The play “Trifles” was written by playwright and actress, Susan Glaspell, and was first performed by the Provincetown Players at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on August 8, 1916. The setting of the play is in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Wright and opens with three men and two women entering it. There is uncompleted housework everywhere and it is obvious that someone left in a hurry or was taken unexpectedly. Among the three men are one of Mr. Wright’s neighbors, Mr. Hale, the Sheriff, and the County Attorney. Mr. Hale’s wife and the Sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters, account for the two women present. The men are at this house to investigate what happened in the murder of Mr. Wright whose wife, Mrs. Wright, is suspected of being
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Throughout the play, the men are always identified by their professions and had a sense of self identity. The women on the other hand did not. They were identified as ‘Mrs. Hale’ and ‘Mrs. Peters;’ they were identified by their husbands. They did not have the ability of self identification during this time period and Glaspell wanted to make that known. Glaspell did this intentionally to show that male dominance was heavily imposed and that women were the recipients, but that women were tired of it. When speaking to the female characters in “Trifles,” Henderson and the other men make a key error in their assumption that the women derive their identity solely from their relationship to men, the dominant gender. For example, Henderson tells Mrs. Peters that because she is married to the local sheriff, she is married to the law and is thereby a dependable follower and supporter of the law. “For that matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the lar. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?” (lines 362-363). Mrs. Peters' response is "Not--just that way," suggesting that over the course of the play, she has uncovered a different facet of her identity that ties more closely to her experience as a woman than to her marriage to Henry Peters. And as Mrs. Hale concludes that all women go through the same thing, just a different variation of it, she is saying that Mrs. …show more content…
Glaspell challenges this idea of male dominance by making it so that the women are the ones who end up solving the case. She uses multiple devices and literary features to do this, but she particularly relies on the use of symbolism and diction. She wanted to portray the fact that women aren’t just small minded, flighty beings who mess around with cooking and quilting all day. She wanted to show that women are intelligent and have the capacity to be more than just the wives to their husbands, that they are knowledgable and that they stand up for their fellow women. Glaspell succeeds in in pushing back against the traditional patriarchal society and giving women a greater sense of identity in a time when it was not the norm to do
Throughout the play, the men are always identified by their professions and had a sense of self identity. The women on the other hand did not. They were identified as ‘Mrs. Hale’ and ‘Mrs. Peters;’ they were identified by their husbands. They did not have the ability of self identification during this time period and Glaspell wanted to make that known. Glaspell did this intentionally to show that male dominance was heavily imposed and that women were the recipients, but that women were tired of it. When speaking to the female characters in “Trifles,” Henderson and the other men make a key error in their assumption that the women derive their identity solely from their relationship to men, the dominant gender. For example, Henderson tells Mrs. Peters that because she is married to the local sheriff, she is married to the law and is thereby a dependable follower and supporter of the law. “For that matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the lar. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?” (lines 362-363). Mrs. Peters' response is "Not--just that way," suggesting that over the course of the play, she has uncovered a different facet of her identity that ties more closely to her experience as a woman than to her marriage to Henry Peters. And as Mrs. Hale concludes that all women go through the same thing, just a different variation of it, she is saying that Mrs. …show more content…
Glaspell challenges this idea of male dominance by making it so that the women are the ones who end up solving the case. She uses multiple devices and literary features to do this, but she particularly relies on the use of symbolism and diction. She wanted to portray the fact that women aren’t just small minded, flighty beings who mess around with cooking and quilting all day. She wanted to show that women are intelligent and have the capacity to be more than just the wives to their husbands, that they are knowledgable and that they stand up for their fellow women. Glaspell succeeds in in pushing back against the traditional patriarchal society and giving women a greater sense of identity in a time when it was not the norm to do