Othello And Trifles Analysis

Improved Essays
Treatment of Women in “Othello” and “Trifles”
Throughout history the handling of women has evolved. From the Victorian Era to the latter half of the nineteenth century many authors have championed the unfair treatment of women in books, poetry, short stories, and plays; however two authors have penned works worthy of comparison. In “Othello,” a maiden marries for love; however she is ultimately the fatal victim of her love. On the other hand, in the play “Trifles,” the downtrodden Minnie murders her abusive husband. Both Shakespeare’s “Othello” and Glaspell’s “Trifles” present the theme of patriarchal dominance through female characters who exemplify submission, victimization, and veiled strengths.
From as early as biblical times, females
…show more content…
Othello publically humiliates Desdemona verbally and physically when he slaps her and says, “O devil, devil! If that the earth could team with woman’s tears, Each drop she fall will prove a crocodile. Out of my sight!” (IV.i.228-231). Glaspell’s heroin is deprived of proper clothes, music, or friendships by a husband whom Mrs. Hale describes as “a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him – (shivers). Like a raw wind that gets to the bone.” (Glaspell 903). He is so cold that he kills her one pleasure, a little songbird. Similarly, Desdemona is perceived to be an object to be used. Speaking freely before the court assembly, Othello is told by a senator to “use Desdemona well” (I.iii.92) for his sexual pleasures. Nonetheless, it is Shakespear’s Emilia, in “Othello,” who most explicitly states the vile oppression women of patriarchal dominance suffer, saying “They eat us hungerly and when they are full / They belch us.” (III.iv.101-102). In these eras of hopeless victimization, women have very little power to combat their …show more content…
Emotionally, it takes a strong woman to suffer as Desdemona does from Othello’s accusations; consequently, Emilia reminds her that mentally it is men’s “frailty that thus errs,” though she only expresses these thoughts privately. Emilia’s implication of women’s superior mental intelligence is also demonstrated in “Trifles” when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale secretly solve Mr. Wright’s murder, while the clueless men vigorously investigate to no avail; all the while, Mr. Hale, unaware of the ladies discovery of the broken jars, broken cage, messy sewing, and dead canary, belittles their concerns saying, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 898). That which is trifling to men is upsetting to women because they appreciate the physical labor that goes into running a household. Cleaning up behind dirty men; planting, tending, harvesting and canning food; cutting and hand sewing quilts in the nineteenth century may be different from the household responsibilities in the Victorian era; however, Victorian men expected constant attention and care to details as Desdemona learned as a maid. There were times when her desire was to hear Othello’s stories, “but still the house affairs would draw her thence.” (I.iii.149). These three strengths feed off one another, empowering women in patriarchal times to confront the most malicious tyranny, and no heroin exemplifies this power

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This relates to gender role inequalities because men are very likely and capable to overthrow women. Similarly in the play Othello, women were treated the same way in the current society. For example when Desdemona was happy about Cassio being appointed as…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Throughout time, the moral standards and values of society and its members greatly changes, this in turn tremendously affects the perception of the actions performed by those in the past. Specifically in the perception of literature, the perspective in which it is viewed significantly influences how people understand them. If we look at literature written in the past through a modern lens while applying modern standards and values to it, much of the subject’s essence is lost in that translation because their is no attempt to understand what the writing meant when it was written, nor an effort to try and dig deeper for analysis of the writing. This is the cause of debate of the role that sexism plays in William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell, demonstrates how the female characters feel suffocated by the male characters carrying out their suppressive gender stereotypes. Glaspell uses latent symbolism as well as extensive character development to help the reader visualize and interpret the divide between the genders. The play is set in the early nineteen hundreds around a time when women were still not equal to men, which is why the main character, Minnie Wright, is idolized by the other women in the play even though she is never directly present. Throughout the entirety of the play the men and the women were never together, they always divide themselves by gender while looking for clues.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The motif of violence is manifest throughout Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, not only in the form of acts that are explicitly forceful and destructive, but in the implicit conflicts that are explored within the play, whether between men and women, light and dark, reality and fantasy or the Old South and the New South. Violence is most often associated with the character of Stanley, who progresses violent behaviour and exudes a sense of brutishness that contributes to the play’s overall parallelism to an “urban jungle”, in which Blanche will inevitably become a victim. Sexual violence is a prevalent facet of the play, which makes eminent the subordination of the female characters under the claimed prerogative of men. In particular, domestic…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is a known fact that both men and women had different tasks in society. In both plays “A Doll’s House” and “Trifles”, it is obvious how women are not treated as equals by the men. The play “A Doll’s House”, which takes place in a small town in Norway, tells the “happy” life of Nora and her husband, Trovald. Then the other play “Trifles”, which takes place in Nebraska, USA, tells how the men, and the women accompanying them react differently to the life the murder suspect lived. Even though these two plays are in different continents, it is easily noticeable how men look down on women.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Each human being has been taught the art of individualism. Civilization after civilization has manipulated the life of its members through selling the idea of independence and self-sufficiency. Creating social taboos and setting labels that serve as the stigma of the community, are some of the techniques use to oppress individuals as components of the greater scheme that is society. The belief of individualism, the big banner that says it is fine to be different, has become the current most followed idea of the free world. The question is whether or not such individualism exists or if it is nothing more than a created fantasy used to shape the existence of a race?…

    • 1853 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Rhetorical Analysis Of Othello

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    His tone is rather rash and very demeaning, especially towards his own wife, whom everybody seems to believe is innocent except him and Iago. He calls her a “strumpet” (4.2.81) and a “whore” (4.2.72). She claims ignorance and innocence, but he refuses to believe her. Even when Emilia defends her, Othello is unable to hear any voice of reason. Again, this demonstrates the inferior treatment of the women in the play.…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Roles In Trifles

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ”(Glaspell 924) The county attorney George Henderson remarks to insult Mrs. Write the accused murderer of her husband Mr. John Write. Accompanied by Lewis Hale’s line “Well, woman are used to worrying over Trifles. ”(Glaspell 925) implying that women are too dumb to understand the severity of situation and are more interested in house work like preserving jam. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters begin interpreting the found objects in to clues they begin to connect to Mrs. Write.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    There are only three female characters featured throughout the play, who each behave and conduct themselves in conjunction with the expectations of the Shakespearian society. Within this patriarchal society, men consider women to be possessions who must remain obedient and meek. The senator, who wishes Othello and Desdemona’s marriage good luck at the start of the play, concludes with hoping Othello will “use Desdemona well”. The word ‘use’ supports this Venetian expectation of women, regardless of the intended ‘to look after’ conations. Despite their little influence, women within Othello still maintain some power, particularly Desdemona and her sexual power over Othello.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Role of Women in Othello During Shakespeare’s time, women did not have the ability to possess freedoms inherent in our present day culture. Women then had to abide by the strict double standard prevalent at the time. Thus, they had to behave according to the desire of males in both the household and in public. Men ran all of the institutions and were considered, “the head of the household.”…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Feminism In Othello Essay

    • 1590 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In Othello, we have an overflow of male, dominant characters and a deprivation of female ones; so let’s notice and focus on the three women of the play: Desdemona (upper class), Emilia (middle class), and Bianca (lower class). Because she is the daughter of a man with high power, a senator, Desdemona enjoys speaking freely and openly like she does in Act I. In Act I, Desdemona puts up a front with her dad. She acts like the complete opposite of how a woman was expected to in the Venetian times. She challenges this male dominated society.…

    • 1590 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Feminist Analysis of “Trifles” Set around the scene of a murder, Susan Glaspell’s twentieth century play “Trifles” is an early feminist drama that explores the gender roles set in place by society, especially in the time period written. The plot revolves around the case of a women, Mrs. Wright, who has killed her husband, John Wright. While male characters are trying to find motive behind the murder, it is actually their wives, who are belittled throughout the play, that solve the case but ultimately keep the truth to themselves. Although undermined and oppressed by the male characters and society, these women managed to solve the case while their male counterparts were unsuccessful. Feminist criticism is a literary approach that applies…

    • 1554 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Idealism In Othello

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's play Othello, there is love, betrayal, power, and pride that bring this tragedy together. In the end, there are not as many deaths as Romeo and Juliet but it is definitely just as heartbreaking. Desdemona and Emilia are the two main female characters in Othello. While the two women share many similar traits, being heavily devoted to their husbands, there is a contrast in the women in how they view the world. Desdemona is innocent and her idea of idealism is quite different in comparison to Emilia’s experience in the world and her interest in realism.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    People did not begin to challenge the concept of a male dominated society, a patriarchy, until well after the seventeenth century, when Othello was written. In Othello, there are four main character, two of which are female. Both women, Desdemona and Emilia, are married and have lived in a patriarchal…

    • 2303 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Roles In Chaucer

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Chaucer’s satirical comedy The Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare’s play King Lear, women are portrayed in a negative light. In both time periods, female characters are supposed to be submissive and obedient to their husbands; furthermore, as seen in the text, women are frowned upon for being knowledgeable and independent. Each author uses his work to promote their opinion on gender roles in society. In the fourteenth century, society was based on hierarchal status and women were at the bottom of the totem pole.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays