Essay on Observations of Women in Trifles - 513 Words

Whose side are you on? The men’s? Or the women’s? In â€Å"Trifles† by Susan Glaspell, the women are more observant than the men. The women in the play discover Mrs. Wright’s motives for the murder of her husband. The sexist and rude men are preoccupied by the bigger problem when they should be looking for small details that lead to the bigger problem. The women in the play are observant. For example when the men are looking for evidence in the kitchen the women take notice of a quilt that is not finished, â€Å"She was piecing a quilt. I wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it? They wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it!(The men laugh†¦)†(263) When they find the quilt, it is the first step†¦show more content†¦Later the reader realizes that the sewing gets messy because Mr. Wright kills Mrs. Wright’s bird right in front of her. It was the trifles the women noticed that led to the bigger problem. The women in â€Å"Trifles† are observant which leads them to know the motives for the killing of John Wright. For example, after they find the bird they realize, â€Å"Somebody- wrung-its-neck. (Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror.)† (268) This shows that the women discover the dead canary. They start to put all the small details together and discover that the bird was strangled just like Mr. Wright. Furthermore the men are at the stove when they realize the birdcage, â€Å"(Seeing the birdcage.) Has the bird flown?†(268) The men are still clueless and do not see what the women have discovered. The men are ignorant towards the bird cage with no bird in it. Another example is, â€Å"Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was going to- what is it you call it, ladies? We call it- knot it Mr. Henderson.†(IR.271) This shows how the men are once again making fun of the women. The men don’t realize that when Mrs. Hale says â€Å"We knot it† she is referring to the way Mr. Wright was killed, by Mrs. Wright, with a rope knotted around his neck. The women took notice of the small things that led to the motives of John Wright’s murder. Because the women looked at all theShow MoreRelatedSusan Glaspell s A Jury Of Her Peers995 Words   |  4 Pages The subordination of women was a prominent theme in the 1900’s, during a time when women were often treated as second class citizens to men. Susan Glaspell wrote the play â€Å"Trifles,† in 1916, which portrayed how women’s lives were seen as less significant throughout American society. 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