Women Are \"Limited\" From the Very Beginning

¶ … women are "limited" from the very beginning of the play even in the sense that nearly a third of the drama passes without any role from the women whatsoever -- they are minimized in the background as the men do their work. The men carry on their official business in the house and the women are simply there to gather up things for Mrs. Wright while the men attempt to solve the crime. The men dominate the conversation and it is not really until they go upstairs to leave the women to themselves that the women come to the forefront. Though, before they leave their wives downstairs, there is a primary indicator of social roles that takes place in the kitchen. When the County Attorney discovers the mess of the fruit preserves, Mrs. Peters explains that Mrs. Wright was worried about the jars breaking. The underlying theme to the play is uncovered when Hale says "well, women are used to worrying over trifles" (10). Thus, is not only the woman's place to be concerned with superfluous things but this is to be expected of her. The County Attorney criticizes Mrs. Wright for being a terrible housekeeper for the sake of her dirty towels whereby Mrs. Hale is defensive and implies that men's hands are not always as clean as they think them to be and the County Attorney brushes her off: "Ah, loyal to your sex, I see. But you and Mrs. Wright were neighbors. I suppose you were friends, too" (11). This is a gross assumption on his part that women are bound together on the basis of their gender and also must be friends on the basis of proximity.

The fact that the men make fun of the women discussing the two different ways to make a quilt is solidifying the women's role as well as putting them in a belittled position. They begin discussing the quilt because it is expected for them to just sit and wait while the men finish investigating. They are also expected not to muss up the house so as not to ruin any evidence. This is interesting because it is the examination of the quilt that shows the women that there was something awry with Mrs. Wright due to her erratic stitching. Mrs. Hale begins to fix the stitches and Mrs. Peters is nervous because she is attempting to be obedient in terms of not touching anything. By fixing the quilt, this is how they discover the bird cage. Upon deciding to gather up quilting supplies to bring to Mrs. Wright in town, this is how they discover the dead bird and the possible motive for the murder of Mr. Wright. Glaspell presents an interesting case here in that the women were merely expected to tag along with their husbands yet they were the ones who found the crucial evidence that would convict Mrs. Wright of murder.