Trifles by Susan Keating Glaspell Essay -- essays research papers

Trifles by Susan Keating Glaspell Mention the word feminist and most people think of the modern womens movement. Long before the bra burning of the 60s, however, writers were create verbally about the lives and concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Susan Glaspells play, Trifles, was written in 1916, long before the modern womens movement began. Her story reveals, through Glaspells mapping of formal literary proprieties, the role that women are expected to play in society, and the harm that it brings not only the women, but the men as well. Character call are important in Trifles. Two consultations who are never seen, John and Minnie Wright, provide the inciting incident for the play. The name "Wright" plays off the social stereotype of women seeking" Mr. Right," so they also represent the roles of men and women in the larger society. Minnies name has a double significance, "Minnie" being "mini" or "minimized," which was desc riptive of her relationship with John and in general of womens relationship with men. The taking of the husbands name is also important in the story. Mrs. salutary and Mrs. Peters are not given first names. The role that society has lay them in is one that is defined by their husbands. Mrs. Peters, who is married to the sheriff, is viewed in those terms, not as an individual. The county attorney even says "for that matter a sheriffs wife is married to the law" (Glaspell ..). Mrs. Peters herself tries to fulfill that role, saying "Mrs. Hale, the law is the law" (Glaspell ..). She tries to reinforce that identity until she is faced with the brutality of what John Wright did to Minnie. She says "I know what stillness is. The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale" (Glaspell ..). The difference is that she is talking about the crime committed against Minnie, not the murder. The best example of the importance of names, especially married names, is the image of Minnie promote. "I hear she utilize to wear pretty clothes and be lively when she was Minnie Foster . . ." Mrs. Hale says (Glaspell..). She talks about Minnie again on page .. "I wish youd seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang" (Glaspell..). The image of Minnie Foster is used to show, by contrast, what John Wright ... ...g when she replies to the county attorneys interrogative about the quilt, saying "we call it knot it, Mr. Henderson" (Glaspell ..). The title, Trifles, is itself a reflection of how men view women. A "trifle" is something that is small, of no consequence. Mr. Hale says that "women are used to troubling over trifles" (Glaspell ..). The irony of the story is that while the men are running around exploreing for "clues," the women have discovered the key to the mystery among what the men look at as only silly womens work. The feminist agenda of Trifl es is not meant to be subtle. Glaspell uses the formal elements in the play to help convey the feminist theme. The title, the character names, and the metaphors all work together to paint not only a picture of Minnies life with John, but by extension, the lives of all women who live oppressed on a lower floor male domination. Trifles is not just a reflection, however. It is also a call for women to use their perceived powerlessness as a tool to manipulate the system, and a warning to men that a system where one segment of the population dominates and oppresses another, cannot and will not be tolerated forever.