Compare And Contrast Faulkner And Trifles

Women were not a man’s equal, throughout history. Especially in the early 20th century women were not in the same arena as men. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “trifle” as something of “little value, substance, or importance,” (www.merriam-webster.com) which is the way women are seen in both William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” and Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles. Both authors use of style and settings are different, but their theme is the same. Faulkner and Glaspell were born and wrote in approximately the same era, America’s late 19th and early 20th centuries. Glaspell, the author of Trifles, is from the northern United States and uses a lower class, uneducated vernacular of that area; whereas, “A Rose for Emily” is written in an eloquent upper-class English tone, by Faulkner who was from the south. Faulkner metaphorically and symbolically describes the personality, life, and death of the main character, Ms. Emily Grierson, in the murder- mystery surrounding her. Glaspell’s murder -mystery Trifles also surrounds the life and death of the main character, Mrs. Wright, and her husband. These writings, while representing opposite ends of the socio-economic spectrum, outline the main characters as isolated and lonely, because of social class, the time in history, and the men did not respect femininity.

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.

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play “Trifles” was written in 1916. It was written based on real events. When Glaspell was a reporter, she covered a murder case in a small town in Iowa. Later, she wrote this short play which was inspired by her investigation and what she observed. Glaspell used irony, symbolism, and setting in her creation of the authentic American drama, “Trifles”, to express life for women in a male-dominated society in the early nineteen hundreds.

Throughout history, and especially in the early 20th century, women were not in the same arena as men; they were not a man’s equal. The Mariam-Webster Online Dictionary, defines “trifle” as something of “little value, substance, or importance,” which is the way women are seen in both William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” and Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles. Both authors use of style and settings are different but their theme is the same. Faulkner and Glaspell were born and wrote in approximately the same era, America’s late 19th and early 20th centuries. Glaspell, the author of Trifles is from the northern United States and uses a lower class, uneducated vernacular of that area; whereas, “A Rose for Emily” is written in an eloquent upper-class English tone, by Faulkner who was from the south. Faulkner metaphorically and symbolically describes the personality, life, and death of the main character, Ms. Emily Grierson, and the murder- mystery surrounding her. Glaspell’s murder -mystery Trifles also surrounds the life and death of the main character, Mrs. Wright, and her husband. Both women, while representing opposite ends of the socio-economic class spectrum, are isolated and lonely,not only due to their social class but also due to a time in history when men were not kind to the “fairer sex.”

The play Susan Glaspell's Trifles were written in the 1900s. “Susan Keating Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa, on July 1, 1876” (Noe 48). “She graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a Ph. B. in Philosophy” (Waterman 13). The play Trifles was about the murder of Mr. Wright taken place in their farm house during the winter season. The title of the play was chosen because men only thought of the women as trifles. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus the word trifles is “something that does not have much value or importance”. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters conceal the evidence that implicate Mrs. Wright in the murder of her husband because they knew how men felt toward women, however Mrs. Wright was a good woman and a hard working farmer’s wife.

Oppressive gender roles are expressed first through the title Trifles itself. By definition, a trifle is a thing of little value or importance. Whenever the women were talking about Mrs. Wright’s preserves, Hale laughs, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 598). Using the word trifles as the title indicates that the play contains a shallow, meaningless theme or concept, but the truths found in the theme of the title are actually very far from insignificant. The trifles, although perceived by the men as trivial,

J.K. Rowling states, “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” A person may have the capability to do extraordinary things but if one decides to not use their abilities, a person simply cannot prove anything. Life choices not only define who you are, but can determine the rest of your life. The two short stories, “Hills like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway and “A&P” written by John Updike along with the One-Act play, “Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell show how important choices are and how they can represent a person.

Trifles is a play about a married woman who was trapped in a abusive relationship with her husband. The play starts with a man named John Wright who was murdered in his bed by his own wife, Mrs. Wright. Mr.s Wrights reasons for murdering her husband was because the relationship between the two was lonely, unhealthy, and revengeful.

"Trifles," a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, is a cleverly written story about a murder and more importantly, it effectively describes the treatment of women during the early 1900s. In the opening scene, we learn a great deal of information about the people of the play and of their opinions. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. The weather outside is frighteningly cold, and yet the men enter the warm farmhouse first. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Mrs. Hale?s and Mrs. Peters?s treatment from the men in the play is reflective of the beliefs of that time. These women, aware of

Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, is a real life murder case that uses symbolism to help solve a mystery. Glaspell's use of dialect, set on a midwestern farm, emphasizes the town's gender-separated society. Isolationism, a quilt, and incomplete house work are the three key symbols in the play the help the reader figure out who murdered Mrs. Wright's husband.

Trifles is a play written by Susan Glaspell referring to the early 1900's. In this play Glaspell wrote about a woman who murder her husband for killing the only thing that kept her company, a bird. When Mrs. Hale finds Mr. Wright dead she sends her husband (Harry) to notify the coroner. As the men are trying to find evidence of what caused Mr. Wrights death, the women hide the evidence. Glaspell's character Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are both round characters, Mrs. Hale feels guilty while Mrs. Peters tone changes towards the end of the play.

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.

What is a trifle? A trifle is something that has little to no importance (dictionary.com). For instance, the color of your nails would be considered a trifle. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, women are criticized and made fun of by men because of the little things they worry about, such as the color of their nails or their hair. This exhibits the gender role difference portrayed during the play’s time period. The central conflict is what the plot is centered around. In Trifles, the central conflict involves the investigation the Mr. Wright’s murder. As the story progresses, we learn that the women’s trifles would’ve helped the men solve the murder, which is ironic. Numerous accounts of symbolism, relating Mrs.Wright to the bird, is also found

Trifles a play about the death of a woman’s soul. She is overwhelmed by her controlling husband and in the end killed him for choking her spirit. Glaspell personifies male types in a different way than females. The men of this play act like a man would in 1916. The men are governing and have very little real admiration for their women. In 1916, Glaspell opened the door for the women’s rights movements. This story displays how the male and female types relate with each other and how the women are the ones who solve and understand the murder of Mr. Wright.

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,