Susan Glaspell: Trifles

I thought the play "Trifles" was a good example of how Susan Glaspell's writing reflected the oppression and frustration felt by the women of her time. We are led to believe that Mrs. Wright killed her husband because she felt she had no other way to escape his dark, negative presence. He made the house a depressing, unpleasant home, where not even a canary had a chance to sing. It appears that his killing the small bird was the last straw for Mrs. Wright. She could shpoulder no more of Mr. Wright's oppression and negativity.
Mrs. Hale speaks of visiting the Wright home and how she came to avoid visiting there because "it never seemed a very cheerful place." She also alludes to the fact that Mrs. Wright used to sing just like the bird, but doesn't anymore. It is as though the life has been sucked from her marrow. This is further evidence of the oppression placed on the household by Mr. Wright.

The play also addressed the importance of the little things in life. I think Glaspell was trying to show that it is these small "trifles" that keep a person sane, and provide a focus when things go awry. And it is through these trifles that the real story is told. I felt as though Glaspell was trying to show the women as real people with real feelings and problems. It is through the little things that I got a sense of not only the plight of Mrs. Wright, but also Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. All three women in the play are trying to exert their independence in a world ruled by the men in their lives.

Glaspell was an authentic writer who used her worldly experiences to color her pieces. She left behind the quaint writings of girls looking for happiness in marriage for the stark realities of the negative influences society placed on the "modern woman." Once she found her true voice she took on the role of a major voice for the women of her time.