“Odour of Chrysanthemums” is a short story belonging to the modernist literary genre. Modernism as a literary movement emerged in the early 20th century as writers like Lawrence sought to capture the particular experience of living in the modernized, industrialized world. They did this by painting bleak portraits of working- or middle-class characters suffering in the face of oppression.
In “Odour of Chrystanthemums,” Lawrence applies this critical and pessimistic lens to the coal mining industry, demonstrating how dangerous the working conditions are and how easily it is for people to be wounded and killed on the job. He also demonstrates how dangerous and exploitative jobs like this can lead to depression and addiction (as seen in Walter’s alcoholism in the story) as well as to discontentment and resentment within miners' families (as seen in Elizabeth’s anger toward and isolation from her husband).
It is notable that, though the story is fictional, it was inspired by real events. One of Lawrence’s uncles (James Lawrence) worked for the very same coal mine that appears in the story (the Brinsley Colliery) and, like Walter, died on the job in an accident. James also lived with his wife and children in the house next to the railroad tracks—as Elizabeth and Walter do in the story—and his wife, like Elizabeth, was pregnant at the time that he died.
