Bernadette Mosala once said, “When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy, when women are oppressed, it’s a tradition.” This tradition is based on culture; the culture of men and women in a single society who automatically think that men are of greater importance or have more knowledge than women. For decades, women have suffered and called for help by rebelling in ways that may seem chaotic. Some have even written stories about experiences relating to the oppression of women in well known stories today. Such examples include, Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles. The play describes a man named John Wright, who is found dead with the cause of strangulation, and the main suspect, his wife. Three men try to find evidence about the crime while making fun
Susan Glaspell’s short story, “A Jury of Her Peers” is full of symbolism, which is portrayed through the bird in the story. The story takes place in a house that is set far back and is a lonely place. With the story being written in the 1920’s the attitude men have towards women is by far noticeable throughout the story with them being doubted or looked down upon. There is a murder scene that is being investigated with the wife of the murdered man as the number one suspect. The men in the story are looking in all the wrong places, where the women looked in the one spot to find the one clue that would close the entire case. The number one clue, the bird.
A Doll’s house is a realistic three act play that focuses on the nineteenth century life in middle class Scandinavian household life, where the wife is expected to be inferior and passive whereas the husband is superior and paternally protective. It was written by Henrik Ibsen. The play criticised the marriage norms that existed in the 19th century. It aroused many controversies as it concludes with Nora, the main protagonists leaving her husband and children in order to discover her identity. It created a lot of controversies and was heavily criticised as it questioned the traditional roles of men and women among Europeans who believed that the covenant of marriage was holy. Most critics around the world believe the play led to increase awareness on the need for women’s rights in all continents, on the other hand some critics opine that the play depicted women as inferior creatures and dolls who have no personality of their own.
It is known that loneliness sometimes makes us senseless. In Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of her Peers” loneliness made Minnie Foster irrational. Mrs. Hale assumes that Mrs. Wright is guilty of killing her husband because of her nonchalant answers she gives when being interrogated about her husband’s location. During the story the reader will learn more about Mrs. Wright, or Minnie Foster, and how her personality changed drastically through her twenty years of marriage with John while Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are covering up the tracks that they presume led to murder. They conclude that loneliness made her lose herself which is evident throughout the short story.
In comparing and contrast both drama A Doll House by (Henrik Ibsen), and Trifles by (Susan Glaspell). The authors shine a light on how a woman had no place in society in the nineteenth century .A woman place was in her home and her responsibility’s consist of taking care of her husband, her children and her home. Mrs. Wright was introduce to the reader as woman that was held for murdering her husband after a long time of abuse. Nora was introduce to the reader as woman that had everything in life. However both woman had endured abuse and are victims of a male dominated society.
After eight years of marriage, what allows Nora to see that she must break free from the “Doll’s House”?
In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, and the play A Doll’s House, written by Henrik Ibsen, there are two ladies who undergo two different situations. Mrs. Wright is someone who is assumed as the murderer of her husband Mr. Wright. On the other hand, Nora manipulates her husband by taking out a loan without his approval. These two ladies both face isolation in their relationships and eventually end up without their husbands. These two characters differ in their personalities, their actions in their marriages, and their overall marriage.
Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was highly criticized for undeniably demonstrating woman’s issues in the 19th century. While the play doesn’t change setting much at all, Ibsen clearly focuses in on the characterization of three insightful characters: Mrs. Linde, Nora, and Helmer. Mrs. Linde is a minor character; however, that doesn’t alter her effect on the play. She provides the mold for the perfect, idealized wife. Nora, the main character, develops rapidly in the play, and her character is a stark contrast to Mrs. Linde. Nora on the surface seems to be the epitome of a 19th-century wife, but the audience quickly realizes that she defies gender expectations with the forged loan and eventually with her separation from Helmer. Helmer not only fits perfectly into his masculine role but blindly
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.
Gender representation is a theme in which is common when focusing on the form and content of both Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godott. Even though they are represented in different manners they both highlight the gender norms during the time period they were written. Within Beckett’s writings masculinity is prominent, centralizing the powerful and protruding gender focal point. Whereas Ibsen includes the female perspective and allows the readers to become aware of the gender representation as such. Cultural values of a specific time period are suggested to have an impact on the writings and themes. As Bonny Ball Copenhaver stated in their writing discussing the portrayal of gender and gender roles in plays,
Henrik Ibsen has used the play A Doll’s House to highlight some of the social issues and cultural norms that existed during his time, a period when society was transforming to modernity. Ibsen used the characters of Torvald Helmer and his wife Nora Helmer to perfectly depict the historical and cultural norms of the society at the time, especially in the relationship between a husband and wife. The play begins with the depiction of a seemingly happy couple who are living a bourgeois life but as it unfolds, the Helmer’s marriage would later disintegrate after the expected social conventions are rejected. Ibsen, in his play A Doll’s House rejects social conventions of his time.
The men in Trifles may be detectives, but they are incompetent to the case, due to their ignorance. Ken Jaworowski, the author of a segment for the New York Times, wrote, “The women examine the details -- the trifles -- of the suspect's life to discover a deeper meaning and in the end solve a mystery by exposing a tragedy.” The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are overlooked often in this play by the men. Hale, one of the male characters from the play states, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell) This statement reveals how the men go straight to stereotypes with the women. Trifles, something of little importance, is the opposite of what the women are distraught about. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find several items that were “women things”, such as an unfinished quilt and a bird in a box with its neck snapped. These items are key symbols, not only to the play, but to the motive of the murder. Mrs. Wright never revealed that her husband had done cruel things to her, but her husband was known to be harsh at times. Mrs. Hale brings up how Mrs. Wright lived before she married, “I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that-oh, that was thirty years ago.” (Glaspell) After marrying to John, Minnie did not have a multitude of freedoms as before. She became confined to being a
The play ‘A Doll’s house’ is a three act play written by Henrik Ibsen. - BLABLA BLA-. The story, however could be interpreted differently by different readers greatly depending on their cultural context. In this essay will be discussed how a Freudian and a Feminist reader might interpret the plot, the character relations and the ending differently.
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.
In Katherine Mansfield’s “The Doll’s House” there is a much bigger story then what is being told. There is a lesson that can be learned by reading this story. Being prejudice isn’t always about people who are different colors or of different races, it can also be about people who are rich and people who are poor. People who have more money can be negative towards people who are not as well off, and people who have finer things and more money can have a negative personality, also Kezia appears to be a young girl with a still pure soul.