Susan Sontag

Based on a true story, the play “Trifles” was first published in 1916 written for the acting troupe Susan Glaspell had began, and was written in 10 days. The short story adaptation “A Jury of Her Peers” was published in 1917 and considered quite controversial and disturbing. Which could have been because the two pieces were inspired by a real murder that Susan Glaspell covered at the Des Moines Daily News, the newspaper she reported for. The play follows the events surrounding the murder of John…

In the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell there are several different types of relationships examined throughout. Since writing this play in 1916 the relationships are very different then they are today. These different types of relationships add an extra element that enhances the readers experience when reading the play. The relationships investigated in this play are a murderous wife and dead husband, guilty friends, and the interesting dynamic husbands and wives in the 1900’s. The most obvious…

“Trifles”, by Susan Glaspell, creates more stereotypes for male and female behavior than it unseats. Glaspell is entering male dominated literature of detective fiction. During this time period the men are the main characters, protagonists/antagonists, and usually solve the crime. This is the only major stereotype that is unseated because the women solve the murder mystery from Mrs. Wright trifles. They find all crucial elements that provided motive and explanation for murder such as the canary,…

A farmer’s wife held for the murder of her husband. Who could be capable of understanding why she would do something like this? The story of this murder is told in the short story A Jury of Her Peers and in the play Trifles, both by Susan Glaspell. In both pieces of work, the investigation of this crime is taken place, but in slightly different points of view. Both of these stories show the opposite positions men and women have in society, but the short story shows more the feelings of how one…

Trifles v.s. A Jury of Her Peers “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” are two very similar but, different works of literature by Susan Glaspell. The stories both involve a murder mystery concerning the same characters and the same crime. This is a comparison and contrast essay between the play, Trifles, and the short story, A Jury of Her Peers, focusing on feminism, sexism, and Minnie Wright’s character. “A Jury of Her Peers” is the story being focused on first. Feminism plays a huge role in…

Throughout the early 1900’s, women were viewed by society as inferior to men. Those of the female sex were expected to cook, clean, and only speak when spoken to. Susan Glaspell criticizes these concepts in one of the most well known forms of feminist literature, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The story’s central point focuses on the murder of John Wright committed by his wife Minnie as the Hales and the Peters investigate the crime scene. Despite the women finding valuable evidence substantiating the…

Class distinctions, specifically gender differences, are ceaseless throughout history and continue to prevail in modern day society. In the twentieth-century play, “Trifles,” Susan Glaspell focuses her discontent with society on the impeding condescension the women of her play are exposed to. The overall play possesses a feminist connotation in which the protagonist women attempt to detach themselves from the false male-imposed identity they are given by unintentionally solving a crime. The men…

that “A Jury of Her Peers” was written in the period leading up to women’s suffrage by a woman, most intelligent readers would predict that the story would have a feminist theme. And they would be right. However, the way that the story’s author, Susan Glaspell, establishes this theme is far more unexpected. On its surface, the story itself is a rather disturbing murder-mystery about a woman who is believed to have murdered her husband. However, observant readers will take note of the subtleties…

prioritize ones morals and values. However, it is not always easy. Although marriage is a beautiful experience it can also have some negative aspects. There are times when things get rough and the strong relationship begins to dwindle. The husbands in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” mistreat their wives, which in turn results in their own death. There are many similarities and differences between these two works, many of which happen because of the effect the husbands…

Often times people tend to focus more on achieving rapid results or working extra hard to reach their goal, that they tend to neglect the long term effects associated with putting excessive strain on their bodies. Throughout Susan Bordo’s “Reading the Slender Body”, and Greg Garber’s “ESPN Sports Injury Series”, we will explore the numerous ways in which our vision of the good life can become tainted or damaged due to the effects associated with repetitive harmful behavior. This includes,…