Gender Differences In Trifles By Susan Gaspell

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, sexism has been an ongoing conflict for women and still occurs even today. Constant fights over equal pay, the right to vote, and the right to work has become a major issue for women all over the years. In Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, she explores the stereotypes and differences between the genders. The play was written and takes place in 19th century during the time where women were not treated the same as men. Written during that period, Trifles, deals with the rights of women and assumptions about women in society during that time. This feminist drama surrounds the murder of, John wright, who was found strangled in his house. Throughout the play, the audience recognizes that the women solve the murder mystery of Mr. Wright. While the men are oblivious to the truth because of their assumptions. Glaspell not only questions the women’s roles in society, but the knowledge and aspect that are valued within the specific contexts. Trifles utilizes irony to present the life problems faced by women during that time.

In today’s society, we generally view upon everyone as equal; however this view did not exist for decades. Throughout history, there were many instances showing that men dominated women and women were often seen as left with less important or treated as an inferior being. Women were often expected to be good mothers to their children as well as caretakers to their husband. After reading the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, I was able to grasp the important facts about social views of women and their domestic roles. Glaspell’s play depicts the gender inequality which exists in the society, drawing significant attention to the societal values of women at that time. Although women’s roles are treated as unimportant, she depicts women’s

“Trifles” is a perplexing drama that begins with a murder in a midwestern farmhouse. John Wright is found dead with a knot tied perfectly around his neck. In this one act play, Susan Glaspell, reveals the truth of women's suffrage during the early twentieth century. Women are restricted when it comes to individual rights. Without being able to vote, be a part of a jury, and working mostly out of their home, women have the unfair disadvantage in life. “Trifles” shows the treatment women undergo. The main theme of “Trifles” is the contrast of genders, stereotypes, and how view each other’s role.

The plot of both Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House” provides scope for a few scenes that lack the presence of all or any men. These scenes, consisting of communication between the female characters, assist in developing the theme of women openly defying the fact that the society they live in is primarily run by men. All the power and authority in their society, no matter the situation, belongs to the men while the women are simply excluded. The women in these plays defy the norms set by society and manage to evade the expectations of their patriarchal societies.

Susan Glaspell uses a variety of symbols in her play to demonstrate the stereotypical view and treatment of women by men during the start of the twentieth century. She intricately portrays the female characters in her story as intelligent, but passive due to the fact that males dismiss their ideas and conversations as unimportant. The play, Trifles, uses multiple symbols to show how men fail to recognize the intelligence of women, and oppress the feminists’ way of thinking throughout society.

Though numerous strides have been made to eliminate the equality gap between men and women, there are fundamental ideals in our culture that are detrimental to women. In 1916 Susan Glaspell attempted to expose, and shatter the male dominating norms in her one-act play Trifles. By juxtaposing the misogynistic, dismissive behavior of the men in the story with the reserved and intelligent demeanor of the women, Glaspell successfully portrays women as the strong and empowered people they truly are.

"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

Glaspell writes the poem using a gender defender style. As the title of the play by Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” suggests, the concerns of women are often considered to be simple trifles, unimportant issues that bear little or no importance to the true work of society, which, of course, is being carried out by men. Glaspell questions, and in so doing calls the reader or viewer to also question, the value of men’s and women’s perspectives and work by setting up a tension-filled drama that unfolds through the development of two distinct narratives, one male and one

Throughout history women have been handed a subservient role to her male counterpoint. Females in the late 19th and early 20th century were treated like a second-class citizen, and were thought of as being the weaker sex. It was the women’s job to stay home to cook and raise the children. While these are still prevalent issues, it is also true that things has gotten better for some women in recent years. Works like “The Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell have helped advance the idea of what roles women should play in society. In each play there are strong, female protagonists who, despite being oppressed by the societal rules against women, learn to rebel and fight for what they believe is right. While there are

“Trifles” a play by Susan Glaspell, emphasizes the thought that women were kept in their homes and their contributions to the home and family went unappreciated and unnoticed. The play gives readers a view of how women were view and treated during the 1900’s. As a female analyzing the play, Mrs. Wright’s motive for killing Mr. Wright was quite clear. Susan Glaspell gives her readers a feminist approach, to demonstrate how Mrs. Wright’s murdering of her husband is justified.

A Symbol can be specified as an experience, from both a perceptive point of view as well as a creative one. The specific use of the term “Symbolism” relates to the cultured movement; of different styles of writing, that began in the nineteenth century which has a major role in literary arts. Susan Glaspell uses symbolism in Trifles as a literary device to highlight the theme of feminine identity. Here, Glaspell provides women with a numerous amount of symbols to justify their feelings and making it easy for them to hinder the investigation. In this drama, details are thoroughly thought out and selectively placed to give the reader more ambition to find their own explanation of the symbols. Glaspell’s symbolism helps paint a picture that is

Susan Glaspell purposely hid the names of the female characters to symbolize that they don’t have an identity. Only the men receive a first name in Trifles, while the play refers to the women by their husbands' last names. The role that society has cast them in is one that is defined by their husbands. This shows how women were oppressed by not allowing them to have their own names unless they were called by their husband’s last name. Susan Glaspell gives good examples in how their marital status changes the female characters’s names. In the play Mrs. Hale says: “… I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster…” (1972). The reader can see how the name changes according to her marital status, and how she was unhappy probably because she was being oppressed by her husband. In “The “Trifles” of Feminism” Christina McLure really makes a good point in that Mr. Wright always tried to

It’s a hot, sticky summer afternoon in Iowa in 1910. A woman stands in the kitchen cleaning the grease from her husband’s daily work. After finally managing to make her newborn lay down for a nap, her husband busts through the front door, waking the baby. While comforting the baby, she asks her husband what his reason is for making such a ruckus. Ignoring the question, he asks for his cigars. She hands them to him as he walks out the front door. He says that he is going back to town to fetch some things. She asks if she can go with him since she’s been at home all day, but he denies her request by saying that she needs to be at home with the baby and not busy with other unimportant things. This is what women of that time and even some women now would experience in their daily life. Gender inequality has always been occurring, and it is a major obstacle being tackled today. Problems with the education system, workforce, and marriages have existed for many years, and the feminist movement was created to combat these problems. Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is one of the first feminist pieces of literature. Many themes arise in the one-act play, but the most important theme is the idea of gender separation. In the play Trifles, Glaspell uses mystery to display the theme of gender separation and to uncover an implicit conflict.