607868286_Marriage_in_Trifles_and_The_Thing_Around_Your_Neck
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Nov 24, 2024
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Marriage in
“Trifles”
and
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
Introduction
The topic of marriage incorporates many ideas, feelings, and facets that remain connected to the
legal structure of marriage itself. The institution of marriage holds excellent societal and cultural
weight in many different cultures and societies throughout the globe. Marriage symbolizes the
coming together of two people, typically already within a committed connection, to form an
association that will last a lifetime. Companionship and love constitute two of the essential
components of marriage. Adichie examines how imbalanced power-based dynamics affect
marriages within her published works (Adichie 70). Marriage frequently remains the result of a
profound emotional connection that develops between two individuals who decide to dedicate
the rest of their existence united. It requires comprehension on both sides, support from one
another, and an eagerness to experience the highs and lows of life together. The two plays depict
the complexity and difficulties women encounter throughout the structure of getting married,
drawing attention to discrimination, power-based dynamics, and the search for individual liberty
as central themes.
Marriage can represent an oppressive institution that binds individuals to atrocities that
make them feel unappreciated. The consequences of oppression within the context of marriage
could prove highly detrimental to the victim. Therefore, oppression can result in emotions of
worry, anxiety, depressive disorders, and a lack of self-esteem. In extreme situations,
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oppression may result in death or serious bodily harm. The writers demonstrate in the works
above of fiction how marriage can become a repressive structure that puts women under the
discretion of their spouses. Marriage becomes perhaps the most apparent way men influence
women's life; thus, it remains simple to utilize in a story to show how women get treated
(Adichie 78). The women in the Wright household are responsible for cleaning up following their
husband’s killing in the play Trifles. As a result of their efforts, they start to puzzle back the
specifics of the murder and gain an understanding of the potential motivations behind Mrs.
Wright’s decision to murder her spouse. The women learn that Mr. Wright was a nasty and
violent spouse, and he spent time oppressing and segregating his wife for decades. The
women also know Mr. Wright abused his wife physically and emotionally. The women
eventually conclude that Mrs. Wright could not be termed an actual murderer but rather an
innocent victim of abuse in the home.
Akunna, The Thing Around Your Neck’s main character, portrays a woman who made her
home in the United States after she won a lottery visa. Although she has a relationship with
her boyfriend, she does not feel fulfilled in her relationship with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is
demanding and possessive of her since he demands her to comply with the traditional standards
of gender that remain expected of women. At some point, he attempts to rape her.
Eventually,
Akunna finds a way to exit her relationship and begin a new life independently (Adichie 78).
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
and
“Trifles”
illustrate how marriage may constrain a woman’s
life. In the play, Trifles, the female members of the Wright’s house remain successful in getting
Mrs. Wright fairness, but only once her husband has passed away. Akunna breaks free from her
relationship with her boyfriend in the novel
“The Thing Around Your Neck,”
yet, doing so comes
at a high personal sacrifice to her.
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The researchers of both plays examine the power relations between women and men by
focusing on marriage in their narratives. In the play “Trifles,” the ladies or women can resolve
the murder while bringing Mrs. Wright to face justice by applying their understanding of
domestication to the investigation.
The male characters in the play are too prejudiced to see the
situation clearly, allowing the women to take the stage (Adichie 67). On the other hand, the
women within the narrative have no prejudices. Akunna manages to break free from her
relationship in the novel
The Thing Around Your Neck
, yet, she must abandon her boyfriend and
her own country to accomplish this.
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
and
“Trifles”
examine the
complex topic of marriage but do so in distinct manners. Marriage remains a very complicated
topic.
Nevertheless, both works demonstrate how marriage may represent an oppressive
structure that can force women to remain in toxic and unpleasant partnerships. The concept of
marriage is presented in
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
in a manner that makes it intricate and
multifaceted.
It shows that women's views on marriage differ widely and that matrimony can be
the source of happiness and sadness (Adichie 72). The narrative also questions the conventional
gender roles that are expected of individuals and provides a peek at the opportunities available
for women who want to exercise their agency.
Akunna’s uncle is sponsoring her in the United States, and he has high standards for how
she should behave as a woman. He anticipates her taking care of his every need. He makes lewd
advances on her that she finds offensive. Akunna is concerned with this arrangement but feels
she has little choice but to comply (Adichie 76). She is terrified to leave her uncle’s home for
fear of facing deportation. Marriage in the United States has been significantly different for
Akunna than she had imagined. She feels unfulfilled and unhappy within her marriage. The
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confines of her uncle’s home make her seem imprisoned. She cannot reach her loved ones back
in Nigeria either. In
“The Thing Around Your Neck,”
the author examines the difficulties women
in conventional marriages confront. Traditional gender stereotypes get enforced on Akunna
despite her dissatisfaction with them. Akunna is also cut off from her loved ones, adding to her
loneliness. Marriage, the narrative hints, can bring both joy and sorrow. Akunna’s uncle gets
depicted as a good person, yet he keeps trying to have sexual relations with her. This shift causes
internal strife for Akunna, who becomes torn between being a respectful woman and standing on
her own merits.
Conclusion
In the plays
“The Thing Around Your Neck”
and
“Trifles,”
the depiction of marriage is an
instrument to investigate the intricacies of partnerships and women’s encounters within
marriages. Therefore, to spotlight the difficulties women experience within married relationships,
the subjects of oppression, balancing power, and the search for personal freedom as discussed in
both works. Whereas
“Trifles”
examines the silencing of women’s opinions and the coming to
terms with one’s power via the support of others, “The Thing Around Your Neck” digs into the
societal limitations women must navigate to find personal development and independence.
Glaspell and Adichie provide thoughtful reflections on marriage using the medium of their
respective narratives. The authors encourage readers to conduct an in-depth analysis of the
authority dynamics at play within unions of this type and how these dynamics affect women’s
autonomy and health.
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Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi.
The Thing Around Your Neck
. Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group, 2009.