In literature we pinpoint the changes in society throughout the centuries. Many authors are brave enough to write their story, showing their own personal viewpoints and experiences. There are two works of literature that reveal the viewpoints of marriage and individuality in the centuries. Kate Chopin’s A Story of an Hour and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles focuses on gender roles, and freedom from captivity. These stories possess similar attributes and differences even though they were written in different time periods. A theme that is focused on within the two stories is freedom and captivity. During the time these stories were written, the stories display similarities that shockingly support areas of the theme. For Kate Chopin’s A Story of an
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Many of the females in the story subliminally display that they are not comfortable within their current lifestyle. Glaspell not only verbally acknowledges this behavioral difference in the play, but also demonstrates it through the characters' actions and the turns of the plot. For example, when Ms. Peters notices there is a bird case without the bird in it, she asks Ms. Hale the location of the bird was to which she responds, “Why, I don't know whether she did or not—I've not been here for so long. There was a man around last year selling canaries cheap, but I don't know as she took one; maybe she did. She used to sing real pretty herself,” which is a symbol of Mrs. Wright's captivity within her life, the play immediately compares Mrs. Hale with the bird and its freedom. (Glaspell 115). Another example, Ms. Wright murders her husband in cold blood and the news spreads around the town like fire. Ms. Peters expresses her concern and disbelief of Ms. Wright’s horrible action to her friend Ms. Hale. “It was an awful thing was done in this house that night, Mrs. Hale. Killing a man while he slept, slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him,” After suffering years of captivity by her husband, Mrs. Wright kills him by strangling him with a rope. This is intriguing because she mirrors what he did to …show more content…
For Trifles, the story focuses on the oppression of women within their marriage and during the time. Ms. Wright feels oppressed from her husbands’ constant negligence and emotional abuse so, she murders her husband. For instance, regarding the investigation of the murder of Mr. Wright, Ms. Hale calls the attention of exploded fruit preserves within the kitchen of the Wright household. Mr. Hale states, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” he gently scolds the women for paying attention to insignificant things, and insinuates that women often lack the mental abilities that men have. (Glaspell 223). While in Story of an Hour, instead of murdering her husband, Ms. Mallard’s husband was killed at his job. After hearing news about the death of her husband, the text states that, “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often, she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Glaspell 12) which demonstrates that Ms. Mallard was only happy sometimes with her husband, which brings about the belief that she felt confined being with him. Although she does this in a holding back manner, she seems to be happy that she is finally free from a life that was belittling and neglectful. Her husband’s death signified that she was free from being with a man that
Many of the females in the story subliminally display that they are not comfortable within their current lifestyle. Glaspell not only verbally acknowledges this behavioral difference in the play, but also demonstrates it through the characters' actions and the turns of the plot. For example, when Ms. Peters notices there is a bird case without the bird in it, she asks Ms. Hale the location of the bird was to which she responds, “Why, I don't know whether she did or not—I've not been here for so long. There was a man around last year selling canaries cheap, but I don't know as she took one; maybe she did. She used to sing real pretty herself,” which is a symbol of Mrs. Wright's captivity within her life, the play immediately compares Mrs. Hale with the bird and its freedom. (Glaspell 115). Another example, Ms. Wright murders her husband in cold blood and the news spreads around the town like fire. Ms. Peters expresses her concern and disbelief of Ms. Wright’s horrible action to her friend Ms. Hale. “It was an awful thing was done in this house that night, Mrs. Hale. Killing a man while he slept, slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him,” After suffering years of captivity by her husband, Mrs. Wright kills him by strangling him with a rope. This is intriguing because she mirrors what he did to …show more content…
For Trifles, the story focuses on the oppression of women within their marriage and during the time. Ms. Wright feels oppressed from her husbands’ constant negligence and emotional abuse so, she murders her husband. For instance, regarding the investigation of the murder of Mr. Wright, Ms. Hale calls the attention of exploded fruit preserves within the kitchen of the Wright household. Mr. Hale states, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” he gently scolds the women for paying attention to insignificant things, and insinuates that women often lack the mental abilities that men have. (Glaspell 223). While in Story of an Hour, instead of murdering her husband, Ms. Mallard’s husband was killed at his job. After hearing news about the death of her husband, the text states that, “And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often, she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!” (Glaspell 12) which demonstrates that Ms. Mallard was only happy sometimes with her husband, which brings about the belief that she felt confined being with him. Although she does this in a holding back manner, she seems to be happy that she is finally free from a life that was belittling and neglectful. Her husband’s death signified that she was free from being with a man that