Trifles

I wasn’t able to come to the performance of “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell put on by Mr. Wann or the discussion following it, so my blog post is just based on a video of the play online. I really enjoyed watching it and I learned a lot. In the beginning, it was hard to understand the strong western accent of the characters so I did some research to find out that that this play is set in 1900’s america. That was prior to women’s suffrage movement. This is significant because a main theme of the play is the treatment of women during this time period. Throughout the play, it was evident that women were unfairly treated by the men. Stereotypical gender roles were outlined when the women were seen in the kitchen and criticised for their interests, while the men were busy trying to find evidence for the murder and viewing their work as much superior. The men made comments about how it is the “ladies job” to keep the kitchen in order. They scoffed at the women who were concerned about the preserves that were spoiling on the kitchen counter and made fun of them for being worried about things that “did not matter”. An important line of the play that demonstrates this treatment is when one of the man says “All women worry about is trifles”. Trifles were referred to here to show how men viewed the kitchen as small tasks that they easily could have done, when in reality the men probably could not have. However the play made what can be considered a radical shift for the time period when, the women at the end had the power because they were able to find the evidence for the murder in the kitchen by the way the bird and quilt were left by Mrs. Wright.

The women knew that Mrs. Wright did kill her husband. The unjust treatment finally pushed her over the edge and the other women in the play could relate. This play showed the audience the cycle of men being selfish and women having to deal with it and finally they did something about it. There was a small shift in power. Even though the men did not know it, the women stuck together and made decisions that show their rebellion against the way things were. It was interesting to compare the treatment to today and see that so much has changed and that women standing up for themselves have created a very different society.