Trifles Analysis

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.

In Trifles, Susan Glaspell debates the roles between men and women during a period where a debate was not widely conducted. Glaspell wrote Trifles in the early 1900s—a time when feminism was just getting started. In this play, Glaspell shows us her perspective on the roles of men and women and how she believes the situation would play out. Trifles seems like another murder mystery on the surface, but the play has a much more profound meaning behind it. Glaspell presents the idea that men and women analyze situations differently, and how these situations are resolved based on how we interpret them. Research shows that women’s brains “may be optimized for combining analytical and intuitive thinking.” On the other hand, male brains are predominately “optimized for motor skills and actions” (Lewis). In the play, this research shows true when the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, analyze details rather than looking at the apparent, physical evidence, and they find out the motive of the murder. The men, on the other hand, look at broader evidence that does not lead to any substantial conclusion. When Glaspell was writing this play, she wanted the women to be the real instigators, the ones that would end up solving the mystery. While the men in the story laugh at the ‘trifles’ that women worry about, these details mean a great deal in Glaspell’s eyes. Glaspell presents the idea what men and women are different in the way they live their lives through detail.

“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.

The play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 is based on the murder of John Wright where the prime suspect is his spouse; Minnie Foster. “Trifles” is fixated on the investigation of the social division realized by the strict gender roles that enable the two men and women to have contending points of view on practically every issue. This is found in the way the men view the kitchen as they consider it as not having anything of significant worth. From the earliest starting point, the two women and men possess distinctive positions. For instance, the women are unimportant guests to Minnie Foster's home while the men have desired authority obligation.

The play Trifles was written by Susan Glaspell, who is considered to be one of the first feminist writers in American literature. In the story there is an ongoing investigation to find out who killed Mr. Wright and all the evidence is pointing to Mrs. Wright. Two of Mrs. Wright’s neighbors are determined to find out what really happened. Trifles is a suspenseful story that holds many feminist viewpoints that collides with justice for women when it comes to domestic violence.

The play Susan Glaspell's Trifles were written in the 1900s. “Susan Keating Glaspell was born in Davenport, Iowa, on July 1, 1876” (Noe 48). “She graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, with a Ph. B. in Philosophy” (Waterman 13). The play Trifles was about the murder of Mr. Wright taken place in their farm house during the winter season. The title of the play was chosen because men only thought of the women as trifles. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus the word trifles is “something that does not have much value or importance”. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters conceal the evidence that implicate Mrs. Wright in the murder of her husband because they knew how men felt toward women, however Mrs. Wright was a good woman and a hard working farmer’s wife.

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 Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles, written in 1916, two female characters are left in the kitchen of a house where a murder has been committed, while the menfolk search around for clues. The men largely ignore the women and are mocking of them and their petty concerns on the occasions that they do speak to them. While the men are about looking for the “cold hard facts” of the murder, the women are in the kitchen bothering with “trifles” that display all of the details about the wife’s life and, most probably, her motivation for the murder. In this play, Susan Glaspell has written male characters that clearly display the “Ethics of Justice”, a sort of right is right and wrong is wrong view; while the women clearly embody the “Ethics of Care”, a view that takes relationships and feelings into account when judging the morality of actions.

"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

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

The world of this play is the basic history of women and men. Men were viewed as superior and are usually sexist, the women were ignored and belittled. Even the title of the story showed how men felt throughout the story. In a feminist analysis of “Trifles” it states, ”In trifles, the title is ironic as the reader sees what is silly and "trifle" to men, is the key for solving the murder”(Khalaf Pg 1) the men were so stuck in there own little worlds to find the real evidence needed to solve the murder. This to me really shows how little a man pays attention to a women and doesn’t realize how important women

Trifles is a play written in 1916 by author Susan Glaspell. It is considered to be one of the earliest pieces of American feminist literature. Feminism is a political movement which seeks to establish equal social and political opportunities for women. In Trifles, the women are looked upon as unimportant and inferior to the men in being able to help solve the case.

The battle for power between genders has been a struggle for centuries. To be specific, in male dominated societies, the life of women was surrounded by hardships. Women were always known as having a lower status compared to men. Men would treat their wives as property and usually gave women no credit for their hard work. Although power seems to be in favor of the men as they have the authoritative status, a closer look at the words and actions of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters suggests that the women actually have the power in the play. Gender inequality is a leading theme of Trifles, as there is discrimination towards women, from the men in this play who believe the women are incapable of aiding in an investigation.

Susan Glaspell's Trifles explores the classical male stereotype of women by declaring that women frequently worry about matters of little, or no importance. This stereotype makes the assumption that only males are concerned with important issues, issues that females would never discuss or confront. The characters spend the entirety of the play searching for clues to solve a murder case. Ironically, the female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, uncover crucial evidence and solve the murder case, not the male characters. The men in the play, the Sheriff, County Attorney, and Hale, search the scene of the crime for evidence on their own, and mock the women's discussions. The women's interest in the quilt,