How Does Glaspell Use Irony In Trifles

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Glaspell uses irony in Trifles to show the gender inequality of the time period through the women finding seemingly unimportant items the men ignore that turns out to be the evidence for motive. Women at the time were considered to be less than men, and anything they worried about was not significant in any way; Mr. Hale even claims that “Well women are used to worrying over trifles,” which leads the audience to assume the women and their thoughts will not be worth anything in this investigation (303). Later, when the women are going through Mrs. Wright’s belongings and notice her distracted work , which turns out to be a piece of evidence that the men laugh at when the sheriff mocks; “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it” (306).