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Susan Glaspell's Gender Roles

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In both Triffles and The story of an Hour, we will realize how the changes in the main characters, contributed to the theme of both stories.The Triffles by Susan Glaspell gives an understanding to the role each character played in the in the drama. The drama occurred during the earliest part of the 20th century which was important because men were more controlling at that time. The drama was cast during winter time, in a farmhouse in the early 1900 's. Susan Glaspell set the tone from the beginning and gave an idea of the character 's behavior. An example was the men 's poor appreciation of women and the work they did. The main character of the play was Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters.. Throughout the story, we realized that women still didn 't have right for themselves and were viewed as small and non-important factors in everyday life. But by the end of the story, we …show more content…

Throughout the play Triffles, The men were the ones who were searching the house looking for clues or evidence of motives for the murder of Mr.Wright allegedly killed by Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were preset during the investigation but were not supposed to be a part of it. They just came along to be observer. This was because men were suppose to be the superior gender that handled everything in life. Even though the women were just suppose to be observers, they changed from the character of just observing and began to fiddle through some items and took notice of some small details in the house. In the story of an Hour, After Mrs. Mallard got the information of her husbands death, she went from a wife that felt neglected and abused to having a sense of freedom and happiness. Mrs. Mallard was optimistic about how her future was going to be filled with happiness in the absence of her husband.We will ask how was it right for a woman to feel that way after the death of her husband. We can only think about the unthinkable but it was obvious that their relationship wasn 't a

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At first glance, “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell may seem like an ordinary murder mystery story. However, the theme of the short story goes well beyond mere entertainment. The story focuses on two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, as they wait for their husbands during a police investigation of the murder of Mrs. Wright’s husband. As the men recount the details of that day and search the house for evidence, the two women stumble upon the solution to the murder using simple everyday clues they find lying around the kitchen and living room. In this story, Glaspell develops an underlying theme surrounding gender roles, specifically the subjugation of women and male obliviousness to women.

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1339 Words | 6 Pages

Glaspell makes a point of the characters verbalizing their biases against each gender, specifically emphasizing the men’s negative perception of women. For instance, Mrs. Hale's husband states that ‘“Women are used to worrying over trifles’” (Glaspell). As noted in the article “Legal and Moral Justification for Homicide in Susan Glaspell’s ‘A Jury of Her Peers’”, when the women mention their worries for the condition of Mrs. Wright, seeing the mess that has been made in the house, the men are dismissive, “trivializing them and their concerns.” (Tayler 4).

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894 Words | 4 Pages

Finally characterization comes into place in both stories. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs.Mallard has a rare reaction to finding out her husband is dead. Mrs.Mallard is happy that her husband is gone so she can be independent. Her reaction is probably not one that most people would have if there husband died. “Free,free,free!”

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173 Words | 1 Pages

The Story of an Hour In my own opinion, I think Mrs. Mallard is a sympathetic character because she was fragile and strong upon her husband's death. As result, she is devastated however, inside she feels peace and freedom upon the death of her husband. She is confused and her emotions remain unclear. Personally, I don’t think Mrs. Mallard was a victim of the norms or beliefs of those times. For although, on those days the husband was the one in charge of making decisions and women’s opinions were not taken into account, that does not necessarily mean that a wife should rejoice at such a tragedy.

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531 Words | 3 Pages

In the play “Trifles” Susan Glaspell tells a story of the death of Mr. Wright, along with Mrs. Wright’s emotional withdrawal from normalcy. It also tells a tale of the women around her, and the sadness they felt for Mrs. Wright, and the sadness they felt for not being more caring to her. Memories missed with Mrs. Wright gnawed at Mrs. Hale, because she felt she could have been a better

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959 Words | 4 Pages

A woman 's place in this play and in this time period was in the house taking care of the chores and children, than their other job was to go to church and make sure their family goes to church. Women are always doing anything the men ask them to do without a hesitation, if they didn’t want to do it they would make their wife or servant do it for them, because they have more power than the women did. A

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1004 Words | 5 Pages

Mallard, and the girlfriend want to communicate how they feel and do not want to be constrained. Chopin was a feminist which encouraged her to write The Story of an Hour. Women do not want to feel possessed and want to be self-asserted (Chopin, 2004). Women are told to respect their marriages and must abide to society. Mrs. Mallard feels free of duties when she understands that her husband has deceased.

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1014 Words | 5 Pages

The characters in the play reveal some of the gender stereotypes through the way they are presented in the beginning of the play, “The sheriff and Hale are men in the middle life… They are followed

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354 Words | 2 Pages

As displayed in Trifles, men support each other so it was an obvious decision to discard any possibility that Mr. Wright is the cause of his own death because that would display weakness. Mrs. Hale makes the statement about men’s hands being dirty in any attempt to defend Mrs. Wright and hope to motivate the sheriff to think of

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

Trifles the Challenge The play, Trifles, places both men and women in sharp contrast to one another in relationship to their roles and social position in the society. While men occupy the important positions such as the Sherriff and the county attorney, women are basically attributed to no more than playing domestic roles. Indeed, even in the investigation of Mr. Wright’s murder, men are playing the core role of investigators while women are simply left in the kitchen to play the minor of collecting things requested by Mrs. Wrights. The social stereotypes of men playing important roles than women in the society is set and advanced by the setting of the play.

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940 Words | 4 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.

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1096 Words | 5 Pages

Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive.

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913 Words | 4 Pages

Literary Analysis “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

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787 Words | 4 Pages

A death in the family is a difficult challenge in most people’s lives which can affect them significantly. In the short story, “The Story of an Hour”, just this happens but the reaction is not in the way most would expect. Mrs. Mallard, the main character, is told her husband has died in a train wreck. The news of Mr. Mallard’s death awakens a long suppressed and dormant sense of freedom in Mrs.Mallard. This freedom is short lived, as her husband’s return crushes her awakened spirit and ends her life.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

Small lines and actions give clear insight to the theme of a struggle for power between genders. Through lack of following the script, ignoring stage direction, and undeveloped characters the production of Trifles directed by Nancy Greening is an insufficient presentation of a

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