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Where is the feminism in "trifles"
Literary review of the drama trifles by susan glaspell
Literary review of the drama trifles by susan glaspell
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Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles,” is about an investigation on the murder of John Wright, whose wife is the suspect of murder. The play starts out with five characters conversing in the Wrights kitchen. George Henderson (County Attorney,) Henry Peters (Sheriff,) Mrs. Peters, Lewis Hale, and Mrs. Hale. The men first start by talking about the poor housekeeping done by Mrs. Wright, which irritated Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale. Hale then starts to describe how he found a dead John Wright, he said he walked into the Wrights house to ask about the cost of the phone line when he sees Mrs. Wright in the rocking chair. He asks Mrs. Wright if he can see John but she replies with No, because he’s dead. He then went snooping around and found that John Wright had been hung from a rope. He begins to ask Mrs. Wright questions on who did it but all she said was she didn’t know, and that …show more content…
The women sticking together were shown by the way Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale got defensive of the County Attorney saying “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell, 1413) Also, when the two women find the dead canary. Throughout the poem and even till the end neither of the women did the “lawful” thing and told the two men about the dead bird they instead stood loyal to Mrs. Wright, because they knew it would ultimately add more evidence to the case of Mrs. Wright. In the early 1900’s women were nothing compared to the men. Although they did all the household work like cooking, cleaning, sewing, and picking fresh fruit in the intense heat, they had no choice but to answer to their husbands, and according to Hale “women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell, 1412) Which is how the two women were able to get the evidence for the murder. Knowing what they said didn’t matter anyway, they do some Garcia
Hale and Mrs. Peters are quick to aid the defense of Mrs. Wright. Specifically, when the County Attorney is talking about how badly she keeps her home. “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies,” in which Mrs. Hale retourts “There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm.” Later on when the men are off looking for evidence, that is when the ladies discover the bird with the ringed neck. Glaspell (1916) writes “But, Mrs. Peters — look at it! It's neck! Look at its neck! It's all — other side to. Somebody — wrung — its — neck.” The ladies then discuss who they think may have done it. Mrs. Hale is quick to blame Mr. Wright, identifying him as the the person who wrung the birds neck: “No, Wright wouldn't like the bird — a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too,” and when Mrs. Peters says they do not know who killed the bird, Mrs. Hale replies “I knew John Wright.” In the end the county Attorney asks them what they collected for her, and they end up hiding the bird from the Sheriff and attorney. They most likely realized that the bird would provide a motive into the killing of John, something they desperately need if they will convict
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, broken bird cage door, and dead canary, all of which are assumed to be unimportant or trifling objects, is what consequentially leads to their solving of the crime. The women are able to discover who the killer is by paying attention to detail, and prove that the items which the men consider insignificant are important after all.
...ing and themselves, they see that Mrs. Wright is worth their protection, which has several meanings for the women. They come together with her against the law; they also protect her by not telling her the truth about her ruined preserves. Mrs. Hale regrets not protecting Minnie Wright from isolation and solitude, and she rushes to her defense and protects Minnie Wright earlier by helping her now.
The Sheriff, Attorney, and neighbour Mr. Hale look for evidence while the women Mrs. Peters and Hale are left to their own devices in the kitchen. Condescendingly, the men mock the women’s concerns over Mrs. Wright’s stored preserves, its stated: “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Hale, act 1) It’s inferred that women- who care only of trifles, something of little or no importance, must be trifles themselves. Ironically, these said trifles: the quilt, preserves, a little bird- which will be discussed later, are what solves this mystery. A major concern expressed by all the characters is motive; why would Mrs. Wright kill her husband? While discussing the marriage and disposition of the victim, its stated: “Yes--good; he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him. (Shivers.) Like a raw wind that gets to the bone.” (Mrs. Hale, act 1) Abuses, which have been hinted at all throughout the play are finally spoken of in these lines. Audiences find, that Mrs. Wright- “real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid” - would murder her
The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is type of murder mystery that takes place in the early 1900’s. The play begins when the sheriff Mr. Peters and county attorney Mr. Henderson come to attempt to piece together what had happen on the day that Mr. Wright was murder. While investigating the seen of the murder, they are accompanied by the Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale and Mr. Peters. Mr. Hale had told that Mrs. Wright was acting strange when he found her in the kitchen. After taking information from Mr. Hale, the men leave the women in the kitchen and go upstairs at seen of the murder. The men don’t realize the plot of the murder took place in the kitchen.
...box with the bird in it. The men enter with some condescending remarks toward the women to which neither Mrs. Hale nor Mrs. Peters remarks. The county attorney says that it seems pretty clear that Mrs. Wright is guilty but that he has failed to uncover any evidence that would explain any motive. The women do not mention that they have found the bird. They know that proof of motive is the most critical piece of evidence against Mrs. Wright and that when she is tried in court, she will not technically be judged by a group of her peers. Women are not allowed to vote and, therefore, cannot be members of a jury. If the court does establish a motive, Mrs. Wright will surely be convicted by a group of chauvinistic men. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know the motive but decide to take the law into their own hands and, in doing so, demonstrate both autonomy and fellowship.
The news of a murder brings in Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, and Mr. Peters, the sheriff. Mr. Hale, a neighboring farmer, reveals what he witnessed. Mrs. Wright, the deceased’s wife, was rocking nervously in her chair and mentioned her dead husband lying upstairs. Mr. Hale then called in the sheriff who called in the county attorney. As they begin looking for evidence, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale relocate into the kitchen to gather things to bring to Mrs. Wright to jail. The women start talking about the unhappy life Mrs. Wright seemed to have lived and the unpleasantness that was ushered into the air. Upon finding a broken cage, they grow curious but assume nothing. When they look into a sewing box for more things for Mrs. Wright, they find the dead bird that was strangled. Fearing the worst, the bird was then hidden by the women as the men returned and decide that Mrs. Wright would rather knot than quilt the quilt she was making.
Mrs. Hale’s keen wit and patience contributes to her embodiment of The Fate sister Clotho the Spinner, which is even more evident in her correcting of Minnie Wright’s improper stitching (Russell). Mrs. Peters begins the process of investigation deeply devoted to keeping the law. She doesn’t want any disruption in the house, saying, “I don’t think we ought to touch things” (Glaspell p. 666) when Mrs. Hale began searching for clues. Upon finding the dead canary, Mrs. Peters view on the situation changes drastically, and she decides with Mrs. Hale to hide the tiny dead bird from the men. They both figure that if the dead canary was discovered, Mrs. Wright would be thought to be a mad woman, though it was likely Mr. Wright who killed it.
Hale and Mrs. Peters are strangers, and neither are terribly well acquainted with the accused, but by the end, these women become connected under a shared feeling of empathy for Mrs. Wright. This empathy becomes so strong that they view her in themselves, and the lines of guilt and innocence become blurred. Mrs. Peters comes to this realization after they find the bird and she recalls a cruel childhood memory; “(in a whisper) When I was a girl—my kitten—there was a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyes—and before I could get there— (covers her face an instant) If they hadn't held me back I would have— (catches herself, looks upstairs where steps are heard, falters weakly)—hurt him” (). She is frightened by her feelings, not because they are violent, but because they are eerily similar to the feelings of Mrs. Wright, who is supposed to be some kind of deranged killer, which she herself is not. After piecing together the details of Mrs. Wright’s gloomy home life, Mrs. Hale comments, “it would be awful—still, after the bird was still” (). This declaration resonates with Mrs. Peters; she replies, “I know what stillness is. When we homesteaded in Dakota, and my first baby died—after he was two years old, and me with no other then—. . . I know what stillness is. (pulling herself back) The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale” (). Knowing stillness herself, she would have known how that bird must have livened up Mrs. Wright’s life, but she is
Mrs. Wright, however, justified killing her husband due to Mr. Wright trapping her inside the house and how Mrs. Wright job is only to be domestic wife. When Mrs. Hale (farmer’s wife) and Mrs. Peters (sheriff’s wife) discovered a dead bird with her neck bruised all over, they start to put the pieces to the puzzle together and ...
Hale and Peters, when they hide Mrs. Wright's dead bird and lie to the men in the drama that the cat, which does not exist, has the bird. And then they lie again on the cat's escape. (Trifles 144). Accordingly, it is this protection from external influence (men) that helps women to rebuild and reform the principles of the United States Judiciary System on their own without men noticing: "The choice of women adopt an alternative model of perception that can only succeed in silence, but it is no longer the silence of impotence. The society was basically a society dominated by men, so women have practically no voice.
Mr. Hale found his neighbor, John Wright, strangled upstairs in the Wrights’ house with Minnie Wright, John’s wife, sitting calmly downstairs. With John Wright dead and his wife in jail, Mr. Hale, the sheriff, their wives, and the county attorney all crowded into the Wright’s house to try to find clues about the murder. While the men go upstairs, they leave the women downstairs “.worrying over trifles.” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 264) Unbeknownst to the men, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find clue after clue that would convict Minnie Wright of the murder. Instead of telling the men about the clues, the women hide the clues and the men have no idea what the women have found.
In history many women rose to fight for their social and political rights. Susan Glaspell (writer of the play ‘Trifle’) lived in the time when women were mostly part of the reproductive role which confined them to raise children and do house chores (cooking, cleaning etc.), and were briefly play the social role. Therefore, most of her writings have content that lead to occur arguments about feminism and criticizes society’s restricting view of women. A feminist analysis of Glaspell’s "Trifles" highpoints carefully these facts through the label, the characters, the parts, the conflict and the theme. The title of the play ‘Trifles’ suggests that it talks about only insignificant and superficial action, but the truth is far from that.
Wright was described as a beautiful women filled with such joy and life until she married John Wright. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale feels sorry for her because her husband treated her so bad. Due to female bonding and sympathy, the two women, becoming detectives, finds the truth and hides it from the men. The play shows you that emotions can play a part in your judgement. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale felt sorry that Mrs. Wright had one to keep her company no kids and she was always left alone at home. “yes good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that goes to the bone. I should of think she would have wanted a bird. But what you suppose went with it?” Later on in the play the women find out what happens to the bird. The bird was killed the same way Mrs. Wright husband which leads to the motive of why he was killed. Mrs. Wright was just like the bird beautiful but caged no freedom not being able to live a life of her own. Always stuck in the shadows of her husband being told what to do and
Most of the actions take place in the kitchen setting which demonstrates the author’s deliberate move to show the important details about the wifely role. The women hold their conversation in the unkempt kitchen, a domestic sphere that reveals everything about the lives of women. While the men were busy searching for clues around the farmhouse, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale see some evidence in the trifle that Mrs. Wright had left in the kitchen. The women can deduce that the messy kitchen with dirty pans gives a signal of incomplete work. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter spend most of their time in the messy kitchen that significantly reveal Mrs. Wright’s state of confusion (Manuel 61). Mrs. Hale understands Mrs. Wright’s experiences of loneliness and desperation from the male-dominated circumstances. The female characters sympathize with her situation by acknowledging the forces in her life that made her take the roles including that of murdering her husband. The men overlook the evidence that the women can trace in the house, and their dialogue suggests lack of sympathy towards women as noted from their humiliation and sarcasm towards women. For example, the women can relate the death of the canary to the murder scene. The attorney shows how woman’s concerns are unimportant, instead of sympathizing with Mrs. Wright for what has befallen her, they portray their women