Trifles Gender Roles

It is often assumed by today’s society that women are dependent, easily influenced, passive, and home-oriented. Susan Glaspell uses her play “Trifles” to represent some of the stereotypes that are made about genders. A “trifle” is an item or thought that ranges from little value to no value at all. Glaspell does well portraying the differences in gender roles throughout the play. The title “Trifles” foreshadows how the men in the story neglect significant clues because they are too woman-like, making them not relative to a crime.
From the beginning of the play, it is apparent there is tension between the males and the females. Mrs. Wright is passive due to the fact that her husband has just been murdered. The sheriff, county attorney, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters have come to search the Wrights’ property. Mrs. Wright is the only person to fall under suspicion for because she did not call anyone when she discovered her dead husband in addition to appearing unconcerned. The first thing one of the men notes when coming into the Wright’s home is that the kitchen was a disorganized mess with no clean towels; he and the other male characters assume …show more content…
Throughout the play, the women were consistently undermined and treated inferiority to the men during the investigation for being concerned with "trifles." However, in the end, they are the ones who ultimately solve the case. Mrs. Hale’s and Mrs. Peters’ “trifles” led to the evidence needed in order to solve the case. Because Glaspell’s play ends with the audience knowing that the women have found the evidence without the men, she exposes that false assumptions are often made about women like the “little things” they value and worry about, also known as “trifles.” Perhaps, Glaspell is trying to suggest that what has been stereotyped a “trifle” for most women might not always be irrelevant after