Gender In Trifles

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The day is unbearably warm with the wicked sun blazing down over cropped fields. Cattle are set out to graze on the rustic farmlands. Farmlands that are rich in wheat, calloused hands, and milk-maids. High in the trees, the songbird sings of the actions it perceives. He sings of bales of hay being thrown into wagons, rugs being hammered on wash lines, and of days that are long but nights that are longer. He croons songs that unknowingly tell secrets of the men and women of the land. They are beautifully sardonic songs with movements of longing, despair, and teary eyes. He sings of men that are stocky, rough, weathered by hard labor. He sings women that are stifled, battered by their chosen gender roles. In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell …show more content…
The men: The Sheriff, county attorney, and Hale, are often in the distance searching the upstairs, barn, and outdoors looking for evidence of the murder of Mr. Wright (1128). These are areas that are typically seen as male dominant. The men show little to no emotion about the murder. They are more concerned about finding evidence when the largest part of the evidence is right in front of them, the disheveled house. The Sheriff mocks the women when he finds out that Mrs. Wright, whom in incarcerated, is more concerned about the state of her preserves than the sentence looming over her head (1128). Hale seems to laugh about the issue saying: “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles (1128).” I think this is where the patriarchal divide becomes predominately present. In this divide, the Sheriff, Hale, and county attorney view themselves as superior and cannot be bothered with tasks of lower value. The men are distant, arrogant, and sexist. It is the men who assign Ms. Hale and Mrs. Peters trifle-like duty roles (1129). Throughout the play, the men mock the women for these trifles. An example of this can be seen when the men laugh at the women when they become interested in a half hazard sewn quilt (1130). Throughout the play, the male characters continue to stay static. Their perceived gender role blinds them to the evidence that lays right …show more content…
Peters and Ms. Hale assume their given roles: tidying the kitchen and gathering supplies for the incarcerated Ms. Wright (Minnie). They are distraught over the accusations of the men against Minnie but also question her innocence. They understand why the house is in disarray and stick up for Minnie. The women, while tidying, reflect on Minnie’s life. Minnie was once vibrant and full of life. Upon finding a tattered birdcage, the women woefully reflect on Minnie’s life with Mr. Wright, who is described as a tough man (1132). They determine that it was the marriage that had stifled Minnie’s exuberance causing depression and isolation (1132-1133). I think that it is this reflection that the women come to realize the true distinction between their roles. Minnie’s lackluster marriage mimics that of the women’s own lives. The women are resentful for being left to deal with such “trifles” (1131). They feel solidarity with Minnie but also guilt that they never helped her. Ms. Hale and Mrs. Peters fully realize that the men have never treated view them equally, just as Mr. Wright never treated Minnie equally. None of the men have ever viewed any of the women as intellectually equal. The women find evidence of the murder through tidying their “trifles”: a canary with a broken neck
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