Essay On Trifles
Susan Glaspell’s short play, “Trifles”, characterized her characters through the theme on gender difference. In this debate about gender dominancy in history, men took part as the head of household, providing for his family and working at his job, whether in farming or in the business world. For women, they take the role as housewives where women cook and clean for family, which men state that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. After women declare voting rights in the early twentieth century, women have fight for the rights today in order to influence that women are equal to men. What Susan Glaspell attempts to do with these characters is to fashion different opinions about men and women through the characters. One example is how they view
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the opposite sex. Country Attorney attacks both Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale when they discovered that Mrs. Wright’s fruit have been preserve in ice, concluding that women worry about trifles (“Trifles”). In response, Mrs. Hale criticizes how men leave items dirtier than before (“Trifles”). This becomes a feud that leaves readers nowhere to answer who, why, and how did John Wright died; however, it seems that the author uses this type of theme of gender dominancy in order to understand the relationships between the characters. Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters became neighbors and friends to Mrs. Wright, but Mrs. Hale knows her well than Mrs. Peters. However, both women use women power to solve the case themselves, without the need of the men.
As for the men in the play, excluding the deceased John Wright, they mocked women in order to understand women as maids and housewives. Another example is the general perspective of how a man and women will take action to kill someone. Mrs. Hale mentions Mr. Hale knew that a gun is presented in the house (“Trifles”). Usually, men would use guns as their primary weapon in order to protect their families and to go hunting for wild animals. However, women think critically to use an item necessary; Mrs. Wright uses a rope to strangle her husband instead of a gun (“Trifles”). These two perspectives create a division between man and woman. Though both men and women have similar decisions and issues in reality, Glaspell displays in her short play that the characters’ way of speaking against the counterpart and the different reactions on Mr. Wright’s death describes a modern-day debate we experience today. Therefore, her play centers on the theme of gender stereotypes that the characters reenact on how we would view men and women in our history. As a result, we should view men and women as equal partnership rather individual creatures with harmful, but different
stereotypes.
the opposite sex. Country Attorney attacks both Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale when they discovered that Mrs. Wright’s fruit have been preserve in ice, concluding that women worry about trifles (“Trifles”). In response, Mrs. Hale criticizes how men leave items dirtier than before (“Trifles”). This becomes a feud that leaves readers nowhere to answer who, why, and how did John Wright died; however, it seems that the author uses this type of theme of gender dominancy in order to understand the relationships between the characters. Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters became neighbors and friends to Mrs. Wright, but Mrs. Hale knows her well than Mrs. Peters. However, both women use women power to solve the case themselves, without the need of the men.
As for the men in the play, excluding the deceased John Wright, they mocked women in order to understand women as maids and housewives. Another example is the general perspective of how a man and women will take action to kill someone. Mrs. Hale mentions Mr. Hale knew that a gun is presented in the house (“Trifles”). Usually, men would use guns as their primary weapon in order to protect their families and to go hunting for wild animals. However, women think critically to use an item necessary; Mrs. Wright uses a rope to strangle her husband instead of a gun (“Trifles”). These two perspectives create a division between man and woman. Though both men and women have similar decisions and issues in reality, Glaspell displays in her short play that the characters’ way of speaking against the counterpart and the different reactions on Mr. Wright’s death describes a modern-day debate we experience today. Therefore, her play centers on the theme of gender stereotypes that the characters reenact on how we would view men and women in our history. As a result, we should view men and women as equal partnership rather individual creatures with harmful, but different
stereotypes.