What would Elisa ("The Chrysanthemums") and Missie May ("The Gilded Six-Bits") talk about if they met?I just need a jump start. Thanks. "The...

In order to imagine what these two women would find to
talk about, it is important to understand how they are similar and how they are
different.

Both Eliza and Missy May have good husbands.
Both women are comfortable, though not especially rich. Both women have dreams of having
something else to enrich their lives—Eliza wishes she had the independence of a man, and
Missy May wishes she had more money because Joe, her husband, seems so concerned about
Slemmons' wealth. To find that which they feel is missing, they turn to other
men.

The women are different in that they want different
things: Eliza wants freedom, and Missy May wishes for
money.

Eliza turns to the peddler for a glimpse of life
beyond what she has, and a sense who she is. She does not become involved with the
peddler, but sees her life differently for having met
him.

Missy May fools around with Slemmons, not because she
is attracted to him, but because he has promised her
money.

The women's lives change when the peddler throws the
flowers along the road and Eliza realizes she has been manipulated and used. This
crushes her budding sense of value in self, but she hides her pain from her husband.
Things change dramatically when Joe discovers Missy May with Slemmons. Their
relationship all but crumbles because the love they had, built on trust, has been badly
damaged.

Both women try to deal with their "altered
states." We get the sense that Eliza knows she must depend on herself for a sense of
positive self-esteem, while Missy May, sure that Joe will leave her, struggles to behave
normally after Joe discovers her infidelity; and although the playful trust between them
is gone, over time, it seems that they may be able to salvage
something.

In terms of what these women could
talk about, I would suggest they could speak of the good husbands they have
who work hard to support them and offer support when their wife needs
it.

They could talk about how some people value money above
all things, and that financial gain can make people do some unusual
things.

The women can certainly talk about how appearances
can be deceiving: in that the peddler pretends to be interested in the flowers in order
to get some work (and money from Eliza), and how Slemmons presents himself as a rich and
successful man, when in reality, the clothes and money are nothing but a sham on his
part.

Looking beneath the surface, the women have some
strong similarities that could fuel a rewarding discussion between the
two.