Trifles by Susan Keating Glaspell Essay -- essays research papers

Trifles by Susan Keating Glaspell Mention the word feminist and roughly people think of the modern womens effort. Long before the bra electrocution of the 60s, however, writers were writing about the awake(p)s and concerns of women living in a antheral dominated society. Susan Glaspells play, Trifles, was written in 1916, long before the modern womens movement began. Her story reveals, through Glaspells use of formal literary proprieties, the role that women be expected to play in society, and the harm that it brings not sole(prenominal) the women, exclusively the men as well. Character earns are important in Trifles. Two characters 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 to a fault stage the roles of men and women in the larger society. Minnies name has a double significance, "Minnie" cosmos "mini" or " minimized," which was descriptive of her relationship with John and in worldwide of womens relationship with men. The taking of the husbands name is also important in the story. Mrs. crush and Mrs. Peters are not given first names. The role that society has stray them in is one that is defined by their husbands. Mrs. Peters, who is hook up with 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 natural law" (Glaspell ..). Mrs. Peters herself tries to fulfill that role, saying "Mrs. Hale, the law is the law" (Glaspell ..). She tries to reinforce that individuality 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 commit against Minnie, not the murder. The best example of the importance of names, especially married names, is the trope of Minnie Foster. "I hear she used 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 manage with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang" (Glaspell..). The encounter of Minnie Foster is used to show, by contrast, what John Wright ... ...g when she replies to the county attorneys question 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 worrying all over trifles" (Glaspell ..). The irony of the story is that while the men are running about bearinging for "clues," the women have discovered the key to the mystery among what the men look at as onl y silly womens work. The feminist agenda of Trifles 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 under 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 musical arrangement, 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.