Preview

Stereotypes In Trifles

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
965 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Stereotypes In Trifles
For many years society has categorized men and women in several different ways. During this contextual essay analysis essay I will be discussing the stereotypes of women in the story of “trifles”. The most important stereotype introduced in this play is that women are lesser creatures than men--that they are not capable of thinking as competently as their male counterparts. The men allow this stereotype to interfere with the investigation as they continually comment on the silliness of their conversation. We will be looking at the different ways the women were treated vs the men and how they both dealt with things throughout the story.

Throughout this play, you can identify diverse differences in how women are viewed and how they truly
…show more content…
The opposition is disproved when the men slowly realize that chores are not done, dishes are not washed, cooking is not going on, and towels are not clean. Not only is this in the play, but also real life. Men expect the women to do all of their chores even if it is hardly noticeable. In the story, the men’s failure to recognize the small details that must be related to the murder tells how men value themselves not only in the story but real life too. By not being so emotional the women successfully lead the men into the answer to the murder case, but unfortunately for the men they laughed and could not take the women seriously enough. The messy kitchen, the quilt, the Birdcage, the dead canary, and other things and parts of the house were considered as trifles by the men, which were given life and a purpose by the women. This suggests that women need more trustworthiness. The small details suggested by the title of the play itself is comparable to women in a society today and how they are taken for granted by men because they were regarded as small creatures and nothing but to serve the men and to follow them around. Lastly, another binary opposition that could be found in the play is the hierarchy of truth and lie between everyone. The intentional act of women to conceal the evidence from their husbands is recognition of the fact that the state's rank in society could be reversed. For the greater of some people, for the good of Mrs. Wright whom they had known suffered abuse emotionally from her husband. It is their way of fighting against the societal-recognized statuses of men and women. They wanted to reverse the two statuses given by society and giving answers and justification through figuring out the different pieces of evidence and marks of abuse and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    twelfth night

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Elizabeth and Sylvie come back from their trip after 3 days, “In the sink was a mountainous pile of dishes.” and the boys are just sitting at the table playing cards instead of cleaning up their mess. Back then she thinks that only women works and men can do whatever they want but now Elizabeth realizes that she was the reason her sons are like that. “All along I bin blamin’ men fer bein’ men. But now I see that oftentimes it’s the women that make them that way”. After she realizes her mistake, she tries to tell her sons to help out in the family, she hopes to at least change them so that when they have a family, they can help out their wives so that in the future generations, women and men have equal standing in the house.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the 1900’s, women have struggled with gender roles in society that leaned more in favor of men. Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, reflects on this struggle by blatantly separating the ideas, opinions and actions of the men and women in the play. As the title Trifles suggests, the men in the play view the two women’s concerns as unimportant and frivolous in comparison to the “real” work the men have to do. Glaspell’s characterization of the sheriff, Henry Peters, the attorney, George Henderson, and the neighboring farmer, Mr. Hale, portrays them as typical men of the time who decide to take charge because, as men, that is their duty and only they know what can be done and how to go about discovering the truth. They only take along Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to collect some things for Mrs. Wright, never taking a moment to think that from a woman’s perspective, the answer to the murder could be found.…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    that, instead of showing how men were seen as superior in the 19th century, the play…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One such example is when the attorney general Henderson tells Mrs. Peters that because she is married to the sheriff, she is married to the law and therefore is a reliable follower of the law. Mrs. Peters' response "Not--just that way," is very interesting in that it suggests that over the course of the play, she has found a different aspect of her identity, perhaps and an empowered woman and not just a housewife. Another interesting quote from Glaspell’s play is when Mrs. Hale states that women "all go through the same things--it's all just a different kind of the same thing." While Minnie Wright’s dealt with her particular situation differently than either Mrs. Peters or Mrs. Hale, they all seem to reject male dominancy to some degree. This concept of female identity and solidarity has a huge impact on the outcome of the play, as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decide, despite breaking the law, to conceal the evidence they uncovered that could be used to convict Mrs. Wright for the murder of her…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Men.....can’t live with them, can’t live without them! Same can be said for women...can’t live with them, can’t live without them! Men have the distinct impression that they are smarter, stronger, and above all, think they are the superior gender between man and woman. Men have a tendency to think women are, weak, silly, and just downright inferior to men. Thus, a ‘knowing’ glance between men says much of the man’s attitude toward what a woman thinks or says. Yet, we see here in this play, it is a man, Sheriff Peters, that makes the first of many mistakes made by.. yes.....men.…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Susan Glaspell’s one act play Trifles,written in 1916, is based on actual events that occurred at the turn of the century in Iowa. Glaspell worked as a reporter where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife, Margaret Hossack. Hossack was accused of killing her husband, John, by striking him twice in the head with an ax while he slept (Overview: Trifles). Glaspell’s memory of the Hossack trial inspired her writing of Trifles. Glaspell’s play isrepresentative of American turn of the century society that explores gender relationships and power between the sexes.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although most of the stereotype views of women are now no longer held. There seems to be a clear parallel between the idea of the idealised Victorian and the mentality some people hold today; that an ‘upper' class woman should not work, or do only charitable work eg Mrs Birling, but a girl from a ‘lower' class should work for the rich e.g. Eva smith. Some people still in our society tend to hold this stereotyped view. These pre-judgements are still relevant to our time. Therefore the play relates to every person in the audience and through the confrontation of this stereotype the play remains…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blackrock Essay

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The theme of masculinity is prominent throughout the play. Physical strength and other male attitudes are revealed The audience are positioned to respond to the theme…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Irony in Trifles

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell is set in the nineteenth century. A trifle is a thing of little value or importance, so in the play Trifles the irony of the story is quite humorous. In this time period women were not treated as equals, men believed women did not have as much intellect as themselves, and treated them accordingly. With this in mind the irony of the play revolves around how much better the women were at finding clues and a motive to the murder committed by Mrs.Wright then the men, and how condescending they are of the women.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Trifile

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Differences between women important to the play, because from the beginning of the play the men were there simple for legal purpose and the women were there in a way to connect with Mrs. Wright’s home and connect with Mrs. Wright as a person, by who she was known as and who they knew her to be…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Examples Of Social Norms

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The play begins with a criminal investigation taking place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Wright was found dead in their bed with a rope around his neck, with his wife being the largest suspect. Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, a neighbor and friend to Mr. Wright, gather around discussing the matter, while Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stand off to the side, patiently waiting to be a help to personal connection if the men see fit (1362). Throughout the story, the men make light of any problem or important matter that the women may have, or have to offer. They initially notice how dirty and untidy Mrs. Wrights home is, and because this is very unordinary for the women of that time period, 1916, that made Mrs. Wright that much more suspicious. The men also bring up that though Mrs. Wright is held for murder, she is too busy worrying about her perseveres, an unimportant matter to any of the men (1365). Glaspell connected her title with the theme of her story with a comment made by one of her male characters, Mr. Hale, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles". As though any problem, or worry a women may have is unimportant and exaggerated compared to any "real" issue, that a man might have. Near the end of the story, the women feel sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright for they know how it feels to be a women and they feel that perhaps her actions were justified, for her husband did strangle her beloved bird. Though they have gathered much evidence to close the case, the men do not feel as if their input will be worthy of solving the…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Women have been treated as lessors to men in the past, feminine equality is a new concept that has only been around for about a century. In both plays “Trifles” and “A Doll’s House” they address stereotypes of women during these time periods. “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell explores the mysterious death of Mr. Wright (Mrs. Wrights husband). As the play progresses the audience gets insight to Mrs. Wright’s life, and how Mr. Wright treated her. Mr. Wright was known to be a brash, and unruly man. The women in this play (Ms. Hale and Mrs. Peters) both know the kind of man Mr. Wright was, The men may have known this too, but the time period the play takes place in, domestic violence toward women was not highly looked into. The text “Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting. Writing” explains that Glaspell’s main force behind the play “Trifles” was to shed light on the treatment of women. The text states that “Women…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender roles set a standard for how every person is supposed to behave according to their sex. These expectations are based on stereotypical traits and there are often consequences for not following the norms. Shakespeare’s Macbeth gives evidence of how men and women were perceived during the Elizabethan era and what would happen if they did not conform to those roles. Most of the characters’ actions in the play are influenced by how strict the expectations are. Society’s definitions of masculinity and femininity force the characters to conform to certain behaviors based on their gender, which leads some to reject or criticize their given role.…

    • 1452 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

    • 7391 Words
    • 30 Pages

    Being claimed and lauded by propaganda feminist, some critics argued that Ibsen’s intention in writing the play is not to resolve gender inequality and to liberate women in the society but rather just to illuminate it and reveal a moral issue faced by every person in his life (Cliffsnotes).…

    • 7391 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Better Essays