Tai Dang

Dr.Laster
English 1102

Two Separate Spheres

Up until the late twentieth century, women faced gender inequality and unfair prejudice.
Many feminist movements arose as a result of a discriminatory patriarchal society, and after much
resolve women were given their natural rights, although true equality has not been fully achieved
even to this day. Written in 1916 in the midst of the Progressive Era, Susan Glaspells Trifles is an
early example of feminist drama that deals with culture-bound notions of gender and sex
roles. Taking place in the Midwest, the play depicts County Attorney George Henderson, Sheriff
Henry Peters, and neighboring farmer Lewis Hale investigating the death of farmer John Wright.
Accompanying their husbands, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale accidentally uncover the truth behind the
murder and decide to keep it secret. In the play, Glaspell shows that because men and women exist
in different gender spaces, they have different perceptions, judgment, and morals - all of which affect
the outcome of the drama.
In the beginning of the play, the manner in which the men and women approach and
perceive the Wright household differ greatly. As soon as the men walk in, they treat the house as a
crime scene. This is evident by George Henderson immediately asking Henry Peters if anything
[has] been moved and Lewis Hale about what [had] happened when [he] came here yesterday
morning (Glaspell 912-913). Being legal officers, they are there only to fulfill their role in the
collection of evidence that will lead to the true murderer. In contrast, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters enter
the house as a home. Their only obligation is to collect some of Mrs. Wrights items for her while she
is imprisoned, belongings which the men believe are of little importance as the sheriff describes
them as Nothingbut kitchen things (Glaspell 914). Not only do the men dismiss the womens
actions, but the women themselves are socially conditioned to believe that they are just dealing with
trifles, shown with Mrs. Hale saying, "I don't know as there's anything so strange, our takin' up our
time with little things while we're waiting for them to get the evidence (Glaspell 917). Throughout the
play, however, the men conduct their investigation without any results. This portrayal can be seen as

Glaspell emasculating male authority, as the men physically crisscross the stage as they verbally
crisscross the details of the crime, both actions leading nowhere, staged to show ineffectuality and
incompetence (Ben-Zvi 155). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are not actively searching for any
evidence, and because of this they are able to see the crime scene through a different outlook. As
the two are gathering Mrs. Wrights, or Minnies, belongings, they are able to relive [Mrs. Wrights]
entire married life rather than simply to research one violent moment (Holstein 287). Holstein
clarifies his point, claiming that through shared memories of Minnie, which provoke memories of their
own life due to the similarities, and speculation about Minnies feelings and reactions to her
circumstances, the two women are able to fully relate to Minnie Wrights situation. After they find
Minnies dead pet bird, the two realize they found the vital piece of evidence that the men sought
after all along: a motive; something to show anger, or--sudden feeling (Glaspell 917). The gap in
perception between the genders is crucial as the men are blinded with prejudice and hubris and the
women are led straight to the culprit.
In addition to perception, there exists a difference in morals and judgment. When
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters first discover the motive of Mr. Wrights murder, they hesitate as
to whether or not to conceal it. Weighing their moral conscience out with a loyalty to their own
gender, they make the decision to hide the dead bird rather quickly. Because they have no say in the
law of society, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters women have taken the right for themselves (Ben-Zvi
158). In contrast, the men represent the law and act upon it, and any withheld evidence would go
against their ethical code. Although the two women do not doubt Minnies guilt at all, they show how
her abusive husband and adverse circumstances left her with mariticide as the only option. Morally,
the women are only empathetic to Minnie and her life of maltreatment. The two women mainly regret
not alleviating her loneliness and depression, as Mrs. Hale exclaims Oh, I wish I'd come over here
once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who's going to punish that? (Glaspell 921). At
the end of the play, the women show no remorse over the concealment of evidence. Aware that Mr.
Wright treated Minnie cruelly, the women believe that the "murder was totally understandable"
(Alkalay-Gut 6). The murder of John Wright does not affect their conscience as it does for the men
and the rest of society. As the "distance between the laws of the kitchen and the outside world
increases," the women realize that the gap "negates the possibility of a 'fair trial' for Minnie Foster"
(Alkalay-Gut 3, 8-9) Instead of regret, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Wright display control and certainty over

the men. As Holstein states, this is because in the beginning, the women are silent from the
powerlessness [but] their final refusal to speak rings with the power of intention and choice.
(Holstein 284) Because the men underestimate the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters utilize the
mens misjudgment to protect Minnie Wright from a predisposed jury, which at the time would only
consist of males.
The contrast between the women and men of the play and their perceptions, morals, and
judgment reveal how disconnected the realms of gender were during Glaspells time. Mrs. Hale and
Mrs. Peters serve as examples of woman challenging male authority before the womens rights
movement was even fully established. In writing Trifles, Glaspell acts as the voice of a generation of
women who were no longer bound to the home, but not yet accepted in the marketplace. Stuck in
this interim period, women sought to advance in society and cope with the status quo by supporting
each other whenever possible.

WORKS CITED

Holstein, Suzy C. "Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell's "Trifles"" The Midwest Quarterly. 3rd
ed. Vol. 44. Pittsburg: Pittsburg State U, 2003. 283-90. HCC Learning Web. Web. 10 Nov.
2014.

Ben-Zvi, Linda. ""Murder, She Wrote": The Genesis of Susan Glaspell's "Trifles"" Theatre Journal.
2nd ed. Vol. 44. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992. 153-59. Great Works: American
Literature. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Hinz-Bode, Kristina. "Trifles (1916): The Female "Voice" of Community." Susan Glaspell and the
Anxiety of Expression: Language and Isolation in the Plays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006.
55-68. Print.

Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. 911-23. Print.