Analysis of Trifles by Susan Glaspell - Essay Example

Lecturer’s Submitted: “Trifles” By Susan Glaspell (1916) Susan Glaspell wrote the one-act play called “Trifles” in 1916. It is based on a true murder event that occurred during time she worked as a reporter in Iowa (Glaspell 455). Glaspell’s experience at the time inspired the obsession with the 19th century culture-bound concepts of sex and gender roles in the American society. The title “Trifles” suggests that, women in the male dominated historical American society were perceived as non-essential in various aspects of life. The play was written at a time when values, attitudes and ideals of the American society focused on men as the dominant species, whereas women were seen as caterers and housewives. American women in the 19th century were deterred from lustrous careers and they were denied self independence by the men. Their main sphere of operation in the society was restricted to the kitchen and the bedroom. Women did not have the right to vote or sit as members of the jury. Their opinions were considered of less importance in making essential decisions in the American education system, politics, economy, legislation and many others. Men in the US, in the 19th century, dominated all aspects of life in the American society except the nurturing of children and families; an activity that was allocated to women. In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, women are considered less educated, less equipped, less qualified and inferior to compete in the male dominated society. The men claimed the society advanced due to their intellectual property, strength, skills and ability to develop emotional intelligence in solving societal problems. Characters in “Trifle” By Susan Glaspell George Henderson is a young but professional county attorney (Glaspell 455). He is called upon by local residents to investigate a murder case of Mr. John Wright, who was strangled by a rope in the wee hours of the night in his sleep. The county attorney has great respect for the law although he is quick to dismiss the female characters’ vested interest in non-essential details concerning domestic work. He also disparages the suspect, Mrs. Wright, for what he observes as lack of proper and normal house cleaning abilities allocated to women. Henry Peters, a middle aged man, is the area sheriff and Mrs. Peter’s Husband (Glaspell 455). He is interested in the murder case because it is his duty as a law enforcer to protect and serve the locals. Like the county attorney, he teases the female characters on their topic of conversation, which is the suspect’s quilt. He uses laughs light-heartedly at the women’s less effective conversation in relation to the crime. Lewis Hale, a farmer, is the deceased’s neighbor (Glaspell 456). He learns about the crime when he innocently asks Mrs. Wright if he could talk to her husband. He gets a peculiar answer that Mr. Wright is dead in the bedroom. Mr. Hale uses the word trifle to describe women as not as effective as men when dealing with essential and grave matters such as a murder case. Mrs. Hale, Lewis Hale’s wife, (Glaspell 457), is a heavy woman who resents how men treat women in the society. She is very particular about Mr. Henderson’s poor judgment of the women’s ability to uncover the truth behind the crime. Mrs. Hale is a housewife who engages in the same domestic chores as the rest of the women in the 19th century. She knew Mrs. Wright before she was married to Mr. Wright. Her name was Minnie Foster, a cheerful, sweet and happy young woman who sang in a local church as a member of the local choir (Glaspell 460). Mrs. Hale is filled with regrets for neglecting Mrs. Wright who had eventually plunged into the depths of loneliness. Mrs. Peters, a wife to the sheriff, (Glaspell 455), is a thin and wiry woman who prefers to strictly follow laws because of her husband’s career influence. She apologizes for the men’s behavior when they disregard the women’s effort to chip in and aid in the crime investigations. Mrs. Peters, like other women in the 19th century, understands the bitterness women experience as being housewives with unfulfilled dreams. Mrs. Wright (Minnie Foster), a happy young woman that loved to sing (Glaspell 462). Her life changed to forlorn and unfulfilled once she married Mr. Wright. She was not blessed with any children in her marriage (Glaspell 463). She is the main suspect in the murder of her late husband, hence held in the county jail. Mrs. Wright sends Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to collect an apron and few clothes from her house. Analysis of “Trifles” The play begins by the arrival of the county attorney, the neighbors and the sheriff at the scene of murder. Accompanied by the wife, they enter into the Wrights’ kitchen (Glaspell 455). Mr. Hale explains to the law enforcers and the women that he had paid a visit to the Wrights to ask for Mr. Wright’s presence at a telephone party, when he found his wife in an unusual mood. She told him that Mr. Wright was lying dead in their bedroom. Mr. Hale’s exposition is what reveals John Wright’s murder that had occurred in the middle of the night while he slept beside his wife, who claimed to have heard nothing. The male characters in the play view it as an obvious crime committed by Mrs. Wright. They base their investigations on the motive of the crime. The women are quiet when the men speak. After a short period of time, the sheriff and the county attorney conclude that the kitchen stuff and the women’s conversation were little and unimportant things that could not help in solving the case (Glaspell 461). This is a reproachful comment made by the sheriff and the county attorney to diminish women’s significance in the society. Mrs. Peters and Hale are displeased by the men’s comments on Mrs. Wright’s poor housekeeping because they understand the boredom of routine, work and loneliness. The men exit the kitchen and head upstairs to gather forensic evidence that would be used in Mrs. Wright’s trial. The women chat about Mrs. Wright’s kitchen and their similar domestic lives. This is a typical American women topic of conversation since their only areas of operation are the kitchen and the bedroom. Their lives are not controlled by careers, money, politics or power; thus, the scarcity of such topics in their conversations. The women in the kitchen chat about the fruits that are spoilt, the bread that is out of its box, a half cleaned table, unfinished quilt and a bird cage that is empty (Glaspell 458). As the men look for evidence for trial, the women connect pieces of information about Mrs. Wright’s emotional impaired life. They hypothesize that Mr. Wright’s oppressive, cold and chauvinistic nature affected Mrs. Wright’s decision to take appropriate action (Glaspell 460). The conversation among the women reveals a mental profile of a 19th century American desperate housewife. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discover that Mrs. Wright was sewing a quilt but messed it up towards the end (Glaspell 459). Sewing was a part-time activity for married women in the 19th century because they lacked proper education, skills and experience to pursue their dream careers. The women also discovered a bird cage that had a broken door. Mrs. Wright had a small box that had a dead bird wrapped in silk. The women formed a theory that Mr. Wright strangled the bird because of its constant chirping (Glaspell 464). Mrs. Hale hides the box in her pocket when the men join them. They continue the teasing about Mrs. Wright’s quilt, whether she knotted it or quilt it. This last part of the play shows the women’s discovery on how Mr. Wright was murdered in his sleep. Themes in the Play The major theme in the play “Trifles” is patriarchy. It shows how the American society neglected the contributions of women in helping the men in their endeavors to develop the society. The men in this play are portrayed as self-centered, as seen through the suggestions they make in finding solid evidence essential in the trial. Although they display toughness and intelligence, women are more observant and skilled in finding and hiding evidence. Men’s arrogance and despise on the women cause Mrs. Hale and Peters to gang up and defend Mrs. Wright’s right to react to her husband’s long-term oppression. The women prove their loyalty to American women in the 19th century by hiding the evidence in defiance to the heartless patriarchal American society. Susan Glaspell suggests that the women in the 19th century American society were depressed, oppressed and trapped in a lifestyle that did not suit their skills and desires. In her play she suggests that women should take the initiative to unite and fight a common war against oppression by conventional American culture that restricts the lives of women to the walls of their kitchens and bedrooms. Conclusion In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, women’s lives are bound to the kitchen and the bedroom. They lack education, professional careers and a voice to compete with men in the society in instances such as, solving of crimes and defending themselves against oppressive cultures that enslave women, forcing them to fully depend on their male counterparts. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters solved the crime by reflecting on Mrs. Wright’s lonely and oppressive marriage that pushed her to the brink of homicide. Patriarchal society in the 19th century America undermined and underestimated women’s efforts in escaping the conventional American cultures that restricted women’s ambitions and desires. Women in the 19th century wanted more than what their husbands, children and extravagant lifestyles could offer: they wanted freedom. Work Cited Glaspell, Susan.“Trifles.” Responding to Literature (4th Ed.).  Stanford, Judith A.  New York:  McGraw Hill, 2003.455-467. Print. Glaspell, Susan.“Trifles.” (n.d). Web. Retrieved 7 April 2012 from http://www.bgcs.k12.oh.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=qjz3%2F2GGMf0%3D&tabid=2379&mid=6489 Read More