Susan Glaspell's Trifles: Female Solidarity

The bond between the women is like a knot just like the knot tied around Mr. Wrights neck when he was strangled and also how the women will 'knot' tell even through they solved the murder. This theme of the knot is crucial to the plot of the play. The other helpful explaination was of the preservative jars. I thought of the obvious symbolism behind it but Smith discusses how there is one jar left like the remaining secret of the motive. The specific pages I listed for this work were definitely the most helpful.

In the early 1900’s, both males and females were perceived as complete opposites of eachother. Women were considered physically weaker and morally superior to men. The gender roles during this time period were clearly demonstrated in the play “Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell. At a first glance it may seem like the play is only about the death of Mr. Wright. The play could simply be interpreted that the characters all work together to determine the murderer of Mr. Wright. The initial perception overlooks how the women were treated during this time period. The men conclude that the women are incapable of finding the murderer of Mr. Wright only because they are female. Similarly, Mr. Wright does not think twice about how poorly he treats his wife

In the kitchen, the dishes are dirty, bread is sitting out on the counter, and everything is in disarray. The County Attorney is disturbed, because the kitchen is not clean. The men assume that Mrs. Wright must have not been a very tidy person. In this time era, men expected women to keep the house tidy and clean, cheerful, and decorated according to the County Attorney in Trifles; he states, “It’s not cheerful. I shouldn’t say she had the homemaking instinct” (1031). Men during this era think that women should only be in the house worrying about what the inside of a house should look. In the County Attorney’s mind, the house should have been warm, clean, organized, and presenting a happy feeling. This is a demonstration of how hard a woman’s life is when she is expected to be when a man’s views think of how a woman should be in the household, for example a slave to cooking, cleaning, and sewing. As shown in the beginning of the play, the men leave the women in the kitchen to gather some of Mrs. Wright’s items she requested as if this is where these women belong. The men go upstairs and out to the farmhouse to investigate for clues for a motive to prove that Mrs. Wright is guilty of the murder of her husband. The men never investigate the kitchen for any clues since they feel there is no significance in the kitchen. The kitchen is an area for women to do cooking and cleaning, which makes them feel there is nothing important in this area. Men

The men’s word choice and tone when speaking to Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale comes across as demeaning and belittling. For example, when the men walk in on the women talking about Mrs. Wright’s quilt, the sheriff scoffs, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it!” (Glaspell 601). Although the men limit the women to the “trifles” of housework and childcare, they still continue to mock them for delighting in those few things they are allowed. By continuously ridiculing their character and intelligence, the men are creating an oppressive state for the women to live in. They abuse their roles in the lives of their wives and ultimately spoil the concept of a happy marriage, creating tension and conflict between the men and women of their

In “Trifles”, Glaspell shows the oppression of women back in 1916 when the play was written. In the play, Glaspell shows the roles of both men and women. To show how men treated women, what was expected of the women, and how women overcame the patriarchal society that they were placed in. Also, “Trifles” having an effect on the society it was based on and how the roles of women have evolved over time.

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

The first line of the play is from the court attorney directed at both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Wright. “Court Attorney: this feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies. Mrs. Peters: I’m not—cold.” This quick sequence set the tone for the play as we are given the early creation of the dynamic between the women and them men of this play. It is obvious that the men are not willing to involve the women among the investigation because they think that they are unneeded. Offering the ladies to get cooped up by the fire is the same as asking the ladies to sit quietly as the men talk about the important things at hand. The response of Mrs. Hale though allows us to notice the awareness she has for how the male authority acknowledges her as unbeneficial to the investigation. Another example of the dynamic between women and men in the play is when the county attorney find the broken jar of trifles among the kitchen. “Sheriff: Well you cant beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves. County attorney: I guess before we’re through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about. Mrs. Hale: Well, women are used to worrying over trifles. County attorney: And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? Dirty Towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say ladies? Mrs. Hale:

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

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.

The play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 reflects the gender differences between men and women in this time period through the investigation of Mr. Wright’s death. Men in the early 1900’s go to work, leaving the women at home to typically clean, cook and wait for the arrival of their husbands back home. This is the leading cause behind the men in Trifles being incapable of seeing the full motifs and actions behind Mrs. Wright. Leading for the women to understand more about the murder than the men from the small clues Mrs. Wright has all over the house. The insignificance of the “trifles” in the play are passed by the men due to what they thought the objects insignificance actually held dealing with the crime, which the women

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.

Susan Glaspell, a writer in the early 20th century, grew up in a time where women were viewed as having only a reproductive role in society. Because of this, many women rose to fight the patriarchal society to show that all people are equal. As a result of Glaspell growing up in this time, her work in the play Trifles criticizes society’s view of women. Susan Glaspell was able to insert minute details in the play that would have the audience drawn to feel for the women. The issue of feminism is shown in several different ways throughout the play Trifles, such as characters, conversation, theme, setting, and metaphors.

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.

Susan Glaspell's Trifles can be regarded as a work of feminist literature. The play depicts the life of a woman who has been suppressed, oppressed, and subjugated by a patronizing, patriarchal husband. Mrs. Wright is eventually driven to kill her "hard" (1178) husband who has stifled every last twitch of her identity. Trifles dramatizes the hypocrisy and ingrained discrimination of male-dominated society while simultaneously speaking to the dangers for women who succumb to such hierarchies. Because Mrs. Wright follows the role mapped by her husband and is directed by society's patriarchal expectations, her identity is lost somewhere along the way. However, Mrs. Hale and Mrs.