Despite some differences between Minnie Foster from Trifles by Susan Glaspell and Ruth from Still Stands the House by Gwen Pharis Ringwood, they have many similarities. Although their relationships with their respective spouses are in stark contrast, they do share qualities like their seemingly inadequate femininity and lonesome lives. Firstly, Ruth Warren, the wife of Bruce Warren can be described as sweet, caring and even somewhat passive. When Hester Warren, her sister in law treats her coldly she replies with kindness, only saying “Please—I’ve never had a sister, and when Bruce told me he had one, I thought we’d be such friends—” (Ringwood, 6). Her characteristics also help maintain a tranquil relationship with her husband despite the many tribulations they face in their lives. Indeed, after a quarrel over selling the property they lived on, Bruce ends with, “I …show more content…
Hester says, regarding Ruth, “I’ve seen her at the window, looking at the town. Day after day she stands there” (Ringwood, 12). Ruth craves human interaction, and begs her husband to sell the house for that very reason. Likewise, Mrs. Wright’s house is described as being “down in the hollow and…lonesome” (Glaspell, 7). Mrs. Wright herself seems to be in stark contrast with her pre-marriage self; Minnie Foster. The latter is described as being pretty and lively whereas Mrs. Wright lives the life of an outcast, keeping to herself. The loneliness in the two women’s lives adds a dark atmosphere to the respective stories as well as an undeniable gloom.
In conclusion, Ruth Warren and Mrs. Wright share many life experiences and struggles, but what makes them different is the way in which those struggles shape them. While Ruth Warren retains her cheerful attitude despite her gloomy situation, Mrs. Wright becomes a shell of her former self, yielding her happiness completely to her
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Show MoreRuth and Isabel are both slaves who are attending the funeral of their previous owner Miss Finch. Both of them are excited when they realize they will be free once their owner dies, as stated in her will. However Miss Finch’s brother Robert doesn 't approve of this. He instead sells them to Anne and Elihu Lockton who are Loyalists currently during the Revolutionary War. Anne makes the girls call her Madam and is very cruel to them.
Ruth May has fun experiences with the fellow children and starts learning that their games are much different then the games she played like hide and seek or Mother may I? The cultural surroundings make her a more observant person and she is able to see the drastic differences in each others lives even at her young age. Leah Price was a very dynamic character and her surroundings had changed her very much. She was fascinated by the people of the Congo, how these women were able to carry and balance items on their head so easily and how fascinating the Congo really was. She was devoted to her father and her religion but quickly lost it while in the Congo.
Throughout the book, Moody narrates the difference between and her mother’s way of thinking which signifies their generation gap. Anne mood’s mother, Toosweet Davis (Mama) led a challenging life of inequality and suppression. Just like many African Americans of her generation, Mrs. Davis fears to protest for justice and equality. Similarly, Toosweet lacked the confidence to stand up against her husband family. After witnessing this, Moody showed the lack of respect for her mother’s actions of belittling herself.
In her society, it is the woman that is left to be alone in her own thoughts, shown through her husband’s freedom to leave the house and not come back until he wants to versus her confinement to the house. This is reflected through the various “hedges and walls and gates that lock”, making her stay isolated in the house. Ultimately, the character is overtaken by the imagination and through the
The story opens with Mrs. Wright imprisoned for strangling her husband. A group, the mostly composed of men, travel to the Wright house in the hopes that they find incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright. Instead, the two women of the group discover evidence of Mr. Wright’s abuse of his wife. Through the women’s unique perspective, the reader glimpses the reality of the situation and realizes that, though it seemed unreasonable at the time, Mrs. Wright had carefully calculated her actions. When asked about the Wrights, one of the women, Mrs. Hale, replies “I don’t think a place would be a cheerful for John Wright’s being in it” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 7).
Introduction. A Jury by Her Peers authored by Susan Glaspell narrates the investigative events that occur after the death of John Wright in his house. As neighbors and the Dickson County administration, themes of sisterhood and gender roles appear through the actions and hidden motives of the characters. The book, A Jury by Her Peers, expounds on the silent suffering of women and being perceived as unintelligent while providing justifications for covering up of John Wrights death.
She grows old with the self-condemnation of staying with Nathan for as long as she did, for if she mustered up the courage to leave the Congo earlier, Ruth May would not have died. Ruth May’s plea for Orleanna to forgive herself, just as Ruth May has forgiven her, presents the possibility of repentance for anyone, no matter how great of consequence their mistakes are. Though she never passed the age of 6, Ruth May seems to have learned better than most the importance of finding strength from and learning from wrong-doings. Urging her mother to “Move on. Walk forward into the light”, Ruth may passes along her own moral reassessment to anyone whom will listen, telling the error in letting so-called sins weigh down ones self forever
Abandonment and Identity in Housekeeping The setting of Housekeeping begins in Fingerbone, Idaho, where the narrator, Ruthie, and her younger sister, Lucille, resides. Although Ruthie and Lucille are sisters, they went through many heartbreaking events that made them view the world differently. Thus, because of their indifferences, they isolated from each other. Throughout the novel, Ruthie and Lucille never had a concrete parental figure to look up too, thus leading them to have a sense of abandonment.
Wright is an example of a battered wife that experienced many levels of abuse” (Schanfield 1655). Schanfield outlines “physical and sexual abuse, but also emotional, economic, verbal and isolation as methods of control and domination” (Schanfield 1655). Mr. Wright completely dominated Mrs. Wright and uses isolation to make Minnie Foster inferior in their relationship and in society. In “A Jury of Her Peers” the women were caucusing over who Minnie Foster used to be and Mrs. Hale said she “remembers her as a lively girl with pretty clothes, wearing a ‘white dress with blue ribbons’” (qtd.
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.
Within the past year, the treatment and perceptions of women have been challenged due to the various marches and movements. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romance, The Scarlet Letter, presents how women were viewed in a Puritan society, falling into a rigid dichotomy of either being the “saint” or “sinner.” This is otherwise known as the “Madonna/Whore complex,” which is explored through the life of the novel’s protagonist, Hyster Prynne. Her struggles and experiences through this dichotomy ultimately affect her both physically and emotionally as it represses her femininity.
Yet, at home, she devotes love and curiosity to her family. This contrasts to multiple other characters, as the relationship between Ruth and her single mother is inspiring. Accordingly, she respects her mother, who provides encouragements like, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” With pure gratitude, Ruth seeks to apply her mother’s words. When bullies trouble Philip, Ruth can empathise with him.
The New Women turns out to be helpless and incapable all by herself. Only trough the help of benevolent men representing benevolent patriarchal systems Ellie is able to follow her dreams and fulfill her desires. Capra’s film presents the New Woman of the 1920s as a simply wrong concept which naively thinks of women as completely independent when in reality women are more than just dependent on men. Ellie’s crying out that she cannot be without Peter is more than just a phrase said when being in love. Ellie could have actually not been on this trip for so long if it was not for Peter.
The two women further differ in their view of the men in their life. The actions of these two women bring their similarities and differences out for the audience to see. Nora and Kristine are very independent for women in the 1800’s. Kristine is a widow of three years, and has yet to remarry. She touches on this in Act I, while speaking to Nora about being a widow.
This shows a balance between gender roles, as well as the embracing progressive changes within culture and society. In the story “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, a third-person omniscient narrator, relates how Mrs. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, experiences the euphoria of freedom rather than the grief of loneliness after hearing about her husband’s death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband, Mr. Brently Mallard, still lives, she realizes that all her aspiration for freedom has gone. The shock and disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.