Trifels/ Sexism
Danielle Archer
Mr. Ellis
November 10, 2009
Theme Essay
We are All Sexist The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is about the major differences between women and men. This story was written in a time period when women were treated much differently than they are today, and the women and this story are not taken seriously. This story exposes the sexism that women dealt with then, and still to some extent deal with today. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find incriminating evidence against Minnie, but the men never think to ask them their opinion; they are too busy looking for solid tangible, evidence. The “trifles” the women are worried about do not matter to the men. Although the women find evidence to believe Minnie is the killer, they feel somewhat responsible for abandoning her. The women and the men in this story are both somewhat sexist. The women are on Minnie’s side, and the men are on her husband John 's side. This is because of the differences in men and women. Women and men perceive things differently. The men perceive the killer to be cruel because they cannot find a motive. They are searching for some reason someone would kill John, because they need “Something to show -something to make a story about – a thing that would connect up with this strange way of doing it (776).” They are looking for solid, tangible evidence to link Minnie to the crime. They overlook the small, but significant, clues that tell the real story. Mrs. Peters tells Mrs. Hale that the men need “something to show anger, or -sudden feeling (771.)” They are looking for something more obvious like abuse or alcoholism, but according to Mrs. Hale, John did not drink. Mr. Hale even tells the County Attorney that John “never cared what his wife wanted (768),” but that does not faze him. The kitchen is in a mess and that is blamed on bad housekeeping, instead of being used as evidence. The clues are all there for them, but they do not see them. The women see these things
Mr. Ellis
November 10, 2009
Theme Essay
We are All Sexist The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is about the major differences between women and men. This story was written in a time period when women were treated much differently than they are today, and the women and this story are not taken seriously. This story exposes the sexism that women dealt with then, and still to some extent deal with today. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find incriminating evidence against Minnie, but the men never think to ask them their opinion; they are too busy looking for solid tangible, evidence. The “trifles” the women are worried about do not matter to the men. Although the women find evidence to believe Minnie is the killer, they feel somewhat responsible for abandoning her. The women and the men in this story are both somewhat sexist. The women are on Minnie’s side, and the men are on her husband John 's side. This is because of the differences in men and women. Women and men perceive things differently. The men perceive the killer to be cruel because they cannot find a motive. They are searching for some reason someone would kill John, because they need “Something to show -something to make a story about – a thing that would connect up with this strange way of doing it (776).” They are looking for solid, tangible evidence to link Minnie to the crime. They overlook the small, but significant, clues that tell the real story. Mrs. Peters tells Mrs. Hale that the men need “something to show anger, or -sudden feeling (771.)” They are looking for something more obvious like abuse or alcoholism, but according to Mrs. Hale, John did not drink. Mr. Hale even tells the County Attorney that John “never cared what his wife wanted (768),” but that does not faze him. The kitchen is in a mess and that is blamed on bad housekeeping, instead of being used as evidence. The clues are all there for them, but they do not see them. The women see these things