The Impact of Stereotypical Gender Roles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Impact of Stereotypical Gender Roles - Essay Example Susan Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’ shows how women have utilized the concept regarding their traditional position in the society to their advantage. While the men disregard the discussion of women as unimportant, the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover the mystery of the murder, which the sheriff and Mr. Hale come to investigate. They are looking for evidence against Mrs. Wright, the farmer’s wife suspected of killing her husband. The women in course of their search discover some strong evidence against the wife of the farmer but at the same time, their empathy for the woman who was strongly dominated and psychologically tormented by her husband gets the better of their honesty. The two men initially laugh as they find the women pondering over the actions of Mrs. Wright and Mr. Hale comments with ridicule, â€Å"They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it† (Glaspell) and both men laugh. However at the end of the play when the women fin ally discover that Mrs. Wright was actually going to ‘knot it’ they keep it hidden from the men very carefully. The farmer dies of a rope around his neck. Here the missing links of the case are the motive and some strong evidence. The women find the motive, but before the men enter the room they quickly hide the evidence (a parrot, Mrs. Wright’s favorite, killed in the same manner as the farmer) and talk as if nothing important has been found. The men who were already taking the women’s abilities very lightly do not suspect anything mysterious. Not necessarily through words, but via gestures, and mainly through silence, they keep the most important thing hidden from their husbands, especially that which would have helped them in their work. The main problem, however, lay with the underestimation of the women in the men’