Core Assessment Essay
Different readings are interpreted very differently based on the gender of the reader and as I read the play Trifles a few times many sexist ideals of the time or at least that era started to float around in my head. For example, as the attorney and sheriff search through the home for clues they decide there is nothing important downstairs since Mr. Wrights body was discovered upstairs “Nothing here but kitchen things.” This comment suggests that the men believe the lack of importance of women in society during this era. The two men’s criticism of Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping abilities upset Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife Mrs. Peters. These important men of society so strong and masculine just disregarded what they …show more content…
Such a thing like the bread that has been left out of the box, an unfinished quilt, a half clean half messy table, and an empty birdcage. So, the men are looking for physical evidence but the women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles noticed clues that reveal a sad and lonely tale of Mrs. Wright’s life. They concluded that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been too much for Mrs. Wright to take and to live with. The women commented about her being childless “Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house.” This is evidence of a very lonely women, and to the men, the women are just trying to get through the awkward moments with friendly conversation. But to the reader, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover all on their own with out the men’s help is a complex psychological profile of a desperate housewife. As we see the bigger picture through the women’s conversation the suspense heightens on what they are going to do with this information are they going to tell the sheriff and attorney? The funny thing is that the power lies with the women as it did with Mrs. Wright. The men in this play show a sense of self-importance. They portray themselves as tough, professional acting detectives, when in reality they are nowhere as observant as the women in the play. Their arrogant attitude causes the women to feel defensive and feel for why …show more content…
"On the Subject of the Feminist Business": Re-reading Flannery O'Connor. New
York City: Peter Lang, 2004. Print.
Gainor, J. Ellen. "Text in Context: Trifles in Preformance." Literature and Gender. Ed. Lizbeth
Goodman. London: Routledge in Association with the Open University, 1996. 199+. Print.
O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading,
Thinking, Writing. By Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 438-52. Print.
Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. By
Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 1386-396. Print.
Lord Tennyson, Alfred. "Crossing the Bar." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading,
Thinking, Writing. By Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 787+.
Different readings are interpreted very differently based on the gender of the reader and as I read the play Trifles a few times many sexist ideals of the time or at least that era started to float around in my head. For example, as the attorney and sheriff search through the home for clues they decide there is nothing important downstairs since Mr. Wrights body was discovered upstairs “Nothing here but kitchen things.” This comment suggests that the men believe the lack of importance of women in society during this era. The two men’s criticism of Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping abilities upset Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife Mrs. Peters. These important men of society so strong and masculine just disregarded what they …show more content…
Such a thing like the bread that has been left out of the box, an unfinished quilt, a half clean half messy table, and an empty birdcage. So, the men are looking for physical evidence but the women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles noticed clues that reveal a sad and lonely tale of Mrs. Wright’s life. They concluded that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been too much for Mrs. Wright to take and to live with. The women commented about her being childless “Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house.” This is evidence of a very lonely women, and to the men, the women are just trying to get through the awkward moments with friendly conversation. But to the reader, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover all on their own with out the men’s help is a complex psychological profile of a desperate housewife. As we see the bigger picture through the women’s conversation the suspense heightens on what they are going to do with this information are they going to tell the sheriff and attorney? The funny thing is that the power lies with the women as it did with Mrs. Wright. The men in this play show a sense of self-importance. They portray themselves as tough, professional acting detectives, when in reality they are nowhere as observant as the women in the play. Their arrogant attitude causes the women to feel defensive and feel for why …show more content…
"On the Subject of the Feminist Business": Re-reading Flannery O'Connor. New
York City: Peter Lang, 2004. Print.
Gainor, J. Ellen. "Text in Context: Trifles in Preformance." Literature and Gender. Ed. Lizbeth
Goodman. London: Routledge in Association with the Open University, 1996. 199+. Print.
O'Connor, Flannery. "Good Country People." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading,
Thinking, Writing. By Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 438-52. Print.
Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. By
Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 1386-396. Print.
Lord Tennyson, Alfred. "Crossing the Bar." Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading,
Thinking, Writing. By Michael Meyer. [S.l.]: Bedford Bks St Martin'S, 2013. 787+.