Susan Glaspell’s one-act play‚ Trifles‚ is based on actual events that occurred in Iowa at the turn of the century. From 1899-1901 Glaspell worked as a reporter for the Des Moines News‚ where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife‚ Margaret Hossack‚ in Indianola‚ Iowa. Hossack was accused of killing her husband‚ John‚ by striking him twice in the head with an ax while he slept. Initially it was assumed that burglars had murdered the farmer‚ but a subsequent sheriff’s investigation turned
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English Comp. II 1 November 2011 Trifles Analysis Susan Glaspell wrote the play Trifles in 1916. The play/story emulates the author’s thoughts on discrepancies concerning preconceived notions of gender. According to Dictionary.com the exact definition of trifle is “Something of little importance or value”. The title of the play suggests that the concerns of women are too often considered minute and negligible affairs‚ irrelevant to a male dominant society. The issue in question is the circumstantial
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Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles”‚ takes place in an abandoned farmhouse‚ where the owner‚ Mrs. Wright‚ had allegedly murdered her husband. The play is mainly based around Mrs. Hale‚ the wife of the man who found Mr. Wright‚ and Mrs. Peters who is the wife of the sheriff‚ who is investigating the murder. The women mainly stay in the kitchen‚ while their misogynist husbands investigate‚ however the women are the ones who solve the crime. Susan Glaspell’s theme of “Trifles” was how marriage can strip
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In Trifles‚ by Susan Glaspell‚ the plot focuses on a single moral choice. That choice is doing the wrong thing for the right reason. “The play addresses the abiding issue of justice and contemporary issues of gender and identity politics.” (Moe). Throughout the play‚ Glaspell interweaves these issues until they are impossible to separate. In the first part of the play‚ Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters enter the now abandoned house of John Wright‚ Mrs. Wright’s husband (Glaspell 330). They are there
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Trifles Defense Critic Essay A critic once said‚ “Trifles is a lousy play. By the third page we know who dun it‚ so there isn’t much reason to sit through the rest of the play.” This statement is a closed minded opinion. Susan Glaspell‚ the author of “Trifles”‚ does depict the murderer in this detective story but leaves the audience sitting in question of the motive for the mariticide. The play “Trifles” is an interesting and a great play because it offers questionable motives‚ the truth of the
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James Craig 28 September 2014 Trifles “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” (1389)‚ Mrs. Hale stiffly replies to the Court Attorney’s trite comment about the untidy appearance of Mrs. Wright’s house. Trifles‚ by Susan Glaspell‚ was a play written for the Cape Cod Provincetown Players in 1916. Glaspell exposes sexism during this time period. Her play would later become the benchmark of the feminist movement and give her a reputation as a writer sensitive to these issues. Glaspell
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In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell‚ the characters are at the house of the Wrights‚ investigating the murder of Mr. Wright. His wife Mrs. Wright says she slept through the whole thing. The men are looking for her motive to have killed him since they already have her in custody. The women are gathering things to take to her in jail. The men are walking through and criticizing her kitchen and housekeeping‚ the ladies did not like that one bit. They know something had to be wrong for her kitchen
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David Gilmore III Dr. V English 102 15 February 2015 Susan Glaspell’s Trifles The play “Trifles” was written by Susan Glaspell in the year 1916. The play is a reflection of the culturally bound notion of the gender in the community. The play also reflects the preoccupied mindset of the author regarding the sex roles. The analysis can be started from the title of the play “Trifles” which is a clear suggestion of the thinking of women. Irony also runs during many instances in the play. The climax
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In the short essay play‚ Trifles‚ it shows how women pay attention to the very small things that can lead to bigger things. These are the Trifles in the play. So‚ why are women so attracted to the little details? Glaspell uses the women in the play to attract to small detail that will help in solving the big crime. This helps them see the bigger picture as to what is going on. It is very obvious in Trifles that the men only think women worry about little things. They do not comprehend that by trifling
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In Trifles‚ Susan Glaspell describes the murder scene of a farmer‚ John Wright‚ and the attempts to prove that his wife‚ Mrs. Wright‚ committed the act. The sheriff and his wife‚ a neighboring farmer with his wife‚ and the male county attorney all examine the scene. The men look for the physical evidence directly correlated to the murder‚ such as the victim’s location and manner of death‚ while the women examine several common household items like Mrs. Wright’s unfinished quilt and empty birdcage
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