Analysis of Trifles by Susan Glaspell - Essay Example

?“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell ‘Trifles’ is a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916. The play is not only interesting but is also a food for thought as it brings to light the male dominance in various matters, the suppression and unhappiness of women and also explores different aspects of the personalities of both genders. Glaspell also presents the role of sex and gender within the cultural confines of the day. Some critics suggest that the play was an early influence for women to assert their individuality and publicized the American Feminist Movement in early twentieth century. The title of the play is significant to its theme as it refers to the concerns of women which are considered unimportant by men. According to men in this play, women pay more attention to the unnecessary issues while forgetting about the serious maters happening around them. Glaspell presents the perspective of both men and women around a serious issue to reveal the response of both genders and to show how the perspective of women is devalued, despite helpful if taken seriously. Through the setting of the play, the writer points towards the position of women in society. In the early twentieth century when the play was written, women were not given equal rights. They were not allowed to vote and had limited opportunities in legislature, industries, offices and marketplaces. They were considered suitable for doing domestic chores and nurturing the children only. Most of the times, they were expected to be busy cooking and baking etc. The rest of their time they darned, knitted, sewed, quilted, etc. If some women found a job other than in the household, they were clerks, secretaries, washerwomen, housekeepers, waitresses, etc. There were few cases, where women enjoyed high rank in society and had jobs that were highly respectable by the society such as doctors, lawyers, business executives, etc. The efforts made through the literature of the nineteenth century by female social reformers inspired the women to demand for equal rights. The playwright presents Mrs. Wright as a woman who goes against the traditional concepts of women and wants to get rid of male domination (Cummings, 2008). The action takes place in the empty and dishevelled farmhouse of John Wright, Mrs. Wright’s husband. Most of the time, the characters are in the gloomy kitchen of the farmhouse, which enhances the writer’s focus on the domestic life of women. The kitchen is considered to be the woman’s place, where they spend most their time in their daily routine. The setting of the kitchen is described in ‘Trifles’ as “...left without having been put in order- unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the breadbox, a dish towel on the table- other signs of incompleted work.” The description of the kitchen reveals the rebelliousness of the woman of the house towards the responsibilities that are expected from a woman in society. This description of the kitchen may be taken as a representative of the turmoil and unhappiness inside her. The play develops into an investigation about the mysterious murder of Mr. Wright at his house where he lived with his wife. Mr. Hale, Mr. Peters and the county attorney, Mr. Henderson, conduct the investigation. Two females, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale also accompany them. During the investigation, it is observed that the men and women come with different motives and behaviours. The men come with rigid behaviour to solve the case on a professional level; the women come with a mild and flexible behaviour and come to the home with fear of death and sympathy for the widow. As the story proceeds, the play’s title becomes understood. The women get teased by the men for their indulgence of the other unimportant things- trifles. For example, In the play, the women are heard talking about Minnie Wright’s preserves and the men show a disdainful response, the Sheriff says, “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves.” The county attorney remarks, “I guess before we’re through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about.” Hale confirms the women are unable to understand the gravity of the situation by saying, “Well, women are used to worrying about trifles.” These quotes imply that all three of the male figures have same view point about women. The men analyse the murder case in a professional and insensitive way. Mr, Wright is also insensitive to the solitude of his wife. Mr. Hale tells that the purpose of his coming into the house was to insist Mr. Wright for party-telephone which he had already refused by saying that he needed ‘peace and quiet’. Keller argues that it is a kind of denial to the social life or communication with the other people which Minnie could have but Mr. Wright has made this house into a prison where Minnie is alone. But, the men investigating the case also do not feel this solitude which makes Minnie miserable and John a ‘greater criminal’ (Keller, M, 2005). For example, Mr. Hale gives a detailed account of his meeting with Minnie Wright after Mr. Wright’s death and analyzes the situation. In the play, Minnie’s behaviour is described as “queer” and that “she doesn’t know what she was going to do next. And kind of done up.” Minnie told the investigators, “He died of a rope around his neck.” The men do not try to analyse her state of mind or reason behind her ‘queer’ response, rather they go on collecting the facts. These men do not even try to assimilate John Wright with themselves or take him as a member of a patriarchal society having certain behaviours. For them, he is just a victim. The rigid behaviour of the men is shown through the dialogues as Mrs. Hale inquires about Mrs. Wright’s past as her neighbour. Mrs. Hale does not consider the house as a ‘cheerful place’ and by this she was referring to the cold attitude of Mr. Wright. The county attorney disagreed with Mrs. Hale, he found fault with Mrs. Wright based his view of her housekeeping skills; the kitchen ‘a nice mess’ and it was supposed to be her real territory. The men do not try to indulge in the psychological or emotional aspects of the relationship rather they try to analyse and find clues from the location of the murder. On the other hand, the women are kind to Minnie and sympathize with her and her loss. Mrs. Peters is heard saying, “She’ll feel awful bad after all her hard work in the hot weather. I remember the afternoon I put up my cherries last summer.” The female characters are generous and instead of focussing on the murder location, they are observing other things. Through their conversation, Minnie’s character and habits before and after her marriage are brought into light, and their keen observations of the little things aimed to find some evidence. They do not visit the place where the murder happened; rather, they observe the things used by Minnie to analyse her state of mind. The empty cage of the bird leads them to think not only of the presence of bird, which could be the only source of happiness for Minnie, but also the effect of taking the bird away from her. The women acknowledge the importance of the bird as they are heard saying, “If there’d been years and years of nothing, then a bird sings to you. It would be awful-still, after the bird was still.” These women understand Mrs. Wright’s grief, loneliness and her horrible life spent by the decisions of her husband, whom they call ‘a hard man’. Another example from the play of the women’s attention to detail and the men’s too narrow focus is in the women’s observation of the quilt. This seems funny to the men, but the women’s close analysis makes them see that the stitch technique has changed, and they at once realized this was the result of turmoil in Minnie and they wondered what could have caused so much pain to her. The man laughed at the women for wondering about the stitching, and the women were embarrassed. However, if the notions of the women were taken seriously, the men have found evidence. Later, the women find the box containing the strangled bird; to them it proved Minnie was the murderer. In the play, the women had no individuality and their husbands decide their preferences would be, or as the county attorney said, the women were, “married to the law.” However, at the end, the women are portrayed as two individuals who empathize with Mrs. Wright and decide on their own to hide the evidence and save the murderess from punishment because they think she is justified for her act. They could see that Minnie took revenge on her husband for giving her an unhappy married life and strangling her bird, sending her back to solitude. Glaspell successfully propagates her theme of male dominance in the society through the choice of words and the body language of her characters. The names of the two main characters around which the story revolves are also significant. Mr. Wright sounds like Mr. Right, a male in a patriarchal society who has the authority to decide which place suits the woman and he is justified in his actions. Mr. Wright is considered a ‘good’ and dutiful person by the men in the play. Minnie, the protagonist of the play, seems to be minimized and emotionally suppressed. Glaspell, by giving only this woman a first name, asserts her individuality. This is also shown through her actions, it is observed that Minnie does not follow a woman’s supposed homemaking instincts and she would go to any extent to free herself from male dominance and the loneliness caused by it. The other two women in the play are also shown as submissive at the start of the play, as we are told that they do not abruptly enter the kitchen and stay at the door but the men instantly go to the stove to warm themselves. Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale’s first names are not revealed, which shows their dependence on their husbands. This is reinforced by hearing the county attorney asserting the fact that because Mrs. Peter was married to the sheriff, it made her married to the law and she should make decisions accordingly. The character development approves the feministic approach of the writer which is shown through the body language and later through actions. When the women are criticised by the men for being small-minded and worrying over small things, the author writes, “The two women move a little closer together.” This silent action reveals that they have the same status in the society and their agony is the same. This agony makes them understand the grief of Minnie and they, through their conversation, bring to light Minnie’s personality before and after her marriage. Minnie’s solitude and isolation makes Mrs. Peter regret not visiting her off and on. When the county attorney sneers at the dirty towels, Mrs Hale submits her protest against the male gender by saying, “Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might do.” It is noteworthy that the county attorney, instead of accepting the fact that men could be wrong and their cold behaviour can lead the women to behave in a certain way as a protest, sees it in a different light as he says, “Ah, loyal to your sex, I see.” This arrogance and insensitivity of the men limits their vision to the current facts of murder and it does not allow them to analyse the matter deeply to get a clue. The male characters do not change much, but there is development in the female characters. The women acknowledge the loneliness of Minnie and after finding the evidence against her for the murder, assert their individuality by protecting her. They take the matter in their own hands as Mrs. Peter says, “The law has got to punish crime,” and being married to law, she asserts herself as an authority to do justice. Duffy, in his article ‘The Feminist Evidence in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles’ remarks that the identity of Mrs. Wright is lost somewhere and she becomes an unhappy soul but Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale save their identities by protecting her from being convicted by hiding the evidence against her (Duffy, C., 2009). Glaspell uses symbolism in order to emphasise the meaning of the play. Some of the symbols reveal hidden aspects of the personalities of the main characters of the play. Some symbols sound more interesting which stand for clues of the murder and were used by the women frequently, but the men do not take them seriously, therefore failing to find any evidence. The party telephone is the first symbol used that reveals the ‘hard’ personality of Mr. Wright who denies women’s rights and does not allow his wife to communicate with other people in society. The kitchen is a symbol of women’s territory, the condition of which is assimilated to the mental condition of Minnie and the evidence is also found there. The question asked by Mrs. Hale, whether Minnie wanted to quilt the blanket or knot it is highly symbolic as it is the clue that could have led the men to the evidence of murder. Minnie was using log cabin patterns and it referred to the restriction that Minnie was suffering from. The word knot refers to knotting the rope around Mr. Wright’s neck. The word ‘knot’ also showed the unity of the women, and gives a glimpse of feminism as the women decide to knot the evidence to save Mrs. Wright. The bird is also an important symbol which Mrs. Wright loved as it reminded her of her own youth in which she had freedom and could sing lively songs, “She- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself- real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and- fluttery. How- she – did- change.” The cage refers to the house of Mr. Wright where Minnie was imprisoned. The strangling of the bird, which was her last joy, infuriated her and she took revenge for it. The bird may also present a child to Minnie as it accompanied her in her solitude and acted as a source of pleasure to her but Mr. Wright did not allow her to have any glee. To conclude, ‘Trifles’ by Glaspell is an interesting play, which through its title, setting, plot, language and the development of female characters, propagates the theme of asserting women’s individuality in a male dominant society. The play emphasizes that women may seemingly be involved in trifles but if analysed deeply, they see the matter through different angles and succeed to fulfil some task that men may fail to do because of their insensitivity and arrogance. References Cummings, M. J. (2008) ‘Trifles/ A Play By Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) A Study Guide: Themes’ Available at www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides5/Trifles.html#Setting. Duffy, C. (2009) ‘The Feminist Evidence in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles’, Available at www.eluprogramm.com/duffy_feminist_evidence_in_trifles.pdf. Keller, M. (2005) ‘Symbolic Realism in Susan Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’’, Available at books.google.com. Outline The play I have chosen is ‘Trifles’ by Susan Glaspell written in 1916. Glaspell has chosen the kitchen as the setting of the play which is considered as a women’s true region. The unorganized kitchen presents the unhappiness of Minnie and her act of killing her husband shows that she could go to any extent to attain freedom from isolation. The other women talk about her preserves and other things in the kitchen but their concern is considered as trifles by men. If the men had taken the conversation of the women serious, they could find the clue which could lead to the evidence of murder. In the play, we are shown that the sheriff, his wife, the neighbours and the county attorney come to the house of Mr. Wright to investigate for his murder and his wife has already been sent to the prison. The men try to find the evidence to approach the murderer and focus on the place of the violent action. The women in the play stay in the kitchen and keenly observe everything but their concern is taken as unimportant by the men. The women succeed to find the evidence against Minnie Wright but they hide it because they find her act justified as her husband had kept her in isolation. The reason of choosing this play is that it not only amuses its readers but also advocates feminism and asserts to provide equal rights to women who can play a productive part in the society. I have focussed on all aspects of the play which help to enhance the theme of the play, for example, the body language of the characters, the concern of both male and female characters, the title and the setting of the play, etc. The play presents the situation of the women in the patriarchal society in early twentieth century where they were supposed to handle domestic matters or nurture kids. The women were not considered to have enough wisdom to handle serious matters in the society. In the play, the women are considered to focus more on trifles than the serious matter on hand by men. Glaspell shows that men are arrogant and investigate the matter indifferently, unlike them, women are sensitive creatures and they do not only concentrate on facts but also analyse a situation emotionally and psychologically. The play was not taken as merely presenting a certain kind of behaviour of men and women rather it inspired the women to bring change to their position in the society and get united for it. The rebelliousness of the repressed women was considered as a justified act. So, Glaspell presents a refined image of women who have the capability to handle serious matters and supports the idea that they should not be snubbed or isolated from the society. The play inspired the women to assert their individuality and demand for equal rights. Now, we see that women are working with great responsibility in every field of life. Read More