Female Relationships in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and Cherrie Moraga's Giving Up the Ghost
The plays Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, and Giving Up the Ghost, by Cherrie Moraga, focus on women's interaction in various contexts. Despite the seventy-eight years between their performance dates and the drastic difference in settings and narrative content, the main female characters are comparable, as Mrs. Hale, in Trifles, points out, "We all go through the same things -- it's just a different kind of the same thing" (Norton Anthology of Literature by Women, 1359). These plays show the varying degrees of closeness women can have in female relationships, and the role circumstances play.
When Trifles opens, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not know each other, and Mrs. Peters does not know Mrs. Wright; initially establishing the women's familiarity is important as they are essentially strangers. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are immediately grouped together by the men in the play, who subtly consider them and their concerns insignificant; Mr. Hale notes, "Women are used to worrying over trifles" (Glaspell 1353). The irony of the women finding what the men can not, Mrs. Wright's motive, emphasizes their importance in the play; the men failing to recognize this also creates dramatic irony. Mrs. Hale having known Mrs. Wright before she was married and having not visited her in over a year is significant as she illustrates Mrs. Wright's transition from a social to an isolated woman as a result of her marriage to John Wright. As she has children, Mrs. Hale can understand the importance of Mrs. Wright's canary, which served as the role of her child; similarly, Mrs. Peters can relate to Mrs. Wright, whose only company in her quiet, empty house was ...
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...en. Probably the most striking commonality is how women relate through those by which they are haunted: just as Marisa recalls her cousin Norma who was committed to a mental hospital, Alejandro's death seriously impacts Amalia; Mrs. Peters recalls her dead baby in an effort to relate to Mrs. Wright, and Mrs. Hale remembers the woman Mrs. Wright was before her marriage. Both Glaspell and Moraga explore the universal theme of isolation and how relationships can create, in the case of Mrs. Wright, or diminish it, as with Marisa and Amalia.
Works Cited
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Teresa Sullivan. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. New York: Norton, 1985.
Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. New York: Norton, 1985.
Moraga, Cherrie. Giving Up the Ghost. The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women. New York: Norton, 1985.
Davidson, Cathy N. and Linda Wagner-Martin. The Oxford Companion to Womenâs Writing In The United States. New York: Oxford United Press, 1995.
Harris, Susan K.. "'But is it any good?': Evaluating Nineteenth-Century American Women's Fiction." American Literature 63 (March 1991): 42-61.
Delany, Sheila. Writing Women: Women Writers and Women in Literature: Medieval to Modern. New York: Schocken, 1983.
Definitions of reflection vary depending on the discipline of the author. Having reviewed the literature, Bulman (2008, p.2), a nurse, defines it as “reviewing an experience from practice so that it may be described, analysed, evaluated and used to inform and change future practice”. It is a personal process requiring honesty, openness, self-awareness, courage and a willingness to act on criticism. It acknowledges that feelings and emotions influence actions. Critical reflection involves in depth examination and questioning of personal, social, historical, cultural and political assumptions and perspectives that are embedded in actions. It is an active process enabling one to make sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012). It transforms a situation in which there is confusion and doubt to one that is clear and coherent (Dewey, 2010).
Nurses are constantly being encouraged to be reflective practitioners (Sommerville and Keeling, 2004). Reflective practice can be defined as the process of making sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012; Boros, 2009) It helps the practitioner in thinking and examining his actions and behaviour thereby, aids in his learning and improvement. Reflective practice is important for nurses. The NMC Code (2002) states that nurses are responsible for providing care to the best of their ability to patients and their families. As nurses, according to Sommerville and Keeling (2004), they need to focus on their knowledge, skills and behaviour to ensure that they are able to meet the demands made on them by this commitment. Identifying strengths enable nurses to learn, develop and grow professionally.
Martin, Melanie. “Negative Effects of Barbie on Girls.” eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
The intention of this written essay is to demonstrate an understanding of my views on reflection and the issues surrounding reflective practice. It is based on nursing skills that I used during my practice placement, most importantly reflecting on the professional value of privacy and dignity.
The purpose of this Reflective assignment is to demonstrate how the application of the Registered Nurses standards for practise (2016) can be used in reflective practise. The Registered Nurses standards of Practise (2016) states that RN’s should develop their practise through reflecting on experiences, knowledge, actions, their feelings and beliefs and recognise how these factors shape professional practise(RNSP, 1.2).Reflection allows individuals to look back on their day-to-day situations and how they made us react and feel; what we would change if we had the chance, to create a different outcome; and what we would do next time to enhance the way we conduct ourselves in a professional manner.
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
Thomas, B. Hardy, S. and Cutting, P. (1997) Mental health Nursing: Principles and Practice London: Mosby
Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a one-act play centered around a woman, Mrs. Wright, who allegedly murdered her husband, Mr. Wright, in the night. There are no witnesses of his death; only unofficial confessions and he-said she-said talk. Without viable evidence and information (and the absence of Mrs. Wright altogether), the play soon focuses on a group of people who gather at the Wrights’ home the day after the murder. These characters include a male sheriff, county attorney, and neighboring farmer and their two wives. It is their job to determine what truly happened to Mr. Wright and piece together any evidence that would enable the conviction of Mrs. Wright. It is with the plot, setting, and overall use of symbolism that Glaspell communicates her message and themes. These messages and themes, which are the glue to the play, allow the audience to understand how unhappy of a life Mrs. Wright lived and how men viewed women’s roles as unimportant.
Middleton, J. (2004). A Practical To Promote Reflective Practice Within Nursing .Retrieved March 31, 2004 from www.nursingtimes.net.
A study conducted by academics found that undergraduate nurses feel reflection is the key to changing and improving their practice. (Bulman, Lathlean, & Gobbi, 2011). Reflection assists nurses to enhance their nursing abilities by encouraging them to reflect on negative experiences, in order to overcome similar experiences in the future. This essay will aim to demonstrate the importance of reflection within nursing, additionally providing me with a platform to reflect on my decision to become a nurse. I will begin by reflecting upon the factors that influenced me to choose nursing, followed by an explanation of the benefits that reflection has on nursing. The essay will conclude by summarising how I will put reflection in practice throughout
“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is a literary breakthrough. Thought by many to be the first piece of modern work advocating women 's rights, this play made a splash into the male dominated era of the early nineteenth century. Set on a farm after the murder of Mr. Wright, three male characters assign themselves with the position of investigators, while their two wives serve as mere gatherers for the convicted felon Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Peters, one of the women, deliberately challenges society 's social norms. With the surrounding males confining her to only domestic functions, Mrs. Peter not only questions yet takes on his male dominated role, providing justice for a fellow female. By leaving the theme of justice in the hands of Mrs. Peters, Glaspell
Stone, Tanya Lee. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print.