...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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...Trifles The sensitivity of feminism was very complicated in early 20th century, and Trifles by Susan Glaspell comes out not only for entertainment to this day but also it’s a message to the world about gender roles in expect actions. The story took place in the kitchen, which was the domain of Mrs. Wright and the women, whereas the men were not so familiar. The background of the story focuses on one side, the women, and it is known for inequality of gender through history. By using the bird cage and the bird are symbolisms, and the way protecting their friend Mrs. Wright from being charged with murder, which is the guilty between of feminism and the world dominated by men. Trifles by Susan Glaspell represents the problem of gender discrimination in terms of crime and guilt. The birdcage represents a falling marriage, and it is a first motive in establishing guilt. The birdcage is a physical trap to keep the bird or ant kind of animals, and they are not free and loneliness. As the same Mrs. Wright was trapped in her marriage, and could not escape it. Whatever she does everything and couldn’t keep her free, and that will become a strong motive to push her make up a guilt. The birdcage’s door, which represents her troubled marriage to Mr. Wright, is broken. We can compare Mrs. Wright to a wild animals who just want to escape the trap as same as her marriage from Mr. Wright. Whenever the door open, it allowed Mrs. Wright to become a free woman. At that point in time, the cage’s...
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...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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...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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...usually refer to the moment when the crime is submitted to 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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...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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...Why does gender create conflict? There has been an issue between the genders since the beginning of time. Even though the conflict has lessened due to change over time, it continues to make an impact in today’s society. In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, the central conflict is derived from sexist gender roles. The central conflict is driven from gender issues such as the different task placed on the genders, and how they treat each other; Glaspell conveys her message with the use of multiple literary elements such as symbolism, flashback, and dramatic irony. First of all, the daily tasks that the men and women uphold drive the central conflict between the genders. The men viewed the women as just housekeepers. For example, “Dirty towels! Not...
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...Paper #02 English Composition II, Section 09 10/16/14 Women’s Role in Society in the 1800’s Women in the 1800’s were often not taken as seriously as their male counterparts were. Women were limited by pre-existing societal boundaries that had been put in place many years before they were born. This is prevalent in both “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen and in “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell. In these works, the women are expected to act and behave in certain ways based on how society thinks they should and the men openly express their opinions on what the women are worried with and what they should be doing. Women in this time period were expected to do things in a certain way or speak and act a certain way just because of their gender. Because of this women had certain roles in their homes. Nora for instance, was pretty limited to what she could do because she was a woman. She would have to follow everything that her husband Torvald told her to do. When Torvald would suspect Nora of not listening she would exclaim, “I should not think of going against your wishes,” (Ibsen 231).This proves just how compliant Nora, and most women, were to their husbands. She wasn’t even allowed to borrow money from anyone unless her husband gave permission. “No, a wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent,” (Ibsen 236). Men controlled everything the women did and to go behind their back and do something on their own was considered betrayal. Women also didn’t work a lot...
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...In the time period this story was written woman did not have the rights they were supposed to have. Men still felt dominant and could get away with things a lot easier. Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a play that not only gives the reader a understanding of deceit but also an understanding of unity. Deceit and unity are both shown by two key characters, both decide to follow a path that as woman could get them into trouble but in the process do things in respect to a woman's unity. In the story Trifles the Wrights home is being searched by the law for evidence to show that Mrs.Wright killed her husband. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters help the search, Mrs. Hale is her neighbor and Mrs. Peters is the sheriffs wife. In the text Mrs. Hale stands up for...
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...As the title of the drama by Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” suggests, the concerns women have are just trifles, small issues of unimportance that have no importance to men. The author effectively uses conflict, dramatic irony, and verbal irony to illustrate the theme of unfair traditional gender roles to the reader. The use of these literary devices causes deep thought-provoking interest makes this drama a successful literary art. Glaspell clearly illustrates the subjugation of women by their male counter parts and cause the audience to question the value of men and women’s perspective by creating tension filled conflict. Conflict should provide interest, suspense, and tension between two opposing forces. Right at the beginning of the drama the conflict is between the group of men who are investing the murder and the women who were there to collect the items for Mrs. Wright. The conflict between the two forces began when the men went towards the stove and left the women at the door .The author used the separation between the men circled at the stove and the women at the door to show how women are left out of important business and social transactions. When the young...
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...2015 An Investigation of "Trifles" Written in 1916, Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” begins as a murder mystery but soon becomes an examination of marriage and domestic life as an institution of repression and suffocation. Minnie is driven to kill her husband; by not providing a specific incident to trigger the murder, the presumption is that it is committed as a result of prolonged and systemic suffering over a period of time, as opposed to a crime of passion. Minnie is not so much murdering John as she is killing her marriage outright. The play rivets attention to Martha and Mrs. Peters, who ultimately solve the murder (although keep this information withheld), by exploring their unique...
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...Encaged Gender roles throughout the years have greatly progressed in the right direction. However compared to their counterparts of today, women in the 19th and 20th century were restrained by a metaphoric glass ceiling. Nora Helmer from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Minnie Foster from Susan Glaspell’s Trifles are both victims of falling into gender roles of their time and trying to challenge or break out of the cultural mold made for females. Nora’s husband Torvald continually treats Nora as an inferior and she accepts the treatment to conform to his needs. This is common for the time as the story takes place in Norway in 1879. Minnie Foster also known as Mrs. Wright, is also treated as an inferior by her husband, Mr. Wright. However, unlike Nora, Mrs. Wright’s story takes place in the Midwest. Mrs. Wright had no one to gather support from due to isolation. By today’s standards, both women were subject to conforming to gender roles, but both women were also able to challenge these ideas. Both stories closely relate to each other in a way that disputes gender roles of the time. Nora Helmer seems to have conformed to her gender role. It seems that everything she does must get Torvald’s approval. She is a house wife, Torvald provides her with everything. For example, he gives her money and he even has hired a nanny to watch after their children. Torvald is a man that is deeply concerned with public image; he is very worried about his and the family’s reputation. When she...
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...April 7th 2009 Lit & Comp Trifles Marriage and beliefs can cause tension when it comes to law and justice. This is demonstrated in the one act play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. “Trifles” is a play that takes place in the early 20th century. This play is set at the scene of a murder, where a house wife is suspected of killing her husband. The story comes down to two women deciding what to do with newly found evidence. This causes tension between law and justice. The treatments these women receive during this story portray a larger statement about the role of gender and justice in society. For example, the Sheriff, Mr. Peters and his wife represent the conflict between law and justice because Mrs. Peters has to choose between her marriage to the “law” and her beliefs of justice. One important role in this story is sexism. “Trifles” involves drama within the male dominated society of the time period. The men in this play such as the Sheriff, the County Attorney, and Mr. Hale all represent the law. These men are in the play to try to enforce the law and find evidence against the suspected murderer Mrs. Wright. Justice is demonstrated in the characters Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are at the crime scene supporting their husbands to find evidence. After being mocked by their husbands, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale conceal the evidence they find to bring Mrs. Wright closer to justice. Mrs. Peters keeps her mouth shut and goes along with Mrs....
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