Susan Glaspell's Trifles
Analysis Roles of the Women in Susan Glaspell’ play “ Trifles”
By Deby Valentina
1. Background In drama, character refers to a textual representation of a human being (or occasionally another creature). Character development is the key element in a story's creation. The story's protagonist is the central agent in generating its plot, and this individual can embody the story's theme. Characters can be either round or flat, depending on their level of development and the extent to which they change. Susan Glaspell in Trifles developed in relatively few words, is a round character because character from the women in this drama decribed how she wanted to bring up the feminism on her drama. Character could be divided into some parts such as: …show more content…
protagonist: A story’s main character (see also antagonist) antagonist: The character or force in conflict with the protagonist round character: A complex, fully developed character, often prone to change flat character: A one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story characterization: The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character Writer want to described how the characterization of women in Trifles influenced the whole story with several analysis, by using psychological and critical approach. The writer chose the topic because the women in this drama is the main cast and being a key to bring up the themes itself also the whole plot in the play. Write hopes that this research could be a reference for the readers, and the readers could give a value for this play which feminism and women emansipation could be more relevant.
2. The analysis Roles of the Women There are two-women main case in Trifle, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale also the unseen character of Mrs. Wright whom been called Minnie. They are the women which became main idea for this play, where they brought the feminism and emansipation through their characterization by Glaspell. Women often have been valued as the weakest, foolest and haven’s any right to decide something. The concern of women are often considered to be more trfiles, unimportant issues that bear little or no importance to the true work society, which, of course is being carried out by men. Women also being not more than a servant for men, when they couldn’t say and act anithing except accepting.
...” and yet for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper..” The women in Trifles, wanted to decsribed that women could be samrt and more empathize than men. Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter as a neighbor of Minnie, try to hide the murder which done by Minnie, because they felt so sorry for her, for her life especially which handled and hold by her husband. The witer wants to describe roles of character by the women in this play which could affected Minnie’s life.
a. The women always seen foolish and unappreciated
In the beginning of the story, has been described that there was a murder in Mr. Wright’s house. Mr. Wright was killed with the rope around his neck. Mrs Hale, the neighbor of them, also Mrs Peters, the wife of the sheriff, try to help the investigation. Mrs Hale became a witness when she found the death body and she was asked about the cronology. When she tried to expalin further, which she tried to be more detailed, the sherrif cut her and indirectly described that her explanation is unuseful. Also Mr. Wright, when she talked to him through the phone when he still alive, said that she talked too much.
“ Hale : “ Well, harry and I has started to town with a load of potatoes. We came along the road from my place and as I got here I said, I’m going to see if I cant get John Wright to go in with me on a party telephone. I spoke to Wright about it once before and he put me off, sayong folks talked too much anyway and all he asked was peace and quiet- I guess you know about how much he talked himself, but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didnt knwo as what his wife wanted made much difference to John.”
“County Attorney : “Yes, yes, lets talk about that later Mr Hale. I dont want to talk about that, but tell now just...”
The men within this play betray a sense of self-importance. They present themselves as tough, serious-minded detectives, when in truth they are not nearly as observant as the female characters. Their pompous attitude causes the women to feel defensive and form ranks. Not only do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters bond, but they choose to hide evidence as an act of compassion for Mrs. Wright. Stealing the box with the dead bird is an act of loyalty to their gender and an act of defiance against a callous patriarchal society.
b. The Women have been assumed only as a servant, hadn’t had knowledge or ability ” and yet for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper..” The women have been asummed hadn’t had knowledge or ability in front of the men. When Mrs Peter and Mrs Hale tried to help the investigation, the men which played as sheriff and attorney thought they couldn’t. Because they assumed the women as a servant which could help just at home with the household things, nothing else.
c. The women being more sympatized than men but still has ability to make differences between wrong and right
In the play "Trifles," in everything from the things they notice to the things they say, men and women behave completely differently. The men seem to have no time for the women and feel that they are focusing on the smaller and unimportant elements of the crime scene or the "trifles" as the name of the play. When Mrs Peter and Mrs Hale through the investigation by finding the smaller and unimportant things,the sheriff humiliated them by saying that they dont know nothing.
“....Nothing here but kitchen things..”
d. The women would support each other
One way Susan Glaspell shows the inferiority of women in this play is through body language. They stand close together.
"The women have come in slowly and stand close together near the door" From the very first part, they are somewhat timid in their place. As the drama goes on, each time the men seem to criticize Mrs. Wright, the women move closer together physically. This shows the bond of women in understanding how they are viewed by men. In this play, the characters can empathize so much with Mrs. Wright that they end up hiding the evidence of the murder (the dead bird) and take justice into their own hands by letting her off the hook.
e.
The women as a play for men when they tried to express their feeling and something important but men haven’t seen it important
The trifles in this play that the women see as important, the men make fun of. For example, when the Sheriff reaches up into the cupboard and comes away with a sticky hand, the woman express sadness that her fruit (preserves) had frozen. Rather than recognizing all the hard work that went into making those preserves, the Sheriff exclaims, "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves". He deems their concerns unimportant. Again the women look closely at the quilt and are made fun of. "They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (The men laugh, the women look abashed") According to the men, this is just another mere trifle that the women are concerned about. However, again, the women notice that suddenly the stitches change, and they wonder what happened to upset her so. They can see the evidence of turmoil in her quilt. They actually see the evidence of unhappiness and troubled times everywhere in this …show more content…
house.
The men never once question their way of doing things. They are looking for something "big" in the house, some big clue. The women, on the other hand are looking at the smaller things and thinking about the emotional impact of the smaller things. The men dismiss their methods knowing that they will never find anything that way. Even at the very end, when the men have found nothing, they make fun of the women once again. "Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to--what is it you call it, ladies!". Those poor, uneducated women who were concerned with the mere trifles of the play are actually the ones who solved the mystery and know exactly what went on in this house.
f. The women often blame by the men for everything
The men also seem to blame the women for everything. When the County Attorney criticizes the housekeeping of Mrs. Wright, and Mrs. Hale defends her saying housework is hard on a farm, the County Attorney minimizes this. When Mrs. Hale confesses that this home was not a happy place, saying that Mr. Wright was a terrible man, the County Attorney again minimizes this statement.
"No--it's not cheerful. I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct" He blames everything on Mrs. Wright. Women are the ones in charge of making a home happy by cooking and cleaning and raising children and tending to their men.
g. Women sacrifies her life to live with her husband
Marriage to this "hard man" is what changed her. They understand what it is to loose vitality because of a man. Mrs. hale recalls the kitten that a boy killed in her youth. Mrs. Peters recalls what it was like to lose her baby, and how still the world became after that. They recognize that this bird meant everything to Mrs. Wright. "If there'd been years and years of nothing, then a bird to sing to you, it would be awful--still, after the bird was still" The women understand how horrible life must have been for her, probably because their lives are not as great as they might like them to be either. They understand the endless sacrifices that women make for them, and the way these sacrifices change the very nature of who they are.
h. Mrs Wright ( The Women ) are characterized as a desperate housewife
Before she was married to John Wright, she was Minnie Foster. She was more cheerful in her youth. Her clothes were more colorful. She loved to sing. Those attributes diminished after her wedding day. Mrs. Hale describes Mrs. Wright’s personality:
"She was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery. How – she – did – change." Unlike the men who are looking for forensic evidence to solve the crime, the women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles observe clues that reveal the bleakness of Mrs. Wright’s emotional life. They theorize that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been dreary to live with. Mrs. Hale comments about Mrs. Wright being childless:
“Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house.”
To the women, they are simply trying to pass the awkward moments with civil conversation. But to the audience, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters unveil a psychological profile of a desperate housewife.
i. The women felt emphatized for Minnie but could see the truth too
Mrs.Peters argue that “ The law is the law” . In this statment, the women knew that the murder is wrong. But then because they can emphatized with Mrs Wright, because her life was so pitiful and caged by her husband, they must conceal her crime, in effect, they feel her actions were justified. County Attorney and the Sheriff would interpret the law and their place within it diffrently, this is not necessariliy because of their gender, but because of their proffesionality.
3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
a. Conclusion After reading Trifles, writer has known that the character of the women in this play is the main roles and brough up the whole plot.
The women, Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter found the evidence for the murder case of John Wright which the murderer was his wife, Mrs Wright ( Minnie ). Minnie was a nice wife, but also a desperate housewife. She could live by her own because her husband didnt give excuse. As a wife, Minnie let her hobbies and gave up everything for her husband. The women, Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter felt emphatized and then decided to cover the murder, even they knew that was wrong. The women in this story was assumed as a fool, which men underestimated them. The women was played by the men, as a servant or keep the household, because they assumed that women didnt know anything. Glaspell brought the feminism and emansipation in this play, when women could be samrter than men. Women saw unimportant things which led them to solve the murder case. But in the end, they covered it because they protected Minnies whom her life was so pitiful and screwed because of her
husband.
b. Suggestion
This research paper only anlyzed about character and roles of the women. In the next reasearch paper, more than things could be anayzed. From the setting, in the kitchen, could be analyzed as a background for the character itself. Also the themes of feminism and the plot through the pshycological approch. Many things could be analyzed in Trifles.
By Deby Valentina
1. Background In drama, character refers to a textual representation of a human being (or occasionally another creature). Character development is the key element in a story's creation. The story's protagonist is the central agent in generating its plot, and this individual can embody the story's theme. Characters can be either round or flat, depending on their level of development and the extent to which they change. Susan Glaspell in Trifles developed in relatively few words, is a round character because character from the women in this drama decribed how she wanted to bring up the feminism on her drama. Character could be divided into some parts such as: …show more content…
protagonist: A story’s main character (see also antagonist) antagonist: The character or force in conflict with the protagonist round character: A complex, fully developed character, often prone to change flat character: A one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story characterization: The process by which an author presents and develops a fictional character Writer want to described how the characterization of women in Trifles influenced the whole story with several analysis, by using psychological and critical approach. The writer chose the topic because the women in this drama is the main cast and being a key to bring up the themes itself also the whole plot in the play. Write hopes that this research could be a reference for the readers, and the readers could give a value for this play which feminism and women emansipation could be more relevant.
2. The analysis Roles of the Women There are two-women main case in Trifle, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale also the unseen character of Mrs. Wright whom been called Minnie. They are the women which became main idea for this play, where they brought the feminism and emansipation through their characterization by Glaspell. Women often have been valued as the weakest, foolest and haven’s any right to decide something. The concern of women are often considered to be more trfiles, unimportant issues that bear little or no importance to the true work society, which, of course is being carried out by men. Women also being not more than a servant for men, when they couldn’t say and act anithing except accepting.
...” and yet for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper..” The women in Trifles, wanted to decsribed that women could be samrt and more empathize than men. Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter as a neighbor of Minnie, try to hide the murder which done by Minnie, because they felt so sorry for her, for her life especially which handled and hold by her husband. The witer wants to describe roles of character by the women in this play which could affected Minnie’s life.
a. The women always seen foolish and unappreciated
In the beginning of the story, has been described that there was a murder in Mr. Wright’s house. Mr. Wright was killed with the rope around his neck. Mrs Hale, the neighbor of them, also Mrs Peters, the wife of the sheriff, try to help the investigation. Mrs Hale became a witness when she found the death body and she was asked about the cronology. When she tried to expalin further, which she tried to be more detailed, the sherrif cut her and indirectly described that her explanation is unuseful. Also Mr. Wright, when she talked to him through the phone when he still alive, said that she talked too much.
“ Hale : “ Well, harry and I has started to town with a load of potatoes. We came along the road from my place and as I got here I said, I’m going to see if I cant get John Wright to go in with me on a party telephone. I spoke to Wright about it once before and he put me off, sayong folks talked too much anyway and all he asked was peace and quiet- I guess you know about how much he talked himself, but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didnt knwo as what his wife wanted made much difference to John.”
“County Attorney : “Yes, yes, lets talk about that later Mr Hale. I dont want to talk about that, but tell now just...”
The men within this play betray a sense of self-importance. They present themselves as tough, serious-minded detectives, when in truth they are not nearly as observant as the female characters. Their pompous attitude causes the women to feel defensive and form ranks. Not only do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters bond, but they choose to hide evidence as an act of compassion for Mrs. Wright. Stealing the box with the dead bird is an act of loyalty to their gender and an act of defiance against a callous patriarchal society.
b. The Women have been assumed only as a servant, hadn’t had knowledge or ability ” and yet for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper..” The women have been asummed hadn’t had knowledge or ability in front of the men. When Mrs Peter and Mrs Hale tried to help the investigation, the men which played as sheriff and attorney thought they couldn’t. Because they assumed the women as a servant which could help just at home with the household things, nothing else.
c. The women being more sympatized than men but still has ability to make differences between wrong and right
In the play "Trifles," in everything from the things they notice to the things they say, men and women behave completely differently. The men seem to have no time for the women and feel that they are focusing on the smaller and unimportant elements of the crime scene or the "trifles" as the name of the play. When Mrs Peter and Mrs Hale through the investigation by finding the smaller and unimportant things,the sheriff humiliated them by saying that they dont know nothing.
“....Nothing here but kitchen things..”
d. The women would support each other
One way Susan Glaspell shows the inferiority of women in this play is through body language. They stand close together.
"The women have come in slowly and stand close together near the door" From the very first part, they are somewhat timid in their place. As the drama goes on, each time the men seem to criticize Mrs. Wright, the women move closer together physically. This shows the bond of women in understanding how they are viewed by men. In this play, the characters can empathize so much with Mrs. Wright that they end up hiding the evidence of the murder (the dead bird) and take justice into their own hands by letting her off the hook.
e.
The women as a play for men when they tried to express their feeling and something important but men haven’t seen it important
The trifles in this play that the women see as important, the men make fun of. For example, when the Sheriff reaches up into the cupboard and comes away with a sticky hand, the woman express sadness that her fruit (preserves) had frozen. Rather than recognizing all the hard work that went into making those preserves, the Sheriff exclaims, "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves". He deems their concerns unimportant. Again the women look closely at the quilt and are made fun of. "They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it. (The men laugh, the women look abashed") According to the men, this is just another mere trifle that the women are concerned about. However, again, the women notice that suddenly the stitches change, and they wonder what happened to upset her so. They can see the evidence of turmoil in her quilt. They actually see the evidence of unhappiness and troubled times everywhere in this …show more content…
house.
The men never once question their way of doing things. They are looking for something "big" in the house, some big clue. The women, on the other hand are looking at the smaller things and thinking about the emotional impact of the smaller things. The men dismiss their methods knowing that they will never find anything that way. Even at the very end, when the men have found nothing, they make fun of the women once again. "Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to--what is it you call it, ladies!". Those poor, uneducated women who were concerned with the mere trifles of the play are actually the ones who solved the mystery and know exactly what went on in this house.
f. The women often blame by the men for everything
The men also seem to blame the women for everything. When the County Attorney criticizes the housekeeping of Mrs. Wright, and Mrs. Hale defends her saying housework is hard on a farm, the County Attorney minimizes this. When Mrs. Hale confesses that this home was not a happy place, saying that Mr. Wright was a terrible man, the County Attorney again minimizes this statement.
"No--it's not cheerful. I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct" He blames everything on Mrs. Wright. Women are the ones in charge of making a home happy by cooking and cleaning and raising children and tending to their men.
g. Women sacrifies her life to live with her husband
Marriage to this "hard man" is what changed her. They understand what it is to loose vitality because of a man. Mrs. hale recalls the kitten that a boy killed in her youth. Mrs. Peters recalls what it was like to lose her baby, and how still the world became after that. They recognize that this bird meant everything to Mrs. Wright. "If there'd been years and years of nothing, then a bird to sing to you, it would be awful--still, after the bird was still" The women understand how horrible life must have been for her, probably because their lives are not as great as they might like them to be either. They understand the endless sacrifices that women make for them, and the way these sacrifices change the very nature of who they are.
h. Mrs Wright ( The Women ) are characterized as a desperate housewife
Before she was married to John Wright, she was Minnie Foster. She was more cheerful in her youth. Her clothes were more colorful. She loved to sing. Those attributes diminished after her wedding day. Mrs. Hale describes Mrs. Wright’s personality:
"She was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery. How – she – did – change." Unlike the men who are looking for forensic evidence to solve the crime, the women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles observe clues that reveal the bleakness of Mrs. Wright’s emotional life. They theorize that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been dreary to live with. Mrs. Hale comments about Mrs. Wright being childless:
“Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house.”
To the women, they are simply trying to pass the awkward moments with civil conversation. But to the audience, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters unveil a psychological profile of a desperate housewife.
i. The women felt emphatized for Minnie but could see the truth too
Mrs.Peters argue that “ The law is the law” . In this statment, the women knew that the murder is wrong. But then because they can emphatized with Mrs Wright, because her life was so pitiful and caged by her husband, they must conceal her crime, in effect, they feel her actions were justified. County Attorney and the Sheriff would interpret the law and their place within it diffrently, this is not necessariliy because of their gender, but because of their proffesionality.
3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
a. Conclusion After reading Trifles, writer has known that the character of the women in this play is the main roles and brough up the whole plot.
The women, Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter found the evidence for the murder case of John Wright which the murderer was his wife, Mrs Wright ( Minnie ). Minnie was a nice wife, but also a desperate housewife. She could live by her own because her husband didnt give excuse. As a wife, Minnie let her hobbies and gave up everything for her husband. The women, Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter felt emphatized and then decided to cover the murder, even they knew that was wrong. The women in this story was assumed as a fool, which men underestimated them. The women was played by the men, as a servant or keep the household, because they assumed that women didnt know anything. Glaspell brought the feminism and emansipation in this play, when women could be samrter than men. Women saw unimportant things which led them to solve the murder case. But in the end, they covered it because they protected Minnies whom her life was so pitiful and screwed because of her
husband.
b. Suggestion
This research paper only anlyzed about character and roles of the women. In the next reasearch paper, more than things could be anayzed. From the setting, in the kitchen, could be analyzed as a background for the character itself. Also the themes of feminism and the plot through the pshycological approch. Many things could be analyzed in Trifles.