Susan Glaspell Gender Roles

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.

In the play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the male characters make several assumptions concerning the female characters. These assumptions deal with the way in which the male characters see the female characters, on a purely stereotypical, gender-related level. The stereotypical assumptions made are those of the women being concerned only with trifling things, loyalty to the feminine gender, and of women being subservient to their spouses.

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.

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

Gender roles throughout history have been portrayed in many works of literature. We imagine that in 2016 our world would be at its absolute best regarding the roles of women considering we just had our first woman from a major party run for the highest office in the nation. Unfortunately, we still seem to have a way to go. Oscar Wilde said, "Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them." It has only been in the past few years that women have stood up and demanded equal pay and equal treatment. There are still many places in the world where women are still very oppressed. In Susan Glaspell 's "Trifles," written in 1916, the theme throughout is that the men are the smart, dominant ones, and therefore very chauvinistic, and the women only concern themselves with sewing and cleaning which is, therefore, insignificant and trifle. The women from the start of the play very clearly see clues to the murder that the men do not ever see. Glaspell tells the story of the murder of Mr. John Wright, who was found strangled in his bed. His wife Minnie is the main suspect. The men in the story, the County Attorney Mr. Henderson, the Sheriff Mr. Peters, and the neighbor who found the body, Mr. Hale, look for scientific clues and totally overlook what is right in front of them. In the 1900 's roles were clearly defined by the men and this is carried throughout the play. The women in this play are the unsung heroes while the men who are

The play ?Trifles?, by Susan Glaspell , is an examination of the different levels of early 1900?s mid-western farming society?s attitudes towards women and equality. The obvious theme in this story is men discounting women?s intelligence and their ability to play a man?s role, as detectives, in the story. A less apparent theme is the empathy the women in the plot find for each other. Looking at the play from this perspective we see a distinct set of characters, a plot, and a final act of sacrifice.

The play “Trifles” , written by Susan Glaspell allows us to experience the gender divide in the early nineteen hundreds. While the play title gives the reader the idea that the story will be trivial or unimportant, it is anything but. The play focuses on the fact that women are considered “other” or an “object” (Beauvoir, 8). This is the complete opposite of men who are considered the “subject”, which holds immense amount of values. These two definitions are polar opposites. In the piece Second Sex, Beauvoir goes onto explain that this distinct difference between genders cause women to lose their humanity or individuality. In this world, women have no authority since they are nothing more than objects for men to

“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is a play that is largely based on stereotypes. The most prevalent one is the inferiority of women over men, though the play also explores the differences between genders in general.

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.

Gender inequality has been a problem all throughout history. Women are expected to clean, cook, have children, and submit to their husband’s every need without question. The feeling of being controlled and smothered over time can have drastic effects. In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, gender inequality is the main conflict and is made clear through symbolism and dramatic irony.

In the short story “Trifles”, the themes of isolation of the characters, gender differences, and character conflicts affect the actions of the characters in the play.

Why does gender create conflict? There has been conflict between the sexes since the beginning of time, but where should the line be drawn? In Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles, the central conflict is derived from gender issues. The main character, Minnie Wright, is being charged for her husband’s murder. As the two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are gathering a few of Minnie’s items, they discover clues that help them understand why she killed her husband. The clues guide the audience to understanding how gender issues play a role in Mr. Wright’s death. Some of the issues are how the men view the women and how the men treat the women. Glaspell conveys her message with the use of multiple literary elements such as setting, dramatic irony, and flashback.

Trifles Gender roles for women back in the 19th century were unimportant and still this day lacks in minor roles. Men overruled women when it came to doing work such as solving a crime scene, being a police officer, and even an investigator. In the play “Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, she illustrates a major point that deals with men and women in society back then. A “Trifle” is defined as something that is unimportant. This means Glaspell’s message to her intended audience was to explain how men don’t pay attention to women because they believe that they are not needed for certain types of work skills.

The setting of the play which takes place in the early twentieth century has established the theme that women have been looking down by men. ‘Trifles’ that is used as the title of the play has further foreshadowed the theme of the play in which discrimination of women will happen in the play. During the investigation of Mr Wright’s death, the men that involved in finding out the murderer have despised