Depiction Of Symbolic Separations Between Men And Women In The Trifles

Introduction 

The play ‘Trifles’ is an artistic representation of the fluid nature of gender roles in our continually evolving human society. Even during the times during which the play was written, the role of men and women in society was, apparently, a constant question; fodder for social commentary. The opening scene of the play shows a house in disarray and relative squalor, perhaps an indication of what would happen if both genders abandoned their roles. The chaotic scene, dirty dishes, a disheveled house, and unwashed clothes in Minnie Wright's home points to a woman who has surrendered her role in the domestic setting. The relative squalor and imminent poverty in the farmhouse, on the other hand, is perhaps an indication of a household that has not been robustly supported by the man of the house, Mr. Wright. All in all, however, as the play painstakingly demonstrated, society would collapse without the clearly defined roles of men and women.

Play Outline

Comparing the setting of the 'Trifles' play reveals that although the debate may be held concerning who does what and why the underlying non-negotiable is that society survives on the back of duty. It doesn't matter as much who does what, just as long as the fuel that drives society-duty-gets performed. Changing times may allow for some household chores and community responsibility to be performed by different genders during different eras. The mid-14th to 16th centuries, for instance, strictly disallowed women within society to hold any professional roles. Any such women who felt the need to become scholars, scientists, members of the clergy, or trading merchants, were scorned at and held in suspicious disregard within society. Fast forward to the 21st century, and it is perfectly normal for women to participate in the professional fields such as law, medicine, academia, and theology.

Gender roles and responsibility

In the play, Trifles, a world with strict gender responsibilities, is revealed. The principal characters in the Trifles play are seen to be held by men. The county sheriff, the county attorney, and Mr. Wright are all seen to have been men of stature within society, while the women- Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Wright, and other women throughout the play are seen to have predominantly been housewives and home-keepers within the community. Social order and restrictions have confined the woman to the kitchen home, as only the men participate in the outside professional world. The overall play is, however, the case of the murder of Mr. Wright, mine Wright's husband. In the opening scene, the murder has already happened, and the characters are in the process of trying to uncover the tracks of who is thought to have committed the heinous crime. Minnie Wright is uncharacteristically calm, even as she announces the news about her husband's death.

Feminism and women oppression in society

As the play progresses, however, the plight of women in the then culture is slowly revealed. It appears that Minnie Wright might have been enduring domestic abuse, a fact that perhaps led her to strangle her husband to death. She looks remorseful as if her act is just now hitting her as immensely evil. When her fellow women discover that there are chances that she might have killed her husband, they come together, forming a unified band of protection around Minnie Wright, whom they now identify with now as a woman enduring abuse from a man who supposedly loves her. The theme of domestic violence in this play is thus posited here as one of the roots in the early times of the expanding feminism movement that has now permeated the entire society of modern times.

As the women rally behind Minnie Wright, even hiding evidence that may implicate her in the murder of her husband, the men continue to wander outside, clearly focusing on issues that seemingly do not matter. In the play, they are seen to be moving in circles, not making any progress, yet looking like the most important characters in the play. This scenario may be a metaphor for what is happening within society; as the women suffer and plot in silence, men continue to remain clueless, wandering about and focusing on trifles that do not, in the grand scheme of things, matter in the slightest. Back then, just as now, this scenario attempt to highlight the enduring plight of women in society.

Depression and the suppression of feminine role in society

Mrs. Hale’s account of Minnie’s life reveals the fact that Minnie was a much happier person than her current circumstances have made her out to be. Before she got married to Mr. Wright, she was ebullient, comfortable, and lively. Now, however, she looks reclusive, depressed, even unkempt. Her house, aside from being an indication of her state of mind, is also perhaps an indication that she is the type of person that lives more in their head than in her physical surroundings. The squalor and disarray of her house is her declaration that she no longer cares for the external world; she’d rather spend all her time in suffering, within her head, not caring what other people would say, nor caring about handling her household. This fact, however, seems to slip the attention of the two investigators, who have instead opted to focus on pieces of evidence that they think would be relevant to the case, rather than focusing on information that would lead them straight to the perpetrator of the murder.

Societal and cultural differences

The difference in society between now and back then is that the people who used to question gender roles, for their safety and away from the general disdain with which society would accost them, did it in private and away from the glare of the general public. The bolder ones like Glaspell opted to put their concerns, albeit metaphorically, into books and journals. According to the author Clarkson (282-290), by the mere virtue of being different human beings, we are subjected to various human experience, regardless of gender. It would, therefore, be immensely inaccurate and flawed, to attempt to fit any significant number of human beings, women in this case, into any one single construct. It is for this reason, therefore, that women have learned to take refuge in silent justice, where they avenge themselves for the crimes of society and keep quiet about it. This appears to be the only way through which they may deal with the oppressive obligations typically leveled against them.

In yet another piece of analysis, Hilton (147-149) claims that both the murder and the investigative efforts are symbolic of the competitiveness that exists between the genders. While the clueless investigators focus on their misguided understanding of cultural gender characteristics, the murderer likely gets away with her crime. According to these men, it is not probably, in their heads, that a woman committed this crime. Their prejudices against the female gender are actively guiding them even further from the truth of the murder mystery. Hilton regards the Trifles play, in this regard, as a play written to highlight the cultural divisions of the two genders. The play, according to him, demonstrates how easy it is to dismiss the contributions that each gender brings to the societal table.

Society today views various aspects differently from society in the period during which this play was written. What remains clear during both eras is that one’s social expectations in a big way, define how they perceive society. Gender perceptions influence politics and vice versa. The men in Trifles do not seem to grasp how one woman would be so distressed to the extent that they are pushed to murder their husbands. Although the women in the play are also initially encumbered by the same dilemma, they seem to quickly get over the doubt and understand the plight of their fellow women. Hinz-Bode calls this ‘the universal dilemma of society versus self’ (Hinz-Bode, 2006). According to her, the disconnect between the two genders would eventually result in extreme reactions, as happened in the play trifles. According to her, this was bound to happen because one gender continually felt like her boundaries were being overstepped into.

Conclusion

In summary, however, the play and its characters are indicative of society’s differing role definitions for men and women, both then and now. Sarah Mia intimates that in her writing of her play, Glaspell focused on the differences between men and women in society, by highlighting the symbolic separations between them. Such symbols range from geography, motives, and the power of process. In the play, additionally, men and women are separated through their mannerisms and how they choose to speak their words. Mia Sarah, therefore, in her volume, makes more apparent what has been all too well outlined in both the play and in society as a whole. Men and women are circumstantially, psychologically, culturally, and physically different.

Works Cited

• Clarkson Holstein, Suzy. 'Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell's Trifles.' The Midwest Quarterly 44 (2003): 282-290.
• Hilton, Leon. 'Trifles, By Susan Glaspell.' Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory 21.1 (2011): 147-149. Web. 26 Nov. 2019.
• Hinz-Bode, Kristina. Susan Glaspell and the Anxiety of Expression. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006. Print.
• Mia, Sarah. 'Study of Symbols in Glaspell's Trifles.' Tinggi Darul Ulum Jombang. N.P., 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2019.