This weeks presentation by Mr. Wann and Bonnie-Jean was the perfect way to end the semester. We were able to take all that we had learned throughout the course and channel it through the play Mr. Wann and his friends performed. As opposed to teaching us something new, Bonnie-Jean and Mr. Wann allowed us to use the knowledge we acquired throughout the semester in order to interpret the play for ourselves.
Being that "Trifles" was first performed in 1916, we as a class were able to automatically understand what that meant. We discussed that because of the subject matter of the play, it must have caused, at least some, controversy. Also, this was only a couple of years before women gained the right to vote which must of contributed to the controversy of it all. The thought that women are secretly superior, or even equal, to men and able to problem solve, and think more proficiently than men are, was unheard of during this time. Women had to be inferior to men, and were thought to be incapable of surpassing their intellect. It is because of the values people in this time period possessed that lead one to immediately assume that a play inferring that women are secretly superior to men, would cause an uproar.
The one act play almost mocks the male characters in it. Throughout the play the men are searching for clues and any evidence they can find but are left without a motive. Opposed to them are the two women who remained in the kitchen during the entire performance; it was there that the true evidence was revealed. The women looked at all the small details that the men ignored which gave away Minnie's motive for killing her husband. Essentially, the two women were able to discover the motive, and hide the evidence, all before the men could even suspect a thing. In that sense, "Trifles" is mocking the intellect of the men who express their superiority throughout the play but are unaware of what's truly going on, giving the women the upper hand.
Watching "Trifles" was an amazing experience, and a great way to end the semester. It truly allowed us, as now knowledgeable women's studies students, to view and interpret what it represented both in the play itself, and in the time period it was performed.