Trifles By Susan Glaspell Essay

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In “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, gender focus is a key concept used to shed the light of feminism on audiences all over. “Trifles” is a play first performed at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts who’s theme opens the eyes of women throughout centuries. Susan Glaspell enlightens her audience of the issue of sexism and how women are constantly belittled and seen as unimportant. The play begins with a witness, Mr. Hale, explaining to the county attorney his story of how he found Mrs. Wright and her late husband the morning of the incident. In remembering the occurrence, Mr. Hale mentions, “I didn't know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John” (968). Mr. Hale seems to sympathize Mrs. Wright in saying her husband didn't really care about her or her concerns. The county attorney did not even appear to care about the remark Mr. Hale had made about Mr. Wright and cut him off saying, “We’ll talk …show more content…
Peters and Mrs. Hale. The two women know that if Mrs. Wright goes to trial with any kind of evidence against her, she will be at the mercy of a jury consisting of twelve men and no women. Not one person on the jury will be able to relate to Mrs. Wright or feel the same things she has ever felt. She will be treated as a mad woman who has lost her mind. Alkalay-Gut points out, “the evidence will be used against the defendant no matter how they are interpreted by the jury because the men cannot fundamentally comprehend the lives of the women” (3). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters take pity on Mrs. Wright because of this and because they know exactly how it feels to be belittled by man simply because of their sex. Their world at this time was run by men at all times. Even the kitchen, the so-called women’s place, is run my men. The women found it hard to see Mrs. Wright as a bad person simply because she had finally done something about the man who constantly controlled