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Trifles By Susan Glaspell

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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 …show more content…
“This feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies Mrs. Peters (after taking a step forward). I’m not—cold.” The ladies denial to go over to stove shows their feelings that they do not belong in men’s business. The young Attorneys invitation for the ladies to come over to the fire was a display of evolving generations. An older Attorney

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