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An analysis of trifles
Susan glaspell role in feminist literature
Social in 1920s america
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Makes No Difference Trifles is a play by Susan Glaspell taking place in and around a farmhouse in 1916. The owner of the farmhouse, Mr. Wright, is found dead when his neighbor Mr. Hale makes an unannounced visit early one frigid morning. As he lets himself into the farmhouse he finds Mrs. Wright sitting in a rocking chair in the disarrayed kitchen. Eventually, she tells him that her husband is upstairs dead with a rope around his neck. While Mrs. Wright is in custody an investigation is taking place at the farmhouse and those in attendance include; George Henderson, the county attorney; Mr. Hale; Mrs. Hale; Henry Peters, the sheriff; and Mrs. Peters. While searching for a motive at the farmhouse the men were distracted because during that time period women were cast into low positions in society leading the men to mock the women in this play written by Susan Glaspell whom is known to produce work with strong feminist concepts. You see, Mr. Hale, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Peters all felt superior to the women; Mrs. Hale; Mrs. Peters; and Mrs. Wright, which was normal for the times. The Progressive Era, 1900 to 1920, was a time when women ventured out the home more as industrialization grew and began working towards gaining their right to vote. …show more content…
Susan Glaspell coauthored over 10 plays. Her play entitled Woman’s Honor rejected the idea of the honorable and docile woman and freed the belief of honor from contemporary gender theories. Another play, The Verge, developed out of Glaspell's recognition of the way society left some women feeling stuck in roles they were not fit for. Subsequently, Susan Glaspell’s feministic views compelled her to introduce her opinions within her
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.
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.
Trifles is a play that shows clearly how women were treated and ridiculed by men in the 1900’s. It is a one-act play that took place at the farmhouse of John Wright.
Susan Glaspell provocative Play, "Trifles" offers a glimpse into the patriarchal culture and disillusionment of marriage as it acts as the catalyst for examination into personal identity, societal responsibility, and the irreverence that women faced in America at the turn of the 20th century. Based in 1916 this one act play includes elements of what the women 's suffrage movement was all about. Through nuances and subtlety in speech gender imbalances are revealed in the characters and give way to motive for murder. In line with the theme the writer had used before women are disregarded wholly and their thoughts counted as frivolous. Characters question themselves as to if they could justify a murder if there fellow woman was under duress. While the men
“Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell explores the oppressive nature of an enduring patriarchal hierarchy within farm life throughout the 1900’s coinciding with the extensive psychological damage solitude and isolation imposed on the soul of, Mrs. Wright.
Susan Glaspell uses literary elements that show the readers the feminist theme in the play. The use of characters in this play really shows the feminist theme the most. Men in this play clearly demonstrates how men wer...
Trifle which means a thing of little value or importance was a play written by Susan Glaspell, an American Pulitzer prize winning playwright, actress, novelist, and journalist in 1916. Trifles depicted the plight and struggles of women during the early part of the 19th century. Women during this time didn’t have many if not any rights. Their only purpose was to serve men, marry them and bear their children. They were basically the new slaves of the century who were robbed of their self-esteem and self-respect. Glaspell grew up in this era and witnessed all of this first hand. Throughout her play she gave several inklings and symbols to show the reader what life was like for a female during that time, a time that seem to stand still for the majority of the women.
In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell brings together three women through a crime investigation in the late nineteenth century. Glaspell uses symbolism, contrast of sexes, and well-constructed characters to show that justice for all equally important to finding the truth.
According to the Merriam -Webster Online Dictionary an assumption is a belief that something is true or a fact or statement that is taken for granted. Susan Glaspell wrote "Trifles" to demonstrate the male assumption that women are insignificant members in a male dominated society. Because the men underestimate them, the women are able to prove they are not insignificant. The improper assumptions by men toward women can have dire consequences, as demonstrated in Glaspell's world. Combating these narcissistic assumptions displayed by men can result in a unity among women that can overcome any male caused disrespect and oppression.
Susan Glaspell’s Trifles explores the unequal relationship between men and women in the early 20th century. How do you think the power relationship between the two genders was reversed at the end of the play? In the 20th century females were just meant to be at home, taking care of the house, making sure everything ran smooth. Women weren’t allowed to vote. They couldn’t go out alone. A women’s place was behind her husband and making sure he looked good, in every aspect. Weather it was political or not. The way they weren’t supposed to dress was extremely different, they weren’t allowed to go out showing skin. At the start of the play we see how the detective states that the house isn’t as clean as it should be. The jars in the kitchen
Trifles is based on a murder in 1916 that Susan Glaspell covered while she was a journalist with the Des Moines Daily News after she graduated from college. At the end of the nineteenth century, the world of literature saw a large increase of female writers. Judith Fetterley believed that there was an extremely diverse and intriguing body of prose literature used during the nineteenth century by American women. The main idea of this type of literature was women and their lives. The reason all of the literature written by women at this time seems so depressing is due to the fact that they had a tendency to incorporate ideas from their own lives into their works. Glaspell's Trifles lives up to this form of literature, especially since it is based on an actual murder she covered. This play is another look at the murder trial through a woman's point of view.
A lack of cultural awareness or the assumption by one cultural group that another is inferior often results in painful and personal and social encounters. Consider the characters in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. During a short visit to the Wrights, Mr. Hale found Mrs. Wright behaving strangely, after purportedly finding her husband with a rope around the neck. The incident ultimately became the talk of the town. Some were accusing Mrs. Wright of murdering her husband. Mrs. Wright of course denied the allegation, arguing that she was asleep when someone broke into her home and murdered her husband. While the men were blinded by their relentless and often emotionless inquiry of the murder case, the women sympathized with Minnie, the wife of the
Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles", attempts to define one of the main behavioral differences between man and woman. For most of the story, the two genders are not only geographically separated, but also separated in thought processes and motive, so that the reader might readily make comparisons between the two genders. Glaspell not only verbally acknowledges this behavioral difference in the play, but also demonstrates it through the characters' actions and the turns of the plot. The timid and overlooked women who appear in the beginning of the play eventually become the delicate detectives who, discounted by the men, discover all of the clues that display a female to be the disillusioned murderer of her (not so dearly) departed husband. Meanwhile, the men in the play not only arrogantly overlook the "trifling" clues that the women find that point to the murderer, but also underestimate the murderer herself. "These were trifles to the men but in reality they told the story and only the women could see that (Erin Williams)". The women seem to be the insightful unsung heroes while the men remain outwardly in charge, but sadly ignorant.
The approach being used for Susan Glaspell’s play is feminist criticism. Glaspell’s play was written in 1916. In the 1900s women were expected to stay home, clean, cook, and take care of the family. Men were the providers of the household, smarter, and in control. Today women are more independent. They are running businesses and taking on more masculine jobs such as, firefighters and police officers. Women are even working and raising families. In some households the wife works while the husband stays home. A woman can do a man’s job and maybe sometimes better.
"Trifles," a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, is a cleverly written story about a murder and more importantly, it effectively describes the treatment of women during the early 1900s. In the opening scene, we learn a great deal of information about the people of the play and of their opinions. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. The weather outside is frighteningly cold, and yet the men enter the warm farmhouse first. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Mrs. Hale?s and Mrs. Peters?s treatment from the men in the play is reflective of the beliefs of that time. These women, aware of the powerless slot that has been made for them, manage to use their power in a way that gives them an edge. This power enables them to succeed in protecting Minnie, the accused. "Trifles" not only tells a story, it shows the demeaning view the men have for the women, the women?s reaction to man?s prejudice, and the women?s defiance of their powerless position.