Gender Roles In Trifles And A Doll's House

In the early 1900´s women did not have the same rights as men and are not respected as much as men either. Women did not get their voting rights till 1920, four years after the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell. In the play women are suppressed by men and society, Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters prove that women are not constrained by society's rules and are in fact, the most astute characters in *Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles”*.

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

First of all, in “Trifles”, men acted towards the women just as they would back in 1916. The men are seen as very dominating and they have little to no respect for women (School Helper). It is shown in the play when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale found the quilt Mrs. Wright was making and they showed it to Mr. Henderson. “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just know it!” (Glaspell). When they showed Mr. Henderson the quilt, he mocked and laughed at them. Showing that he didn’t care about some quilt that could have been a big piece of solving the case. Also, the men in the play push the women aside and demote the women when they try to help in the investigation (School Helper). Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson really don’t care about the things women back then were accustomed to. When Mr. Henderson asked Mr. Hale if anything was important to investigate in the kitchen, Mr. Hale said, “Nothing here but kitchen things” (Glaspell). Proving they don’t care about trifles.

The plays, Trifles and A Dollhouse use the literary tool of symbolism to portray the way women were treated throughout the nineteenth century. Susan Glaspell uses the bird cage and the dead bird to signify the role and life of women in marriage and society, whereas Henrik Ibsen uses the dollhouse. These symbols allow the reader to recognize the plays main similarities in the treatment of women, such as men dismissing women as trivial and treating them like property; however, the plays portray the women’s lifestyles as different which seal their fates.

One issue that seems to have been prevalent throughout history is that of strict gender roles. Issues involving gender are no exception in the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Strict gender roles create a conflict that is not only revealed through the division of labor, but is also shown through the men’s expectations and limitations for the women in their society. The conflict in this play is expressed through the theme, the dialogue, and the setting.

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

In the late ninetieth and early twentieth centuries women were thought of as dolls, puppets, or property. In many cases, they weren’t allowed to make decisions for themselves. Women were only good at worrying about frivolous housework and lighthearted pleasantries. In the two plays “A Doll House” by Heinrich Ibsen, and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, there are several exploitations of this way of thinking.

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.

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and Trifles by Susan Glaspell are two plays that depict sexist attitudes towards women as both take place in societies where men are deemed as strong and smart and women as vulnerable and even silly. In A Doll's House, women are depicted as beings whom are there to sacrifice for their men. Women are not to be taken seriously. Men, by and large, take women for granted because they are blind to the sacrifices that women do make for them; instead men see themselves as more important because they are the heads of households who make money and decisions for the family. In A Doll's House Nora's ultimate sacrifice is finally walking away from her family. In Trifles, women are once again rather ignored in society. This is reflected in the story that takes place in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Wright has just been murdered and some important men come to investigate the crime. The men believe that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband, but are confused as to why she would do it. As two of the men's wives wait downstairs while the men do their important work, they end up solving the crime. The name "Trifles" comes from the men in the story who scoff at the women for paying attention to "trifles" though, what they do not know is that it is these very trifles that help the women in solving the crime. In A Doll's House, Nora goes behind her husband's back and takes out a loan to help him. The lengths that Nora goes to in getting this loan must be kept in

In recorded history, women have always been valued as inferior to men. This patriarchal concept prevails all the way to modern times, but what facts actually give credence to this concept? In both Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun and Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles, there is a multitude of female roles, all which have a significant importance in the story. Time and time again a subtle irony is played up in these stories that highlight the lack of credit these women receive for their monumental efforts.

The reactions in Trifles reveal to the reader how heavily defined gender roles were in the early twentieth century. The two genders quickly form separate bonds with one another in this play. The men of this time dominate every aspect of this story. They make sarcastic jokes at the women when they start to show concern about things that appeared out of the norm in Mrs. Wright’s house. The first thing they noticed is the broken can goods when the Sheriff says, “Well, you can beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 1245). This tone of voice reveals how the men did not take the women seriously. They laugh at the women’s idea of trifles but as Phyllis writes, it is “their attentiveness to the "trifles" in her life, the kitchen things considered insignificant by the men, the two women piece together, like patches in a quilt, the

"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

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.

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was a controversial play for its time because it questioned society's basic rules and norms. Multiple interpretations can be applied to the drama, which allows the reader to appreciate many different aspects of the play. This paper examines how both Feminist and Marxist analyses can be applied as literary theories in discussing Ibsen's play because both center on two important subject matters in the literary work: the roles of women in a male-dominated society, and, the power that money has over people.