Trifles by susan glaspell

“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell

Do the men understand or respect woman's work? Explain.

Susan Glaspell wrote “Trifles” on 1916, a time where women were beginning to challenge their socially definedroles. Women were realizing that their identities as wives and domestics kept them in a subordinate position in society. The title of the play, “Trifles,” is an important indication of the dynamicconflict that provides the tension of a serious situation that is anything but trifling.
Farmer John Wright has been murdered. While he lay asleep in the middle of the night, someone strung a ropearound his neck, and that someone might have been his wife, Minnie Wright. Minnie’s defiant act has occurred before the action begins, and, as the play unfolds two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale piecetogether the details of the situation surrounding the murder. As the events unfold, however, it becomes clear that the focus of the play is not on who killed John Wright, but rather on the themes ofthe subordinate role of women. The men in the play, Mr. Hale, Sheriff Peters, and the County Attorney, are at the house to investigate the murder. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are there togather some things to take to Mrs. Wright in jail.

The men and the women both observe the house is generally a mess, but they see the messiness from different points of view. What each set ofcharacters sees is limited by their gender. The men see the mess as negligence on the part of Minnie and her housewife duties. This can be noticed from the County Attorney’s comment about Minnie not being muchof a housekeeper and his complaining about the dirty towels.

Chatting to pass the time, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters notice vital details that the men would not care about: ruined fruit preserves,bread that has been left out of its box, an unfinished quilt, an empty bird cage, among others. The men completely overlook this because they consider the domestic space of the woman of the house to...