And Symbolism Of Sexism In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

720 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The advancement and empowerment of women

“In the battle of the sexes, woman gains her greatest victory by surrendering,” is an anonymous quote that can be related into any point in history and, unfortunately, even in modern day life. In society men have always been considered superior to women, but Susan Glaspell challenges sexism in society through the female leads in “Trifles” through structure, setting, and symbolism. In “Trifles” there are two plots occurring simultaneously, the men have a story offstage while the women have the attention on stage. This adds a dynamic to the play to further emphasize the sexism within it, Glaspell separates them physically as well as mentally to demonstrate that the men do not think that the women were clever enough to find any evidence. By …show more content…

When they first enter the house they all “bundled up and go at once to the stove”, this concept is repeated throughout their time in the house and represents that the men want the cold hard facts and nothing else. The stove is located only in the kitchen where the women are and the women are the ones who solve the crime. Other major symbols include the sewing box, half completed chores, and the bird and broken bird cage. Mrs. Wright was “kind of like a bird herself” meaning that she was the bird and Mr. Wright was the broken bird cage. The bird cage was broken because the bird wanted to be freed from it, literally it being her husband. The broken bird cage also represents that now Mr. Wright is broken, meaning that he is dead and not able to trap the bird or Mrs. Wright anymore.
Sexism was evident in society during the time era of “Trifles” and is challenged by Susan Glaspell’s female characters through structure, setting, and symbolism. It was very much frowned upon that the women were superior to the men then and even today men don’t want women to be equal to them let alone superior to them. So in order for a woman to get the greatest victory, as displayed through Mrs. Hale and Peters, they must

Show More
Related

  • Power In Trifles

    2135 Words  | 5 Pages

    One striking characteristic of the 20th century was the women's movement, which brought women to the forefront in a variety of societal arenas. As women won the right to vote, achieved reproductive freedom through birth control and legalized abortion, and gained access to education and employment, Western culture began to examine its long-held views about women. However, before the women’s movement of the 20th century, women’s roles were primarily of a domestic nature. Trifles by Susan Glaspell indicates that a man’s perspective is entirely different from a woman’s. The one-act play, Trifles, is a murder mystery which examines the lives of rural, middle-aged, married, women characters through gender relationships, power between the sexes, and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Trifles By Susan Glaspell

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan Glaspell, from Davenport, Iowa is only the second woman to win a Pulitzer Prize [1]. Much of her writing is strongly feminist, mostly dealing with how society viewed women and the prevalence of male dominance. Possibly, the idea behind the play “Trifles” was based on a woman named Margaret Hosack from Iowa, who is thought to have killed her husband due to his abusive behavior. Susan Glaspell was influenced by this story when writing ‘Trifles’ because she worked at the Des Moines Newspaper at the time of the event and in

    Read More

  • Repression of Women Exposed in Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Susan Glaspell in Trifles explores the repression of women. Since the beginning of time, women have been looked down upon by men. They have been considered “dumb” and even a form of property. Being physically and emotionally abused by men, women in the early 1900’s struggled to break the mold formed by society.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes and Stereotyping in Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think the canary symbolized Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale describes her; "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"; and like a bird, Mrs. Wright even sang in a choir. But after she got married, every thing stopped. She didn't sing anymore or attend social functions. Like a bird, her house became her cage. The only happiness that she appears to have is with this bird. The bird probably sang when she could not. He was probably a companion to her, she had no children. And like her, he was also caged. Because we do not know, we can only guess that her husband killed her bird. If he killed the bird then he would have killed the only thing that was important to her. He killed her once when he married her and caged her in that house, and he killed her again when he destroyed her bird. "No,. Wright wouldn't like the bird - a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too." When Mrs. Wright was used to its singing and her world became quiet again, it was too much for her take.

    Read More

  • Tension Between Men And Women In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Ah, loyal to your sex, I see” (1389) when these words are said by the character George Henderson in the play “Trifles” you see it is the men against the women. The play, written by Susan Glaspell, published in 1916, was based on a murder trial; she was following when she was a reporter in Iowa. The play is about a murder of a man by his wife on a small farm; the catch is the motive and how it was done. Why did she do it? This who done it shows the way the women think and act; also you see the way the men treat the women in the 1900’s. There is an underlying tension between the men and women. Glaspell gives a small glimpse into the way women were treated as second-class citizens with nothing important to contribute to the world. The struggles for women’s rights were hard, but the women in the 1900’s took the challenge and accomplished a lot by doing small acts of defiance and solidarity; the voices of women would be heard.

    Read More

  • Feminist in Susan Glaspell´s Play Trifles

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Trifles is one play that really shows the conflict between gender roles in the early 20th century. At the beginning of the 1900s the idea of everyone having equal rights didn’t exist. Men clearly dominated every aspect of life, while women were often left with little importance. The oppression of women during that time stretched to the point that they were not truly acknowledge as their own person. Their sole purpose was to take care of their families by keeping house and performing their caretaker duties. According to the essay “Literary Context in Plays: Susan Glaspell” by Bailey McDaniel claims that Glaspell’s work Trifles is considered an observation on the demeaning, insignificant characterization of women’s labor and their lives within domesticity (McDaniel). Susan Glaspell really tries to emphasize this feminist view throughout the entire play.

    Read More

  • The Invisible Woman in Trifles

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Trifles is a one-act play inspired by a murder which the author Susan Glaspell followed as a reporter from 1899-1901, yet did not publish until 1916. The difference in time is significant, as the fight to gain the right to vote was advanced during this period. For years the feminist movement had experienced many failures. The play and its themes display the changing attitude towards female injustices. Trifles exposes how American Women in the early 20th century, especially the “invisible” woman Mrs. Wright, were oppressed politically, socially, and psychologically by men, despite several political advances.

    Read More

  • Trifling Justice

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...mpletely dependent upon men. Playwright Susan Glaspell cleverly causes the reader to question the way that women and men are viewed in society. The women in Trifles, though they were overlooked by the men, solved this case while the men failed to do so when they were supposedly in charge. In failing to recognize the women’s ability to contribute to their work the men succeed in causing the women to unite, giving them the real power and knowledge to solve this mystery. All the while the women are moving a little closer together and moving forward toward their rights.

    Read More

  • Compare Trifles And M. Butterfly

    1836 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gender roles have withstood the test of time and equality throughout the world, and only recently has society made advancements towards gender equality. Undoubtedly, this modern progression in equality can be partially attributed to canon literature which broadens a reader’s perspective and challenges them to think critically. Such as the plays “Trifles”, written by Susan Glaspell, and “M. Butterfly”, written by David Henry Hwang, which address gender inequality through dramatic portrayals. Moreover, when compared and contrasted, “Trifles” and “M. Butterfly”, share the universal themes of femininity and masculinity as well as cultural stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Justice In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 is equally important to finding the truth. Perhaps the most prevalent literary device in the Trifles is the rich symbolism. Each of the women in the play are equally important, but come together to become more powerful. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters directly bond, while Mrs. Wright indirectly contributes from jail by leaving them small clues.

    Read More

  • Susan Glaspell's A Jury Of Her Peers And Trifles

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the centuries, women have risen to become equals. While women now have rights and the ability to survive without the aid of men, the women in the early 20th century were not as fortunate. Susan Glaspell is famous for her plays and stories that showcase the sexism towards women of the 1900s. “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” both display and explore the struggles women endured as inferiors to men, while also depicting the traditional gender stereotypes and differences. Understanding that women have had to fight their whole lives to prove they are not inferior to men is a powerful part of history. In order to appreciate women and their journey to equality, it is important to understand how they were spoken

    Read More

  • The Deception of Trifles: Gender Roles in the Play by Glaspell

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men treat women like dirt. Trifles is based on real life events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a newspaper reporter in Des Moines and the play is based off of Susan Glaspell’s earlier writing, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The play is about a wife of a farmer that appears to be cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating the wife terrible, the farmer’s wife snaps and murders her husband. In addition, the play portrays how men and women may stick together in same sex roles in certain situations. The men in the play are busy looking for evidence of proof to show Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding evidence to prove Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt they were smarter than women in the earlier days, the play describes how women are expected of too much in their roles, which could cause a woman to emotionally snap, but leads to women banding together to prove that women can be...

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Play Trifles

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles Mr. Wright’s murder is never solved because the two women in the story unite against of the arrogance of men to hide evidence that would prove Mrs. Wright as the murderer. The play Trifles is about the death of farmer Mr. Wright and how the town sheriff and attorney try to find evidence that his wife Mrs. Wright killed him. As the play progresses the men’s wives who had come along were discovering important pieces of evidence that prove the men’s theory but chose to hide from them to illustrate the point that their ideas should have been valued and not something to be trifled. The very irony of the play comes from its title trifles and is defined as something that isn’t very important or has no relevance to the situation that it is presented to. In this play the irony of the title comes from the fact that the men find the women’s opinions on the case trifling even though the women solve the crime which ends up being the downfall of the men as they would have been able to prosecute Mrs. Wright if they had listened which made the women’s opinions not trifling. Glaspell was born in an age where women were still considered the property of men and they had no real value in society in the eyes of men except for procreation and motherhood. This attitude towards women was what inspired Glaspell to write the play Trifles and to illustrate the point that women’s attitudes should be just as valued as men’s and to let women have a sense of fulfillment in life and break the shackles that were holding them only as obedient housewives. Trifles was also inspired by a real murder trial that Glaspell had been covering when she was a reporter in the year 1900. Glaspell is a major symbol of the feminist movement of l...

    Read More

  • Gender Differences in Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Trifles Title Analysis

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, they got the last chance to prove that their role is not trifles as presumed by the oppressive society. The effort of the two women to control their fate is evident when they decide to stay loyal to their sexes as a sign of rebellion towards their men who have been controlling their fate. Glaspell succeeds in discussing poignant issues of gender discrimination and oppression. Thus, the choice of the title “Trifles” is appropriate for this drama because the issues highlighted throughout the drama are the unimportant roles played by women in everyday life. The women that are trivialized and dismissed by the male-dominated society win over male prejudice, which disregards the dominant beliefs of gender

    Read More

More about And Symbolism Of Sexism In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Open Document