Trifles Essay

docx

School

Spartanburg Community College *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

102

Subject

English

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by CommodoreClover9792

Cristina Jennings Patricia Jordan Eng. 102 6 April 2023 Drama Essay: “Trifles” Over time, gender roles have changed and evolved in many different ways. “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is a one-act play that explores these gender roles and the expectations between husband and wife. The play takes place in a farmhouse where a farmer, John Wright, has been murdered and the sheriff and his men have come to investigate. While the men search for clues, the women in the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, are left in the kitchen to gather items for the accused Mrs. Wright. Through their observations and discussions, the women are able to solve the mystery behind Mr. Wright’s murder and the motives that drove her to commit the crime. In the play, Glaspell examines the dangers of male dominance. The impact of this male dominance is shown by what the women are called. During this period, women were usually called by their last names. This is because women were sometimes thought to be the sole association in society through their husbands. From the beginning of the play, male dominance is asserted as the female characters are introduced as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Toward the end of the play, one of the men state, “No, Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the law”(Glaspell 205). This statement shows the societal norm during that time. As the play continues, the men nor the women never use their first names; the women even refer to each other by last name only. The only mention of a first name is when Mrs. Hale discloses that Mrs. Wrights name is actually Minnie before she is

married where she then becomes only Mrs. Wright. Janet L. Grouse emphasizes that “Glaspell does not give these women first names or maiden names, the lack of which emphasizes their subordinate roles to their husbands” (Grose) . Grose’s quote supports my claim that male dominance is shown in the play by what the women are referred to. Secondly, male dominance is shown in the play when the men constantly suppress the women’s voices and insights dismissing them as “trifles”. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Peters makes a comment that Mrs. Wright was worried about her peaches freezing. The sheriff makes a comment that she was “held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 189). Mr. Hale then states, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 189) as if to insinuate that it was a fickle thing for a woman to worry over. Later on in the play, when talking about the unfinished quilt Mrs. Wright was working on, he sheriff says, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it” (Glaspell 195). They laugh about this trivial matter. Several times in the play, the men leave and return to the kitchen. There was never a question asked to the women if they had found something of use to the case. The questions were always about the items they were observing or collecting for Mrs. Wright. Suzy Holstein supports my claim that the women’s voices were suppressed by stating, “Women on the other hand valued cooperation and worked to interconnect, taking time to make up their minds. Such behavior was ‘dismissed as indecisive’ instead of being understood as a separate model that promoted integrated thinking” (Holstein) . The men were concerned only with their own ways of thinking and did not think the women capable of uncovering anything to do with the murder. Finally, male dominance is shown in the play through the isolation of the female characters. Mrs. Hale talks about the farm and how it was “down in a hollow and you don’t see the road” (Glaspell 198-199). She goes on to say that, she wished she had come to see Mrs.

Wright. Mrs. Wright was lonely with no children. She was isolated away from society and Mr. Wright worked all day long. The play not only talks about Mrs. Wright’s loneliness and isolation but also the women are isolated to the kitchen and left alone. The men constantly leave and come back to the kitchen. The women are expected to stay in the kitchen isolated for the evidence the men are searching for. Even Mrs. Peter’s reminisces on a time when she lost her baby and was alone and isolated in her home while her husband worked all day. David Galens supports this claim by stating, “Life for rural women, as shown by Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale in Trifles, was not much better. A large portion of America’s population was still scattered in rural towns, ranches, and farmsteads across the country at the turn of the century. Women were largely responsible for the maintenance of the family, including cleaning, laundry, food preparation, and childcare. They often had to make clothes and bedding for families. Farming could be lonely life for women” (Galens). It was the expectation that the men would be allowed to leave all day while the women stayed behind to tend to the home, sometimes by themselves. Overall, “Trifles” is a thought provoking play that explores male dominance and gender roles in early 20th century America. Through its exploration of what the women are called, the suppression of the women’s voices and ideas, and the isolation of the female characters, the play offers a powerful insight to the societal norms during the plays time. Through its characters and setting, we are able to see a personal glimpse of male dominance in society during the period the play was written in. The play serves as a reminder of what most women had to go through in the 20 th century. Works Cited

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Galens, David M. "Trifles." Drama for Students . Vol. 8. Gale eBooks, 2000. 216-233. Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Lit Wit: ENG 102 Course Packet . Ed. Patricia Jordan. Rev. 2nd ed. Spartanburg Community College, 2020. 184-206. Grose, Janet L. "Susan Glaspell's Trifles and 'A Jury of Her Peers': Feminine Reading and Communication." Short Story Criticism . Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 132. Gale Literature Resource Center, 2010. Holstein, Suzy Clarkson. "Silent justice in a different key: Glaspell's 'Trifles'." The Midwest Quarterly . Vol. 44. Gale Literature Resource Center, 2003. 282+.

Trifles Essay

Related Documents