Trifles and Fences While Both Fences by

¶ … Trifles" and "Fences" While both "Fences" by August Wilson and "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell depict the stresses and strains upon a group of people who are marginalized by mainstream society, the dramas deploy different narrative techniques to do so. "Trifles" describes the difficulties women face in male-dominated society on stage, while "Fences" makes its African-American characters the center of the dialogue and staging, and white influence occurs in the margins, off-stage and between acts.

Although men talk through much of the short play's "Trifles'" duration, female utterances gain significance when they are made because of their pointed nature in contrast to male verbosity. Over the course of the play, the women of the play examine the accused protagonist's home and collect her things for her stay in prison.

The drama of "Trifles" is created by the contrast created between mainstream, male society's expressed views, through the representative voices of the police, law, and neighbors, and the covertly expressed voices of the women, whose public voices are denied and ignored, much like the stuff that makes up female life -- mere 'trifles.' The crime of murder against the husband seems justified, given his ignoring of his wife's needs, and the depicted drama of how women's wisdom and opinions are ignored by men.

Wilson, in contrast, has his marginalized African-American characters dominate his staging. Like in Glaspell, the law and mainstream society is a threatening and incarcerating presence, but off rather than onstage. Wilson wishes his characters to deserve the full voice and dignity of the stage, rather than forcing the audience to constantly see the oppression the experience at the hands of whites.

The authors depict sinning characters at the play's centers -- one woman kills her husband in the female-authored play, a man has an illegitimate child in the African-American authored play. Forgiveness is called upon in the hearts of the characters on stage and of the audience, however, as all observers become aware what these people suffered over the course of their depicted.