Abandoned places are always ready to tell a story, even the newly deserted ones. In Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles,” the setting is the still, recently abandoned kitchen of a recently dead Mr. Wright. The story focuses on the sheriff’s and witness’s wives and their slow realization of who killed Mr. Wright and why. These realizations could not have happened if the wives were anywhere other than where they were. The time period, the kitchen itself, and the cheerlessness of the house all assist in unraveling the story of a house to be left behind. The time period of the play is between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. This aspect is very important throughout the play because of what the time period means for the female characters. In this rough time frame, women were not a big part of the functions of society. Most jobs were men’s only; this left the women to tend to the house and children. [PP2] Throughout the play, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale follow this stereotype as they focus on the homemaking aspects of what was left behind. The men are disdainful of this, saying, “held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (?) or “women are used to worrying over trifles” (?). They dismiss the wives as if they were children to be mollified until they have something to do, and they do not even consider the possibility of the wives lying or withholding information, despite the fact that they acted “loyal to [their] sex” (?) earlier in the play. That lack of consideration for women
Trifles was written in the early 1900's by Susan Glaspell. This occurred far before the women's movement. Women were generally looked upon as possessions to their husbands. Their children, all wages, and belongings were property of their husbands. In Glaspell's story it is easily depicted as to what role the men and women portrayed in society at this time.
The play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 is based on the murder of John Wright where the prime suspect is his spouse; Minnie Foster. “Trifles” is fixated on the investigation of the social division realized by the strict gender roles that enable the two men and women to have contending points of view on practically every issue. This is found in the way the men view the kitchen as they consider it as not having anything of significant worth. From the earliest starting point, the two women and men possess distinctive positions. For instance, the women are unimportant guests to Minnie Foster's home while the men have desired authority obligation.
The county attorney does not give a second thought about how John may have treated his wife. Instead, he’s focusing on Mr. Hale’s testimony regarding the alleged “scared” look on John’s face. The men’s bias is often and openly expressed to the women verbally. In accordance to the dialog of the play, the men show they don’t consider what women say vital or pertinent. The Sheriff fires back, identifying with his partners, “Well, can you beat the woman! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves.” (Glaspell 1412). The men agree in general about the sheriff’s remark. Mr. Hale comes along and says, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 1412). The dialog of the play demonstrates the obliviousness and general absence of appreciation given to women’s comments. Even the sheriff addresses his wife openly as if a woman’s role in the home was insignificant. The prejudice from the men is evident and once a reader or audience starts inquiring about how the men treat women, a pattern is seen regarding the men’s standards. The court attorney kicks his foot against the pots and pans below the sink in the wake of discovering no clean towels, telling the ladies “Not
The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is type of murder mystery that takes place in the early 1900’s. The play begins when the sheriff Mr. Peters and county attorney Mr. Henderson come to attempt to piece together what had happen on the day that Mr. Wright was murder. While investigating the seen of the murder, they are accompanied by the Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale and Mr. Peters. Mr. Hale had told that Mrs. Wright was acting strange when he found her in the kitchen. After taking information from Mr. Hale, the men leave the women in the kitchen and go upstairs at seen of the murder. The men don’t realize the plot of the murder took place in the kitchen.
Symbols are important, especially in literature. They have been known to inspire hope and life, in turn inspiring some of the most profound actions in the history of the world. Yet, humanity’s statement to symbols goes beyond us finding meaning in innominate or non-human objects. People assign humanity into objects, almost a part of themselves. This concept is clearly demonstrated in Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles. The work contains many element of symbolism that make important and relieving comments on the characters of the play and the themes of the story.
Marriage a sacred bond uniting two people who are so deeply in love that they can't live without one another, for even a second. Many couples in this situation take these marriage vows to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Those vows remain cherished throughout the years of marriage. Partner’s share intimate details and form a strong trustworthy bond with one another. Often couples settle into a routine, move out of the city and have children. Occasionally over time that love will fade; couples change and lose interest in one another and begin to look for a way out of marriage. In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, there is evidence to
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.
This play was written in 1916, which in this period there were many examples of feminism. The reason this play should be conducted is because of curiosity, actions of feminism, and the mystery of why John Wright was murder. As this stage play determines who was the murderer of John Wright, and what was their motive, the following characters played a significant role in the play, they’re George Henderson, County Attorney, Henry Peters, Sheriff, who leads the investigation, Lewis Hale and Mrs. Hale who is the neighboring farmer, and Mrs. Peters (wife of the sheriff).
Susan Glaspell’s most memorable one-act play, Trifles (1916) was based on murder trial case that happened in the 1900’s. Glaspell worked as a reporter, where she appointed a report of a murder case. It was about a farmer, John Hossack who was killed while he was asleep in bed one night. His wife claimed that she was asleep next to him when the attack occurred. No one believed in her statement, she was arrested and was charged on first degree murder.
Margaret Thatcher once said, "If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman'"(web). This idea is made evident in Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” (1155). In this play a man, Mr. Wright, is found suffocated to death . The County Attorney works alongside the Sheriff and Hale in order solve this case.
The play Trifles takes place in a rural area and centers around a woman, Mrs. Wright, who has been accused of killing her husband by strangling him. The act starts off in Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s home on a cold, winter morning the day after Mr. Wright’s body was discovered by the neighbor; the county attorney, the sheriff and his wife and the neighboring farmer and his wife are all inside the
=Seemingly irrelevant until taken into context, the title of the play aids in highlighting one of the fundamental themes of the play. A “trifle” is defined as a matter, affair, or circumstance of trivial importance or significance. (Webster) Therefore, once the definition is known to the reader or audience, it becomes evident that the play must contain some amount of insignificant thoughts. In the play, Mr. Hale says, “Well, women are used to worrying about trifles.” (Glaspell) The tone reflected from this statement provides an insight in the thoughts of men during the early twentieth century. Ironically, however, Susan Glaspell disproves this “idea” by making the “trifles” that the women are distressing about a compulsory element in resolving
A trifle is something that has little value or importance, and there are many seeming "trifles" in Susan Glaspell's one-act play "Trifles." The irony is that these "trifles" carry more weight and significance than first seems to be the case. Just as Glaspell's play ultimately reveals a sympathetic nature in Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the evidence that the men investigators fail to observe, because they are blind to the things that have importance to a woman, reveals the identity of the murderer and are, therefore, not really "trifles," after all. Thus, the title of the play has a double-meaning: it refers, satirically, to the way "trifling" way some men perceive women, and it also acts as an ironic gesture to the fact that women are not as "trifling" as these men make them out to be. This paper will analyze setting, characters, plot, stage directions, symbolism, themes and genre to show how Glaspell's "Trifles" is an ironic indictment not of a murderess but rather of the men who push women to such acts.
It is always important to focus on the type of information provided from different areas of research. The good and the better writers spend sufficient time reviewing major points of their works. I believe that your experiences taught you how to evaluate your researched information, which gives you a confident that the resources you come up with will produce significant outcomes of each suggested idea. It seems that Glaspell decided to devote most of her writing to women's rights.
"Trifles" is a play with a unified plot. Although there are verbal flashbacks to the events of the day of the murder of John Wright, the play's entire plot begins and ends in a span of one day. The author also extends the unified plot to create a single setting (the farmhouse kitchen). The plot centers on John Wright's murder. Mrs. Wright is the main suspect; an investigation is taking place as to the motive or reason for the crime.