Glaspell's Play Trifles

Words: 1900
Pages: 8
Open Document
Plays, short stories, and poems are wonderful examples of literature. Each is written in a distinct style that is specific to their genre and author. There are many similarities between them but plays have an extra piece that makes them special. They begin with telling the reader the setting, dialogue, and place of the play. When the reader knows this they can understand the play better, visualize what is occurring, get a look behind the scenes, help the reader understand more about the characters, and they benefit actors.
The beginning lets the reader know important information such as the setting, dialogue, and where the play takes place. Plays can be easier to follow because of this. It is basically a quick rundown of what is to come. …show more content…
A play that is set when King Henry was alive would give the reader an idea of how an event may have happened. A murder that took place in Great Britain during King Henry’s reign would be different than one that happened today in California. Obliviously the murder weapons would be different and more than likely the motives. One of the best examples would be Glaspell’s play “Trifles”. Right from the start, we are informed of where it is taking place, an abandoned farmhouse. Then we learn what the characters look and act like. As the play goes on readers are lead to suspect that this play is set back when women were to do as their husbands told them to. The men criticize the shape the house is in while the women find clues as to what happened. Each little clue sends them in the direction of the murderer. All the clues come together and point to Mrs. Wright. Without the knowledge given to the reader, these puzzle pieces may not have come together so easily. The state the house was in was a big indication that the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Wright was not a good one. Women were expected to keep the home clean and the farmhouse was far from neat and tidy. The house was almost a symbol of their relationship, a mess. …show more content…
Sure plays can be read but they were intended to be performed. People that are sticklers for detail tend to like plays more than a poem or short story. Plays are longer and have more time to add in little details. Short stories are not as long and do not get hung up on details as much. Poems are short and sweet with no time for minuscule details. When reading a play the brain starts to picture what it is reading. This is natural and occurs with little to no effort. The human brain is a complex organ that is very imaginative (Dorstewitz). We read the words then our brain acts like a movie theater and projects a scene. It is like our own private cinema without the overpriced snacks. The more detail the better we can create the picture in our heads. Shakespeare's, “Hamlet” always comes to mind when thinking of picturing a scene. Ophelia having a fit on the floor was probably one of the funniest and creepiest dramatic act outs we all pictured. Plays contain the placement of objects and characters. They tell us that a creepy woman is sitting in an old rocking chair, the candle on the table is dying out, crickets are chirping, and the main characters are gathered by a fire. A short story would be sure to mention that a creepy woman is present and the main characters are feeling uneasy but I would not expect it to include the candle or the crickets. A poem would
Show More

Related Documents: Glaspell's Play Trifles

Symbolism In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” was written in 1916 as a one-act play. “Trifles” is considered to be feminist literature and Glaspell’s most famous play. Susan Glaspell helped found Provincetown Players, which was a theatre that aimed to produce plays by only American playwrights. Glaspell was a very talented woman; according to her biography, “She not only wrote plays but she also acted in them, directed them, and helped produce them” (742). “Trifles” is a classic feminist play about two women, Mrs.…

Words 656 - Pages 3

Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Trifles- Protagonist: Mrs. Wright, Antagonist: The Attorney, Setting: Winter of 1900, Central Conflict: Male superior of women's lives In Susan Glaspell's play Trifles, Mrs. Wright has been accused of the murder of her husband, John Wright. She claims she was sleeping when someone put a rope around his neck. According to Glaspell's play, "MRS PETERS: It's the bird" (145). The dead bird and the cage represents Mrs. Wright's marriage with John Wright. He was very abusive and mean to her, which explains…

Words 234 - Pages 1

Trifles By Susan Glaspell Gender Roles Essay

because they are actually less in number but because they were treated unequally for such a long period of time. In the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell, this exact issue is brought to light by showing an example of just how poorly women were treated in the early 1900’s. It is displayed in Glaspell's play how gender roles can create quite the controversy. The gender-driven conflict in Trifles is created through characterization, symbolism, and author's diction. Right from the start, the different roles men…

Words 531 - Pages 3

Trifles- Battle of the Sexes Essay

Women, by nature, are more sensitive and in tune with their feelings. They look further into why a person may have done a bad thing verses where the men only care about guilt or innocence and cannot sympathize with the accused, especially not in this play because the accused was a woman. The county attorney, Mr. Peters and Mr. Hale never attempt to identify with Mr. Wright or even consider him as a distinct individual with specific behaviors. Instead, they view him as they do his wife, Mrs. Wright,…

Words 1889 - Pages 8

How Is Mrs Hale Presented In Trifles

English 117 10/3/14 Rick Walters In the drama “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, we are introduced to two female characters named Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. Even though both characters are vital to the development of the theme and plot of this play, the character of Mrs. Hale deeply contributes to the important elements of plot, theme, and the development of the other characters. However, I feel it would do both of these characters, as well as Glaspell’s theme of the unity in women, an injustice if I do…

Words 891 - Pages 4

Literary Lens

Susan Glaspell lived for the first thirty-two years of her life in Iowa.” The narrative is set in a midwestern area which is comparable to Glaspell’s life. Also, the narrative was first published in 1917 based on Glaspell’s earlier one-act play. The narrative states,” First published in 1917, the story is based on the author’s one-act play Trifles…” (Arp 406). The play follows the characters where as the narrative comes from the point of view of Martha Hale. The reader then is opened up more to Martha’s…

Words 1454 - Pages 6

Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Suzy Clarkson Holstein wrote a literary criticism about Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”. Writing mostly about the major differences in the men and the women characters in the play. Holstein goes into detail about how the men look through the scene of the crime in a very legal and investigative view, looking for major clues that would tell why Mrs. Wright would kill her husband. But find nothing in doing so. And the women of the play, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale look through the other parts of the house…

Words 199 - Pages 1

Essay on Wife and Mrs. Wright

that women worry over that men see more as trifles. There is another point in the play when the women comment on the tidiness of the house and how she must not have been happy with her husband. However, it seems Susan Glaspell expresses her view that the entire men see is a messy house and that the wife was not a very good house keeper. They do not see these things as being very important. The women realize that these small things that the men call trifles could actually go towards motives. Mrs. Wright…

Words 670 - Pages 3

Murder Of A Songbird Analysis

In her article “Murder Of a Songbird”Christina Baica she relies “Silent Justice in a Different Key” by Holstein, Suzy Clarkson and “Changes in Women’s Role Participation.” by Lewis, Gwendolyn L to discuss gender roles, in order to make the claim that women were too often treated as less than, and in this case for her marriage she felt murder was the only way out. She elaborates on the interactions between the males and females and how much their men value them as people in terms of sharing more…

Words 1133 - Pages 5

Janine Merrit Literary Drama Essay

Janine Merritt Professor George English 104 14 December 2014 Setting the Atmosphere In literature, setting is just as important as characters, point of view, and plot. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills like White Elephants” and Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” both have characters that are different types of people but are connected by how they relate to their choices; and the potential consequences and the uncertainty of their fate. The use of symbolism in both stories introduces the reader to…

Words 1020 - Pages 5