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Tone Of Trifles

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In her short drama “Trifles,” the author Susan Glaspell characterizes the overshadowing of talented women in her society. Glaspell’s purpose is to detail to her readers that society often overlooks women’s skills because of their expectations for women. She adopts a sarcastic tone to assert her viewpoint on this issue, using irony, wordplay and pathos to aid her case. Glaspell first establishes her ironic tone by manipulating her characters within the plot of the text. Both the men and the women seem to be concerned with the stereotype that women should be involved in the kitchen, not the workplace--which is demonstrated by Glaspell when she has the male characters leave the women in the kitchen and the women start to tidy up, even though it is a crime scene. One of the men states that “Women are used to worrying over trifles” when, in reality, the woman in question has committed murder. These ironic phrases, and over exaggeration …show more content…

When Mrs. Hale accuses “Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be”, the County Attorney brushes off her concern by saying that she is “loyal to her sex”. Using this blatant disregard of a logical point, Glaspell emphasizes how ridiculous the situation really is. Later in the text, the women go about cleaning up the house as if they cannot help themselves. Mrs. Hale even makes the comment: “Bad sewing always makes me fidgety.” By using degrading language towards the female characters and having everyone, including themselves, disregard them because of their gender, Glaspell forces her readers to feel sympathy for the women and incredulous or upset towards the men. The audience doesn’t want to think that something this absurd could ever happen. Because of these feelings of anger or disbelief, Glaspell achieves her purpose: she compels her audience to feel disgusted by society’s attitude towards

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“Trifles” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are early 20th century short stories that depict women’s suppressive role in society and the belief that women should be treated as subservient and substandard to men. Authors Susan Glaspell (“Trifles”) and Charlotte Anna Gilman (“The Yellow Wallpaper”) are both known for advocating feminism in their works of literature. “Trifles” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” exploit patriarchal dominance and its effect on suppressing women’s intellectual and societal equality. In each short story, the woman protagonist is depicted as trapped in her marriage.

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In addition, the men also made a claim of “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell, 187). This shows the men in the play was stereotyping the women’s roles because they assumed that women only worry about the smaller things around the house. However, the women did agree that their role in society was very strenuous. In the Trifles, Mrs. Hale said, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on the farm” (Glaspell, 187). This quote suggests that the women agreed that their duty was mostly domestic work like taking care of the farm and the house and they also defended Mrs. Wright by saying that it takes a lot of effort to keep the farm neat and clean.

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Kate Chopin, the author of “The Story of an Hour,” was inspired to write her stories based from what had happened to her in her life. All the man in her life died, which affected her deeply and writing was the thing that helped her keep going. Susan Glaspell on the other hand, was the author of “A Jury of Her Peers,” who at the time rebelled against society’s expectations. Both women a the time were trying to address the issue that women were being thought as inferiors by man and were also mistreated. In the two stories there was irony, women were being viewed as inferior by the man, and the role of a women was the same in both stories.

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Hale and Mrs. Peters, but Lewis Hale, the sheriff George Peters, and the County Attorney George Henderson play an important role in serving as the male attitude during the time period. When paying attention to particular .mannerisms and attitudes of the County Attorney the reader can truly gauge how sexist the environment was in the 1920s. One of the first signs of sexism appears from the County Attorney’s remarks towards the two ladies about the housekeeping. He notes that Mrs. Wright was not much of a housekeeper and turns to the ladies for their opinion because in the setting this was one of their common roles. Hale even states that, “women are used to worrying over trifles” (965).

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Throughout “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell a noticeable power struggle between the women and the men occurs. “A Jury of Her Peers” exposes the social injustices that women faced during the turn of the century. In the story Mrs. Wright lashes out against her husband as result of built up anger and societies social pressure. In the essays “from Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’” by Suzy Clarkson Holstein and “from The Case of the Battered Wife: Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and ‘A Jury of Her Peers’” by Lillian Schanfield embody the theme of social injustices among women. The social gaps between men and women in “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” helped drive the plot and allowed a unique outcome to be achieved.

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Much of the preservations in the play are for men who have even denied the women their privacy. Susan Glaspell shows women as weak and only able to do weak responsibilities such as housekeeping and staying at their

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The Women Can women who lead very different lives be similar? Susan Glaspell explores the differences and similarities of two characters in her story “Trifles.” Written in 1916, Glaspell’s fictional story uses an unforeseen event to bring Mrs. Hale, a farmer’s wife, and Mrs. Peters, a sheriff’s wife, together. Although Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters have their differences such as Mrs. Hale being outspoken, observant, and a leader, while Mrs. Peters is nervous and does not want to challenge authority, the women share some similarities such as being aware of male condescension and willing to keep information from male authorities if it means helping another woman.

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The humor he uses is inappropriate and repulsive because it trivializes horrific crimes like those committed by “Jack the Ripper [and the] Cleveland Torso Murderer.” (King 380). His credibility is damaged by this humor, which lessens the weight of his case. The humor in this paragraph also perpetuates harmful attitudes and unfavorable stereotypes. For instance, his description of a sister as a "rotten little puke,” (King 381), upholds misogyny and the idea that women are less valuable than men.

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