Theme Of Trifles By Susan Glaspell

     The other view that Glaspell shows in this play is a sympathy that the reader grows for the women. How they are forced to follow the men. Like when they are asked to get close to the fire, they do it even though Mrs. Peters

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.

Glaspell proves her point by a conversation between two women in this story. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are at the scene of the murder of John Wright. The women accompanied the County Attorney, the Sheriff, and Mr. Hale to the house. Mr. Hale describes everything that he saw the morning he discovered Mr. Wright's body. The men have come to the house looking for evidence to

First, Glaspell uses conflict to show the inequalities of women in the 1900’s. One conflict in the story is between the groups of investigators (The Sheriff, Hale and The County Attorney) who were there to gather clues of the murder and the woman who came to with them (Sheriffs Wife and Mrs.Hale). The men entered the house and “go at once to the stove” (8) and leave the girls standing at the entrance close together.

However, Susan Glaspell uses the kitchen in the plot as another theatrical metaphor for a domain of gender identification because it is a women’s domestic territory where women’s life is revealed through common kitchen items. Throughout the play, we can distinguish the roles given to women in that era. In this era, women’s roles were generally reproductive, so they have been relegated to the home with less interaction with the outside world. Because kitchens have often served as work spaces, women have found a sense of empowerment through domestic tasks such as cooking, food knowledge, and efficiency of the kitchen. These conditions reveal the state of mind of women in the play. Minnie Wright’s “gloomy kitchen” (Glaspell 443) is “left without having been put in order—unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the breadbox, a dish towel on the table—other signs of incompleted work” (Glaspell 443). She lost her motivation to do housework chores, which represents that her mind is battered and leads to Mr. Wright’s murder—he has distorted her life.

“You’re Convinced there was nothing important here…Nothing that would—point to any motive?” (Glaspell, pg. 5, 1908). In 1916, Glaspell worked for Des Moines daily news as a reporter where she later met her husband George Cook who was a play director. Together they wrote and produced plays, two of which are Trifles and Jury of Her Peers which are based off a crime scene she encountered while being a reporter. Glaspell’s plays are on the feminist side focusing on the roles women are forced to play in society and their relationships with men. Motive is the overall theme found in both versions of Glaspell’s story and is evidenced through the Wright’s relationship, the anger portrayed in various ways, and finally, regret found in Mrs. Wright.

Furthermore, the men’s dismissal of the women’s opinions prevents them from finding evidence of a motive to convict Mrs. Wright. The men claim that the women’s concerns are trivial and could not possibly help them find evidence. As articulated by Greg Beatty, “All the male characters are blind to what is going on and are even condescending to the women. The county attorney is the worst

Susan Glaspell, writer of the short story "A Jury of Her Peers" details the isolated rural farm house of Minnie Wright and Mr.Wright. Glaspell advocates for the equality of woman and hopes to warn the readers of the difference between the law and what is actually right. She conveys the meaning of her theme by describing a case of a deprived woman, Minnie, who is absolutely isolated from any other kind of companionship except for her husband's, which is "like a raw hard wind that gets to the bone." (Glaspell 198) Although Minnie isn't present at the time of the investigation, the setting of her house lets the readers know some of the various kinds of isolation she deals with for twenty years before being sent to jail.The different kinds of isolation that Minnie experiences are symbolized in the objects and information Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters share and discover while being at the scene of the incident.

This murder is one that the two women can identify with. The reason is that both of the women were farmers' wives and had very similar lifestyles. Mrs. Hale describes John Wright as a hard man, and never let Mrs. Wright do anything. I feel that this is just how she is describing her own life perhaps. The two women also find a quilt that is not stitched very well. This adds to the fact Minnie Wright was under some stress when sewing this quilt. At this moment Mrs. Hale begins sewing the quilt, the way it should have been sewn in the first place. I feel that Glaspell is giving the women a lot of symbols to justify the women's findings, and making it easy for them to foil the investigation.

First of all, Glaspell largely examines the repression of women in the 1900s. Women were highly looked down upon by men, and were seen mostly as housekeepers and child bearers, and were definitely not seen as intelligent people. The women in this play prove that the stereotypes against them are completely wrong. The men in this story are sent out to discover the details of a murder, while the women come along to gather some things for Mrs. Wright, who was accused of killing her husband. Throughout the play, the men mock the

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.

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

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.

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.

As we all know, women suffer a lot under men’s control in the early twentieth century. In the play, Mrs Wright is the best example to show the existence of oppression in women. The readers get to know the real reason why Mrs Wright murders Mr Wright. Before marrying John Wright, Minnie Foster was a cheerful and popular singer. Her life undergoes big changes after marrying John Wright. She is forced to live in John’s uncheerful and hollow farmhouse, managing households every day. She struggles and suffers alone as they are childless. This is portrayed through Mrs Hale and Mrs Peters conversations. “I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful. Maybe it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road.”John Wright has used to control Minnie Foster’s daily activities. She has no choice but keeping herself alone in the kitchen. Her decision to buy a canary to sing for her has made mad of the husband, John Wright. He killed the bird and the killing of bird oppressed Minnie Foster to murder her husband. The main cause of the tragedy is prominent through the theme of oppression of women. If John Wright treats her wife nicely, I am sure that the murder will not happen. With this, I think that Glaspell may like to emphasize that women often have the rights to be treated equally just as the