Susan Glaspell and Trifles: The Author's Presence in the Play

All literature reflects its author, and "Trifles" is a particularly noteworthy case, due to its setting and certain other elements. While many students would take this opportunity to write, say, a criticism on gender, (its representation in the work, its influence on the author, etc.) I do not feel that such an approach would allow us to fully appreciate the play's other aspects. My copy of collected writings, (named, aptly, Literature,) gives a brief biography on the late Mrs. Glaspell; so if I may be allowed the cliched statement-of-purpose, I shall make it my task to convince you, my reader, that the elements in this play are immediately related to the elements in the life of the playwright.

The biggest thing to keep in mind '" I believe '" is that "Trifles" is a play not written by a Latin-speaking master of words like Shakespeare, nor a spoiled and sarcastic gentleman like Wilde, but an optimistic woman from humble beginnings. That optimism must not be forgotten. Anne Sexton committed suicide, Edgar Allen Poe was a raging alcoholic, but there is the occasional artist who actually lived a (reasonably) steady life.

We'll begin with gender, as it is such a strong part of the play. Susan Glaspell was, obviously, a woman; but more specifically she was a woman who knew what she wanted out of life and, rather than demand it or beg for it, simply took it. She went to university, directed theatre, started an acting troupe, and wrote ten novels. If there is feminism present in "Trifles," which I certainly don't intend to argue, then it is not the loud sort of feminism that brandishes picket-signs at unsuspecting passers-by: Glaspell had more respect for herself than that. Our ideas of present day feminism expect women and men to be identical, but Glaspell teaches "different but equal" -- or at least "different."

Women, in this play, are portrayed as having many of the traits that today's feminists are trying to rid us of. Rather than blunt, independent, and strong, they are gentle, loyal, sensitive. When left alone in the house of a dead man, the ladies mutter about how cold it is, and one of them, Mrs. Peters, does not wish to go into the next room without her friend. Perhaps they're not exactly fearful, but they are what would call "on edge." At one point near the end, Mrs. Peter "goes to pieces" while handling a dead canary. And yet for all of these "imperfections" in the female characters, we think no less of them: in fact we don't even see them as victims, for it is exactly these traits that lead to the solving of the mystery. By the end of the play we hate the men, who are only concerned with hanging the lady whose guilt they can't prove; it is women who triumph in this play, and it is their "feminine" attributes of sympathy and love that bring about this victory.

The above can be seen as a sermon by Glaspell on gender differences, and well it may be. But allow me to suggest that this could be due to personal frustration rather than social outrage. Literature is written by man; or woman, of course. If a play contains political commentary, it is because the author, Susan Glaspell, felt that way personally. In this case it is probably because of her having been looked down upon or ignored in the past due to her status as a woman.

Having finished with that particular subject, I shall move on to the two remaining topics I wish to cover, though it will not be necessary to go so in-depth. First, the scene takes place on a farm. The murder was done with rope from the barn. Although Glaspell did not live on a farm, she was the daughter of a grain dealer, and spent her youth living in Iowa with her family. She was entirely familiar with farms and their dealings, and it should not surprise us that she chose to set this play in a setting so familiar to her. We are given another brief glimpse of her feminism when a male character expects the farmhouse to be kept always clean, but the woman complains that "There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm."

Finally, I would not have you walk away from this without some understanding of Glaspell's optimism. As her female characters get more immersed in the plot, Glaspell is herself clearly interested; that is, she takes herself seriously, even when her characters are merely commenting on meaningless trifles. She wishes to draw the reader in, and she is confident in her ability to do so. Why, after all, should she lack confidence? In the third paragraph of this paper I have listed a few of her accomplishments, and they could not have been achieved by either a picketing feminist or a sniveling helpless housewife. She was a strong, and secure in her strength.

Even though the story deals with a murder investigation, Glaspell returns often to her more natural (as I like to think it) kind of story: a light one. The character Mrs. Wright is truly hysterical, the way she talks of her husband's death. Meanwhile, the way the dead bird is discussed implies gentility and kindness. Then the conversation about cats, and how many people are terrified of them, can hardly be taken seriously. In short, with my limited understanding of the subject matter, I see Susan Glaspell as a confident woman from Iowa and, at heart, a sentimentalist.