Gender Differences In 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.

Hale, and Mrs. Peters. Mr. Hale was the first one to visit the Wright home after the murder, so the sheriff immediately questions him. Because this is a play the actors have to talk to each other, so the audience knows what’s going on. Another way that the play goes into an action way is the aloofness of Mrs. Wright. Whenever Mr. Hale was being questioned he mentioned his encounter with Mrs. Wright saying that he would ask where her husband was, and she wouldn’t respond and just sit there in her chair and knit. The men then go on to criticize Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping, after the men leave the women say, “I’d hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticizing” (561). The short story has the same sentence except the short story surrounds that statement with an explanation of some of Mrs. Hale’s thoughts. For example, Mrs. Hale is described as having felt a strange feeling “then, as if releasing something strange, Mrs. Hale began to rearrange the dirt pans under the sink” (573). The play cannot provide description of emotions but shows them through action. “A Jury of her

In Mrs.Wright’s living room Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters found a strangely knitted quilt. When they found it Mrs.Hale said, “It’s log cabin pattern. Pretty isn’t it? I wonder if she was going’ to quilt it or just knot it” (Glaspell, 1916/2017). They were fascinated by it because it was very different than a normal one. But the Sheriff thought it was dumb of them to be thinking about quilt making. The Sheriff said, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it” (Glaspell,1916/2017). The men mock the women because the women recognized the quilt rather than them. By the end of the play it was the women who found enough evidence to prosecute Mrs.Wright but because of the poor degrading them and treating them poorly, they decided to hide the evidence and keep safe Mrs.Wright.

In the kitchen, the dishes are dirty, bread is sitting out on the counter, and everything is in disarray. The County Attorney is disturbed, because the kitchen is not clean. The men assume that Mrs. Wright must have not been a very tidy person. In this time era, men expected women to keep the house tidy and clean, cheerful, and decorated according to the County Attorney in Trifles; he states, “It’s not cheerful. I shouldn’t say she had the homemaking instinct” (1031). Men during this era think that women should only be in the house worrying about what the inside of a house should look. In the County Attorney’s mind, the house should have been warm, clean, organized, and presenting a happy feeling. This is a demonstration of how hard a woman’s life is when she is expected to be when a man’s views think of how a woman should be in the household, for example a slave to cooking, cleaning, and sewing. As shown in the beginning of the play, the men leave the women in the kitchen to gather some of Mrs. Wright’s items she requested as if this is where these women belong. The men go upstairs and out to the farmhouse to investigate for clues for a motive to prove that Mrs. Wright is guilty of the murder of her husband. The men never investigate the kitchen for any clues since they feel there is no significance in the kitchen. The kitchen is an area for women to do cooking and cleaning, which makes them feel there is nothing important in this area. Men

The play begins in Mrs. Wright’s kitchen. The Sheriff, county attorney, and a few neighbors are there because Mrs. Wright’s husband has been murdered. The question is, who murdered him and why? Could Mrs. Wright be a tragic hero? The men are in the process of investigating the murder, but the women are more worried about the appearance of the house. While the women are in kitchen discussing the appearance of the kitchen and the fact that Mrs. Wright was worried about her fruit preserves, the county attorney makes the comment, “I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about.” (3) Mrs. Hale responds with, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (3)

Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, is a one act play written in 1916 of a woman, Minnie Wright who was accused of murdering her husband. Throughout the play the Sheriff and the County Attorney search the house for evidence of what caused Mrs. Wright to kill her husband. Mrs. Hale is the wife of Mr. Hale and neighbor to Minnie Wright. Mrs. Peters, the wife of the sheriff, is new to town and does not know the former Mrs. Wright. Although Mrs. Wright is not present during the action of the play, she is constantly mentioned. The readers get to know a lot more about Mrs. Wright through the conversation of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. Glaspell uses dialogue between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to identify Mrs. Wright

Throughout American history, stereotypes about gender socialization and gender roles have existed in society. During the late 19th to the early 20th century, genders roles began to shift. This is mainly due to the shift as more women took on more professional affairs. Because of this shift, women became less reliant on male dependency, allowing them to be socially equal in the eyes of men. In Susan Glaspell’s play, "Trifles" makes a moving statement how the gender roles were in the early 20th century and how women were treated. The play takes place on a midwestern farm inside a farmer 's house during this period. After law enforcement was called to investigate a crime scene, one the men belittle his wife. At this point, the women 's

Trifles is a play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 about the investigation of a murder. Together the sheriff and his wife, the county attorney, and a neighboring couple, study a murder case in the home where it occurred. The two women pay more attention to the makeup of the home rather than the police report, which gave them an advantage in finding evidence. In the play Trifles, women challenge the stereotype of male dominance through the author’s use of symbolism and diction to find evidence for the murder case at hand.

During the time period in which the story is set (early 1900”s) there is a difference in the way women are treated compared to men. As women, their duties were in the household, taking care of the kitchen and other chores; therefore, their opinion was not taken serious. Men, on the other hand, were seen as tough and intelligent. With this mind, it is safe to say that there is sexism present in the story. The moment in which the sheriff laughs at Mrs. Hale question about the piece being quilted or knotted makes clear that women and their opinions and/or actions were seemingly unimportant. “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 728) Even though the men in the story seemed to be smart, they lacked the instinct that women had

The one-act play, Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell implements the ideologies of law and ethics and the relationship between the two moral codes by exemplifying feminine qualities in the female characters of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in contrast to the masculine motivations of the main male characters of the county attorney, George Henderson, and the sheriff, Henry Peters. Glaspell emphasizes femininity and masculinity of the characters to reiterate the strengths and weaknesses of the two characteristics by arguing both points of view through emotional motifs and rational principles. The argument of law and ethics is also reiterated through the characterization of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters and the ethical standpoint of committing a crime whereas

Throughout the play, the movement of men into and out of the room determines the way the female characters would not only maneuver but speak as well. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters become physically and psychologically contiguous throughout the play as the bond bound by gender become more evident, signifying the solidarity important for women to create and maintain a "silent voice", while determining justice as they see

Men would treat women as worthless maids only useful for their service to please the men rather than treating them with equal respect. Mr. Hale believed that “... women are used to worrying about trifles,” (Glaspell 3). The play condemns this disrespectful manner of speaking to women by revealing that the solution to the case are ironically the ‘trifles’ that the women are worrying about, not the wit of trained gentlemen. Another theme of the play concerns whether a person should prefer their humane duty or the law, which is mostly represented through the character of Mrs. Peters. She is ‘married to the law’ yet she has sympathy for Mrs.

    Mrs. Hale, however, does ultimately understand what Mrs. Wright is about. She comprehends the desperation, loneliness, and pain that

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.