Trifles Gender Essay

“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.

Susan Glaspel’s play “Trifles” illustrations the domination of men over women in the early 1900’s and how one women was ready to stand up for change. This play demonstrates how Minnie is overwhelmed by her controlling husband and how she ended up killing him for smothering her. Gender inequality is the fundamental theme of the play. Glaspell does a fantastic job at describing the stereotypical male characters in her play as men were at the time this play was written. The men have personalities that are condescending, egotistical, and self-important. The women, meanwhile, start out the play timidly, allowing their husbands to argue about the crime scene, however, the moment they are left alone they begin to talk to each other and display a strong sense of

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell is a one-act play that explores the theme of the gender roles and social positions of men and women in early twentieth-century America. The play is loosely based on the true event of the murder of John Hossack which Glaspell reported on while working as a news journalist in Iowa. Years later, she used her experiences and observations to create the play. "Trifles" is about solving the murder case of farmer John Wright. While Mr. Wright was asleep in the night, someone put a rope around his neck. The most likely suspect is his wife, Mrs. Wright/Minnie Foster. Susan Glaspell shows in the play how women are seen as inferior and how men and women act and think differently.

Trifles is a one act play about two murder investigations the official formal one by the men as well as the unofficial informal one by the women.( Beatty, 1) Throughout the play the women in their own way solve the crime while the men hit a dead end. There are a variety of perceptions and interpretations of Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”. These were the ones most attention-grabbing or noteworthy: the notion that the three women in this play Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Wright are allegorically based on the Fate sisters from Greek mythology; secondly, the connection and symbolism between Mrs. Wright (Minnie) and the objects within her house the quilts irregular and sloppy stitching signified the turmoil Mrs. Wright was going through, and lastly the oppression of women which is depicted in many situations including the men of the plays viewpoint on the women.

She continues to examine the crime scene collecting evidence to pleat to the convict, Mrs. Wright, as guilty or not. The entering and exiting of characters within the play help emphasize on the details happening during each scene. Along with that, Mrs. Hale also pointed out the birdcage in the cupboard that was damaged. Mrs. Hale assumed the bird cage belonged to a singing canary due to living in a giant house with no kids, which could possible become boring.

Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is a one-act play written in 1916 about the effect of gender differences on perceptions of duty, law, and justice. During the play, Minnie Wright is accused of murdering her husband John Wright while he slept. The murder is officially investigated by three men and unofficially investigated by two women. Trifles was written during the time when woman were not allowed to have large roles in society, their opinions were not held with high regard, and woman were mainly defined by the men they married.

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.

While the female characters find the items Mrs. Wright as asked for, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters begin to notice details that lead them to the explanation of Mrs. Wright’s death. Females are more aware of smaller details than men. Men often look for bigger signs that are more obvious to see. This proves true multiple times in the story, but one stands out the more than any other. There is an empty bird cage in the house Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters notice it and Mrs. Peters examines the cage. She states, “Why, look at this door. It’s broke.

Trifles is a dramatic one act play written by American female playwright Susan Glaspell. The play examines through the framework of a murder mystery how rigid gender role dynamics in the early 20th century not only shaped people 's thinking, but blinded them from seeing what would otherwise be clear as day to someone else. During the time the play was written the women 's liberation movement had yet to take place. Women were strongly stereotyped and were not seen as the intellectual equals of men. This pervasive sexism is a strong framing mechanism for Glaspell 's play. While the men in the play are engaged in cold intellectual pursuit of the truth, the woman are able to see the plain facts that were hidden to the investigators. Minnie had a history of psychopathic tendencies that the men simply could not fathom, implicating her in the murder of her husband. The men could not break their conception of a female as as innocent and fragile, causing them to overlook such highly relevant information. This theme of gender roles as obstructions towards the truth, or trifles as the play calls them, plays a prominent theme in Susan Glaspell 's short play Trifles, causing the men to overlook and dismiss the evidence presented by the women.

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 by Susan Glaspell is a short play built around the murder of John Wright. One might say that this play is dull and boring. However, that is far from the case. There are numerous entwined themes and ideas throughout the play. With closer examination of Glaspell’s work it is clear that there is a far greater plot in action. Mrs. Minnie Wright has been arrested for the murder of her husband while the investigation is active. Interestingly enough the murder is not the focused of this play. The focus is how two wives Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters identify with the accused. Throughout the play the wives uncover several seemingly insignificant clues which provide insight on the daily life Mrs. Wright before the death of her husband. Although both women ultimately end up identifying themselves with Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale appears to only aid Mrs. Wright due to the overwhelming guilt and shame she feels after learning of the circumstances Mrs. Wright life.

Which resulted in tampering with evidence. Note the play took part in the early 1900s, because of this the social hierarchy was still there, still visible in this day and age, however it heavily shown back then, because of this the males were actually the ones that took charge and left no role for the women to take any part in. Throughout the play the two males said rude sarcastic remarks towards the ladies, which angered them more and more. Due to their individual hierarchal roles, the females couldn’t stand up for themselves, this feeling allowed them to connect with the suspect Ms. Wright. They learned of the bird cage, and the bird that had the neck that was wrung.

“Trifles,” Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale band together as a counterbalance against the men conducting the John Wright murder investigation that leads to Mrs. Wright. Glaspell creates an empathy between the female characters for the disproportionate role women have. As the play progresses, tensions begin to surface, the men critiquing Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping abilities, the women gradually start to defend her, and eventually covering up evidence that would likely lead the men to her committing the murder. Mrs. Hale appears to be on empathetic towards Mrs. Wright: “Looking her up in town and then coming out here and trying to get her own house against her!” Mrs. Peters is initially hesitant, affirming the rules of men: “But Mrs. Hale, the law is

To counterattack the statement pressed by Hale, Henderson tries to show that women are somehow important because men would do nothing without them. Though, presence of unwashed dishes, dirty towels and tables reflect Mrs. Wright as a carefree woman. But, women in this scene (Mrs. Hale) try to defend her by highlighting that in such a farm, there are more roles that it meets the eye. Two things are evident here; men in this play take up the position of professional lawmakers while women take the position of caregivers who are ready to help Mrs. Wright even if she is

Trifles has long been considered a drama about feminism and the prejudice men develop toward women. The female characters play a significant role in the drama because they produced minor evidence to solve a murder case. The women sympathized for Mrs. Wright because they want to find her motivation for killing her husband and covering up for it. Glaspell presents the male characters in the play as being ignorant and in and inability to connect with the women’s ideology. The men patronized and ridiculed the women ideas and characterized their activity in the house as being relatively unimportant. (Holstein 283) They devalued the women and made a valid point that the women were impotent to them. Glaspell uses literal and symbolic references