Gender Roles In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

During the time period from the end of the American Revolution to the Civil War, American womanhood changed greatly. Due to differing beliefs during the time the American women’s ideals became to change. At the time, main beliefs were the “republican motherhood”, or the thought that women had power in the country’s politics in the sense that they raised the next generation, and the “cult of domesticity”, or the thought that women should be submissive, moral, and take care of their husbands and family. These beliefs greatly limited the power of the women in the 18th century. Due to these ideas, such as the “republican motherhood” and “cult of domesticity” during the time period from the American Revolution to the Civil War, women

An initial reading of A Jury of Her Peers suggests that the author focuses on the common stereotypes of women in the 1800s; however, a close reading reveals that the text also examines the idea that they are more capable than men may think. The fact that Mrs. Wright was able to pull off killing her husband by herself and without the men finding out proves that she is very capable and did not need the help of men to pull it off. The men at the time believed that women were incapable of doing things by themselves and thought that they should just stay in the kitchen, cook, and clean. They thought that they could not manage to do things that men could and did not trust them with a man's job.

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, weaves a tale of an intriguing murder investigation to determine who did it. Mrs. Wright is suspected of strangling her husband to death. During the investigation the sheriff and squad of detectives are clueless and unable to find any evidence or motive to directly tie Mrs. Wright to the murder. They are baffled as to how he was strangled by a rope while they were supposedly asleep side by side. Glaspell artfully explores gender differences between men and women and the roles they each fulfill in society by focusing on their physicality, their methods of communication and vital to the plot of the play, their powers of observation. In simple terms, the play suggests that men tend to be assertive,

In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

In the early nineteenth century, women were expected to be, “‘angels in the house,’ loving, self-sacrificing, and chaste wives, mothers and daughters or they are… ultimately doomed” (King et al. 23). Women of this time were supposed to be domestic creatures and not tap so far into their intellectual abilities (King et al.). The role of women in the nineteenth century is described:

In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, the theme of contrasting roles between men and women is magnified by the setting of a lonely, Midwestern farm isolated from the public. This play demonstrates how different the roles between men and women were, and how women were treated. Trifles, also illustrates the changing times in the late 19th century to early 20th century. During this time period, women become more independent and wanted to be equal to men instead of inferior to them.

The men?s prejudice is blatant and although it was easy for Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to pick up on it, they react to it in a variety of ways. Defensively, Mrs. Hale, replies rigidly to the County Attorney?s remark by stating that "there?s a great deal of work to be done on a farm," (958) offering an excuse for Minnie?s lapse in cleaning. Later, he brushes her off when she explains that John Wright was a grim man. To the County Attorney, the women are just there to collect personal items for Minnie, they are not going to give him any valuable insight into the murder. To their credit, the women do not force their thoughts or feelings on the men when biased statements are made in their direction. They hold back and discuss the remarks later after the men go upstairs. Mrs. Peters observes that "Mr. Henderson is awful sarcastic in a speech and he?ll make fun of her sayin? she didn?t wake up" (960). The fact that she believes the men would laugh if they heard the two women discussing the dead canary reveals how sure she is that the men think of them as concerned with the

Glaspell develops the theme of gender roles by what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters fret about at the crime scene. For instance, the first concern that Mrs. Peters voices revolves around Mrs. Wright’s fruit preserves and implies that the women are housekeepers. Both the Sheriff and Mr. Hale remark about how the women are “worryin’ about her preserves” and “worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 3). Later, when the men go upstairs to look for evidence, the women decide to bring Mrs. Wright’s apron, fruit, shawl, and quilt for her in prison. To further establish Mrs. Wright as a domesticated housewife, Mrs. Peters suggests that Mrs. Wright wants her apron “to make her feel more natural” (Glaspell 5). Because of what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discuss at the crime scene, Glaspell verifies that the women play the role of housekeeper and cook.

As The United States transitioned into the 20th century, the idea that women solely belonged in the domestic sphere slowly started to change in the minds of Americans as more and more women entered universities and the work force. But even with these advances in gender equality, women were still excluded from the right to vote until the 1920s. This lack of women’s suffrage in the early 20th century was a reminder that female voices and opinions weren’t of high priority to the government and to society as a whole. Trifles (1916), a short play by Susan Glaspell, paints a picture of the highly restricted lives women led in early 20th century America through the character of Minnie Wright. In this paper, I will argue that the play Trifles shows

Glaspell did something a lot of writer’s wasn’t doing in that day and age; she shined a light on how woman were being treated by their husband and how society viewed them. In the play “Trifles” Glaspell showed how men thought woman we’re naive and dumb by showing the sheriff and attorney coming from down stair after looking for evidence in Mr. and Mrs. Wright Bedroom and the county attorney says “oh I guess they’re not very dangerous thing the ladies have picked out. No, Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising. For matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the law……” (Glaspell.141). When the sheriff said that Mrs.Peter’s was “married to law” he meant that she is married to her husband and addressed only by her husband’s last name; which shows that

The women appear to have a perspective that the things which deserve punishment are the things that could have been prevented. The men make fun of the women as they look for telltale signs of motive in the usual places, looking to prosecute the murderer for what she is. The women have an entirely different view on the situation. Mrs. Hale is remorseful for never visiting Mrs. Wright “I could’ve come. I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful” (Glaspell 1390). The women believe that the crime that should be punished is what could have prevented the crime “Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while! That was a crime” (Glaspell

For the play, the majority of the interactions take place in the kitchen. This is where the men form their opinion about Mrs. Wright. Glaspell describes the kitchen as “gloomy”, which foreshadows the type of relationship Mrs. Wright has with her husband (page 1). The men in the play view the dirty towels, unwashed dishes, and half cleaned table as evidence that Mrs. Wright’s character as a woman could be called into question. But the women see these as what they really are: the kitchen of a woman who was in a controlling relationship and was arrested before she could get the work done. The kitchen is also where the evidence is hidden. The men, considering the kitchen to be the woman’s domain, spend their time looking for clues in the bed-room, the barn, and around the windows. In other words, places were a man would spend most of his time. The women are left to “worry over trifles" (page 4). Yet the key evidence for the investigation is hidden among these trifles. The women find the bird cage and the canary with a broken neck. The sexist nature of the play suggests that these details would not have been found if the women had been left at

Born as Minnie Foster, Mrs. Wright used to live a happy, and lively life. She used to sing in the choir. But after she married Mr. Wright, everything turns gloomy and sad. Her marriage is nothing but lonesome. She married a very oppressive husband, and a neglectful one as well. They never had children. Mrs. Wright owned a canary bird to keep her company, and sane. But unfortunately,