Explain how Susan Glaspell highlights the plight of women and the attitude of men towards women during her time in “Trifles”.
One of Susan Glaspell’s most famous works, a one-act play called Trifles (which was later adapted into the short story, A Jury Of Her Peers) deals mainly with issues of the womankind that are rampant even among society today, especially in India and most Middle East countries, where women are still being regarded as second-class citizens. That the author chose to highlight this sort of issues showcases undertones of her feelings, and a rather sarcastic view of the way women are treated, because we can see that the women have somewhat ‘triumphed’ over the men in the play, despite being scoffed at and looked down upon by the latter. Examples of ways the men put the women down in the play are as follow. “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves,” uttered by the sheriff. “ and “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” by Hale. Moving on to the synopsis of the play…
The play begins with Mr. Hale, a neighboring farmer, and his wife, Mrs. Hale; a sheriff, Mr. Peters, and his wife; and the county attorney, Mr. Henderson walking into the Wrights’ farm house to look for clues on the murder of Mr. Wright the previous day. Mr. Hale proceeds to describe what has happened upon his arrival at the farm house, that he has found Mr. Wright dead with a rope slipped around his head and Mrs. Wright rocking in her chair, with an unsettling and almost-palpable serenity. They then come upon the untidy kitchen and the men begin dissing the women over worrying about trifles before moving upstairs to investigate the scene. A while later, the men come back down to find the women discussing what they deem trivial matters and laugh at them, much to the women’s embarrassment. After the men have gone outside to the barn, the women finally come upon a clue as to why Mr. Wright has been murdered, in the form of a bird cage that has been tampered with, and the bird itself, which neck has been wrung. The play ends with the women concealing the dead bird from the men to prevent Mrs. Wright from being found out.
The core theme of the play is the subservient role women play in the patriarchal society, in which women are treated as mere slaves. The men in the play are clearly opinionated that a woman’s role is confined to the kitchen solely. Even the women cannot seem to reject the stereotype that has been imposed upon them, as indicated by Mrs Peters words, “She said she wanted an apron. Funny thing to want, for there isn't much to get you dirty in jail, goodness knows. But I suppose just to make her feel more natural.” This further underlines how deeply entrenched the role of women in the society is. The fact that the County Attorney has mentioned that Mrs. Wright is not much of a housekeeper after saying condescendingly, “And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies?” also corroborates my point. The male chauvinism clearly pronounced in that statement, implies that women are only objects subjected to keep the house clean (and other menial tasks) at all times. It has probably never occurred to him during that time women are equally capable. They could easily be men’s intellectual counterparts, given the right opportunities which during that time are unfortunately, second to none.
The plights of the women in the play are not too hard to identify. The men speak to them as inferiors, and jeer at them endlessly for their fuss over what they consider trifles. The men attribute this to their gender, and are almost disgusting in their sexism in which they consider it to be an essential characteristic of the female gender, to worry over trifles and whatnots. Hence, the arrogance with which the men in the play speak to the women. This behavior leads us into thinking men of that time are wrapped in their own shell of self-importance, failing to notice that they’re stifling the opposite sex.
It is rather obvious the women in the play are voiceless. Their opinions are not sought, and the men treat them rudely, almost as if they’re only there for entertainment purposes, or to feed their own egos. The stark dramatic irony here is that in the end, it is the women who have found out the motive for the murder of Mr. Wright, even though it seems as if the men are the ones doing most of the job (or made to seem like that by the men themselves). They portray the women as dumb, in the sense they cannot do nothing much other than worrying over the small things so much so they have not even bothered to consult them, believing if they couldn’t solve the mystery, there is no way the women can.
It also seems that the women are not even allowed to defend themselves, as indicated by the conversation on page 10 and 11. Mrs. Hale has jumped to the defense of Mrs. Wright housekeeping skills by saying sarcastically that “men’s hands aren’t as clean as they might be” and it is immediately shot down by the County Attorney as something said only because she is ‘loyal to her sex’ and ‘friends with Mrs. Wright, implying that it is baseless, chiefly because it’s an explanation offered by a woman. Also, Mrs. Wright is right away held culpable for the less-than-cheerful state the place is in and the implication that Mr. Wright might have had something to do with it is too, dismissed by the County Attorney with his own explanation about the possibility that the couple did not get on well.
According to Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Wright ‘used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir’30 years ago and that she has changed after marriage. Mrs. Wright is also described as ‘kind of like a bird herself -- real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and -- fluttery.’ It is apparent she is a prisoner in the institution of marriage, as is the norm at that time, where husbands are leaders of the family and the wives are expected to respect and obey them at all times. Feminism at that time is not yet a big movement, therefore most women living during that period are unaware and continue to let themselves be treated that way. This is obvious in the way Mrs. Wright is suppressed by her husband, who has stopped her from ever singing again and even killing her bird in a show of power. She is not even allowed to socialize much, living a rather lonely life.
Sadly, despite the advancement of technologies and education levels, the attitude of men towards women hasn’t changed much. Job and education opportunities aside, women are still being made fun of because of their tendency to worry about the small things. This attitude towards women is ridiculed in Susan’s play, who has the women emerge as ‘winners’ in the end, thanks to their attention to detail. Small, apparently trivial matters can help unravel a mystery, and the men’s failure to realize this makes them the butt of the joke in the play, especially after the way they’ve patronized the women.
