Trifles written by Susan Glaspell is about the main character Mrs. Minnie Wright. The play by Glaspell describes Minnie Wright as the one and only main suspect in the murder of her husband. Mrs. Wright has lived nothing but a depressed and unhappy life thanks to her husband Mr. Wright. In the play A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen Mrs. Nora Helmer is portrayed as the happy and perfect “doll-like” wife to her husband, Mr. Torvald. In both Trifles and A Doll's House the central focus is on Mrs. Wright and Nora Helmer in the way each of them handle big issues experienced in their marriages in both similar and different ways. In the story Trifles by Susan Glaspell we are placed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright the day after her husband has been …show more content…
Nora Helmer is married to Mr. Trovald who becomes extreme me ill. Nora illegally borrows money from the bank in order to pay for a much needed trip to Italy to cure her husband. As the play continues on Nora comes clean to her husband about the loan she cheated the bank for in order to help his medical expenses. Mr. Trovald instantly thinks about himself and his reputation and how people are going to view if anyone is to find out about what his wife did. Torvald is not mad at his wife for committing a crime nor about his wife in this moment at all but only on how he is going to be viewed by others. However, regardless of how his wife feels about the entire situation he chooses to forgive his wife and expects her to return back to her wifely duties as the ideal housewife and the “doll” he sees her as. During most of the story Nora is happy in her marriage to her husband however she feels a great amount of pressure to be the perfect doll for him so he will not leave her. Nora manages to solve the issue of her unequal treatment within in her marriage by choosing to leave her husband and 3 kids behind. Nora realizes that during this whole time she has been unfairly treated by her husband to uphold society’s standard of the ideal wife-like
The farmhouse in Trifles was accessed by several individuals between the time of the murder and law enforcement arriving. The sheriff even sent Frank over that morning to start a fire for warmth, instructing him “not to touch anything except the stove – and you know Frank.” The men in the play are only interested in observing the areas where John would have been within the home, deeming the kitchen as unimportant. If they had only taken a few moments to consider the mindset and life of Mrs. Wright they would have discovered all the information they sought. Minnie’s obligation once married was to provide John with children, the fact they were childless helps to show her “failure” in this role in the men’s eyes, yet the women see the detached relationship she shared with John and the profound silence of a home without little ones. Mrs. Hale discovers an unfinished quilt with some very erratic stitching where Mrs. Wright has left off and begins to remove the stitches, as if trying to undo what has already happened. When the quilting method of Mrs. Wright is discovered the women link her method with the knot used around John’s neck. Without ever seeing
Trifles” is a play written in 1916 by Susan Glaspell. The play’s audience consists of young adults to those in their late 50’s. Mrs. Glaspell takes a serious matter of domestic violence and uses her platform as an author to raise awareness about the issue. In the play “Trifles” a neighbor went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright only to find Mr. Wright dead in his bed. He had been strangled to death by a rope. The neighbor questioned Mrs. Wright about the matter and her response was odd and suspicious. Mrs. Wright was taken to jail while the home is being investigated for further evidence. Mrs. Glaspell’s play “Trifles” effectively achieves the goal in raising awareness on domestic violence by the evidence of the crime and through pathos.
Nora and Mrs. Wright’s social standing when compared to the men in each play is inferior. Both works expose their respective male characters’ sexist view of women diminishing the women’s social standing. Each work features egotistical men who have a severely inflated view of their self-worth when compared to their female counterparts. The men’s actions and words indicate they believe women are not capable of thinking intelligently. This is demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mr. Hale makes the statement about women only worrying about mere trifles. It is also apparent in “A Dollhouse” when Torvalds thinks his wife is not capable of thinking with any complexity (Mazur 17). Another common attribute is of the women’s social standing is displayed as both women finally get tired of feeling like second class citizens and stand up to the repressive people in the women’s lives (Mulry 294). Although both women share much in common in their social standing there subtle differences. Torvald’s sexist view of Nora is more on a personal level in “A Dollhouse” while the male characters’ sexist views in “Trifles” seem to be more of a social view that women are not very smart and their opinions are of little value. This attitude is apparent in “Trifles” as Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson’s comments about Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping (Mulry 293). As the women in both works reach their emotional
The plays, Trifles and A Dollhouse use the literary tool of symbolism to portray the way women were treated throughout the nineteenth century. Susan Glaspell uses the bird cage and the dead bird to signify the role and life of women in marriage and society, whereas Henrik Ibsen uses the dollhouse. These symbols allow the reader to recognize the plays main similarities in the treatment of women, such as men dismissing women as trivial and treating them like property; however, the plays portray the women’s lifestyles as different which seal their fates. To begin, in both plays the men dismiss the women as trivial. In Trifles, when Mrs. Wright is being held in jail for the alleged murder of her husband, she worries about the cold weather and whether it will cause her fruit to freeze which will burst the jars.
He then sends a letter to Torvald explaining what crime that his wife had committed and delivered to their mailbox. When Torvald sees the letter he is infuriated by what Nora did and humiliated that it could tarnish his reputation. Later a letter comes that shows that Nora’s debt has been paid and that she would be cleared of her crime. After reading it, Torvald then began to see why his wife did it and he was relieved that the debt was paid. After that Torvald expresses to Nora “you don’t understand how to act on your own responsibility? No, no; only lean on me; I will advise you and direct you. I should not be a man if this womanly helplessness did not just give you a double attractiveness in my eyes” (III). This set Nora off and finally had had enough of her husband treating her as if she were a child. She then decides that she is going to leave her family and she is going to find herself and become a strong independent
“A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell seems to have a lot in common. The two wives, Nora and Mrs. Hale, have both did some wrong things, but for different reasons and they are not the type of things a person would think of. These two women had a lot on their hands and had some quick choices to make that easily affected their loved ones. Both Nora and Mrs. Hale committed crimes, but like their titles the plays seem so simple, yet they represent complicated conflict between comprehension and behavior.
“Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell, focuses on three points; relationship between men and women, the privacy of a home life and the justice that law must find. By using the play structure, powerful diction, meaningful symbolism and a tense tone, she successfully serves her purpose. The classic plot line of progression only further allows the reader to be enthralled by the focus of the story.
Nora is the pampered wife of an aspiring bank manager Torvald Halmer. In a desperate attempt to saves her husband's life Nora once asked for a loan so she and her family could move somewhere where her husband could recover from his sickness. Giving the circumstances she, as a woman of that period, by herself and behind her husband forged her dad signature to receive the loan. Now, Nora's lender (Mr. Krogstad), despite her paying punctually, uses that fault as a fraud to pressure her so she could help him to keep his job in the Bank where her husband is going to be the manager. Nora finds out that Torvald would fire Mr. Krogstad at any cost. At learning this, Nora trembles for she knows Mr. Krogstad will tell everything to Torvald. She remains confident; however that Torvald will stand by her no matter what outcome. His reaction though is not what she expected and therefore here is when she realizes that she "must stand quite alone" and leaves her husband.
My initial inspiration for this piece was Trifles, which funnily enough only shares the characteristic of detectives being involved within the plot. As per suggestion on my proposal, I developed my idea of detectives solving a case further by including dialogue and inter-personnel relationships similar to those found in Glengarry Glen Ross. Taking the idea of different members of the real-estate office discussing work and plotting in Glengarry Glen Ross, and applying them to a trio of detectives on a case was interesting to say the least.
Nora lives her life in a fantasy world, where she believes that Torvald as her husband, will save her. Nora expects Helmer to carry out his actions when he states, "Do you know, Nora, I have often wished that you might be threatened by some great danger, so that I might risk my life's blood, and everything, for your sake." Even Nora's view on maternal responsibilities is nothing but playing games with the children and purchasing the prettiest outfits while the maid takes on the more realistic motherly role. Nora is unable to look beneath the veil until the very end of the play to realize that she is simply a doll playing in a doll's
In the play Trifles, a handful of people are thrust into a situation that allows us to compare their personalities. The comparison of Mrs. Hale and Mr. Wright is captivating because both characters have striking similarities and differences that are well defined in the events that unfold in the Wright kitchen. Though both show emotions that are unlike from one another, they are similar in their organized lifestyles, and they conduct themselves in such a way to have the respect from others.
Nora was wife of Helmer and a mother of 3 children. They lived in a house where their nurse Anne-Marie took care of the children and Helene which was their maid took care of the house work. Nora was a stay at home mother and would occasionally take on little jobs in order to make ends meet. Nora has lived her whole life as a puppet. Her life has always been controlled by someone else; first by her father and then by her husband Helmer. “Her whole life is a construct of societal norms and the expectations of others” (Wiseman). “Nora’s father would force his beliefs on her and she would comply with them lest she upset him; she would bury her personal belief under Papa’s. According to Nora, Torvald was guilty of the same things” (Wiseman). Nora has always lived her life according to the beliefs of someone else. She didn 't know how to live life any other way because this is how she was raised. She felts trapped in the life she lived because she knew no other way of living besides her current lifestyle. Due to Nora being controlled her whole life she seemed childish and lacked knowledge of the world outside her house. At the end of the story Helmer decides to show his true colors once his future was threatened. This made Nora realize that she does not love her husband nor does he love her, and decides that is not the life she wants to live. “Helmer: You talk like a child. You don 't know anything of the world you live
Torvald expects Nora to agree with what he says and thinks, and commit her life to keeping the family happy by being a housewife. But Nora defies the roles that she is expected to have as being a wife, a woman, and a friend. As a wife, Nora spends Torvald’s money on macarons which are forbidden and attempts to earn her own money while going against what her husband tells her, because she wants to be an independent person with her own opinions. The trip to the south and borrowing money was all done by her, and in the end of the play Nora ultimately goes against the expectations set upon her by leaving the house to live on her own to gain knowledge and experience, but leaves behind her husband and children who she is responsible for taking care of. As a woman, she does not have the authority to disagree with her husband or try to influence his actions. Torvald says, “If it ever got around that the new manager had been talked over by his wife…” (Ibsen 42) showing that it would be a laughing matter if a woman had an idea, but Nora still makes many attempts to persuade her husband. As a friend, Nora is expected to know her role which is a listener and supporter for Mrs. Linde and just an acquaintance to Dr. Rank, but the relationship with Dr. Rank goes beyond what is acceptable. When Dr. Rank confesses his feelings for Nora she is very upset because they can no longer flirt with each other now that the feelings are real. Her role is to be a loyal wife to her husband, which she is, but Ibsen uses the flirtatious dialect between the two to show that there are mutual feelings and that confessing them brings the relationship beyond what is allowed. As Nora challenges all of these roles, she is gradually becoming more stressed and eventually breaks down and leaves her husband, which demonstrates the effect of the unrealistic expectations to uphold the roles of
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
Nora becomes overwhelmed and says, “It would be perfectly infamous of you. To think of his learning my secret, which has been my joy and pride...” which strongly suggest that she craves for independence and that taking out the loan without Torvald’s consent gives her the joy of fulfillment and she takes pride in it (ACT 1). This particular act clears any doubts that Nora is fearless and bold. A woman who will sacrifice anything for the perfect life she ought to have. Though she appears nervous and tense about Torvald finding the truth about the loan, she has hope that Torvald will save her from getting in trouble, just like her father would. At least, that is what she believes until the truth comes crashing down on her. Torvald’s abhorrence and disgusts towards Nora brings her to a very sad and life-changing truth that Torvald is never the man that she thought he is. The truth brings Nora into a realization that their marriage is nothing but a life that is founded and maintained by social rules and never by love that she thought. Nora’s frustration of her doll-like life becomes evident. She finds the courage to spill all her frustrations in the way she’s been treated first by her father, then by Torvald. “That is just it; you have never understood me. I have been greatly wronged, Torvald--first by papa and then by you.” (ACT 3) clearly suggests her struggles in letting the men in her life take control of her. While she tries to keep the family’s social standing, she also struggles to compensate her need to feel independent and empowered. She suppressed her want to achieve self-fulfillment thinking that her husband will sacrifice as much as she does for her and the family’s sake. This revelation brings Nora to the biggest