An Analysis Of Susan Glaspell 's ' Trifles '

Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play. In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general.

All the men notice is clutter. The men do not look deeper behind the meanings of this disarray. However, the women do. The women understand that the reason that things such as the towels are not clean is because she more than likely was busy doing her many other chores of the household. They also considered how much trouble Mrs. Wright went to fix the preserves. The women reason that the uncaring concern John had for Minnie and the attention he paid to the house perhaps forced Minnie to resort to killing. Even the County Attorney, Sheriff, and Mr. Hale could not understand all the difficulties women go through. They criticize Mrs. Wright as well as insult all women. Mr. Hale says, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." The actions of just these men show how women were taken for granted in this era. Inevitably, the men are unable to prove that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband but are going to convict her anyway. However, the women have solved the case. They come to the conclusion that Mrs. Wright was not treated very well by her husband and was not able to withstand the mistreatment anymore. They could tell the lack of attention he paid to his wife. The men still have a hard time accepting this concept because they do not believe that men treat women badly.

In Susan Glaspell's “Trifles”, the male characters are depicted as being more sensible, logical and all-knowing gender. It is the men in the play who hold the most noteworthy positions, for example, the county attorney and sheriff. They esteem finding the quickest response to Mr. Wright's murder. They would prefer not to squander in attempt to find the mystery, thus they neglect critical subtle elements, for example, the messy kitchen. They expect that it is more critical to assess the room where Mr. Wright was murdered than to break down how Mrs. Wright kept her home or the couple's relationship. In the earliest reference point of the play, the County Attorney

Symbols are important, especially in literature. They have been known to inspire hope and life, in turn inspiring some of the most profound actions in the history of the world. Yet, humanity’s statement to symbols goes beyond us finding meaning in innominate or non-human objects. People assign humanity into objects, almost a part of themselves. This concept is clearly demonstrated in Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles. The work contains many element of symbolism that make important and relieving comments on the characters of the play and the themes of the story.

The men’s word choice and tone when speaking to Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale comes across as demeaning and belittling. For example, when the men walk in on the women talking about Mrs. Wright’s quilt, the sheriff scoffs, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it!” (Glaspell 601). Although the men limit the women to the “trifles” of housework and childcare, they still continue to mock them for delighting in those few things they are allowed. By continuously ridiculing their character and intelligence, the men are creating an oppressive state for the women to live in. They abuse their roles in the lives of their wives and ultimately spoil the concept of a happy marriage, creating tension and conflict between the men and women of their

The gender differences in the play are obvious and important to the story. The men in this play exhibit some traditional stereotypes of men during the time period, such that they were aggressive and self-centered. The women seem to be more cautious, intuitive and sensitive. These traits allow the women to come a lot closer to figuring out the murder than the men do. At one point in the play the women find a quilt that Mrs. Wright had been working on. Mrs. Hale asks Mrs. Peters, “I wonder if she was goin’ to quilt it or just knot it?” (658). Just then the sheriff comes down the stairs and once again ridicules the women for worrying about such little things. “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it!” (658), he exclaims. This is actually an important piece of evidence in the story, as the ladies find out later. They realize that she was extremely nervous about something while she was sewing, because she usually sews “so nice and even” (658), but the piece she had been working on was “all over the place” (658).

Have you ever wondered what is going on in someone else’s life? Mrs. Wright is the wife of the local farmer Mr. Wright. Her original name was Minnie Foster and she loved to sing and always seemed to be very happy with her life. Then things changed when she married John Wright. She became unhappy and isolated herself from others. Mrs. Wright’s relationship with her husband was terrible because he was always down on her and negative towards her everything she had ever loved. Needless to say, all of her happiness and joy was gone forever. Mrs. Wright’s relationship with others was very minimal. She isolated herself in her house all alone in a hollow that no one can see from the road. Mrs. Wright has become a recluse. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell,

Susan Glaspell challenges society’s set ideas of gender roles through her one-act mystery play “Trifles”. At first glance, Glaspell creates a seemly innocent metaphor comparing Minnie Foster to a bird, however as the play progresses a darker tone of the metaphor unravels – one that illustrates how easily women can be trapped into their gender roles, as birds can be in cages. This theme becomes clear, when Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover a broken birdcage and a strangled canary while gathering things to bring to her in prison. Upon discovering the birdcage with a missing door hidden in the cupboard, Mrs. Hale cannot recall whether Minnie had a bird or not.

Death of a loved one can prove to be hardest thing to get over. The grief period is long and going through it is torture. Yet, there are people in the world who are easily able to murder not only others, but people they know including family. Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” is a drama play reenacting the events that occurred during a court case of the murder of John Wright. It contains multiple negative elements of human nature including: trauma, blaming oneself, mental health, grief, and prejudice.

“Trifles” is a one act play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, which was first performed on August 8th by the Provincetown Players in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Wharf Theater. The author, Susan Glaspell, was born on July 1, 1876 in Davenport, Iowa. Over her lifetime she had become proficient in many different professions: Playwright, Actress, Novelist, and Journalist. For her works, she won an American Pulitzer Prize in 1931. The Provincetown Players was founded by Susan Glaspell and her husband, George Cram Cook. This was the first modern American theater company. Most of her works centered on current issues at the time such at gender roles between males and females. Susan Glaspell was not the typical woman of her time, she decided to go to school and get herself an education and find herself a her own career instead of waiting around for a husband. In 1899, Glaspell graduated from Drake University in Iowa and found herself a job as a journalist for the Des Monies Daily newspaper. The play Trifles was based upon a story that Glaspell reported on when she was a journalist.

By using a play by play of the scenes in the play, the article pays close attention to the “trifles” the women paid close attention to while the men ridiculed them for it. The article also mentions how, “women’s responsibilities and concerns tend to remain somewhat distinct from men’s.” Because of this

A trifle is something that has little value or importance, and there are many seeming "trifles" in Susan Glaspell's one-act play "Trifles." The irony is that these "trifles" carry more weight and significance than first seems to be the case. Just as Glaspell's play ultimately reveals a sympathetic nature in Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the evidence that the men investigators fail to observe, because they are blind to the things that have importance to a woman, reveals the identity of the murderer and are, therefore, not really "trifles," after all. Thus, the title of the play has a double-meaning: it refers, satirically, to the way "trifling" way some men perceive women, and it also acts as an ironic gesture to the fact that women are not as "trifling" as these men make them out to be. This paper will analyze setting, characters, plot, stage directions, symbolism, themes and genre to show how Glaspell's "Trifles" is an ironic indictment not of a murderess but rather of the men who push women to such acts.

Hale both decide to make a joke out of a murder. By hiding the truth from the authorities, they could have received charges for obstruction of justice and received jail time ( Cornell ). The other viewpoint would be from the women in the story or possibly anyone reading it. After years of constant neglect and criticism, Mrs. Wright decided to break out the cage of a marriage she was in with her husband. Feeling for her pain, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale mock the men as they investigate the crime scene. By not telling the truth to the Mr. Hale and the County Attorney, the women are getting revenge on the men for the they have been treating them.

Mrs. Peters, we'll call her the antagonist, repeatedly brings up the fact that the men are only doing their job and that the law will determine Mrs. Wright's fate. Mrs. Hale, on the other hand, as the protagonist, resents the men's "sneaking" and "snooping around. Now she turns the men's stereotype of women against them. She feels guilty about not being around the Wright's farmhouse more often.

Susan Glaspell's Trifles explores the classical male stereotype of women by declaring that women frequently worry about matters of little, or no importance. This stereotype makes the assumption that only males are concerned with important issues, issues that females would never discuss or confront. The characters spend the entirety of the play searching for clues to solve a murder case. Ironically, the female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, uncover crucial evidence and solve the murder case, not the male characters. The men in the play, the Sheriff, County Attorney, and Hale, search the scene of the crime for evidence on their own, and mock the women's discussions. The women's interest in the quilt,