Trifles by Susan Glaspell Essay - 1253 Words

Susan Glaspell’s most memorable one-act play, Trifles (1916) was based on murder trial case that happened in the 1900’s. Glaspell worked as a reporter, where she appointed a report of a murder case. It was about a farmer, John Hossack who was killed while he was asleep in bed one night. His wife claimed that she was asleep next to him when the attack occurred. No one believed in her statement, she was arrested and was charged on first degree murder. In Trifles, the play takes place at an abandon house at a farm where John Wright and his wife, Minnie Wright lived. John was killed with a rope around his neck while his wife was asleep. The neighbor, county attorney and sheriff came to the crime scene for investigation. Along with them†¦show more content†¦The women empower themselves through silence, particularly in the kitchen communicating and reflecting upon things around them in the limited space they were given. The men dismiss the kitchen finding nothing tha t is relevant to the murder case. The men keep crisscrossing through the kitchen, ignoring and not realizing they could find the vital evidence through trivial details. Even though they were having difficulty in finding clues that lead to the murder. While the women were alone looking through Minnie’s kitchen they found the most valuable evidence the â€Å"missing piece to men’s puzzle† (Holstein 283). Mrs. Hale found the dead bird strangled in the sewing box telling â€Å"Mrs. Peters-look at it! Its neck! Look at its neck!† (782). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters recognize the bird was strangled brutally â€Å"their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror† (Glaspell 782). Both of them realized the bird was killed the same way as Mr. Wright with the rope around their neck. The strangled bird represents Minnie Foster how her freedom and joy was strangled to death. When the men came in the kitchen, the county attorney noticed the bird cage, w ondering if the bird flew away, but Mrs. Hale lied and said â€Å"we think the- cat got it† ( Glaspell 782). The county attorney seek only visible evidence for murder he was wasn’t thinking critically what it may mean. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters covered the evidence keeping it between themselves for their own knowledge. TheyShow MoreRelatedTrifles, By Susan Glaspell Essay2136 Words   |  9 Pagesprimarily of a domestic nature. Trifles by Susan Glaspell indicates that a man’s perspective is entirely different from a woman’s. The one-act play, Trifles, is a murder mystery which examines the lives of rural, middle-aged, married, women characters through gender relationships, power between the sexes, and the nature of truth. The play, written in the early 1900s, long before the women’s movement and while men considered women their possessions. In the story of Trifles, it is easy to recognize theRead MoreTrifles by Susan Glaspell1158 Words   |  5 P agesAnalytical Essay on Drama Trifles by Susan Glaspell Heidi Barnard South University Trifles’ By Susan Glaspell I believe had several small defining moments leading to the one larger defining moment, which brings together all of them together. The defining moment is the discovery of the dead bird hidden in the pretty red box, this leads back to smaller points such as her sewing and the bird cage. â€Å" Here’s some red. I expect this has got sewing things in it. (Brings out a fancy box.) What aRead MoreTrifles By Susan Glaspell1000 Words   |  4 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the author presents a predominant  theme of women and femininity. This theme reflects upon the underlying message of the play, that women are not treated fairly and are not seen in the same light as men. Susan Glaspell demonstrates the common assumptions made by men towards women in terms of roles and degrading their value/insight. Throughout the play, Glaspell provides many instances to where a woman’s value or insight is degraded. Hale demonstrates thisRead MoreTrifles by Susan Glaspell604 Words   |  2 Pages Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a one-act play that explores the theme of the gender roles and social positions of men and women in early twentieth-century America. The play is loosely based on the true event of the murder of John Hossack which Glaspell reported on while working as a news journalist in Iowa. Years later, she used her experiences and observations to create the play. Trifles is about solving the murder case of farmer John Wright. While Mr. Wright was asleep in the night, someoneRead MoreTrifles, By Susan Glaspell1034 Words   |  5 Pagessay goes. The 1912 play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, who was inspired to write this play from a story she covered as a reporter. A murder case is being held and authorities are getting down to it suspecting a woman of killing her husband in his sl eep. The character Mrs. Hale who is neighbors and friends with Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife and Mrs. Wright, the woman accused of the murder of her Husband, Mr. Wright. The character Mrs. Hale, in the Susan Glaspell s play Trifles, is displayed as a empoweringRead MoreTrifles, By Susan Glaspell Essay1469 Words   |  6 PagesSusan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles is based on the murder investigation of John Wright. Minnie Wright’s isolation and the death of her canary are the major factors that led to the murder of her husband. Glaspell stresses the perceived supremacy of males when investigating the murder by giving the men lead roles in the investigation and by making fun of the â€Å"trifles† that the women are choosing to observe. It is ironic because the ordinary items observed by the women were thought of as â€Å"trifles†Read MoreTrifles : Susan Glaspell s Trifles940 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is a trifle? A trifle is something that ha s little to no importance (dictionary.com). For instance, the color of your nails would be considered a trifle. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, women are criticized and made fun of by men because of the little things they worry about, such as the color of their nails or their hair. This exhibits the gender role difference portrayed during the play’s time period. The central conflict is what the plot is centered around. In Trifles, the central conflictRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1507 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Trifles† is a one act play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, which was first performed on August 8th by the Provincetown Players in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Wharf Theater. The author, Susan Glaspell, was born on July 1, 1876 in Davenport, Iowa. Over her lifetime she had become proficient in many different professions: Playwright, Actress, Novelist, and Journalist. For her works, she won an American Pulitzer Prize in 1931. The Provincetown Players was founded by Susan Glaspell and herRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1732 Words   |  7 PagesSusan Glaspell (1876-1948) was an American-born Pulitzer Prize winning writer of both plays and fiction. Glaspell came from humble beginnings and went on to study at Drake University and the University of Chicago. Much of Glaspell s work dealt with the relationships between men and women and the negative effects they have on women. In Glaspell s play Trifles, it is revealed that the operations of patriarchy are just an illusion that men have created to make themselves feel superior to womenRead MoreAnalysis Of Trifles By Susan Glaspell804 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell creates a situation that at first glance appears to place a woman at fault, but as the readers continue, he/she realizes that the truth is the opposite to what it appears to be. It is interesting to see how the author uses the image of a perfect husband to portray irony with the hidden theme of isolation and patriarchy within their domestic relationship. This irony leads into Minnie Foster, also called Mrs. Wright, to use the idea of justice vs. law within this