What style of writing is Trifles?

One of the most restrictive forms is the one-act play, a style favored by Trifles author Susan Glaspell. In every respect the one-act play is more tightly compressed than a full-length climactic Greek tragedy.

What is Susan Glaspell’s style of writing?

Glaspell’s oeuvre is unparalleled in American letters in its major achievements in three genres: drama, novel, and short story. Writing for the theatre made Glaspell more aware of innovations in structure and style, and her later novels benefited from her intense involvement in the development of the American drama.

What literary devices are used in Trifles?

Literary Devices in Trifles

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory.
Setting.
Narrator Point of View.
Genre.
Tone.
Writing Style.
What’s Up With the Title?
What’s Up With the Ending?

What point of view is Trifles written in?

The play composed by Susan Glaspell in 1916 is based on the murder of John Wright where the prime suspect is his wife, Minnie Foster. Henry Peters, the Sheriff, George Henderson, a lawyer, and Lewis Hale, a neighbor access the farmhouse to probe the killing of its former occupant, John Wright. Mrs. Peters and Mrs.

How is imagery used in Trifles?

Imagery- The imagery used in the play depicts that of an abandoned farmhouse, with an unpainted, “gloomy kitchen,” and fading wallpaper. There is a detailed description of the kitchen, with the faded wallpaper, the broken jars of fruit, the dirty towels.

When was Susan Glaspell considered a successful writer?

In 1909 Glaspell published her first novel, The Glory of the Conquered, a romance of little distinction that nonetheless enjoyed some success. After a year in Paris she produced a second novel, The Visioning (1911). In 1912 a collection of previously published stories appeared under the title Lifted Masks.

Why did glaspell write Trifles?

From 1899-1901 Glaspell worked as a reporter for the Des Moines News, where she covered the murder trial of a farmer’s wife, Margaret Hossack, in Indianola, Iowa. In need of a new play to end the season, Cook suggested Glaspell should write a one-act for the company. Her memory of the Hossack trial inspired Trifles.

What was Susan Glaspell’s education?

The University of Chicago
Drake University
Susan Glaspell/Education

What is the irony of Trifles?

Written in the early 1900s, “Trifles” deals with the rights of, expectations for and assumptions about women in society at the time. In an ironic twist, the audience knows that the women have solved the murder mystery while the men remain oblivious of the truth because of their assumptions.

What is the point of view of Trifles by Susan Glaspell?

By Susan Glaspell Like most every other play, Trifles is all dialogue and doesn’t have a narrator through whose eyes or voice we learn the story. The characters get out there on stage, giving us all the drama they’ve got in them, and it’s up to us to put it all together.

What does the Canary mean in trifles?

The little canary is a trifle whose significance is only known by the women because they do not share its discovery with the men. In a sense, the canary symbolizes Mrs. Wright (the former Minnie Foster). She is a woman married to an abusive man who has sucked all the joy out of life for her.

What are the major themes in trifles by Susan Glaspell?

A major theme in the play, “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is that of patriarchal dominance. Glaspell uses elements of irony to implicate their evident folly. The male characters are the prime investigators of the crime scene.

What is ironic in trifles by Susan Glaspell?

One effective use of dramatic irony occurs in Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” when the two female characters discover a dead bird, a clue to a murder that remains unknown to other key characters in the play.

What is the meaning of the title “trifles” by Glaspell?

The title of Trifles refers to the small clues which the men in the play fail to notice, or dismiss as trifling, but which the women are able to use to reconstruct the crime.

What are the Trifles in glaspells trifles?

In Glaspell’s play, the “trifles” are the quilt with erratic stitching, the bird cage, and the dead canary in a pretty little box. Ironically, the “trifles” found in the kitchen are key items to providing the motive for which the men spend their time searching upstairs.