Sommer Abdelrahim
Professor Csedrik
EN 106
8 April 2015
Have you ever wondered why society is pretty much stable, and why everyone is not at war with each other? Well, there is not a definite reason why this is true but Bruce Schneier, author of “Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive” argues that there are four types of societal pressure that help create and preserve trust within any society. The four pressures are “Moral Pressure”, “Reputational Pressure”, “Institutional Pressure”, and “Security Systems”. Bruce Schneier defines Moral Pressure as “long-standing values and norms that govern appropriate social behavior” (Schneier). It is most effective in small groups. Reputational Pressure is essentially peer
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pressure that keeps our behavior in check. Institutional Pressure is defined as “the organizational rules, laws, and norms that guide our actions relative to the various groups to which we belong” (Schneier). This kind of pressure is most effective in larger groups. Security Systems are mechanisms designed to induce cooperation and trust and prevent defection (Forbes). These four Societal Pressures are seen in the plays “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, “The Pitch” by Larry David, and “Sure Thing” by David Ives. In “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, Reputational Pressure is observed throughout the murder investigation, and observed in Larry David’s the Pitch while Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza are at the diner and during the interview. Security Systems are observed in both of these plays as well. In “Trifles” the sheriff and detectives’ presence ensures that everyone is doing their job and not doing anything to sabotage the crime scene and the case in general. In “The Pitch” Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza go to the NBC studios for the interview and the interviewers represent authority and essentially, the security systems. Society functions in many different ways and in these two plays, the reader can see how that is true. Law and duty is a great part of society and so is love and friendship, and both of these aspects are seen in both plays. Four agents of socialization are friends, family, school, and the media.
From these agents of socialization we gain knowledge of what is wrong and what is right and enough of us follow the rules in order for society to function. Our values and norms are the roots of moral pressure, and our own morals help us enforce our beliefs in our everyday life. Moral pressure is observed in Larry David’s “The Pitch”. Jerry Seinfeld and his friend George Costanza are hanging out at a bar in the city when Stu Chermak, a representative of NBC comes to introduce himself to Jerry. He does so by saying “excuse me” and introducing himself (David 1). If Stu did not feel moral pressure on his own he would not have felt the need to excuse himself. Another example of moral pressure is seen in a play written by David Ives called “Sure Thing”. Two people in their late twenties named “Bill” and “Betty” are at a cafe with only a few seats, therefore Bill asks to join Betty. She eventually lets him take the seat and he tries to make conversation with her but she is unwelcoming. As they continue to have a conversation she expresses her thoughts by telling Bill “Maybe you’re only interested for the sake of making small talk long enough to ask me back to your place to listen to some music, or because you’ve just rented some great tape for your VCR, or because you’ve got some terrific unknown Django Reinhardt record, only all you’ll really want to do is f***” (Ives 4). Everyone is brought up differently …show more content…
and has their own ideas, and for Betty sleeping with a guy she met at a cafe is totally against her rules. These small decisions that people make contribute significantly to their overall value and worth and in turn form a better part for them in society. It is very common for people to worry about their reputation.
People worry about what one person or what a group of people think of him or her, students worry about what their classmates and teachers think of them, and the desperate housewives around the block are wondering what the housewives are saying of her. This housewife example is represented perfectly in Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”. With the sheriff in town, everyone in town wants to know what is happening in John Wright’s home, and if his wife, Mrs. Wright had any involvement. The opening scene of “Trifles” is described vividly as the characters are entering John Wright’s abandoned farmhouse. The kitchen is described as “left without having been put in order--unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the bread-box, a dish-towel on the table--other signs of incompleted work” (Trifles 1). As the characters walk in and see the mess, they get a bad impression of Mrs. Wright; they saw her as not clean and inefficient. This impression is even more pronounced in Mrs. Peters’ mind as Mrs. Peters did not know Mrs. Wright well enough. Susan Glaspell wrote “Trifles” in 1916 and then it was expected of the majority of women to cook, clean, and do other things to take care of their household. For Mrs. Wright, leaving the kitchen without tidying up says a lot about her character. Leaving unwashed dishes in the sink and food uncovered is not healthy and implies uncleanliness. But usually people like to clean their
homes or rooms as much as they can before a guest arrives, because it is natural for one to want to protect his or her reputation. If reputational pressure did not exist, maybe people would clean up after themselves less and maybe do it at their workplaces. A small issue like this can quickly snowball and become a huge societal problem. But now that there are people who are going to judge and criticize others for their actions, their reputation is at risk, which is why reputational pressure is important for our society to operate. “Trifles” perfectly represents how people take other people and in turn how this play represents a huge piece of how everyone works together.
Trifles” is a play written in 1916 by Susan Glaspell. The play’s audience consists of young adults to those in their late 50’s. Mrs. Glaspell takes a serious matter of domestic violence and uses her platform as an author to raise awareness about the issue. In the play “Trifles” a neighbor went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright only to find Mr. Wright dead in his bed. He had been strangled to death by a rope. The neighbor questioned Mrs. Wright about the matter and her response was odd and suspicious. Mrs. Wright was taken to jail while the home is being investigated for further evidence. Mrs. Glaspell’s play “Trifles” effectively achieves the goal in raising awareness on domestic violence by the evidence of the crime and through pathos.
The farmhouse in Trifles was accessed by several individuals between the time of the murder and law enforcement arriving. The sheriff even sent Frank over that morning to start a fire for warmth, instructing him “not to touch anything except the stove – and you know Frank.” The men in the play are only interested in observing the areas where John would have been within the home, deeming the kitchen as unimportant. If they had only taken a few moments to consider the mindset and life of Mrs. Wright they would have discovered all the information they sought. Minnie’s obligation once married was to provide John with children, the fact they were childless helps to show her “failure” in this role in the men’s eyes, yet the women see the detached relationship she shared with John and the profound silence of a home without little ones. Mrs. Hale discovers an unfinished quilt with some very erratic stitching where Mrs. Wright has left off and begins to remove the stitches, as if trying to undo what has already happened. When the quilting method of Mrs. Wright is discovered the women link her method with the knot used around John’s neck. Without ever seeing
“Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell explores the oppressive nature of an enduring patriarchal hierarchy within farm life throughout the 1900’s coinciding with the extensive psychological damage solitude and isolation imposed on the soul of, Mrs. Wright.
Nora and Mrs. Wright’s social standing when compared to the men in each play is inferior. Both works expose their respective male characters’ sexist view of women diminishing the women’s social standing. Each work features egotistical men who have a severely inflated view of their self-worth when compared to their female counterparts. The men’s actions and words indicate they believe women are not capable of thinking intelligently. This is demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mr. Hale makes the statement about women only worrying about mere trifles. It is also apparent in “A Dollhouse” when Torvalds thinks his wife is not capable of thinking with any complexity (Mazur 17). Another common attribute is of the women’s social standing is displayed as both women finally get tired of feeling like second class citizens and stand up to the repressive people in the women’s lives (Mulry 294). Although both women share much in common in their social standing there subtle differences. Torvald’s sexist view of Nora is more on a personal level in “A Dollhouse” while the male characters’ sexist views in “Trifles” seem to be more of a social view that women are not very smart and their opinions are of little value. This attitude is apparent in “Trifles” as Mr. Hale and Mr. Henderson’s comments about Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping (Mulry 293). As the women in both works reach their emotional
Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, was written in 1916, reflects the author’s concern with stereotypical concepts of gender and sex roles of that time period. As the title of the play implies, the concerns of women are often considered to be nothing more than unimportant issues that have little or no value to the true work of society, which is being performed by men. The men who are in charge of investigating the crime are unable to solve the mystery through their supposed superior knowledge. Instead, two women are able decipher evidence that the men overlook because all of the clues are entrenched in household items that are familiar mainly to women during this era. Glaspell expertly uses gender characterization, setting, a great deal of symbolism and both dramatic and verbal irony, to expose social divisions created by strict gender roles, specifically, that women were limited to the household and that their contributions went disregarded and underappreciated.
The kitchen is described as being in disorder with unwashed pans under the sink, a dish towel left on the table, a loaf of bread outside the breadbox, and other disarray. This gives the impression of no attention having been paid to cleaning up either recently or usually.
...could relate to the daily struggles of completing chores to please their husbands and children and understood how Minnie Wright could develop feelings of desolation due to the lack of variety in daily activities. When the men found the unwashed towels by the sink and the burst jars of fruit in the cupboard, they quickly took a tone of disgust and disappointment that Mrs. Wright fell short of her “womanly duty” of picking up daily messes. Women in the early 20th century often were not rewarded for completing difficult tasks amongst the homestead on a daily basis, but could be punished and mistreated for not completing the tasks in a timely manner. Glaspell’s work “offers a sympathetic portrait of an abused wife, a woman who is mistreated economically, psychologically, emotionally, and perhaps physically… [her actions] supporting battered woman syndrome” (Keetley).
In Trifles, the play takes place at an abandon house at a farm where John Wright and his wife, Minnie Wright lived. John was killed with a rope around his neck while his wife was asleep. The neighbor, county attorney and sheriff came to the crime scene for investigation. Along with them came their wives, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters; they were told to grab some belongings for Mrs. Wright that she may need while she’s in custody. Once they all entered the home the men dismissed the kitchen finding it as unimportant. The three men focused more on legal regulations of the law. The play was mostly revolved around the women, discovering the motive through “trifles” and other symbolic things that had significance to Minnie’s guilt. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters understood the reason behind the murdering they hid the evidence from their husbands, and kept quiet. Many readers would visualize this play as a feminist point of view due to women’s bonding in discovering Minnie’s oppressive life after marriage. However Glaspell, provokes two ethical paradigms that have different perspectives of justice. Glaspell uses symbolism to characterize women’s method in a subjective way, by empowering themselves through silence, memories of her and their own lives as well as having empathy about her sit...
"Trifles," a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, is a cleverly written story about a murder and more importantly, it effectively describes the treatment of women during the early 1900s. In the opening scene, we learn a great deal of information about the people of the play and of their opinions. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. The weather outside is frighteningly cold, and yet the men enter the warm farmhouse first. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Mrs. Hale?s and Mrs. Peters?s treatment from the men in the play is reflective of the beliefs of that time. These women, aware of the powerless slot that has been made for them, manage to use their power in a way that gives them an edge. This power enables them to succeed in protecting Minnie, the accused. "Trifles" not only tells a story, it shows the demeaning view the men have for the women, the women?s reaction to man?s prejudice, and the women?s defiance of their powerless position.
The play portrays women as inferior to men and stuck with household work while men have absolute control over them. The opening scene description “The kitchen is the now abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, a gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order […] other signs of in completed work.” (Trifles, 1) gives a first impression to the reader of how isolated the place is, thereby symbolizing the loneliness of Minnie Wright and her duty towards the household. Such a carefully crafted description in the very first sentence of the text tends to set off a really strong image and perception in the mind of the reader even before they are introduced to the plot. This is a really clever tactic by Susan Glaspell which she uses to emphasize her message from the
There are many things that influence our behavior from internal influences to social norms. Social norms are implicit or explicit rules that govern how we behave in society (Maluso, class notes). Social norms influence our behavior more than any of us realize but we all notice when a norm has been broken. Breaking a social norm is not an easy task and often leads us feeling uncomfortable whether we broke the norm ourselves or witnessed someone else breaking it. Sometimes however, you just have to break a norm to see what happens.
Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, seems to describe the ultimate women’s suffrage story. No longer will men have an upper hand against women after reading this story. Cleverness will be the key to retaining power from the men in this story. The one thing that woman are criticized for, the idea that women tend to look at the ‘little picture’ instead of the ‘whole picture’, will be there path to victory. Two stories of revenge are told in this story, the revenge of suppression and revenge of being portrayed as ‘unsophisticated, unintelligent’ women. First we have the story of Mrs. Wright and the struggles with her husband, John. Married women throughout history have been portrayed and played the role as being inferior to the husband in marriage. This seems to be the case with Mrs. Wright. Even though John’s public image was somewhat respectable, it was obvious that behind close doors the story was different. There is evidence of abuse in this marriage. First, the discovery of the broken door leads me to conclude that John was very physical and anguished. Second, it is assumed that Mrs. Wrights husband had broke her canary’s neck. The canary, which of course had to be caged, was represented as the old Minnie Foster herself. The canary is a beautiful, free spirited bird that had a sweet voice, as Minnie had at one time. This was the end of the line and ‘Minnie Foster’ was about to be reborn. She would stand up for all those abused and suppressed house wives across the world and makes the first ‘final’ decision she had ever been allowed to make. The bird’s cage was her jail. The bird’s death was her freedom for the fate of the bird was the fate of her husband. John was discovered with a rope tied around his neck, the freedom of a women who could no longer be held down. This was the first implementation of women’s power in the story. The women at Mrs. Wright’s home played an important role in the story as well. The ‘professional’ detectives were busy about the house finding clues to indict Mrs. Wright in the murder case. They ridiculed the women in the house by ‘putting them in their place’ as typical ladies, so worried about small things and useless ordeals. Mrs. Hale noted the stitches in the quilt to be erratically stitched as if something were wrong.
Housekeeping is a novel written by Marilynne Robinson, whose title heavily implies a deeper meaning within itself. The story is centered around two girls, Ruth and Lucille, who have been left in the hands of others as a result of their mother 's suicide. The novel is very simplistic in it’s nature paralleling the type of lifestyle that most of the members of the family live, excluding of course Molly who goes to do missionary work and China, and also Helen who drives herself off of a cliff. After the death of Helen the two sisters, Lucille and Ruth, are sent to live with their grandmother in Fingerbone. While the grandmother is a very loving person, she struggles with relaying these same ways of going about life to her daughters, Molly, Helen, and Sylvia. This is one of the first implications that “housekeeping” is something other than a title. Throughout the novel we see each character 's version of “housekeeping.”
The title of this drama "Trifles" demonstrates how men have the assumption that women and their respective actions are seemingly unimportant. Trifles can be used in two forms in the English language. In verb form, trifle means to treat someone or something as unimportant or non-essential. The word trifle in noun form means something of little value or importance. Both definitions of this word yield an idea in this story that women are seen as trivial and are not worthy of respect by men. This idea is conveyed throughout the entire story by the belittling assumptions and attitude the men use toward the women. For example Hale says, " Well, women are used to worrying over trifles" (1003). Typically, a kitchen represents women's work and the idea of domesticity. In Glaspell's eyes, men tend to assume that nothing of importance occurs in the kitchen and this can be related to the idea that women are insignificant. As Glaspell writes,
Most of the actions take place in the kitchen setting which demonstrates the author’s deliberate move to show the important details about the wifely role. The women hold their conversation in the unkempt kitchen, a domestic sphere that reveals everything about the lives of women. While the men were busy searching for clues around the farmhouse, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale see some evidence in the trifle that Mrs. Wright had left in the kitchen. The women can deduce that the messy kitchen with dirty pans gives a signal of incomplete work. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter spend most of their time in the messy kitchen that significantly reveal Mrs. Wright’s state of confusion (Manuel 61). Mrs. Hale understands Mrs. Wright’s experiences of loneliness and desperation from the male-dominated circumstances. The female characters sympathize with her situation by acknowledging the forces in her life that made her take the roles including that of murdering her husband. The men overlook the evidence that the women can trace in the house, and their dialogue suggests lack of sympathy towards women as noted from their humiliation and sarcasm towards women. For example, the women can relate the death of the canary to the murder scene. The attorney shows how woman’s concerns are unimportant, instead of sympathizing with Mrs. Wright for what has befallen her, they portray their women