Fire in the Odour of Chrysnthemums

Fire in the “Odour of Chrysanthemums”

Fires do not last forever. In time all fires will die out due to lack of fuel. The fire, once started, will always consume all of its fuel until there is none left slowly getting smaller and smaller until it is gone. In the “Odour of Chrysanthemums” by D.H. Lawrence, the different sources of fire symbolize the Bates marriage.

The first location of fire is in the hearth in the middle of the house. The way that a fire burns in a hearth predicts what is going to happen to the family that occupies the house. At the beginning it seemed like all the life was in the hearth, just like the beginning of the marriage seemed full of life. However, the fire dies down so that it is darker in the room and it has lost its life, similar to the Bates’ marriage. Then Annie comes and tries to mend to the fire and only causes it go completely dark.

The second location of fire is the lamp. John is complaining about not being able to see after the fire goes out in the hearth and his mother lights the lamp for light in the house. A lamp symbolizes life. This is symbolic of Mrs. Bates realizing that her marriage is dieing and that there is nothing to it and so she tries add some life to it. Her marriage started out good and strong and slowly dies away a little bit at a time. This is the middle of the Bates marriage, its not as strong as the beginning like the hearth was. It was a strong, hot, burning fire that died down leading to the lamp. The lamp in turn leads to our last source of fire.

The last source of fire is the candle. The candle is the smallest source of fire and symbolizes the end of the Bates marriage. After Mr. Bates