everyone else left the mine only he stayed behind claiming to have unfinished work. But what I believe is he stayed behind to avoid going home as long as possible which lead to his death. His mother on the other hand has understood his son & has made him allowances & let him indulge in his own happiness. This is why Walter was a happy lad before marrying Elizabeth. We should also consider that mothers allow more freedom than wives, but in this case Elizabeth is too harsh on Walter. This over-dominating nature of Mrs. Bates finally pushes him over the edge.

We can also see her attitude towards her marriage with Walter. Everything related to her marriage disappoints her and makes her unhappy. The way she considers chrysanthemums as unpleasant because there had been chrysanthemums when she married him & when her first child was born, shows her bitterness towards her family including her children & all the memories associated with them. The odour of chrysanthemums brings up memories that she doesn‘t like to reflect. I suppose that’s why the title is “Odour of Chrysanthemum”. Throughout the whole story we’re made aware of her dislike towards her life by how she dislikes chrysanthemums which are connected with her life. Elizabeth also considers this odour as fatal.

Readers can also observe how Elizabeth and her mother-in-law respond differently to Walter’s death. The mother responds emotionally & feels the loss in her womb & heart. Elizabeth is emotionally detached. She doesn’t feel the physical loss & therefore fails to respond emotionally by crying as the mother. But with Walter’s death she realizes that she has denied who he really was. She was grateful to death for making her realize this truth. But it’s unfortunate that this realization occurred too late. When she realizes that she has slept with a stranger all this time, she feels ashamed. But there’s nothing she can do about it now.

D.H Lawrence harshly criticizes Victorian marriages where couples got married without really knowing or understanding each other. According to D.H Lawrence physical existence without psychological understanding is a shameful act. Thus the moral message conveyed through this story is that human life must be based on profound understanding of each other’s complexities and we should always make allowances. Lawrence strictly advises us not to regimentalize a relationship.   

Source: My own ideas, Lesson notes of ENG111