StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in the Play - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This paper 'Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles – the Focus Is on Roles in the Play" focuses on the fact that "Trifles" is a play based on a murder mystery; however, Susan Glaspell has put it in such a way that it transcends the convectional presuppositions in a mystery. …
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.2% of users find it useful
Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in the Play
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in the Play"

Trifles is a play based on a murder mystery; however, Susan Glaspell has put it in such a way that it transcends the convectional presuppositions in a mystery. At its core, lies a moral and social commentary based on the psychological perceptions of the men and women involved in trying to solve the mystery as well as their interactions based on traditional gender roles. In a story, gender roles are often used describe and reflect certain truths about human reality, trifles is one of the plays that are blatantly focused on the interactions between the two genders (O Neil). Trifles provide commentary in a setting where women were being forced to subordinate themselves to men and their affairs and ideas were often marginalized in the presence of “more important” masculine issues. In the patriarchal society, women’s issues were often considered of a marginal importance, the writer examines this with a view of highlighting the negative impact the subservience forced upon them. The play commences with an investigation of a murder where mr Wright is found strangled with a rope in his house, his wife who was alone with him is arrested and put to jail. From her jail cell she requests her three friends who are also wives of the investigating officers to fetch her apron and shawl from her house the women and their husbands go to the house and as the husbands ransack the house in search for evidence of the crime. On the other hand a woman goes through Mrs Wrights personal belongings, men scorn the women’s actions, which they see as irrelevant and simplified since they are going through “trifles”. However, the women ultimately discover the simple details and clues that the men in their many searches missed or ignored, this minor details end up providing the conclusive proof of Mr Wright’s crime. As soon as the story begins, the difference in the male and female characters is made apparent in their address, disposition and attitude towards each other and the subject of the search. The men for instance are introduced by their job titles such as county attorney, sheriff, and the women on the other hand, are referred to as Mrs Hale and so on. This is manifest criticism of the fact that a woman’s identity is defined in relation to her connection with a man, her husband and not so much the role she plays as an autonomous human being. A man on the other hand is addressed by either name or title, conversely, men are viewed as complete wholes and their identity is tied to the important roles they play in society and they are unequivocally considered as more independent than women are. The women are homemakers, when they come to the home, it is primarily to fetch the belongings Mrs Wright had asked of them, thus to them the farmhouse was not just a crime scene but also a home. They sat in the kitchen, went through the drawers and took note of the broken glass and bread left on the counter; contrariwise, the men have come with the single-minded purpose of discovering evidence from a crime scene (O Neil). Their endeavor to find evidence is designed to be thorough, and centered completely on the crime not the facts that may have preceded it, they come looking for signs of a break in although they later discover the rope used to kill Mr Wright belonged to his house. Their technical and impersonal approach however brings out radically results from women, they were able to figure out she may have killed her husband but they did not know why. The women on examining the trifles however were able to come up with a logical explanation and discovered the woman had been quite disturbed before she committed the crime. Men’s tyrannical status is also explored in the description of my Wright who is described as a hard man; the women speculate that he did not like the birds singing although his wife did. This lead to his snapping its neck, the women notice that the manner in which the bird and the man died were not markedly different “But, Mrs Peters—look at it! Its neck! Look at its neck! Its all—other side to. MRS PETERS: Somebody—wrung—its—neck” (Glaspell 11). From this one gets the idea that when the needs of men and women are diametrically in opposition, the man will get his way even if it means using brute force to achieve this with no consideration to the woman’s feelings. In the play men silence women since, when the women are in the company of their husbands, they speak in low tones so men may not hear their “trifle” discussions. One can then allude that the Mr Wright silenced Mrs Wright by denying her the music of her bird and thereby distorted her life; this is because marriages; especially during the time the play is set were designed to empower men over women. Using this power, Mr Wright changed the nature of his wife and while she may not have been capable of murder before, his actions towards her may have indirectly contributed to his death, as it was reaction from her. Thus according to this play the unequal condition of marriage that subordinates woman forces her to be subjected to treatment that is not natural to her as an independent and mature human being. This can be considered in the context of Mr Wright’s atrocities, such unnatural actions can then translate into strange results such as his murder by his wife. Men’s altitude towards women in the play is openly patronizing and condescending and judges them subjectively as women and little else (O Neil); the men have clearly no respect for the deductive and detective skills of women. They point out how silly it is for women to concern themselves with trifle things such a fruit and do not stop to consider these may be the key to solving the mystery, “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin about her preserves.” (Glaspell 4) they even go to an extent of commenting on Mrs Wrights poor housekeeping skills. The women do not agree with such accusations since they knew she was dragged out of the house swiftly without time to collect a shawl let alone clean up her kitchen. In the play Mrs Wright is portrayed as a woman who had sacrificed all for the sake of her husband, in order to maintain the status quo, she embodies the contradiction that is society’s expectation of women. She is alienated and isolated both emotionally and physically, but she is expected to act like the perfect wife; even when the men are aware of her speedy removal from her home, they still find it justifiable to criticize her for things that have gone bad as result of her absence “Dirty towels! (kicks his foot against the pans under the sink) Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell 5). Theorist argue that in traditional literature, the female readers are forced into participating in action in which they are inherently excluded, however, by tackling the gender issue so overtly, Glaspell allows the female reader to easily identify with the female characters in the play. Moreover, women are engaged in doing feminine things; looking through household goods, noticing the seeing a rotten fruit in the kitchen and as well as the dead pet. Men on the other hand focus on looking for evidence of outside entry clearly convince that a woman cannot be responsible for such an aggressive ergo masculine crime. Because of this attitude and subjective preconceptions of the crime, the men overlook evidence that would have been crucial in reconstructing the crime scene. Despite their discoveries, the women keep silent and do not share with their men what the latter had missed; this is the same silence that Mr Wright sought to impose on his household by “killing” the music. It is evident that the devotion of the women characters lies with each other and the struggle to survive a patriarchal and oppressive society, which propagates the myth that women should be seen not, heard. Indeed silence is considered feminine as opposed to action, which is seen as masculine; ironically in their masculine way, the men were unable to come up with a single clue as to why the woman killed her husband. Women on the other hand in their passiveness not only pieced together the story but also concealed the evidence without the men’s knowledge; “Oh, I guess theyre not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out.” (Glaspell 14). The county attorney and the rest of the men appear ignorant and to some extent stupid since in their self-confidence, they are ignoring the true facts of the case that are in the wide open in pursuit for lofty masculine theories which bear no fruit. At the end of the day “trifles” illuminates the role of women and men in a patriarchal society and the problems and confusion that ensue, as a result of women being treated as if they are inferior to men by virtue of their sex. If Mr Wright had been more accommodating, his wife would not have been driven to kill him and had the “Lawmen” paid more attention to the famine and softer aspects of the crime scene they would have been able to piece together evidence to explain why the woman killed her husband. Works Cited Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles”. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008: 1368-1377. Print. ONeil Caitlin. “The Roles Within Glaspells Story; Trifles. Yahoo Voices. 2008. Web. 26 March 2013. Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in Essay - 1, n.d.)
Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in Essay - 1. https://studentshare.org/literature/1799089-susan-glaspell-trifles-gender-roles
(Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in Essay - 1)
Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in Essay - 1. https://studentshare.org/literature/1799089-susan-glaspell-trifles-gender-roles.
“Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in Essay - 1”. https://studentshare.org/literature/1799089-susan-glaspell-trifles-gender-roles.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Glaspell Susan and Her Play Trifles the Focus Is on Gender Roles in the Play

Important Symbols in the play Trifles

Name Instructor Course Date Important symbols in the play Trifles Trifles is a well renowned play written by a brilliant female writer, Susa Glaspell.... Apparently, it can be said that the play was written for Provincetown Player.... the play is highly credited for the 1916 season.... hellip; On the same, the play “Trifles” is intoned with issues that partly concern women.... The settings of the play mainly focus on two female characters, Mrs....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Through her Play Trifles, What is Susan Glaspell Trying to Teach us About Traditional Gender Roles

in the play, women were in most cases associated with households' chores which men considered as useless.... in the play we see that women were knowledgeable since the two of them Mrs.... My thesis is about how the play "Trifles” by Susan Glaspell teaches us how women's roles should be respected instead of being devalued.... hellip; the play shows how women in the past were looked down upon.... the play shows that women could secretly plan things in order to free themselves....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Susan Glaspells conflict and identity

the focus of all three writings is the exploration of feminine identity.... Glaspell's play deals with a wife's murder of her husband and the analysis of innocence and guilt; Tan's autobiographical account is a coming-of-age story of a Chinese immigrant girl and the mother-daughter relationship; Steinbeck's short story is based on a woman's life on an isolated Western ranch and her struggle for self-expression.... This is seen in her laughter, her compulsive “kind of pleating of her apron” (Glaspell, 6), her concern for her preserves and her request for an apron in jail....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

How Things Can BeFor Women: Gender Issues in Trifles

hellip; The men's lowered expectations lead to ignorant misunderstanding of women and the world. the play's first lines refer to the women's delicate well-being as the Attorney invites them to warm themselves.... the play's first lines refer to the women's delicate well-being as the Attorney invites them to warm themselves.... As the play progresses, the gender gap widens with the Attorney's ridicule of Mrs.... The women remain in their expected roles as domestic experts, but have an understanding of human behavior that allows them to solve the crime....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Relationships and Roles During the period 1879 to 1916

Nora's compulsion is exploited by Nils Krogstad who extracts a bond from her, which later in the play, he uses for threatening her and ultimately ruins her whole life.... Among such writers, Henrick Ibsen and Susan Glaspell are two prominent names whose plays significantly impacted not only the people of that period but also paved the way for women's equality and freedom from men's dominance at later stage. When the play "A Doll's House" was performed for the first time in Copenhagen in 1879, it revoked severe criticism from the society as it was against the society's values and attacked men's dominance over women (Templeton 142)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Trifles vs Ajury of her peers

As such, the readers are able to focus more on the characters in the short stories and not object like in the play.... Despite the fact that the male characters have been given less focus in the play and the story, we can see that the story gives greater depth in developing the male characters.... The reader also gets to know more about the male characters by reading the short stories compared to watching them act on stage in the play.... The dialogues in the narrative “A Jury of Her Peers” are actually lifted from the play without a lot of distortion....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Trifles Dead Bird

in the play, the sheriff also implies that one can beat a woman up.... This is seen in the play when the County attorney says that a sheriff's wife is married to the law.... in the play, the ladies also share a belief with the men that they are of little importance.... From the play, we gather that there is a group of characters gathered at the Wright's with an aim of gathering a piece of evidence that is supposed to help with the verdict of Mrs… The sheriff makes a statement that implies that it is not worth checking with the kitchen and refers to the things in the kitchen as ‘kitchen things'....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Canary as a Symbol of Sisterhood in Trifles: a Play in One Act by Susan Glaspell

As the paper "Canary as a Symbol of Sisterhood in Trifles: a Play in One Act by Susan Glaspell" outlines, in the play Trifles, the women characters have a better understanding of events than the men because they can read the symbolic meanings of the apparently insignificant objects that they see.... Peters' childhood kitten, was symbolic of Minnie's womanly nature, and its death evidence of the way this was snuffed out by her violent husband.... They identify with its suffering and take the murder to be a fitting response to its death, thus cementing a bond of sisterhood with Minnie Wright, in spite of the likelihood that was she who murdered her husband....
1 Pages (250 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us