Susan Glaspell's Use Of Sexist Impressions Of Women In Trifles

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

"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

“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.

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.

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, weaves a tale of an intriguing murder investigation to determine who did it. Mrs. Wright is suspected of strangling her husband to death. During the investigation the sheriff and squad of detectives are clueless and unable to find any evidence or motive to directly tie Mrs. Wright to the murder. They are baffled as to how he was strangled by a rope while they were supposedly asleep side by side. Glaspell artfully explores gender differences between men and women and the roles they each fulfill in society by focusing on their physicality, their methods of communication and vital to the plot of the play, their powers of observation. In simple terms, the play suggests that men tend to be assertive,

Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is a feminist drama that involves three women, a murder, and three over-controlling male counterparts. Although this play was published in 1916, some of the issues Glaspell introduces still plague our society today. Glaspell clearly introduces a divide between men and their masculinity and women and their femininity. Throughout the drama, there are three main conflicts that all support one main thesis; Mrs. Wright versus Mr. Wright, the lawmen bashing Mrs. Wright, and the two women hiding evidence. These conflicts demonstrate the gender divide and support Glaspell’s thesis: women must stick together to support other women in times of crisis and moral conflict.

Glaspell develops the theme of gender roles by what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters fret about at the crime scene. For instance, the first concern that Mrs. Peters voices revolves around Mrs. Wright’s fruit preserves and implies that the women are housekeepers. Both the Sheriff and Mr. Hale remark about how the women are “worryin’ about her preserves” and “worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 3). Later, when the men go upstairs to look for evidence, the women decide to bring Mrs. Wright’s apron, fruit, shawl, and quilt for her in prison. To further establish Mrs. Wright as a domesticated housewife, Mrs. Peters suggests that Mrs. Wright wants her apron “to make her feel more natural” (Glaspell 5). Because of what Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discuss at the crime scene, Glaspell verifies that the women play the role of housekeeper and cook.

The play Trifles is a world-famous production written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 during the women’s suffrage movement. The women’s suffrage movement was a point in U.S. history when rights for women, like voting and gender equality, were greatly stressed to be enforced. Glaspell’s involvement in the movement did not go unnoticed. Today Glaspell’s plays are famous worldwide for her feministic and socialistic views on legal reform, and involvement in the women’s suffrage movement. However, the play Trifles stands out amongst her others due to it being based on a true murder story she covered as a reporter. The play is about a man named Mr. Wright who is discovered by his neighbor, Mr. Hale, with rope around his neck murdered. Upon discovering Mr. wright, the county attorney and sheriff get involved, along with Mr. Hales wife, Mrs. Hale, and the sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters. Throughout the investigation at the Wright residence, the women are not asked for help, and are looked down upon by the men. While the men seldom ask the women for their opinion on the murder, the case unfolds right in front of the two wives’ eyes. Like the women in the play, Glaspell was unable to play a significant role in the murder case she was involved in, and her observations over small and minor details she thought may be of importance went unnoticed by the men. Throughout the play, Trifles, Glaspell symbolizes the conflict of men versus women seen during this period through recognition, the

Men in the time period leading up to the woman suffrage movements tended to believe that when women did not understand something it was due to their gender. When the fact of the matter was the women were actually hiding a more important factor at the time. A example of this problem takes place in Trifles. After the death of Mr. Wright, Ms. Wright gets put on trial for the death of her husband. The main men of the story go out to look for evidence to close up the case of Mr. Wright’s death. While the men are out doing their own thing Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale begin to discover the real reason Mr. Wright was murdered. The women find evidence leading to Mrs. Wright for an example they found a symbolic bird cage where a bird was killed. The men’s

In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, the characters are not like the modern characters. These characters are people of the early years, and they are showing that men have a little more power than women do now. The play starts off telling of a murder and soon the character’s actions begin to unfold. The men of this play are speaking to the women

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

The average woman’s role in society today, starkly contrasts that of the female social norm expressed in eras predating the current; however, similarities do exist. Women once existed in the background, limited to lives of household responsibilities, compelled by overwhelming societal expectations to obey their male counterpart, and preform a set of domestic duties specific to their gender. Today this is not the case, however certain gender related expectations remain intact, and for this reason gender roles are still a prominent aspect of everyday social dynamics. The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell exemplifies gender roles as they were practiced in the early 1900s, by identifying women's subordinate roles in their marriages, and

The characters in “Trifles” are introduced through their genders and this character categorization holds true to their roles throughout the rest of the story. Through these roles we can observe the subtle nuances throughout the play. Although the emphasis in “Trifles” seems to be focused around the men solving the mysterious murder, a closer look at the symbolism, diction, and structure of the story reveals that through their seemingly negligible roles, the women were bound to discover the facts before the men. Through this we begin to realize that throughout life it is the small and minute details that lead us to the bigger picture.

While Susan Glaspell was writing “Trifles” her one- act play, in the 1900s this was a thriving time in society when the male- dominance was very prominent. Women were very limited in what they could and could not do. At this time woman could not vote and had very limited power in the professional area. They were expected to obey and follow the rules their husband placed on them. They were responsible for bearing children and raising them. Many husbands viewed their wives as an object rather than a human being. They thought that women had no personal interests, goals, and cerebral freedom. This piece of literature, like other at this time, was derided for the focus on feminism. What made this play so bold is the fact it showed how women were overlooked by the male population at this time. The males dominated at this time in history. This play puts into perspective how women can fulfill a purpose past their own home.

In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, a suspenseful story is set around a group of men and women as they investigate the murder of John Wright. The main suspect is his wife, Mrs. Wright. The women--Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are meant to pack up her belongings to bring back to the jail however the two end up unraveling what life really was like for Mr. and Mrs. Wright. The men on the other hand, despite intentions of discovering motives, come up seemingly empty-handed and conclude the women’s work as “trifles.” The contrast between the viewpoints of the men and the women characters, unveiled through symbols in the play, reveal the variance in the values and perspectives of each sex as well as the rigid gender roles and blinding stereotypes of the time period which result in the men missing vital aspects of the investigation.