Though Numerous Strides Have Been Made To Eliminate The

“Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” one of the husbands in Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles states when the women try to give their interpretation of a crime scene. This is just one example of how women tend to be respected much less than their male counterparts in a male-dominated society. Although the play Trifles was written in the year 1916, many of the feminist themes found in this play can be found in today’s society still. Michael Hollinger wrote the play Naked Lunch in the year 2003, and the female role is still written as the weaker more vulnerable character. Just as they were then, women are often portrayed as victims and do not receive the same respect that men do in our male-dominated world.

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.

“Trifles” is a perplexing drama that begins with a murder in a midwestern farmhouse. John Wright is found dead with a knot tied perfectly around his neck. In this one act play, Susan Glaspell, reveals the truth of women's suffrage during the early twentieth century. Women are restricted when it comes to individual rights. Without being able to vote, be a part of a jury, and working mostly out of their home, women have the unfair disadvantage in life. “Trifles” shows the treatment women undergo. The main theme of “Trifles” is the contrast of genders, stereotypes, and how view each other’s role.

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.

“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.

One striking characteristic of the 20th century was the women 's movement, which brought women to the forefront in a variety of societal arenas. As women won the right to vote, achieved reproductive freedom through birth control and legalized abortion, and gained access to education and employment, Western culture began to examine its long-held views about women in a world controlled by male dominance while developing their individual personalities. However, before the women’s movement of the 20th century, women’s roles were primarily of a domestic nature. Trifles by Susan Glaspell indicates that a man’s perspective is entirely different from a woman’s. The one-act play, Trifles, is a murder mystery which examines the lives of rural, middle-aged, married, women characters through gender relationships, power between the sexes, and the nature of truth. The play, written in the early 1900s, long before the women’s movement and while men considered women their possessions. In the story of Trifles, it is easy to recognize the role of men and women portrayed in society during this time. The play illustrates the lines between the gender roles of early twentieth century Americans. The drama describes the differences between men and women. The men seem to take over the woman 's world, they dirty her towels, ridicule her for knitting and mock her for making preserves. Glaspell’s play delivers a message to women that they are as capable as men at completing any job, the play encourages

Gender inequality has been a problem all throughout history. Women are expected to clean, cook, have children, and submit to their husband’s every need without question. The feeling of being controlled and smothered over time can have drastic effects. In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, gender inequality is the main conflict and is made clear through symbolism and dramatic irony.

Glaspell writes the poem using a gender defender style. As the title of the play by Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” suggests, the concerns of women are often considered to be simple trifles, unimportant issues that bear little or no importance to the true work of society, which, of course, is being carried out by men. Glaspell questions, and in so doing calls the reader or viewer to also question, the value of men’s and women’s perspectives and work by setting up a tension-filled drama that unfolds through the development of two distinct narratives, one male and one

Trifles, a one-act play, written by Susan Glaspell, has an interesting plot about an abusive husband?s murder at the hands of his abused wife on a secluded farm in the Midwest (Russell, pg. 1). The opening scene of the play gives us a great deal of information about the people of the play and their opinions. The play portrays the ways in which men treated women during this time period. The men in the reading reflected a male-oriented society, which caused the women feelings of repression and unappreciation. Throughout the play the actions of Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters resemble that of Greek mythology, where three sisters controlled the fate

In the Susan Glaspell 's play Trifles, gender plays a huge roll in everyday life. Trifles is an exemplary example of the war between male and female. It creates a scene where women are less deserving than the men. Women are used as stepping stones or told to remain dedicated to the male power. Females are the lesser creatures compared to the men who have the power. The play paints a scene where women are in compliance to this unwritten code of conduct expected for them. Towards the end of the play, the star women, lessen their dedication to the understood male power and begin their loyalty to their own gender.

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.

Foster Sue Kirkpatrick Professor Susan Smith English 101 9 March 2015 Title In the play "Trifles" Susan Glaspell demonstrates the male assumption that women are insignificant members in a male-dominated society. In the 1920’s women were looked down upon because their main role was to cook and clean, always remaining dependent on the men to do the hard labor outside on the fields thus the men had very little to no respect for their wives. Because the men underestimate them, the women are able to prove they are not insignificant, but only to the audience.

"We hold these truths to act naturally clear, that all men are made equivalent, that they are invested by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which among these are Life, Liberty, and the quest for Happiness." (United States Congress, the Declaration of Independence: A Transcription). In the play “Trifles”, Susan Glaspell portrays ladies as if no say in this story as far as the men are concerned, but in reality they have all the power and say so. The United States as a nation has been through a significant stretch of time to embrace these positions for all people (especially women). Susan Glaspell is known for these types of plays that overall give women power. In her play “Trifles", is told in 1916 and is a one demonstration

In a good play, the audience has the chance of analysing many of society’s constructed ideologies from outside and – if he or she is smart enough – arrive to the conclusion that if it does not seem right in the play, it is probably not right in real life. In her play Trifles, Susan Glaspell exposes and questions many stereotypes associated with men and women’s behaviour and their social roles. Further, by paying attention to the way the characterization of Trifles’ personages is based on traditional stereotypes and to the way the actions perpetrated by these same personages do not correspond with what would be normally expected, the audience is forced to question the stereotypes that are present not only in the play as in the real life.

It’s a hot, sticky summer afternoon in Iowa in 1910. A woman stands in the kitchen cleaning the grease from her husband’s daily work. After finally managing to make her newborn lay down for a nap, her husband busts through the front door, waking the baby. While comforting the baby, she asks her husband what his reason is for making such a ruckus. Ignoring the question, he asks for his cigars. She hands them to him as he walks out the front door. He says that he is going back to town to fetch some things. She asks if she can go with him since she’s been at home all day, but he denies her request by saying that she needs to be at home with the baby and not busy with other unimportant things. This is what women of that time and even some women now would experience in their daily life. Gender inequality has always been occurring, and it is a major obstacle being tackled today. Problems with the education system, workforce, and marriages have existed for many years, and the feminist movement was created to combat these problems. Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is one of the first feminist pieces of literature. Many themes arise in the one-act play, but the most important theme is the idea of gender separation. In the play Trifles, Glaspell uses mystery to display the theme of gender separation and to uncover an implicit conflict.