Preview

The Perceptions Of Men And Women In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
613 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Perceptions Of Men And Women In Trifles By Susan Glaspell
“I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively when she was Minnie Foster, one of those town girls singing in the choir” (1309) said the Wright’s neighbor, Mrs. Hale to Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife. Susan Glaspell wrote the play, Trifles, which was published in 1916. This play is about a murder committed in a farmhouse in the Midwest, focusing on the meaning of Minnie Wright’s life and reasons behind killing her husband. The different assumptions and perceptions of the men and women in the play, act as a major role in the search of the motive of the murder. When Minnie was young she was spirited and active in her community, but Minnie murdered her husband as a result of her friends no longer visiting her, being alone, and her
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Brandon Esssay Life
    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Brandon Esssay Life

    Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” dwelled on the investigation of the murder scene of Mr. Wright. In the beginning of the play, Mr. Wright was found dead in the upstairs bedroom with a rope hung around his neck. Lewis Hale recalled how he discovered Mrs. Wright acting bizarrely, and that she told him that her husband was murdered while he was sleeping. Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior and body language caused Mr. Hale and the Sherriff to believe that Mrs. Wright was the main suspect in her husband’s murder. There are three significant reasons for Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior. Mrs. Wright’s relationship, lifestyle, and the patriarchal dominance during that era caused Mrs. Wright to act inappropriately.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Trifles: Wife and Mrs. Wright Shoes
    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Trifles: Wife and Mrs. Wright Shoes

    “Trifles” was a very mysterious play. This play was written by Susan Glaspell. It does not explain why the two women helped Mrs. Wright. It does not mention any information about them being friends with her, so why would they help her? Mrs. Wright basically was tired of her husband’s ways and abuse and retaliated by murdering him. He was said to have killed her kitten years ago and in more recent terms, he killed her bird.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Susa Trifles Feminist Analysis
    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Susa Trifles Feminist Analysis

    It has five main characters and it is about a murder case solving scenario where the detectives were trying to solve it and women attempted to hide the truth from the men because of various reasons. There are two main female characters in Trifles. Mrs. Peters, the wife of the detective and Mrs. Hale. They are neighbor and when they go and collect something from Mrs. Peters' house they discover the dead body of Mr. Wright. While the whole cast of characters will have their lines in the play, the Wrights would be only explained through lines but no actual role. The story goes while they discovered the dead body in the house, they were looking for pieces of evidence in the house. The question would whether Mrs. Wright is responsible for this or not. Throughout the play we also can sense the relationship between both couples are not so well. Towards to end they discovered some crucial evidence which could prove that Mrs. Wright was the killer of her own husband. However they then think of the unhappy marriage they had and decided to hide the evidence as a revenge to their husband so they can never solve this…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Trifles: Woman and Mr. Peters
    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Trifles: Woman and Mr. Peters

    Since the 1900’s, women have struggled with gender roles in society that leaned more in favor of men. Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, reflects on this struggle by blatantly separating the ideas, opinions and actions of the men and women in the play. As the title Trifles suggests, the men in the play view the two women’s concerns as unimportant and frivolous in comparison to the “real” work the men have to do. Glaspell’s characterization of the sheriff, Henry Peters, the attorney, George Henderson, and the neighboring farmer, Mr. Hale, portrays them as typical men of the time who decide to take charge because, as men, that is their duty and only they know what can be done and how to go about discovering the truth. They only take along Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to collect some things for Mrs. Wright, never taking a moment to think that from a woman’s perspective, the answer to the murder could be found.…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Susan Glaspell's Trifling Murder Or Vicious Slaughter?
    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Susan Glaspell's Trifling Murder Or Vicious Slaughter?

    Trifles, by Susan Glaspell is a well-known play throughout the English community. It is a suspenseful murder mystery that pulls citizens of a town together to try and seek justice after a homicide has occurred. This play begins with the audience learning that John Wright, a humble farmer, has been killed while he was asleep. His wife, Minnie Wright, has a very strange way of handling this grief and becomes the main suspect. During this play five characters, two women and three men, search the Wright home for clues, evidence, and a possible motive for the murder. It ends with the women finding a shocking discovery that they choose to hide from the men.…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Identity In Susan Glaspell's Trifles
    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Identity In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actress, novelist, and journalist. Glaspell wrote the play Trifles which tells the story two investigations being conducted over murder of John Wright. While the male characters of the play conduct an “official” investigation the female characters find themselves inadvertently conducting their own “unofficial” investigation. However this is not a run-of-the-mill murder mystery play, in which the focus lies solely on discovering the culprit and the culprit’s motive. Glaspell uses her story to also present a unique perspective of a controversial issue during her time, including the theme of female identity, primarily between women. During the time period in which Glaspell lived, the idea of fighting for women’s…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In Susan Glaspell's Play Trifles
    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women In Susan Glaspell's Play Trifles

    In 1916, a woman’s place was in the kitchen. That is the setting for Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles. The set is described as gloomy with faded wallpaper. Glaspell is painting a picture of the life of the absent Minnie Wright. Throughout the play, the reader discovers, along with the female characters, that Minnie lived a lonely life of neglect and abuse. As this was written before the passing of the nineteenth amendment, women had little to no rights. According to Isabel Marcus, “Prior to the divorce-law reforms of the second half of the twentieth century, women seeking divorce from an abusive husband were required to demonstrate ongoing serious abuse before a court would grant a divorce on the grounds of cruelty.” Women were essentially considered…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Jury Of Her Peers Critical Analysis
    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Jury Of Her Peers Critical Analysis

    The significance of the title of the play, “A Jury of Her Peers” is fitting because it is about a woman that is going to be judged for the murder of her husband by her peers. How her life was with him was going to give her motive for her actions. The play, titled “Trifles”, written by Glaspell is also significant to the story because it explains how a small thing like the bird being killed relates to Mrs. Wrights life. The bird was a literary metaphor. The bird singing brought happiness to Minnie’s house and life. When her husband strangled the bird he had also strangled Minnie by not allowing her to make friends outside the house. “Trifles”, is a better title for when the story was written, but not so much for today’s times, because this…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Susan Glaspell's Trifles
    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    The Webster’s Dictionary definition of trifle is: something that does not have much value or importance (“trifle”). When one looks at the title of Susan Glaspell’s short play, at first they may think that it is as the title implies; unimportant or the story being told is for nothing more than entertainment. Upon further examination and consultation of critical sources, the reader is able to tease out a deeper meaning. The play, Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell is an intricately weaved narrative on gender roles and home life as it was in early 1900s.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    trifles bird symbolism
    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    trifles bird symbolism

    "Trifles" is a play which was written by Susan Glaspell in 1916. The play takes place in the empty farmhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. The county attorney George Henderson, the sheriff Henry Peters and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Hale, neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. Wright all go to the farmhouse to investigate the crime scene. Throughout the book Susan Glaspell uses a lot of symbolism. One example was the a dead bird that the women find. Hoping to find a motive for the crime the men go upstairs to the bedroom where Mr. Wright was murdered. While the women stay downstairs and look around the kitchen. The women come across a bird which symbolizes Mrs. Wright. The bird becomes the motive for Mrs. Wright to kill Mr. Wright.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Trifles Feminist Analysis
    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Trifles Feminist Analysis

    In the play, “Trifles,” Susan Glaspell demonstrates the inequality that occurs between men and women during the 20th century. From the opening scene, the two women are not given much attention unlike the men, until they are separated from them and become the main characters. Although the women are seen as inferior to men, they prove that they are much more capable as they are the ones who solve the case by thinking outside the box. They find the real motive behind Mrs. Wright’s action and are able to understand her doing because of the way women were treated back then. Even though both women decide to defend Mrs. Wright by hiding the evidence, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters sympathize with her, but for different reasons.…

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Similarities Between A Doll's House And Trifles
    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Similarities Between A Doll's House And Trifles

    Women have been treated as lessors to men in the past, feminine equality is a new concept that has only been around for about a century. In both plays “Trifles” and “A Doll’s House” they address stereotypes of women during these time periods. “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell explores the mysterious death of Mr. Wright (Mrs. Wrights husband). As the play progresses the audience gets insight to Mrs. Wright’s life, and how Mr. Wright treated her. Mr. Wright was known to be a brash, and unruly man. The women in this play (Ms. Hale and Mrs. Peters) both know the kind of man Mr. Wright was, The men may have known this too, but the time period the play takes place in, domestic violence toward women was not highly looked into. The text “Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting. Writing” explains that Glaspell’s main force behind the play “Trifles” was to shed light on the treatment of women. The text states that “Women…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Trifles Film Adaptation Essay
    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Trifles Film Adaptation Essay

    Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is a play about a murder mystery that is loosely based on an actual murder case that the author covered while working as a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News (Ben-Zvi 143). Since the play is written in 1916, a time when the boundaries between the private and public spheres are beginning to break down, it strongly reflects on the culture-bound notions of sex roles and gender. Back then, women are thought to be concerned about insignificant issues that hold little to no importance to the true work of society, also known as trifles, just as the title of the play suggests. In 2008, Ghost Ranch Productions, with director Pamela Walker, who plays Mrs. Wright herself, produces Trifles, a film adaptation of Glaspell’s famous play. Through the creative use of literary elements and some small alterations to the plot, dialogue, and setting, Walker effectively demonstrates the play’s major theme of gender differences in the film.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Feminist Symbolism in Glaspell's "Trifles"
    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Feminist Symbolism in Glaspell's "Trifles"

    Have you ever wondered; just how much can one person take from another? What amount of cruelty and abuse persuades the fury in a typically passive person to leap into aggressive action? Susan Glaspell's play Trifles shows us just how far one woman, Mrs. Wright, is pushed before she snaps. This is a classic tale of spousal abuse, based off of a true story, which was not too uncommon and almost expected back in the late nineteenth century. Back then women were controlled by their husbands and were seen as insignificant by all the men around them. In this play the women fight the patronizing and belittling society and join together to support another woman. During this time in history, "marital conflict, frequently including violence, was mostly taken for granted in many working-class communities; in itself, it was rarely sufficient to warrant communal censure." (Hammerton 155)…

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Trifles By Susan Glaspell
    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gender Roles In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

    In this time women were not treated as equals like seen in this play. Th police man were so blinded and afraid of knowing the actually truth that they tried blaming it on anything other than Minnie. The women went into their past to try and find ways to sympathized with Minnie because they know they were treated unfairly just because of the gender. In conclusion, this play Trifles, bring out the real issue of gender difference when they should be known. Thus, men and woman are capable of the same things but sometimes people are too scared to believe it. Now, in 2016 this play still serves as a purpose to look at our past and show how far we have come in making every individual equal and capable of anything they put their minds…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics