The Secretaries Play Summary

The women, left alone, begin to collect some of Mrs. Wright’s personal belongings with the intention of delivering them to the jail for her. As they collect her possessions, the two women begin speaking amongst themselves. Throughout their conversations the men continue to appear and leave again on their all important search for justice. They consistently criticize the woman throughout the script for worrying about the small things such as

Sexism, an issue that plagued women during the tenth century, affects the leading ladies in Trifles, face no different. At the beginning of the play, readers can already see the divide between Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, who townspeople from the Sheriff Mr. Peter and the County Attorney Mr. .This is done simply by the women waiting together outside the house in the cold, before being welcome in by their male counterparts. Once in the house reader find they are looking through the murder scene of Mr. Wright, with all parties helping. Yet, the Sheriff and the County Attorney barely take anything that the women found seriously, as Hale even says, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 61). Nevertheless, this is amusing because, that is what the women use to discover the keys to the mystery of who murdered Mr. Wright. Although, the systemic sexism in Trifles doesn't end there. In the play the men believe that the reason the house was gloomy was because Mrs. Wright wasn't capable homemaking instinct. Altogether, despite the men disrespect for the women's finding about the murder, it ended up helping them in protecting Mrs. Wright.

Women, at the time the play was written, were generally thought of as submissive to men, as well as less intelligent. Glaspell intricately, and subtly writes these female characters in as the exact opposite of that stereotype. Although in the very beginning of the play, the women are shown as timid, and subordinate to the men, as they put together the clues of the murder of Mr. Wright, their innate intelligence emerges. “Mrs. Peters: … Why, here’s a birdcage… Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale? Mrs. Hale: … There was a man around last year selling canaries cheap, but I don’t know as she took one; maybe she did. She used to sing real pretty herself.” (Glaspell 1159). Within a few minutes, the women discover more evidence than the men did throughout their entire investigation. After discovering the corpse of a dead canary, it’s neck snapped by the hands of the abusive Mr. Wright, the women conclude that Mrs. Wright snapped the neck of her husband as a quasi-poetic justice. When the men return from their investigation, the women become empowered by relating to the motives behind Mrs. Wrights actions, “(Their [Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters] eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror. Steps are heard outside, Mrs. Hale slips the box [containing the canary] under quilt pieces and sinks into her chair).” (Glaspell 1161). Despite the men’s harsh words, and belittling attitude toward the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters remain strong and resilient. Compared to the men,

In the late 1800's and early 1900's women's roles were still heavily controlled by the men in their lives. Women were considered lesser to the man. In "Trifles" within the first few lines you can tell that the women's actions are being controlled by the men. "This feels good. Come up to the fire ladies", then the ladies almost act nervous by the men "I'm not-cold". (Glaspell) The women continue to show fear of the men throughout the play using their body language and they talk sparingly and are short. They only talk when spoken to. In the stage directions of the women's movements, such as The women move a little closer together, and The men laugh, the women look abashed (Glaspell). Also later in the play, when the men go upstairs they leave the women in the kitchen. Once they are alone one of the women, Mrs. Peters, says "My it's cold in here". and heads directly to warm herself

Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, was written in 1916, reflects the author’s concern with stereotypical concepts of gender and sex roles of that time period. As the title of the play implies, the concerns of women are often considered to be nothing more than unimportant issues that have little or no value to the true work of society, which is being performed by men. The men who are in charge of investigating the crime are unable to solve the mystery through their supposed superior knowledge. Instead, two women are able decipher evidence that the men overlook because all of the clues are entrenched in household items that are familiar mainly to women during this era. Glaspell expertly uses gender

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 film “It” starring Clara Bow as Betty Lou attempts to show the fanciful life of a common shop girl. The film does encourage the development of the modern women’s Heterosociality place in society – which at many levels leaves them adrift.

Even in plays gender roles can really show through the characters that the author makes. In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, the woman in the play illustrate sexism that was taking place during the 1900s. The “understanding” of Mrs. Wright’s situation as to why she was so calm for her husband’s death takes on many turns. The wives of the sheriff and the neighbor of the Wrights, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale represent a big part of the story. How they are portrayed and their actions show how strong gender roles and sexism were back in the day.

It also seem to imply that there is comedic value to the idea that these women, who appear so clean cut and proper in the work place, can return home to their lovers and be completely different.

The play I will be exploring is Ruined by Lynn Nottage. Ruined focuses on the lives of women in the Congo War that work at a brothel. I have the play to be honest in its approach to war. Likewise, through much imagery, action, and symbolism, the play has a rich subtext.

“What is SHE, you may ask?” Many people will give a quick, short answer that she means female. However, Dr. Shirlene Holmes and Anastasia Wilson take it a step further, in this moving play. At first, I did not know what to expect when I went to see this play. Unfortunately, the play SHE would turn out to be anything than what I felt before. It made myself feeling inspired and encouraged, knowing what it means to be a woman in today’s world.

By stage directions the audience can tell the women in the kitchen are getting more united. After the Sheriff and County Attorney make fun of Mrs. Wright worrying about her fruit being broken by the house being cold, we are told the ladies draw closer together. The atmosphere is getting to be ladies against men.

The Breakfast Club is a 1985 film, brought to life again by the amazing actors of the Ponderosa Stage Productions. The play adaptation of the Breakfast Club focuses on five completely different students, stuck in detention, who overtime realize that they have much more in common than they first thought. What I liked most about the Breakfast Club was how dynamic each of the actors were, and how they perfectly captured the essence of the character they were portraying. I also loved the set of the detention room, and how it really felt like a real school. My only complaint about the play was the many occasions where the actors would yell to express their feelings, and set the mood for the scene. I feel as if they didn’t need to yell as loud, because

Throughout the play, it seems that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are trapped in the kitchen, while the men travel freely to search other parts of the house. For example, the County Attorney declared to solely investigate the upstairs of the house and the barn, while refusing to search the kitchen because they believe it would not point to any motive of the murder (Glaspell 1040). The men proceed upstairs and to the barn, but the women are glued to the kitchen as well as the readers. The readers observe everything that the women are doing, but have no clue what the men are doing elsewhere. This illustrates a sense of imprisonment and isolation that women are forced to deal and live with. In addition to the play’s fixed setting, Glaspell’s cunning utilization of the title brings up a broad criticism of feminist issues arising in and outside the home. For instance, McDaniel’s essay proves this point here: “The title of the play and its ironic underscoring of any "trivial" nature attributed to women's daily lives and their often labor-intensive-if-tedious work (Minnie Wright's sewing, cleaning, cooking, etc.) is considered an astute observation on the demeaning, insignificant characterization of women's labor and their lives within domesticity” (1). McDaniel proposes that

The setting of the play is in the kitchen and is significant to the roles of the men and women. During this time period the woman’s domain was limited primarily to the kitchen. Ironically the men fail to solve the case because they think there’s nothing in this room but women’s things. According to Manuel, during the time period of this play people still held on to their traditional belief that women could only contribute in household works (Manuel, 2000).