Gender Roles in the 20th Century: A Trifles Revelation - Literature review Example

Outline I. Introduction A. Trifles, arguably, is a dis on gender roles B. Trifles as depicting gender roles C. The goal of Glaspell in writing the short play D. The historical context of the play II. The Wright Murder: A Disclosure of 20th century Gender Roles A. The different purposes of involvement of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, and their husbands to the crime B. The difference in the power of observation of the wives and their husbands C. The revengeful acts of the wives D. The paradox of Mrs. Hale’s last line E. Gender-based moral decision-making III. Conclusions Name Course Title Name of Professor Date of Submission Gender Roles in the 20th Century: A Trifles’ Revelation Introduction The objective of this paper is to argue that Susan Glaspell’s Trifles demonstrates the differences in male and female roles in the 20th century through her masterful depiction of two narratives, one female, which is in the point of view Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, and the other male, which is in the standpoint of the self-important males in the story. The paper will support this argument through reference to the unfolding of the short play itself, particularly with regard to the pursuit of the main female and male characters to find strong evidence that will solve the murder case. In this case, the differences in observational skills and perceptions of right and wrong between the women and the men are graphically portrayed. Susan Glaspell wrote her play Trifles in 1916 with the intention of demonstrating her great interest with culturally-determined gender stereotypes and sex roles. The title itself, Trifles, implies that issues relating to women are generally regarded as sheer trifles, insignificant concerns that do not contribute to the genuine functioning of society, which, apparently, is being dominated by men (Shafer 1997). Glaspell criticizes, and thereby summons the reader to also criticize, the biased importance of the point of views of men and women, and responds by developing an agitating and thrilling drama that progress through the unfolding of the separate narratives of men and women. The play Trifles then not merely illustrates the roles of women in society, but also the manner knowledge and standpoint are esteemed or undervalued within particular contexts. Written at the time Americans were granting women’s right to suffrage, the play depicts women responding determinedly to men’s arrogance and gender stereotyping both domestically and in law courts (Shafer 1997). Outstanding for its brevity and technique, the one-act play of Glaspell portrays the substantial, even lethal outcomes that transpire when men refuse to take women seriously. Provoked by relentless abuse to their sex, two average and traditional housewives purposefully lie to guarantee the right of a vulnerable neighbor to defend herself against the cruelty of her husband. Ironically, becoming criminals by covering up criminal evidence looks as if the only available means the main female characters in the play can correct the immorality of men. The Wright Murder: A Disclosure of 20th century Gender Roles When the strangled body of John Wright is discovered and his wife arrested, three men in authority arrive to investigate the farmhouse to set up a motive and the wife, Minnie Wright, to the court of law. While Minnie is in prison, Mr. Hale (her neighbor), Mr. Peters (the Sheriff), and Mr. Henderson (the Country Attorney) inspect entrances into the home of the Wright’s. While their husbands rummage around the area, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters explore Minnie Wright’s life story. In fact, as they speculate noisily about the chaos in the kitchen, the two women appear engrossed in discussion with what they discovered. However, the men, dissimilar to their wives, treat the unusual by “snooping around and criticizing” (Glaspell 1924, 11). They intend, as noticed by Mrs. Hale, “to get her own house to turn against her” (Glaspell 1924, 13). Nevertheless, as if it were strengthening the defense of Minnie, the house stays firm to the investigation of men; certainly, it serves as the keeper of female secrets. Hampered by their belief that things in the kitchen, similar to women themselves, are unworthy of serious consideration, the three investigators fail to discern in the domestic elements all over them what their open-minded wives effortlessly see: the victimization of Minnie as manifested by messed up sewing, a choked canary, and an almost wrecked door of a birdcage. Gradually stitching together the narrative of domestic violence behind the murder, the wives recognize the rebellious potential of their knowledge specifically due to the fact that it remains undervalued by the men. As the sheriff is unashamedly marginalizing women’s fascination in quilt making and preserves, and the County Attorney is constantly delaying recollections of the overbearing character of John Wright, the men avoid hints that point to intention for the distressed response of Minnie. Implicitly, the women conspire, controlling the men without their knowledge of this grand exchange. Performing sections or all of this play, readers can also identify the subtle reversal of power that takes place: At the opening of the play, the women, reluctant to go into the kitchen, remain “close together near the door” (Glaspell 1924, 5); by the finale, the women already gained the center stage. Since they do not have the capability to alter the sexist opinion of these arrogant men, the wives should seek justice, ironically, by becoming ‘outlaws.’ Their ultimate dishonesty, the attempt of concealing the strangled canary, not just retaliates against the brutality of John Wright, but also functions as reprisal against the insulting sarcasm of their own husbands, unjustly aimed at the domestic duties women carry out to serve the arrogant men who mock them. Ironies in Trifles flourish and purposefully band together around those things that women have knowledge upon and do which the men cannot understand. Looking for evidence that the women discover and the men take for granted, readers will find pleasure in exploring verbal paradoxes which evaluate gender roles, such as the expressions “Men’s hands aren’t as clean as they might be” (Glaspell 1924, 10) or “what would we do without the ladies” (Glaspell 1924, 9); circumstantial paradox as depicted within the title of the short play; the decisive paradox and ingenuity in the manner John Wright was killed and in the last line of Mrs. Hale: “We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson” (Glaspell 1924, 21). Much can be derived from the satirical last response of Mrs. Hale. Knotting denotes the quilting dexterity of Minnie Wright exploited in murdering her husband: her response, through the power of women’s effort, to his smothering of her genuine aspirations, and, obviously, his choking the wing of that previously energetic self, the bird. Moreover, knotting represents the rebellious, strong connecting among the main female characters. Ultimately, readers can enjoy the witty irony in the outwardly honest, direct response of Mrs. Hale to the persistent, teasing of the County Attorney: “Well, ladies, have you decide if she was going to quilt it or knot it” (Glaspell 1924, 24). Exploiting his low opinion for the intelligence and capability of women, Mrs. Hale’s final line conceals the purposeful hiding of evidence by the two women, hence guaranteeing the defense of Mrs. Wright. Further examining the central subject of 20th century gender roles in the play, readers can talk about related concerns that transcend the theatrical situation itself, such as the serious problems that may come about when the voices of women are suppressed. Compared with Sophocles’ Antigone, Trifles invites readers to construct their own judgments about whether men and women normally distinguish what is right and wrong in a different way. Trifles demonstrates moral decision-making that is gender-based, such as women normally oriented toward subjectivity, or a moral of caring, and men to neutrality, or rules of justice. Glaspell’s play is grounded on the differences between the perspectives of men and women. The men and women in the story have two dissimilar purposes for being there, that is, the men are to carry out their tasks as law practitioners and the women to put in order several personal belongings of the detained Minnie. Furthermore, in the story the reality that the variability of their intentions is inflexible, for the men, and adjustable for the women, establishes how they perceive the incident. Conclusion I agree that the most obvious and important subject matter of Trifles is the differences in gender roles in the 20th century. The two sexes are differentiated by their contributions and functions they fulfill in society, their way of socializing and communication, their physical capability, and essential to the context of the narrative their observational skills. In other words, Trifles indicates that men have a tendency to be hostile, impatient, aggressive, methodical and egoistic; on the contrary, women are more cautious, reflective, perceptive and receptive to the needs of others. These particular differences enable Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter to unravel the evidence required to solve the crime, which their husbands failed to discover. Glaspell distinguishes between her female and male adversaries as they become involved in the crime that occurred in the Wright farmhouse. References Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Walter H. Baker, 1924. Shafer, Yvonne. American Women Playwrights, 1900-1950. New York: Peter Lang, 1997. Read More