In the story “Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell, there really are a lot of amazing themes. Out of all of the theme, I believe that the two most important and powerful to the reader are the themes of gender roles and isolationism. These two are the most important because they can really affect a person, they are still talked about today and still exist today. All throughout history, gender has always played a part in what people do, women have always had to fight for what they have. With isolationism, it always had a role in people because everyone has felt isolated in there lives at least once. I believe that this story was written because these themes occur in real life. The author wanted to express her thoughts in feeling about these topics, through …show more content…
They seem to believe that women don’t have it hard and the husbands do everything. They think the women are funny because they talk about things like quilts, they state in the “Trifles” text that, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! [ The men laugh, the woman look abashed]”(Pg.750) I think that they really believe that women’s opinions do not matter and that they are not as smart as them. Women in the play are looked down upon. Although they are very important to everyday life, men don’t believe that. Woman in this play seem to be the ones that stay at home and take care of the children and keep up with the house. They cook, clean, wash. Basically, do everything.
The world of this play is the basic history of women and men. Men were viewed as superior and are usually sexist, the women were ignored and belittled. Even the title of the story showed how men felt throughout the story. In a feminist analysis of “Trifles” it states, ”In trifles, the title is ironic as the reader sees what is silly and "trifle" to men, is the key for solving the murder”(Khalaf Pg 1) the men were so stuck in there own little worlds to find the real evidence needed to solve the murder. This to me really shows how little a man pays attention to a women and doesn’t realize how important women
Trifles deals with gender roles by using a woman that feels trapped in her marriage. “The Story of an Hour” also uses a woman that feels trapped in her marriage to express woman’s position at that point in time. In “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard feels trapped in her marriage. When she finds out that her husband has passed away, she goes through a sea of conflicting emotions. She feels more relieved than the overwhelming sadness that she should feel. She felt as though she was free. As she began to work through the emotions she was feeling, she began to feel a moment that she saw the years to come that she only had to live for herself. This just goes to show how trapped she felt in her marriage. She didn’t feel as if she could live for herself. With the death of her husband, she felt as there would be no one to live for in the coming years, but herself. This shows the submissiveness of women of that time. A time where women were expected to play the part and be housewives and care for the husband. In Trifles, the same message appears. You see a woman who is arrested for the murder of her own
In this deeper look into 'Trifles,' Karen goes through the plot and discusses what you should pay more attention too. She describes the symbolism in some of the objects as well as explain the scenes and their little details. Karen finds the difference between male and female perceptions of judgment to be central to the play. She explains that you need to follow the storyline of the women to help solve the case and discusses the differences between a man and a womans world in this time period. Karen shares that she believes the women are going about the case better than the men and she
Wright to the murder of her husband. At the beginning of the play Mr. Hale acknowledges the males attitudes toward women without knowing. For example he states, “….I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John.” (1001). This clearly signifies the male’s insensitivity to women. This statement that Mr. Hale made referring to John and how he does not care what his wife wanted or did not want does not even trigger the question, how was Mrs. Wright treated by her husband? Women were clearly not has important as the men. The men disregard women’s opinions and don’t give a thought to women’s needs or wants. Mr. Hale was speaking of John, Mrs. Wright’s dead husband in the above example; however Mr. Hale also expresses his insensitivity and arrogant attitude toward women. Mr. Hale states, “Well women are used to worrying over trifles.” (1003). Trifles something that is small, of no consequence, this is how Mr. Hale thinks of women. The things women are concerned with are of no importance, they are petty. This is an obvious illustration of the men’s arrogant and insensitive attitudes toward women.
In Susan Glaspell's “Trifles”, the male characters are depicted as being more sensible, logical and all-knowing gender. It is the men in the play who hold the most noteworthy positions, for example, the county attorney and sheriff. They esteem finding the quickest response to Mr. Wright's murder. They would prefer not to squander in attempt to find the mystery, thus they neglect critical subtle elements, for example, the messy kitchen. They expect that it is more critical to assess the room where Mr. Wright was murdered than to break down how Mrs. Wright kept her home or the couple's relationship. In the earliest reference point of the play, the County Attorney
The dialogues between the men and women in “Trifles” are important because they help the reader understand the patriarchal society which does not allow women to have a life of their own. In their dialogue towards the women, the men ridicule women’s roles. As we see this in the beginning of the play, Mr. Hale despises the women because
There are many literary elements that contribute and help to further explain the theme of Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, “Trifles”. The theme of isolation in “Trifles” can be backed up by multiple dramatic literary elements that are very evident in the story. Characters can help support the theme in many ways by difference in gender, how isolation affects the theme, and how they work together. Another literary element that is crucial to the theme of isolation is the setting of a lonely farm house back in the woods unseen by the public from the road. Lastly, the literary element of conflict relates to the theme of isolation in the many ways that conflict brings out isolation between the characters in the play. The theme of isolation in “Trifles”
The play Trifles was written by Susan Glaspell, who is considered to be one of the first feminist writers in American literature. In the story there is an ongoing investigation to find out who killed Mr. Wright and all the evidence is pointing to Mrs. Wright. Two of Mrs. Wright’s neighbors are determined to find out what really happened. Trifles is a suspenseful story that holds many feminist viewpoints that collides with justice for women when it comes to domestic violence.
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.
A World Dominated by Men: The Conflict of Gender Roles in Trifles by Susan Glaspell
"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
The men in this story are mocking the women, because they do not expect the women to know anything of importance, and to only know their “womanly” duties, which are deemed unimportant. Another similarity between the two works are the changes that the women undergo towards the end of the plays. In “Trifles”, the women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are stuck with the choice of aiding a murderer that was in an abusive relationship, or to tell their husbands what they have found:
The men in the play showed lack of respect and concern for how difficult it was for women to keep the house clean and running smoothly. During the play the men did nothing but criticized everything the women said about Mrs. Wright, they would
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,