Oppression Of Women In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

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Recommended: Women in 19th literature

In the early nineteen- hundreds society operated tremendously different compared to society now in the twenty-first century. In the early nineteen-hundreds women were not given the same opportunities as men. Women were expected to conform to their husbands’ wishes, cook, clean, and raise children. A woman who wanted to obtain an education or one whom did not want to get married or raise children were looked negatively upon by society. Women did not have any voice in marriage, the husband made all decisions regarding finances, family issues, and even controlled what activities the woman could or could not participate in. The short play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell has many important symbols that are used to exemplify the oppression women …show more content…

Wright’s botched quilting. Glaspell writes, “Mrs. Hale: [Examining another block] Mrs. Peters look at this one. Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the sewing! All the rest of it has been so nice and even. And look at this! It’s all over the place! Why it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about!” (183). Quilting or sewing of any kind is a very time consuming and tedious task. Sewing and quilting is a form of expression and art, especially so for women in the early nineteen- hundreds. Mrs. Wright’s decline in ability to sew well symbolizes her decline in mental health. Mrs. Wright’s marriage had forced her to become someone she despised, thus pushing her to lose her mind. Mrs. Wright first quilted very well and neat, as time progressed her quilting became erratic and disorderly. Not only was Mrs. Write’s erratic sewing a sign of her declining mental health, but her sewing was also a sign that she was planning to kill her husband. Glaspell writes, “Mrs. Hale: What do you suppose she was so nervous about? Mrs. Peters: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know as she was nervous. I sometimes sew queer when I’m just tired” (183). This quotation from Trifles points out that Mrs. Wright’s erratic sewing was possibly the outcome of nervousness. Mrs. Wright’s sewing became disorderly because she knew she had to escape her marriage before she lost herself completely. Divorce was uncommon and looked down upon by society in the early nineteen- hundreds, Mrs. Wright saw no other way to achieve happiness than through the act of killing her

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