Wright because of her
Wright because of her
Sanger’s time in Hastings was brief and, at least initially, traumatic. Her young family’s newly built house went on fire the night they moved in. She, her husband, and young son escaped safely, and the house was rebuilt, but Sanger grew to dislike life in our leafy ‘burb. She ultimately moved her family, which by then included three children, back to the city, so they could participate in the “. . .great ‘Pageant of Living,’” as she described it in her 1931 book, My Fight for Birth Control.…
Since the 1900’s, women have struggled with gender roles in society that leaned more in favor of men. Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, reflects on this struggle by blatantly separating the ideas, opinions and actions of the men and women in the play. As the title Trifles suggests, the men in the play view the two women’s concerns as unimportant and frivolous in comparison to the “real” work the men have to do. Glaspell’s characterization of the sheriff, Henry Peters, the attorney, George Henderson, and the neighboring farmer, Mr. Hale, portrays them as typical men of the time who decide to take charge because, as men, that is their duty and only they know what can be done and how to go about discovering the truth. They only take along Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to collect some things for Mrs. Wright, never taking a moment to think that from a woman’s perspective, the answer to the murder could be found.…
There are various accounts in the world in which the setting or time period plays an infinite roll, but in Harriet Jacobs, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”, and Rebecca Davis’s “Life in the Iron Mills”, the characters make all the difference. From the amazing role of Hugh Wolfe, to the vital words from Harriet Jacobs, we will explore how these stories have shaped our past, present, and future. Most people have experienced challenges in life that cause them to either act or suppress those times as if they did not happen. In Harriet Jacobs’ case, she chose to take her experiences and place them at the core of her existence, in order to press for change. On the other hand, Rebecca Davis was able to illustrate the distinct differences between upper class and lower class lifestyles.…
Glaspell uses general stereotypes of the time periods gender specific roles. Leonard Mustazza very helpfully points out the difference between the genders and how the characters react to their position (Mustazza 1). Throughout the play, the male characters steers the readers into believing that a woman’s place is at the home, where she is spending most of her time cleaning and taking care of her husband. One knows this because the county attorney remarks, “I shouldn’t say she had the homemaking instinct” (Glaspell 746) after he was through surveying the kitchen. He implies that a women’s duty is to make sure that the home well taken care of. Also, the males expects the women to be submissive and to have the same values as their husbands. For…
In the play Trifles gender plays a huge part. When the detectives were looking for evidence or "motives" of why Mrs. Wright killed her husband they often times belittled the women. As the women searched for the small things that contributed to Mr. Wright's death the men were looking at the bigger picture. In the end because the men brushed the women off, not taking into consideration their advice, the women ended up finding the real motive while the detectives totally missed it. In the play Fences gender roles also evident because of the way Rose is treated by her husband. Troy cheats on her with a women named Alberta and seems to ignore the fact that she is loyal to him and takes care of home. After Alberta dies giving birth to their child…
Susan Glaspell’s one act play Trifles,written in 1916, is based on actual events that occurred at the turn of the century in Iowa. Glaspell worked as a reporter where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife, Margaret Hossack. Hossack was accused of killing her husband, John, by striking him twice in the head with an ax while he slept (Overview: Trifles). Glaspell’s memory of the Hossack trial inspired her writing of Trifles. Glaspell’s play isrepresentative of American turn of the century society that explores gender relationships and power between the sexes.…
Betrayal is the central theme portrayed throughout Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Ellen Weatherall (Granny) was betrayed by a former fiancé who left her alone and humiliated at the alter. Granny feels disgraced and does not know what she will do but John saves her from her feeling of shamefulness by marrying her. As the story progresses Granny continues to be betrayed by those she loves, but as her name implies, “weathers” through it all.…
Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, weaves a tale of an intriguing murder investigation to determine who did it. Mrs. Wright is suspected of strangling her husband to death. During the investigation the sheriff and squad of detectives are clueless and unable to find any evidence or motive to directly tie Mrs. Wright to the murder. They are baffled as to how he was strangled by a rope while they were supposedly asleep side by side. Glaspell artfully explores gender differences between men and women and the roles they each fulfill in society by focusing on their physicality, their methods of communication and vital to the plot of the play, their powers of observation. In simple terms, the play suggests that men tend to be assertive, rash, rough, analytical and self-centered; while in contrast, women are more cautious, deliberative, intuitive, and sensitive to the needs of others. It is these differences that allow Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale to find the clues needed to solve the crime, while their husbands miss the same clues.…
Susan Glaspell’s short story “A Jury of Her Peers” is more effective than her play Trifles at depicting the marginalization of women. Given only the text of the stories, and not taking into consideration the acting in the play, “Jury” far surpasses Trifles in conveying how women were basically disregarded as having any insight into “manly” matters such as a murder investigation. Trifles was written in 1916 and “Jury” was written in 1917. During this time period women were thought to be lower than men and unable to comprehend matters that were more important. The roles of women as “workers” were downgraded extensively, never taking into account just how hard the work is doing all of the household chores everyday, and preparing and planning for the future.…
Set in a small rural town in the 1950’s, Rosalie Ham, the author of the ‘Dressmaker,’ has written the novel in such a way that presents the audience with an exquisitely detailed portrayal of the characters. She critiques the malicious behaviours of many of the townspeople’s values highlighted within the wheat-belt community. Ham challenges the reader to view their ideas and morals through her empathetic portrayal as their actions are understood, however the hypocrisy and bigotry that are exhibited by significant characters depict their idiosyncrasies through Ham’s comedic portrayal.…
The women we’ve read about in both “A Jury of Her Peers,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” share two aspects. They share the bondage of male oppression, and their resilient spirits. I both stories, the characters face a struggle regarding both their household and the men within them, and must go to great lengths to overcome them. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale directly defy the men of the story, where the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” defies her husband in a fashion unimaginable.…
Her existence is guided by a belief system and culture that was dying. However, her father would never surrender his southern honor by allowing his daughter to marry someone he considered unworthy. “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” (Faulkner)…
The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is about the major differences between women and men. This story was written in a time period when women were treated much differently than they are today, and the women and this story are not taken seriously. This story exposes the sexism that women dealt with then, and still to some extent deal with today. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find incriminating evidence against Minnie, but the men never think to ask them their opinion; they are too busy looking for solid tangible, evidence. The “trifles” the women are worried about do not matter to the men. Although the women find evidence to believe Minnie is the killer, they feel somewhat responsible for abandoning her. The women and the men in this story are both somewhat sexist. The women are on Minnie’s side, and the men are on her husband John 's side. This is because of the differences in men and women.…
Gaskell’s ‘North and South’, set in Victorian England, is the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman whose life is completely turned on its head when her family moves to northern England. As an outsider from the agricultural south, Margaret is initially shocked by the aggressive northerners of the dirty, smoky industrial town of Milton, but as she adapts to her new home, she defies social conventions with her ready sympathy and defense of the working poor. Her passionate advocacy of the lower classes leads her to repeatedly clash with charismatic mill owner John Thornton over his treatment of his workers. While Margaret denies her growing attraction to him, Thornton agonizes over his foolish passion for her, in spite of their heated disagreements. As tensions mount between them, a violent unionization strike explodes in Milton, leaving everyone to deal with the aftermath in the town and in their personal lives.…
Before I started my research I made a hypothesis that I would see more women than men In fact my hypothesis turned out to be true. While flipping through the magazines the first thing I took notice of was the difference of genders. The first thing that I had saw were three white males and only one African American male consequently this type of data in understandable considering the magazine’s I was reviewing. In addition there were over 45 women and only 9 of them were African American. However, I decided to review the magazines in case I missed any important details and, I found a women of either chinese or asian descent although I never did find a man of a different ethnicity. Since there was only 9 black women and one of another ethnicity…