An Analysis Of Zora Neale Hurston's 'Trifles' By Susan Glaspell

The play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 is based on the murder of John Wright where the prime suspect is his spouse; Minnie Foster. “Trifles” is fixated on the investigation of the social division realized by the strict gender roles that enable the two men and women to have contending points of view on practically every issue. This is found in the way the men view the kitchen as they consider it as not having anything of significant worth. From the earliest starting point, the two women and men possess distinctive positions. For instance, the women are unimportant guests to Minnie Foster's home while the men have desired authority obligation.

“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is situated in 1916 and is a one act play which incorporates essential components of what the women’s rights movement was about. After moving on from Iowa’s Drake University in 1899, Glaspell commenced her writing vocation of composing short stories and books. The play from Glaspell recounts the story of a homicide mystery involving the married couple of Mrs. Wright (Minnie) and her spouse, the murder victim, John Wright; this story also incorporates the outlook of society towards women being viewed as beneath men. “Trifles” demonstrates the unfair mentality regularly acknowledged among men towards women in 1916. In addition, it showcases the big role comradery plays for women in becoming equal represented

As the women walk through the house, they begin to get a feel for what Mrs. Wright’s life is like. They notice things like the limited kitchen space, the broken stove, and the broken jars of fruit and begin to realize the day-to-day struggles that Mrs. Wright endured. The entire house has a solemn, depressing atmosphere. Mrs. Hale regretfully comments that, for this reason and the fact that Mr. Wright is a difficult man to be around, she never came to visit her old friend, Mrs. Wright.

Mrs. Mallard finds out that her husband has just died, "she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment." The character of Josephine is there to represent her conflict against society. As the story starts up, she as Mrs. Mallard turns to her sister Josephine and weeps in her arms after hearing the sudden news of her husband's death. This is her acknowledging the grief that society expects her to feel. Her openness to Josephine represents the acceptance that came with acting in accordance with what society expected. Mrs. Mallard displays her strength, “When the storm of grief … away to her room alone.” The fact that she does not bring Josephine with her implies the conflict that is about to take place." Josephine is the social norms, assuming that she is weak without her husband by her side. Mrs. Mallard's isolation from this assumption represents that she has strength and can stand on her own. This expected strength is confirmed as Chopin writes, "Josephine was kneeling … lips to the keyhole”, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! … before you make yourself ill." The closed door to Josephine shows her decision to close her

Writings from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s often depict husbands as controlling. This would lead to the demise of their wives. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman the husband’s insistence upon control, leaves their wives longing for the freedom of simple expression. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates how the husband is the controlling figure in the marriage. The two short stories also expose how the oppression put on them by their husband leaves the women unfulfilled and unhappy with their lives.

In the early 1900’s, both males and females were perceived as complete opposites of eachother. Women were considered physically weaker and morally superior to men. The gender roles during this time period were clearly demonstrated in the play “Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell. At a first glance it may seem like the play is only about the death of Mr. Wright. The play could simply be interpreted that the characters all work together to determine the murderer of Mr. Wright. The initial perception overlooks how the women were treated during this time period. The men conclude that the women are incapable of finding the murderer of Mr. Wright only because they are female. Similarly, Mr. Wright does not think twice about how poorly he treats his wife

The short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell compare two married women who live under the shadow of their husbands. Both of these stories were written in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during the time when women were treated unequally. Women had limited rights. For example, they could not vote, voice their opinion or work outside the home. Glaspell and Chopin were considered feminist writers who focus their writing on the struggle of women during the time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was beginning; these short stories reflect women’s struggles under the control of men. Married women were responsible for taking care of the household, children and wifely duties while the husbands were responsible for consistently managing the title of “the breadwinner.” Married women were expected to be discreet and obedient to their husbands, which meant that the wives could not express their opinions because of society’s expectations of women. In the short stories, “The Story of An Hour”, by Kate Chopin and “The Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell, Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Wright share a prominent similarity concerning the loss of their individual identity during marriage and realize that the death of their husbands allow them to regain their self-identity.-

The play examines the relationships between husbands and wives and reflects stereotypes of gender, particularly a marriage that ended in murder. The setting, a messy kitchen, reflects to me that the women stand together, emphasizing both the way they have been pushed together by their male-dominated society but also, possibly, their loyalty to each other over their husbands, a topic explored in the play. The men repeatedly dismiss things as beneath their notice if they are things such as the canning jars of fruit that are, in their opinions, women’s concerns. The men never recognize that they have forced the women to be concerned about these things, by not allowing them to be concerned about anything else. The men’s dismissal reflects a larger mindset of devaluing women and their opinions and interests in general.

Mrs. Wright is referred to when Mrs. Hale speaks of her by using her maiden name, when saying ?I wish you?d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang.? The old rocking chair symbolizes Mrs. Wright as she has allowed herself to depreciate, just as the rocking chair has depreciated. ?The chair sagged to one side,? Mrs. Hale stated that the chair was not anything like she remembered, referring to the fact that Mrs. Wright has also changed since she

Susan Glaspell’s most memorable one-act play, Trifles (1916) was based on murder trial case that happened in the 1900’s. Glaspell worked as a reporter, where she appointed a report of a murder case. It was about a farmer, John Hossack who was killed while he was asleep in bed one night. His wife claimed that she was asleep next to him when the attack occurred. No one believed in her statement, she was arrested and was charged on first degree murder.

I think the theme of any play, poem, or writing in general is a very important component to be able to understand and analyze fully. I think one of the main themes within this play is solitude. When first looking at this play by Susan Glaspell, one may not think of solitude being a major theme. After reading it through a few times, I found multiple ideas that point to the theme of solitude. For example, Glaspell mentions how Mrs. Wright was often alone. On page 1112, the County Attorney asked what Mrs. Wright was doing when Lewis Hale found her and he says “she was rockin’ back and forth. She had her apron in her hand and was kind of—pleating it” (Glaspell). After reading this section, we know that Mrs. Wright was found alone in her rocking chair and that points to the overall theme of solitude. Even before the death of her husband, she felt isolated from the world because of how controlling her husband was. As a reader, I felt bad for her because she felt isolated before her husband’s death and still feels isolated in the end because she is alone. I feel like she has to be happier without him around even though she is still alone. Just like Mrs. Wright, the bird in the story was found in solitude by

Women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had specific roles determined by the males who were dominant in their society. Women began to write stories which told their gender roles in that era. The authors of these stories lived in this time period and their stories reflect a lot of the traditional roles that were expected of them. The author’s purposes, were to tell about how marriage imprisoned women in this period of time. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s stories provide examples of the gender roles. Their reasoning of writing these stories was to call on women of this era to learn how to empower themselves in this society.

“There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul” (Chopin 443). This quote, again, depicts how Mrs. Mallard had little to no freedom. The open window in this sentence represents the new life she has in front of her that is refreshed and cleaned. All she needs to do is get rid of the weight that is holding her back, which, in this case, is the sorrow and sadness she is feeling over her husbands death. Once she realizes this, she gets up and looks out at her new life with excitement that is uncontrolled.

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,