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Trifles by susan glaspell character analysis
Trifles by susan glaspell character analysis
Literature and gender issues
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Section 1: Introduction Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is a play about the effect of gender differences on perceptions of duty, law, and justice. The play Trifles was a murder mystery that got investigated by the County Attorney (George Henderson), the Sheriff (Henry Peters) along with his wife (Mrs. Peters), and a neighbor farmer (Lewis Hale) with his wife (Mrs. Hale). The story took place in an isolated farm house that was miles from the rest of the community in the Midwest. The victim of this murder mystery was John Wright as he was found dead with a rope around this neck.
After skimming through Volume 1 of The Norton Anthology Literature by Women, I noticed the reoccurring themes of patriarchy, women subordination, and the strength to be creative despite oppression. During the times that these literary pieces were written, women were constantly battling the patriarchy in order to get basic rights. During the earlier time periods, intelligence was seen as a sign of an evil spirit in a woman, resulting in miniscule amounts of literary works written by women. Women were not provided with equal spaces to creatively express themselves, as mentioned by Virginia Woolf. Moreover, they were not given the same publishing opportunities, many women either went anonymous or by a fake male name to have their works published.
“Women are 51 percent of humankind. Empowering them will change everything” said Isabel Allende during her presentation, “Tales of Passion”, at a TEDTALK conference. Allende, an author, uses storytelling to depict stories of women across the world being abused and suppressed by men; in order, to educate her audience on how women are less empowered. As a speaker, she effectively grabbed the audience attention by asking one question: “What is truer than truth?”. In a split second before she reveals her answer: “Answer:
There is no question that women have struggled over many years to be seen as equals by their male counterparts. Years of struggle and oppression continued throughout time, but the oppression took different forms over the course of history. Susan Glaspell wrote, “Trifles” which explores a woman’s status in society during the 1920s and the political leanings that perverted society at the time. The play demonstrates how women were subjected to mental abuse and viewed as intellectually inferior as dictated by American society and politics. “Trifles” exposes how political leanings in the government favored and enabled a patriarchal society as well as displaying how the Women’s Rights movement was beginning to combat these prejudices.
During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.
For many years women have been oppressed and have been deemed not as important as men in many societies. The Afghani culture has received a reputation of not giving women equal rights. Women are not allowed to drive cars, go out in public alone, and sometimes not even able to show their faces. In Khaled Hosseini's book A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila show what it is like to live in a society where women are treated unequally and how they persevere through these rough times. Mariam first learns to endure, Laila is told she has a meaning in life, and then the women suffer pain physically and emotionally which they persevere through.
How does this all relate to modern day issues? While the aforementioned essay within her book was not necessarily written all too long ago, feminism has changed and adapted to fit in with younger generations. As of right now feminism is currently quite the hot topic throughout the media in both western regions as well as more conservative regions. Oppression continues to remain hidden within “chivalrous” behaviors and ideals as presented by male dominated institutions that attempt to make decisions on behalf of women. Take for example, the war on Planned Parenthood and female healthcare.
While Susan Glaspell’s 1917, “A Jury of her Peers” and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2014, “We Should All be Feminists” were written almost a century apart, both titles explore the idea that women’s role in society is inherently less important than men’s. Due to the nature of their sex, women’s voices are often trivialized, they have become stuck in roles molded just for them, and are brought up to think of marriage as an aspiration—rather than a choice. In the unjustly unbalanced scales of gender equality, men have been awarded an obvious advantage. Therefore, they can freely express their ideas, with little fear of reproach, while women’s voices are often unheard, overlooked, or trivialized.
In a society where privilege and opportunity are in direct accordance with gender, women have faced the full brunt of inequality and oppression from the beginning. Despite women having come a long way in asserting their rights in society, is this inequality still prevalent in our culture? This is a question posed by two contemporary authors and explored through Girl with a Pearl Earring, written by Tracy Chevalier and The Piano, directed by Jane Campion. These texts follow Griet and Ada, two assertive and creative female protagonists struggling with individuality within an oppressive patriarchal society. Both authors use many techniques such as contrast, symbolism, allusion and motifs in order to emphasise the injustices of the patriarchal
The play takes the reader along the investigation of Mrs. Wright’s house, the crime scene, and gives the reader information that allows the reader to infer that she is guilty. In Trifles, Susan Glaspell uses symbolism and setting to reveal the internal conflicts of Mrs. Wright.
Triumph over Trifles The struggles of women have subsisted in countless pieces of literature. Stereotypically speaking, women are not always seen as strong leading characters. Often women are found confined in stories as they are in life. Literature frees women in a way that real life simply cannot. Female authors as well as characters gain that feeling of freedom, due to the less constricting binds of literary writing.
In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, a man named Hale had found Mr. Wright lying in bed, dead while his wife, Mrs. Wright, sat in the living room as calm as could be. Hale asks Mrs. Wright “Has anybody been notified?” she responds with “No.” then he asks her “Who did this Mrs. Wright?” and she responds very monotone “I don’t know”(970).
In the writings of Maxine Hong Kingston 's “Girlhood Among Ghosts” and “No Name Women” the ideology that women are not viewed as equals and are undeserving of a voice is portrayed quite clearly. Kingston’s stories prove that although women may speak, men and boys are more desired, “greater than” any female, and have a special voice women do not and can not posses. A voice that helps them to be who they are, to stand out, rather than be hidden away, a forced silence placed upon them like women. In Kingston’s writing “No Name Woman”, men are seen as superiors over women, they’re allowed to have a voice, to have a say, and to do as they please.
In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.
The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.
