The play, Trifles is part of a series done by the author Susan Glaspell performed in the1900’s. The play is centered around the death of John Wright in his little farm home. “The chief suspect in the murder is his wife, Minnie Wright, who is locked up pending investigations” (Holstein). The investigations are led by George Henderson and Henry Peters, an attorney and sheriff respectively who accompany a key witness Lewis Hale to the Wrights’ house for the probe. The wives of Henderson and Hale also join the probe and decide to take an alternative form of investigation. Moreover, they also acquire “some personal items to take to Minnie, “who is at the time locked in prison” (Bryan). Throughout the play, Glaspell brings out the gender conflict that exists in society. The society oppresses women and views them in a lower status than the men. Trifle’s author is against the inferior view and oppression of women, especially by men, and uses the characters as well as the setting to advance this discourse.
Women’s oppression refers to the powerlessness of women and their relegated status in the institutions and aspects of society. This oppression is akin to the sexism concept, where women are discriminated against or subjected to stereotypes based on their sex. Therefore, in this context, the social oppression of women refers to their unfair perception, relegated status, and treatment in comparison to their men counterparts. In the play Trifles, “the author portrays the society of the time as through a patriarchal dominance where women are below men” (Bryan). The play mocks this system of domination that lowers the status of women. Through different characters in the play, Glaspell demonstrates the social oppression of women. This oppression manifests through the opinions and actions of the characters.
The social oppression in the play manifests in the way men belittle the authority of women in social matters such as homicide. When Peters and Henderson proceed to investigate Wright’s home, Mrs. Peter, and Mrs. Hale, who was the wife of the witness, accompany them but are not involved in the investigation process.
127 our experts are availableright now
For instance, in one example,” the women are left in the kitchen where the men are assuming there is no evidence and proceed to search the house and barn” (Glaspell,775.). The kind of role relegation evident in this action demonstrates the magnitude of the social oppression of women. The separation of roles for both men and women right from the start of the play is a demonstration of the bias towards the latter. The opinions and statements of the men in the play demonstrate the social oppression the women were facing. In one incident, while investigating the sink, the attorney moves to the sink to clean his hands, and when wiping them with the towel, he remarks that ‘Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?’ (Glaspell,775).
The mentioning of ‘ladies’ and ‘housekeeping’ shows that a woman’s role reduced to housekeeping, which is an inferior position in society. The oppression of women also establishes in Hale’s words. While explaining how he got to John Wright’s farm, he recalls that he wanted to have the victim on a party telephone and decided to talk to him before Minnie. However, “Hale says that he did not understand why what a woman’s preference; in this case, Minnie mattered to Wright” (Glaspell, 773.). This example shows the relegation of women to a low status. It is a form of social oppression that is biased against women. Harry did not see the importance of a woman’s opinion in a family. It means that men have authority over women in family issues.
The setting refers to the geographic environment as well the period through which the storyline is advanced in literary works. Sadly the 19th century is an era that were associated with patriarchal oppression for all women in the homes, as well as the workplace. Most women did not have jobs, or education their role was relegated to housekeeping and domestic duties in the homes. In the play, the characters are linked to the portrayal of women in the 19th and 20th centuries, where they were beginning to liberate themselves from the social oppression and patriarchal order. This is a perfect setting to portray the treatment of women. Using a domestic setting, the women are associated with roles that pertain to housekeeping while men are accorded higher duties outsides homes. Therefore, the domestic setting is intended to equate the role of women to housekeeping. The domestic space allows the audience to perceive the oppression of women in the society as well as their awakening through suffrage to defy patriarchy.
The play Trifles is centered around the murder of John Wright, where “the key suspect is his wife, Minnie” (Mael). Three men, Peters, Henderson, and Hale serve as Sherriff, attorney, and witness respectively in the investigation. The author, Glaspell, brings out the theme of social oppression of women and shows the struggle by women to liberate themselves as well. The characters’ actions and comments indicate that “women have been relegated to a low position than men in society” (Mael). Moreover, the setting of the 19th to the 20th century as well as the domestic space mirror the oppressive patriarchal system of the period and the expected roles of women.
Cited
- Bryan, Patricia, L. “Stories in Fiction and in Fact: Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers’ and the 1901 Murder Trial of Margaret Hossack” Stanford Law Review, vol. 49, no.6, (1997), pp. 1293-1363. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1229348. Accessed 25 June 2020
- Glaspell, Susan. “Trufles” The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, W. Norton Co, 2014, 771-787.
- Holstein Suzy C. “Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell’s “Trifles” The Midwest Quarterly 44.3 (2003): 282-290. ProQuest. Web. 25 June 2020.
- Mael, Phyllis. “Trifles: The Path to Sisterhood. “Literature/Film Quarterly 17.4 (1989): 281-284 ProQuest. Web. 25 June 2020.
