Essay about Trifles and the American Experience

â€Å"Trifles† and the American Experience Brian J. Moye English 202 Anne Marie Fowler April 15, 2013 â€Å"Trifles† and the American Experience Susan Glaspell’s one-act play â€Å"Trifles† was written in 1916. It was written based on real events. When Glaspell was a reporter, she covered a murder case in a small town in Iowa. Later, she wrote this short play which was inspired by her investigation and what she observed. Glaspell used irony, symbolism, and setting in her creation of the authentic American drama, â€Å"Trifles†, to express life for women in a male-dominated society in the early nineteen hundreds. Glaspell identifies the inferiority of women by using body language throughout this play. From the very beginning, they are in some†¦show more content†¦At the end of the play the county attorney makes a sarcastic comment to Mr. Hale that at least they found out Mrs. Wright was not going to quilt it, and asked the ladies what they called it. Ms. Hale, holding the bird in her pocket, answered and told him that they called it – knot it (Glaspell, 2011). The title of the play â€Å"Trifles† is a major symbol of how men viewed women in the early nineteen hundreds, something small, and of little value or importance. One of the examples of trifles within the play is the bird in the cage which symbolized Mrs. Wright and the life not only she had to live, but other women faced during this time as well. Women, as well as Mrs. Wright, felt caged in her own homes, and some were not able to associate with their friends. Women had no right to vote, or have a say so as to anything except what went on inside the home as far as cleaning, cooking, sewing, and tending to their children. The stove fire symbolizes Mr. and Mrs. Wrights’ relationship. The fire had gone out of their relationship. The stove fire going out made the house freezing cold, and caused the jars of preserves she had worked so hard on, to crack and break. These jars represented the warm and caring life that Mrs. Wright longed for. When the house turned cold, as did her relationship, the jars would crack and break, just as Mrs. Wright’s emotions, leading her to murder her husband. All of the jars wereShow MoreRelatedSusan Glaspell s A Jury Of Her Peers995 Words   |  4 Pagestreated as second class citizens to men. Susan Glaspell wrote the play â€Å"Trifles,† in 1916, which portrayed how women’s lives were seen as less significant throughout American society. The following year, Glaspell wrote the short story â€Å"A Jury of Her Peers,† which was essentially a longer and more detailed version of â€Å"Trifles.† The stories are alike in many societal imp lications, since â€Å"A Jury of Her Peers† was based off of â€Å"Trifles.† However, they also have some notable differences. The most strikingRead MoreTiffles Annotated Bibliography1375 Words   |  6 PagesTrifles Annotated Bibliography Alkalay-Gut, Karen. 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