ipl-logo

Isolation In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

558 Words3 Pages

The play of Trifles by Susan Glaspell is about a criminal investigation in a household. A man by the name of John Wright has just gotten murdered in the middle of the night and the policemen have come to the house to try and investigate the crime scene, the wives of the policemen came with them. There is a range of themes that reoccur throughout the whole play. The two themes that are most prominent in this piece of literature is the theme of the difference between women and men and each genders role in society along with the theme of isolation. There was an overarching theme of gender roles in this play. Right off the bat, the play presented how degrading the men were towards the women. These men thought of their own wives as incompetent. The men talk down to the women. For example, at the end of the play, the county attorney said “She was going to -- what is it you call it, ladies?” (Act 30) The last word of this phrase seems to be very …show more content…

The first symbol of this isolation comes from where the house is located. The house is “down in a hollow and you don’t see the road.” (Act 21) This location represents the idea that this house is broken away from society. The society never knows what is happening behind the closed doors because of its seclusion. There are two objects in the house itself that play a role in the theme of isolation that the play holds. These two objects are the telephone and the fruit. The Wright’s do not have telephone service. This represents the distance between society and the family. It is isolated from the whole community, there is no way to communicate with the outside world. The fruit also represents seclusion. The woman is “worried about that (fruit) when it turned so cold.” (Act 9) She was so scared that it would affect her whole life when it really is not a big deal. This shows how she has a distorted view of society because of how isolated she is from the real world and its

Show More
Related

  • The Ideas Of Society In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    1454 Words  | 6 Pages

    " Trifles" demonstrates the oppressive attitude usually acknowledged among men towards women. In the play, different scene in this play show how men don’t realize the little things that can help in solving this crime events mystery. Most of the play reflect on gender roles and power dynamics together with stereotypes of both men and women. In the play, men are stereotyped as strong and brave, hardworking as they have a professional positions while the women are seeing to be delicate and weak from the beginning of the play.

    Read More

  • Comparing Women In Susan Glaspell's Trifles And A Doll House

    1369 Words  | 6 Pages

    Research papers require a lot of critical thinking, planning, and research. First, one needs an interesting topic. Then, one needs at least one critical reading strategy to analyze the literary works in the topic. Finally, one needs to do preliminary research and write a basic thesis statement. After that, one has the beginning of a good research paper.

    Read More

  • Domestic Violence In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    1577 Words  | 7 Pages

    In this section of Drama and Dramatic Poetry, my English class read “Trifles” and “POOF!”. “Trifles” is a one-act play that is dramatic and serious. In this play, the husband, John Wright, was found strangled with a rope in his bedroom and all of the evidence points to his wife, Minnie Foster. The question explored throughout the play is why she killed him. The story hints that she was a victim of domestic violence, but the audience cannot be absolutely sure because it does not outright say it.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Trifles

    1014 Words  | 5 Pages

    The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is largely based on stereotypes. The most prevalent one explores the difference between gender roles. Glaspell exerts the repression of women in the 1900s. During that time, women were highly looked down upon by men, and were only seen as the housekeepers and child bearers. This example is displayed throughout the play with the men, however, the women in this play prove that the stereotypes of gender roles held against them are completely wrong, which is shown through the characters, set design, and symbolism.

    Read More

  • Who Is Minnie Wright In The Play Trifles

    460 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Susan Glaspell's 1916 play ‘Trifles”, the absent character, Minnie Wright is suspected of killing her husband, though there is no clear-cut motive available to the County Attorney or Sheriff. We are introduced to both the crime and the suspect through the eyes of those present to investigate the crime and the wives there to gather personal items for her. In the statement given by Hale, we are advised that Mrs. Wright seems incoherent or dazed upon his encounter with her. Hale further states, when he inquired of her husband, Mrs, Wright showed no emotion or concern at the notification of her husband’s death.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    706 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even the narrator’s often disjointed accounts of the past all push towards a fond remembrance and need without a want in today’s society. “an eyesore among eyesores” Miss Emily’s house was called, that was to show that even with its cobwebs and peeling paint this building stood as a testament to an age long gone, a

    Read More

  • Real Women Have Curves Play Analysis

    865 Words  | 4 Pages

    In comparison to the movie, the play undermines male dominance by focusing on women’s efforts to solve their own problems. First of all, there aren’t even men in the cast of the play,

    Read More

  • Perceiving Evidence In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    796 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Susan Glaspell's play “Trifles,” there is a difference between the men and women’s way of perceiving evidence to Mr. Wright’s murder case. The men spend most of their time searching for solid evidence upstairs where Mr. Wright's murder takes place. However, the women spend most of their time in Mrs. Wright’s kitchen. Instead of seeking tangible evidence, they inspect the condition of the items and acknowledge how they have been muddled around. Different perspectives lead to a variety of discoveries such as the women’s way of perceiving evidence.

    Read More

  • Trifles Gender Roles

    823 Words  | 4 Pages

    The one-act play, “Trifles,” by Susan Glaspell, has several themes that are incorporated within it. There are several dominant ideas such as female identity, patriarchal dominance, isolation, and justice are themes that are all reflected in different ways throughout the play; however, gender is the main theme of “Trifles.” There is a considerable difference between the roles of the men and the women in this play. The men are expected to act in a more controlling, dominant way, while the women are expected to act in the typical ‘housekeeper’ fashion. The theme of gender is brought out through the play in many dramatic elements such as character, tone, and dramatic irony.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In The Play Trifles

    1001 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nevertheless, while using the play’s setting to first project the notion that men are superior to women in the society, the actual murder investigations depicted by the play goes to underline that indeed women are not inferior to men. Therefore, while placing the women’s intelligence over that of men, Trifles challenges the typical male-dominated detective story by deviating from the norm of men being superior, women only being good for the kitchen, and women paying attention to unimportant things like a jar of preserves busted. Although the men in the play, Trifles, are depicted most determined to resolve the murder by combing throughout the entire house to discover the clues related to the murder and the motive of the murder, women are keener in observing the small spaces they have been allowed to access. In the

    Read More

  • Necrophilia In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    1173 Words  | 5 Pages

    One way that Faulkner furthers the theme of isolation throughout the short story is through the interactions Emily has with the people of the town. At the beginning of the story, Faulkner paints a sad story about the life of Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner stated, “When Miss Emily died, our whole town went to her funeral… the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant---a combined gardener and cook had seen in at least ten years” (1.730). This quote is significant because it illustrates that Miss Emily was isolated from her community for quite some time. This opening scene paints a picture of unwavering loneliness experienced by Miss Emily.

    Read More

  • Literary Devices In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    Symbolism is one literary device Faulkner uses and has major importance to the story. One big symbol in the story is Emily’s house. For most of the townspeople they only saw the house from the outside in never the inside out. Faulkner gives a good description of the house by saying, “it was a big squarish frame house that once had been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on

    Read More

  • Trifles By Susan Glaspell Literary Analysis

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    Quen Head Comp 2 11:30 Literary Analysis “Trifles” Gender Roles Everyone around the world has a mindset that certain genders have certain rules in relationships and everyday life. The author, Susan Glaspell, showed many ways in the story “Trifles” how males can look at things in a different perspective than women sometimes do. For generations, women have fought for power and rights, one of the biggest events in history is The Women’s Rights’ Movement starting in 1848 and going on for years until 1920 when the 19th amendment that granted American women the right to vote. Throughout history the fight between women and men has been a long process from rights, to gender specific roles in career, pay, and equality.

    Read More

  • The Struggle Of Women In Susan Glaspell's 'Trifles'

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    Freeing themselves, not only from men but from society’s submissive stereotype. Trifles will always be taught in American Literature because it is too profound not to be read. Susan Glaspell wrote this play for the women who felt confined, yearning for freedom. She is still pleasing audiences with this lovely play and always will. Strong and Brave women will continue to be powerful, just as Glaspell was.

    Read More

  • Feminist Roles In Pygmalion

    2825 Words  | 12 Pages

    This play consists of a lot many themes. To cite a few: Rewriting the tale of Cinderella and Sleeping beauty, Class, language and phonetics and Independence. But in this paper, I would like to work on the feminist aspect of this play for this aspect, is the one which impressed me more. As this paper is based on Gender analysis I am restricting my analysis to the theme of Feminism in this play.

    Read More

More about Isolation In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Open Document