Women's Suffrage In The Play Trifles
Essay 3: Women’s Suffrage in the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell
Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and although her fame was due primarily to her skill in writing, today she is recognized as a pioneering feminist writer. Her one-act play, “Trifles”, is frequently cited as one of the greatest works of American theater. Written in 1916, it takes place during the height of the Women’s Rights movement, just 4 years before the 19th Amendment is signed into law, granting women the right to vote. Trifles is a tragedy in which Glaspell uses irony to portray women’s suffrage and the power women can gain by sticking together and looking out for one another in order to improve their social positions. The play takes place in the home of Mr. and Mrs. …show more content…
There to investigate is the County Attorney, Mr. Peters (the Sherriff), and Mr. Hale, the man who reported the murder and they all walk in straight to the stove in the middle of the room. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are there as well but they remain at the door way leaned in close together, both out of respect for the home and to stay away from the men. Throughout questioning Mr. Hale about exactly what happened upon his discovery of Mrs. Wright and the deceased Mr. Wright, the county Attorney continuously disparages Mrs. Wright for her poor housekeeping skills by saying, “Here is a nice mess,” in reference to the unfinished preserves, and following with saying, “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper wouldn’t you say ladies?”(634). Mrs. Hale stands up for Mrs. Wright by saying, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” and “Those towels get dirt awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be”. He responds by saying, “Ah, loyal to your sex I see.”(634) which is a bit of foreshadowing to what happens later in the story. While Mrs. Hale converses with the County Attorney we learn that the Wright home wasn’t the most
Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and although her fame was due primarily to her skill in writing, today she is recognized as a pioneering feminist writer. Her one-act play, “Trifles”, is frequently cited as one of the greatest works of American theater. Written in 1916, it takes place during the height of the Women’s Rights movement, just 4 years before the 19th Amendment is signed into law, granting women the right to vote. Trifles is a tragedy in which Glaspell uses irony to portray women’s suffrage and the power women can gain by sticking together and looking out for one another in order to improve their social positions. The play takes place in the home of Mr. and Mrs. …show more content…
There to investigate is the County Attorney, Mr. Peters (the Sherriff), and Mr. Hale, the man who reported the murder and they all walk in straight to the stove in the middle of the room. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are there as well but they remain at the door way leaned in close together, both out of respect for the home and to stay away from the men. Throughout questioning Mr. Hale about exactly what happened upon his discovery of Mrs. Wright and the deceased Mr. Wright, the county Attorney continuously disparages Mrs. Wright for her poor housekeeping skills by saying, “Here is a nice mess,” in reference to the unfinished preserves, and following with saying, “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper wouldn’t you say ladies?”(634). Mrs. Hale stands up for Mrs. Wright by saying, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” and “Those towels get dirt awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be”. He responds by saying, “Ah, loyal to your sex I see.”(634) which is a bit of foreshadowing to what happens later in the story. While Mrs. Hale converses with the County Attorney we learn that the Wright home wasn’t the most