Symbolism in Susan Glaspell's Trifles: Women's Oppression

Introduction: Irony and the Oppressed Woman

As Ben-Zvi notes, "women who kill evoke fear because they challenge societal constructs of femininity—passivity, restraint, and nurture" (141). For this reason, Susan Glaspell couched her play Trifles in comedic irony so as to show the real effects of oppressed womanhood that finally explodes in a way that would get the point across to the audience without frightening it to death. After all, the play was written at a time before women had even received the right to vote, a right not granted until 1920. It was conceived decades before the feminist movement came into existence during the 1960s following Betty Friedan's landmark work The Feminine Mystique.

Trifles contrasts sharply with the view of womanhood that had emerged by the end of the twentieth century, at which point women had entered the workforce, were running large companies, and were no longer expected to stay in their homes like birds in cages. This essay shows how Glaspell uses symbolism in Trifles to illustrate the oppression of womanhood prior to women's sociopolitical emancipation in the twentieth century—and the ill effects that could follow that oppression when the jars of sanity began to break.

The Rocking Chair: Restlessness and Hidden Turmoil

Symbols abound in Trifles, and all of them serve as an indication of how Mrs. Wright was pushed to the brink. First, there is the symbol of the rocking chair—a chair that is never still or firmly planted on the ground but always moving back and forth, front to back. It is a symbol of nervousness and unsteadiness, of a mind that should be at rest but is always in motion. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Wright is found in her rocking chair appearing calm and sedate—but the reality is that she is quite troubled and has been very active (in killing her husband). Like the rocking chair, however, she does not let on, saying only that her husband "died of a rope around his neck" (Glaspell 981)—the type of ironic line that Glaspell delivers with gusto to fill the play with subtle humor.

The Apron: The Symbol of Domestic Identity

Mrs. Wright is taken to jail while the investigation is conducted. While there, she asks for her apron. The women accompanying their husbands during the investigation remark that she will not have much need of an apron in jail—but they miss the meaning behind the symbol. The apron is the symbol of the domestic uniform. Now that Mrs. Wright has been freed of her tormentor, she is, so to speak, willing to get back to work. For a woman in a rural, remote part of the country who has never known any other occupation, this makes total sense: she is simply returning, in her own mind, to what she knows best—keeping house.

Conclusion: Symbols as Subversive Critique

Glaspell could not very easily depict a woman murdering her husband as a consequence of his cruelty in an era before women could even vote. So she couched her play in ironic humor and symbols to show the reality of what a situation like this can be for women when they are trapped by men who show them no love and expect them to live like incarcerated birds in cages—without feeling or a mind of their own. When the mind and feeling finally break free and lash out, the results can be truly frightening, as Mrs. Wright's case demonstrates.

Works Cited

Ben-Zvi, L. "'Murder, She Wrote': The Genesis of Susan Glaspell's 'Trifles'." Theatre Journal, vol. 44, no. 2, American Scenes, May 1992, pp. 141–162.

Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. University of North Texas, www.english.unt.edu/~simpkins/Trifles.pdf.