...As the title of the drama by Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” suggests, the concerns women have are just trifles, small issues of unimportance that have no importance to men. The author effectively uses conflict, dramatic irony, and verbal irony to illustrate the theme of unfair traditional gender roles to the reader. The use of these literary devices causes deep thought-provoking interest makes this drama a successful literary art. Glaspell clearly illustrates the subjugation of women by their male counter parts and cause the audience to question the value of men and women’s perspective by creating tension filled conflict. Conflict should provide interest, suspense, and tension between two opposing forces. Right at the beginning of the drama the conflict is between the group of men who are investing the murder and the women who were there to collect the items for Mrs. Wright. The conflict between the two forces began when the men went towards the stove and left the women at the door .The author used the separation between the men circled at the stove and the women at the door to show how women are left out of important business and social transactions. When the young...
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...Symbolism: Trifles by Susan Glaspell and Clothes by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni The play trifles tells the story of two male character investigators, investigating the murder of John Write, while the female characters covey their private unofficial investigation and uncover some disturbing evidence. This short play pays a toll on how women were treated back then hence the title trifles which means women during this period were considered trifles. The short story clothes is about a young Indian women who has an arranged marriage and a subsequent trip to America. This story reveals the symbolism that Divakaruni portrays, with great nerves Sumita moves to America with her husband and reveals her own her own identity...
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...Morgan heidel Professor Jacobs ENGL 1020-006 March 13, 2018 Wright or Wrong The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell emphasizes the value of men and women’s perspectives of the murder of Mr. Wright in his and his wife’s, Mrs. Wright, old farmhouse. It questions the gender role of women being confined to the house work while it all goes unnoticed. The title of the play hints to that women’s work is considered trifles while the mean do all the “real work”. In this play Mrs. Wright is being accused of murdering her husband by tying a rope around his neck, strangling him to death. The different genders search the house to find clues as to why she would have committed such a crime shows the opposite views. Susan Glaspell exhibits that women are important and not to be trifled with. This supports the idea that men see women’s actions incompetent. This idea is continuously portrayed all through the story by the way the men act towards the women and...
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...One act plays can be some of the most polarizing and engaging acts of art. Yet, after viewing director Jasmine Castello’s version of Trifles, it seems that the excellent source material conceived by Susan Glaspell has been let down by a lackluster production team. Written by Glaspell in 1916, Trifles follows a group men and women as the try and solve why an elderly woman’s husband was found upstairs with a rope around his neck, dead. While the men begin to search the premises for any inkling of the culprit, the wives who remain indoors discovers some dark secrets of their own. One of the strongest factors of the play was simply Glaspell’s material. Not only did it convey a sense of mystery, but it’s underlying message that you discover throughout...
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...In the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell, we’re presented with a semi-witty gender battle during a murder case investigation. As usual, we get to witness the men flaring their egos up and about while belittling the women in the process; nonchalantly the two women proceed with the business with very little protest. While at the right house, the difference in gender agenda flowing casually through their dialogues helped the fluidity of the story. As the investigation went on, the dialogue among the men and the questions for the women carried with it an element of gender disparity. In one instance following a response to a question by Mrs. Hale, the sheriff exclaimed “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! (The men laugh, the...
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...Susan Glaspell's story “Trifles” has the main theme of the social oppression of women. However, not only that but about how knowledge and perspective are misconstrued in the minds of men. This story displays three symbols that amplify this theme sexism, jars of fruit, a dead canary, and a quilt. One thing the attorney noticed in the story was that Mrs. Wright was canning fruit in the cupboard. This shows that she cared about her image of being the perfect housewife. This concern is justified when the men laugh at the condition her house is in. Yet, they also laugh at the women for caring about such trifles, so really the women can never win. Another thing the canned fruit symbolizes is Mrs. Wrights fate. “The canning jars are broken as Minnie feared, and this symbolizes the inevitability of her conviction” (LitCharts, 1). As she sits in a cell worrying over her cans, it symbolizes how she is worried about the verdict of her case. Therefore, when the cans are shattered so is her hopes of going free....
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...third party observer. Proof of this is evident in a comparison of Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” and her “A Jury of Her Peers.” The first is written as a play and as such the reader’s perspective is that of a third party watching the events unfold. “A Jury of Her Peers” is written as a short story and gives the reader the perspective of Martha Hale, one of the main characters. This change gives the story a whole new dynamic for the reader and causes more emotional involvement of the reader even though the two versions deal with the same subject matter and the same moral and ethical problems. The differing perspectives affect the reader from the very start of each piece. The play opens with a paragraph that sets the scene of the farmhouse, introduces the characters by name, and then jumps into dialogue between them. “A Jury of Her Peers”, however, begins with only Martha Hale and immediately gives the reader some insight into her mind and personality, “What her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving” (Glaspell). This lets the reader relate to Mrs. Hale in a more personal way that simply being introduced by name doesn’t. Being able to see through Mrs. Hale’s eyes and get into her mind then allows the reader to get more of a sense of her self-inflicted guilt as she thinks about all the opportunites she had to visit Mrs. Wright, but didn’t. The reader also gets this sense in “Trifles”, but not to the same degree and not in the same way. It is delivered...
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...A writer tends to use their life’s experiences, influences, and beliefs to create their stories; this is exactly the case for the creations of “Trifles”, Fidelity, and Women’s honor by Susan Glaspell. In writing “Trifles”, Fidelity, and The Visioning she drew from her past and current experienced events to create such stories. Her writing career had first begun when she was in high school and progressed further into her college years. While attending college, her career spun off as a reporter for Des Moines Daily News. After a short time of being a reporter, she and her husband decided to return back to her hometown Davenport, Iowa to become a full time writer. This was the beginning of her becoming “one of the early-twentieth-century America’s leading playwright”(Rudnick). Fidelity was Glaspell third novel which was published in 1915. It took place in a small town in Iowa about a midwestern woman name Ruth Holland who was a rebellion against the environment she was surrounded by. She was committed in a relatonship with a man name Stuart Williams who was also married. Throughout the story, Ruth wants to amends relationship with her family but they seen her only as a bad woman. She started to grow by filling the voids in her life. When Stuart’s wife granted him the divorce, Ruth at this point decided to leave for New York alone to find her idenity, “rather than marrying a man she no longer loves” (Carpentier). Though it did not received as much fame as her other writings...
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...presented in every aspect of life. Literature illustrates this on several occasions. This may be exemplified by observing Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Trifles illustrates adverse identifications of women in earlier Americana that correlate to the identity women maintain in our current society. Male dominance is one of the central themes displayed throughout the play. The women identified in Trifles have modest voices compared to their male counterparts. This causes numerous opportunities for male dominance from the beginning to the end of the play. Their opinions are blatantly disregarded. An instance of male dominance may be illustrated by the interaction between Mr. Henderson and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Henderson requests information regarding Mrs. Hale's relationship with the Wrights. Once Mrs. Hale begins to provide details regarding the Wrights' lifestyle, Mr. Henderson stops her mid-sentence and demands a brief answer. Another instance of male dominance is displayed when men brought attention to the women's handy work. When Mrs. Wright constructed a quilt, the men basically made fun of the women's craft. This is illustrated by the lines that state, “Mrs. Hale: It’s log cabin pattern. Pretty, isn’t it? I wonder if she was goin’ to quilt or just knot it? Sherrif: They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (the men laugh, the women look abashed).” (Glaspell) The next instance of male dominance is revealed by an interaction between Mr. Hale and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Hale outright...
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...Trifles: A Moral Justification for Murder The one act play “Trifles” depicts the views and passions of both men and women during the late-nineteenth century regarding the role of a woman. The characters in the play are the County Attorney, the Sheriff, and Mr. Hale, who are accompanied by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters into the Wright’s home to investigate the murder of Mr. Wright. The men feel that the women are only concerning themselves with little things and make several condescending comments throughout the play displaying their views. While the men search for clues upstairs and in the outside barn yard, it is the women who cleverly piece together several clues leading to Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder mystery. But, because of the shocking evidence found by the women, they become sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright and decide to conceal their findings from the authorities. The women feel that the mental and emotional abuse Mrs. Wright received from her husband was justification for the crime in which she committed. Although murder is usually looked upon as an indefensible crime of selfishness, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters actions were morally validated because of Mr. Wright’s own selfish and tyrannical actions; which left Mrs. Wright with no other alternative but to murder him in order to reclaim her liberty. From the beginning of the play, when Mr. Hale explains to the other men that he was visiting the Wright’s home in hopes of convincing John Wright to pitch in on a party line...
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...Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, is based on actual events that occurred in Iowa at the beginning of the century. For two years Glaspell worked as a reporter for the Des Moines News, where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife, Margaret Hossack, in Indianola, Iowa. Hossack was accused of killing her husband, John, by striking him twice in the head with an ax while he slept (Trifles 216). Trifles, written in the early 1900’s by Susan Glaspell. Glaspell wrote this play during a time of controversial feminist issues. Glaspell wrote "Trifles" to demonstrate the male assumption that women were insignificant members in a male dominated society. Because the men underestimate them, the women are able to prove they are not insignificant. The play opens at the Wright farmhouse where Mr. Wright has been murdered in his sleep. They entered in the house: county attorney, the sheriff, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters. The men and women have come to investigate the case against Minnie Foster, the wife of Mr. Wright. Most of the stuffs which the male characters supposed to be insignificant objects like the broken bird cage door, the quilt, the dead canary, and the entire kitchen consequentially lead to the solution (Trifles 219). 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...
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...LITR201-1402B-04: Literature: A Reflection of Life- PHASE 4 Name: Institution: LITR201-1402B-04: Literature: A Reflection of Life- PHASE 4 PART A Drama is also referred to as a play because it tells a story and is also performed on stage. In addition, drama is similar to plays in that it has a theme, a plot and is often narrated by a persona (Ghent, 2012, 629). Also, drama is also known as a play in that it evokes emotions and has a tone just like a play. During my high school days, the school invited a group of people who performed a play on HIV/AIDs. This was my initial time to timepiece a live stage performance. The characters perfectly represented their roles in that the audience felt as if the characters were real. For example, those characters representing HIV patients appeared weak and sad; the sounds were full of sympathy as they spoke. Every scene had its own sounds that paralleled the theme and purpose of the act (Meyer, 2011, p111). There were cries, mourns and even sounds of desperation. Throughout the drama, the audience was full of sad mood. HIV/AIDs infection was presented as something that people should be afraid of. The audience was also filled with pity and sympathy for the infected characters. Since it was my first encounter to see a live stage drama, the theme, scenes and characters were a great impact to my life and my understanding of what entails a drama. For a elongated time I had wished to be involved in a dramatic act until one day, my literature...
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...Literary analysis on “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell Gender roles continue to change with time. It has only been a very short time that woman have broken through their defined roles and begin to be equal with men on a total basis. In Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”, the story challenges the gender roles through the events that occur during the course of the play and through their own inner workings. The story is set in the Literary Renaissance –Drama period and leaves plenty of room for female characters to shine in certain roles. The story provides interesting points that challenge the reader to step back and look at gender roles in a new light. “Trifles” is centered on several married couples and is presented around the point of view of female characters. The story takes place at Mrs. Wright’s home a day after her husband has been murdered. Much of the long script takes place around a conversation between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. The two women are in the home because one is the Sheriffs wife and the other is the wife of the Attorney. The story is presented as though Mrs. Wright is suspected of killing her husband and there is no doubt that she did kill her husband. During Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters conversation it is established that the two women are lashing out against their gender roles by withholding evidence from their husbands. In the story woman compare themselves to birds. Mrs. Hale openly speaks about Mrs. Wright “was kind of a bird herself” (Glaspell 169). It seems to...
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...Throughout the story, the reader gets a glimpse of the struggle women face living in a world controlled by men. Susan Glaspell uses the symbolism of the trifles, dead bird, and the quilt to develop the theme of gender role throughout the Short story. Before the twentieth century, there were many stereotypical roles assigned to men and women. The men were seen as the head of the household so they would go out into the world and work in order to support their family. On the other hand, women would stay at home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. In the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” the men viewed the women as facetious and incompetent from beginning to end. They would patronize the women by stating remarks like “women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell...
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...Trifles The sensitivity of feminism was very complicated in early 20th century, and Trifles by Susan Glaspell comes out not only for entertainment to this day but also it’s a message to the world about gender roles in expect actions. The story took place in the kitchen, which was the domain of Mrs. Wright and the women, whereas the men were not so familiar. The background of the story focuses on one side, the women, and it is known for inequality of gender through history. By using the bird cage and the bird are symbolisms, and the way protecting their friend Mrs. Wright from being charged with murder, which is the guilty between of feminism and the world dominated by men. Trifles by Susan Glaspell represents the problem of gender discrimination in terms of crime and guilt. The birdcage represents a falling marriage, and it is a first motive in establishing guilt. The birdcage is a physical trap to keep the bird or ant kind of animals, and they are not free and loneliness. As the same Mrs. Wright was trapped in her marriage, and could not escape it. Whatever she does everything and couldn’t keep her free, and that will become a strong motive to push her make up a guilt. The birdcage’s door, which represents her troubled marriage to Mr. Wright, is broken. We can compare Mrs. Wright to a wild animals who just want to escape the trap as same as her marriage from Mr. Wright. Whenever the door open, it allowed Mrs. Wright to become a free woman. At that point in time, the cage’s...
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