Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Susan Glaspell’s work in “Trifles” displays many attributes among women such as independence and freedom. I quickly noticed that Glaspell’s work is very similar to Kate Chopin’s because both of them express equality between men and women. In “Trifles” one can see how a woman’s role in the early nineteenth century meant absolutely nothing. Men like Mr. Wright, Mr. Hale and the Sheriff acted and talked as if they were superior to all women. Through Glaspell’s “Trifles,” one is able to grasp the realities of feminism stereotypes and much more. “Trifles” is centered around several symbols and themes, that allow people to see the way men treated women, men’s superiority, a woman’s role, and more. Through the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell there are several noticeable items and objects that can be represented as symbols. I believe that these items represent trifles, which is something that is trivial
and has no value. However, these items made Glaspell’s play more entertaining to read. A rope, kitchen, and quilt are used as symbol in the play. These symbols made the play even more eye-opening and thrilling to examine. In the play, the rope was used by Mrs. Wright to supply kill her husband. I believe that Mrs. Wright used a rope to kill her husband do that she could watch him suffer longer and die slowly. The rope could also be a representation of Mrs. Wright way of saying that women have the ability to be strong and show endurance just as men. Another symbol that I saw in the play was the kitchen. The kitchen shows the symbol of stereotypes This places the idea of gender roles among women. For example, when a dirty towel is seen in the kitchen, it showed one that Mrs. Wright was not a very good housekeeper. My favorite object that I used as a symbol is a quilt. As mentioned in class, the quilt is also one of the many trifles. The quilt could be a symbol of Mrs. Wright’s guilt or the complete opposite, her innocence. Since it is believed that the quilt is finished by the process of knotting, it is a symbol that Mrs. Wight murdered her husband. Thus, if Mrs. Wright knitted the quilt, it could possibly be her way of telling the reader that she really murdered her husband. There are many more symbols throughout the play that represent life, abuse, independence, and more. However, the rope, kitchen, and quilt are thee three objects that really caught my attention. The role women and male dominance are two out of several themes that stuck out to me while reading Glaspell’s “Trifles.” Women of the early nineteenth century period were seen as unfit, unworthy, and inferior.
A woman’s only duty of that period mainly consisted of being a housekeeper. The roles of women were very strict. Unlike men, women could not obtain a job outside of the house nor could their voice be heard. Thus, this one of the reasons why I think Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. I believe she was getting abused and therefore she has the desire to experience here own taste of freedom. Since Mrs. Wright was isolated from the world outside of her home, I believe that she found solace in her bird, until her husband, Mr. Wright strangled it. Another theme that is clearly prominent throughout the play is male dominance. Men saw themselves as superior to women during that time period. Therefore, they placed limits one women that did not allow them to vote or to obtain one’s desired occupation. Thus, this sparked the idea of equal rights, which can be seen in
“Trifles.” “Trifles” is a very good play for someone who is interested in the value and equality of women. It is jammed-packed withsymbols and themes that will continue to catch one’s eye. I belive that Glaspell’s ambition and desire in the play was to showpeople that women are capable of being much motre than trifles. This play wasvery enjoyable to read because it is filled with action. Glaspell’s play is very entertaining and I would recommend it to anyone.