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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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