...12/2/2012 A Shift in Perspective Perspective, or point of view, plays an important part in a story. It can place the reader directly into the mind of a character, which creates a more personal and emotional attachment for the reader or it can cause the reader to be more of an impartial, third party observer. Proof of this is evident in a comparison of Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and her “A Jury of Her Peers.” The first is written as a play and as such the reader’s perspective is that of a third party watching the events unfold. “A Jury of Her Peers” is written as a short story and gives the reader the perspective of Martha Hale, one of the main characters. This change gives the story a whole new dynamic for the reader and causes more emotional involvement of the reader even though the two versions deal with the same subject matter and the same moral and ethical problems. The differing perspectives affect the reader from the very start of each piece. The play opens with a paragraph that sets the scene of the farmhouse, introduces the characters by name, and then jumps into dialogue between them. “A Jury of Her Peers”, however, begins with only Martha Hale and immediately gives the reader some insight into her mind and personality, “What her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving” (Glaspell). This lets the reader relate to Mrs. Hale in a more personal way that simply being introduced by name doesn’t. Being able to see through Mrs. Hale’s...
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...presented in every aspect of life. Literature illustrates this on several occasions. This may be exemplified by observing Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Trifles illustrates adverse identifications of women in earlier Americana that correlate to the identity women maintain in our current society. Male dominance is one of the central themes displayed throughout the play. The women identified in Trifles have modest voices compared to their male counterparts. This causes numerous opportunities for male dominance from the beginning to the end of the play. Their opinions are blatantly disregarded. An instance of male dominance may be illustrated by the interaction between Mr. Henderson and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Henderson requests information regarding Mrs. Hale's relationship with the Wrights. Once Mrs. Hale begins to provide details regarding the Wrights' lifestyle, Mr. Henderson stops her mid-sentence and demands a brief answer. Another instance of male dominance is displayed when men brought attention to the women's handy work. When Mrs. Wright constructed a quilt, the men basically made fun of the women's craft. This is illustrated by the lines that state, “Mrs. Hale: It’s log cabin pattern. Pretty, isn’t it? I wonder if she was goin’ to quilt or just knot it? Sherrif: They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (the men laugh, the women look abashed).” (Glaspell) The next instance of male dominance is revealed by an interaction between Mr. Hale and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Hale outright...
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...A writer tends to use their life’s experiences, influences, and beliefs to create their stories; this is exactly the case for the creations of “Trifles”, Fidelity, and Women’s honor by Susan Glaspell. In writing “Trifles”, Fidelity, and The Visioning she drew from her past and current experienced events to create such stories. Her writing career had first begun when she was in high school and progressed further into her college years. While attending college, her career spun off as a reporter for Des Moines Daily News. After a short time of being a reporter, she and her husband decided to return back to her hometown Davenport, Iowa to become a full time writer. This was the beginning of her becoming “one of the early-twentieth-century America’s leading playwright”(Rudnick). Fidelity was Glaspell third novel which was published in 1915. It took place in a small town in Iowa about a midwestern woman name Ruth Holland who was a rebellion against the environment she was surrounded by. She was committed in a relatonship with a man name Stuart Williams who was also married. Throughout the story, Ruth wants to amends relationship with her family but they seen her only as a bad woman. She started to grow by filling the voids in her life. When Stuart’s wife granted him the divorce, Ruth at this point decided to leave for New York alone to find her idenity, “rather than marrying a man she no longer loves” (Carpentier). Though it did not received as much fame as her other writings...
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...Trifles: A Moral Justification for Murder The one act play “Trifles” depicts the views and passions of both men and women during the late-nineteenth century regarding the role of a woman. The characters in the play are the County Attorney, the Sheriff, and Mr. Hale, who are accompanied by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters into the Wright’s home to investigate the murder of Mr. Wright. The men feel that the women are only concerning themselves with little things and make several condescending comments throughout the play displaying their views. While the men search for clues upstairs and in the outside barn yard, it is the women who cleverly piece together several clues leading to Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder mystery. But, because of the shocking evidence found by the women, they become sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright and decide to conceal their findings from the authorities. The women feel that the mental and emotional abuse Mrs. Wright received from her husband was justification for the crime in which she committed. Although murder is usually looked upon as an indefensible crime of selfishness, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters actions were morally validated because of Mr. Wright’s own selfish and tyrannical actions; which left Mrs. Wright with no other alternative but to murder him in order to reclaim her liberty. From the beginning of the play, when Mr. Hale explains to the other men that he was visiting the Wright’s home in hopes of convincing John Wright to pitch in on a party line...
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...LITR201-1402B-04: Literature: A Reflection of Life- PHASE 4 Name: Institution: LITR201-1402B-04: Literature: A Reflection of Life- PHASE 4 PART A Drama is also referred to as a play because it tells a story and is also performed on stage. In addition, drama is similar to plays in that it has a theme, a plot and is often narrated by a persona (Ghent, 2012, 629). Also, drama is also known as a play in that it evokes emotions and has a tone just like a play. During my high school days, the school invited a group of people who performed a play on HIV/AIDs. This was my initial time to timepiece a live stage performance. The characters perfectly represented their roles in that the audience felt as if the characters were real. For example, those characters representing HIV patients appeared weak and sad; the sounds were full of sympathy as they spoke. Every scene had its own sounds that paralleled the theme and purpose of the act (Meyer, 2011, p111). There were cries, mourns and even sounds of desperation. Throughout the drama, the audience was full of sad mood. HIV/AIDs infection was presented as something that people should be afraid of. The audience was also filled with pity and sympathy for the infected characters. Since it was my first encounter to see a live stage drama, the theme, scenes and characters were a great impact to my life and my understanding of what entails a drama. For a elongated time I had wished to be involved in a dramatic act until one day, my literature...
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...Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, is based on actual events that occurred in Iowa at the beginning of the century. For two years Glaspell worked as a reporter for the Des Moines News, where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife, Margaret Hossack, in Indianola, Iowa. Hossack was accused of killing her husband, John, by striking him twice in the head with an ax while he slept (Trifles 216). Trifles, written in the early 1900’s by Susan Glaspell. Glaspell wrote this play during a time of controversial feminist issues. Glaspell wrote "Trifles" to demonstrate the male assumption that women were insignificant members in a male dominated society. Because the men underestimate them, the women are able to prove they are not insignificant. The play opens at the Wright farmhouse where Mr. Wright has been murdered in his sleep. They entered in the house: county attorney, the sheriff, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters. The men and women have come to investigate the case against Minnie Foster, the wife of Mr. Wright. Most of the stuffs which the male characters supposed to be insignificant objects like the broken bird cage door, the quilt, the dead canary, and the entire kitchen consequentially lead to the solution (Trifles 219). The improper assumptions by men toward women can have dire consequences, as demonstrated in Glaspell's world. Combating these narcissistic assumptions displayed by men can result in a unity among women that can overcome any male caused disrespect...
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...Trifles by Susan Glaspell Name: Course: Professor: Institution: Trifles by Susan Glaspell Trifles, is a play which was written by Susan Glaspell in 1916. It reveals the writer’s concern with issues related to culture thinking and notions of gender and sexual roles. The title itself depicts that the apprehensions of women are in many times considered as simple trivialities that their issues are insignificant to the society. Susan Glaspell wrote the play to exhibit the male supposition that the views of the female are irrelevant in a male subjugated culture. The play invites the reader to question the relative value of men and women perception in the society, this is achieved by setting up a tension packed play that develops through the advancement of two different and separate narratives, a male and a female (Clarkson, 2003). This research paper seeks to discuss and analyze the play. The setting of the play is back in the early twentieth century during a cold weather in a rural area. This helps the reader to identify with a real life area with real people. The setting establishes a miserable and thoughtful mood. The author describes the condition of the house as an abandoned farmhouse that had a gloomy kitchen and that was untidy. This creates a response of emotional trauma which is as a result of the theme of loneliness in the landscape. The characters of the play are: the county attorney George Henderson who is a young and arrogant individual. He has a good reputation...
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...13, 2018 Wright or Wrong The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell emphasizes the value of men and women’s perspectives of the murder of Mr. Wright in his and his wife’s, Mrs. Wright, old farmhouse. It questions the gender role of women being confined to the house work while it all goes unnoticed. The title of the play hints to that women’s work is considered trifles while the mean do all the “real work”. In this play Mrs. Wright is being accused of murdering her husband by tying a rope around his neck, strangling him to death. The different genders search the house to find clues as to why she would have committed such a crime shows the opposite views. Susan Glaspell exhibits that women are important and not to be trifled with. This supports the idea that men see women’s actions incompetent. This idea is continuously portrayed all through the story by the way the men act towards the women and...
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...Literary analysis on “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell Gender roles continue to change with time. It has only been a very short time that woman have broken through their defined roles and begin to be equal with men on a total basis. In Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”, the story challenges the gender roles through the events that occur during the course of the play and through their own inner workings. The story is set in the Literary Renaissance –Drama period and leaves plenty of room for female characters to shine in certain roles. The story provides interesting points that challenge the reader to step back and look at gender roles in a new light. “Trifles” is centered on several married couples and is presented around the point of view of female characters. The story takes place at Mrs. Wright’s home a day after her husband has been murdered. Much of the long script takes place around a conversation between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. The two women are in the home because one is the Sheriffs wife and the other is the wife of the Attorney. The story is presented as though Mrs. Wright is suspected of killing her husband and there is no doubt that she did kill her husband. During Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters conversation it is established that the two women are lashing out against their gender roles by withholding evidence from their husbands. In the story woman compare themselves to birds. Mrs. Hale openly speaks about Mrs. Wright “was kind of a bird herself” (Glaspell 169). It seems to...
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...justice, in the case of "Trifles" is more complicated than that. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover the dead bird of Mrs. Wright. This was to them a very clear evidence that Minnie was the one who killed her husband, however, somehow also justify the act. Mrs. Hale feel guilty for not being more attentive to Mrs. Wright “I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be—for women.” (Glaspell 1916: 191) They understand that Minnie's actions were more than a murder; it was the way to get rid of her husband and get her freedom. The fact that her husband strangled her bird was not really the reason; rather the act took her to the point of having the need to be freed from that social oppression to which she was transfixed. The ladies feel identified with the situation to the point where Mrs. Hale mentions “We all go through the same things-it's all just a different...
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...Throughout the story, the reader gets a glimpse of the struggle women face living in a world controlled by men. Susan Glaspell uses the symbolism of the trifles, dead bird, and the quilt to develop the theme of gender role throughout the Short story. Before the twentieth century, there were many stereotypical roles assigned to men and women. The men were seen as the head of the household so they would go out into the world and work in order to support their family. On the other hand, women would stay at home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. In the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” the men viewed the women as facetious and incompetent from beginning to end. They would patronize the women by stating remarks like “women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell...
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...Men’s Pride Leads to Downfall in Glaspell’s “Trifles” “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” says Mr. Hale in Susan Glaspell’s play, “Trifles.” While demeaning women and their concerns is criticized as sexist in the twenty-first century, mere decades ago people accepted sexism as common and even warranted. Since the male-dominated society considered women’s tasks less important than men’s, men treated women with a lack of consideration. In the 20th century drama “Trifles,” Glaspell challenges the suppression in effect during her lifetime, basing the play on a series of news stories she wrote about the real-life court case of a woman prosecuted for murdering her husband. In “Trifles,” Glaspell uses symbolism to show that male sexism causes a lack of empathy which leads to men’s failures as much as it does women’s. From the first scene to the final line, Glaspell uses spatial symbolism to reason her case about the detrimental effects of men’s stereotypes of women. According to the stage direction, the initially timid female characters, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters “...come in slowly, and stand close together near the door,” clearly displaying a reluctance to enter a widow’s empty home. However, as Mr. Hale, the sheriff and the county attorney “go at once to the stove,” they discuss what happened the previous day. When Mr. Hale had first knocked on the door to request Mr. Wright’s help, he tentatively entered when he thought he heard “come in”; now that Mr. Wright is gone...
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...Frohlich 1 Makenzee Frohlich English 1020 Mr. French 18 December 14 Symbolic Beyond Sexism “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” says Mr. Hale in Susan Glaspell’s play, “Trifles.” While demeaning women and their concerns is criticized as sexist in the twentyfirst century, mere decades ago people accepted sexism as common and even warranted. Since the maledominated society considered women’s tasks less important than men’s, men treated women with a lack of consideration. In the 20th century drama “Trifles,” Glaspell challenges the suppression in effect during her lifetime, basing the play on a series of news stories she wrote about the reallife court case of a woman prosecuted for murdering her husband. In “Trifles,” Glaspell uses symbolism to show that male sexism causes a lack of empathy which leads to men’s failures as much as it does women’s. From the first scene to the final line, Glaspell uses spatial symbolism to reason her case about the detrimental effects of men’s stereotypes of women. According to the stage direction, the initially timid female characters, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters “...come in slowly, and stand close together near the door,” clearly displaying a reluctance to enter a widow’s empty home. However, as Mr. Hale, the sheriff and the county attorney “go at once to the stove,” they discuss what happened the previous day. When Mr. Hale had first knocked on the door to request Mr. Wright’s help, he tentatively entered when he thought he heard “come in”; now that Mr...
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...The title of Susan Glaspell's Trifles is central to the theme of the play in the way that it separates the world of men from the world of women. Mr. Hale's comment about women worrying over trifles is meant to be read almost as an insult. He implies that women are occupied with frivolous things while men are concerned with 'real' things or 'important' things. But women's trifles turn out to be much more significant than the men assume. The county attorney replies "And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies?" (Glaspell, 1413). He says this, but he shows that, in truth, he does not value the women for anything more than their housekeeping abilities, blatantly judging Mrs. Wright for not cleaning her roller towel...
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...birdcage and dead canary instead of useful evidence for the case. After looking around the house, the women found a quilt and decide to bring it with them. Also, they found a dead bird in a box in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket while they were searching for materials for the quilt. The bird was strangled and killed the same way as John Wright. Although Mrs. Peters is hesitant to disobey the men, who are only following the law, she and Mrs. Hale decide to hide the evidence, which will leave the men unable to find any sealing evidence to pin the case on Mrs. Wright. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the play reveals a society that revolves around masculine power but the women outsmarted the men with their sensitivity to another woman dilemma. Women pay more attention to the little things that may lead to the solving of a bigger problem than guys who look at the obvious. Lewis Hale utters, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles" (1067), this is odd because the women found the evidence, and the men didn't. The men were saying things about Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters while the women were examining the quilt. The men were saying things like, "They want to know if she was going to quilt it or knot it" (1070). Since the women concerned themselves with what the men thought was unimportant or of little value, they found the evidence that the men were looking for which was ironic. Mrs. Hale states “Well, I...
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