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Desai 1 Sachi Desai Professor Patashnik English 1202 DE 21 November 2016 FINAL COPY– PAPER #2 A Women’s Work is Always Changing Bill Copeland, an American poet and writer, once stated with great audacity, “Not only is women’s work never done, the definition keeps changing.” Copeland tries to portray the message of a woman’s work never ending because of the continuous contributions women make in relation to their work. Women from the nineteenth century to current times have significantly represented their work in a more recognizable way so that even men are able to appreciate their work. However, women suffered certain difficulties in the nineteenth century that forbade them to successfully maintain a working lifestyle other than being housewives. For example, the short play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is the perfect example of how a woman’s work is underestimated upon men because of social norms. Gender roles were such that women were limited to domestic and household responsibilities, but a woman’s work in the twenty first century, such as obtaining professional careers is considered more valuable and respected. As previously stated, in the nineteenth century, the typical role as a housewife was looked at negatively, specifically by their opposite sex. In the play “Trifles,” the county attorney quickly judges the appearance of the overall kitchen of Mrs. Wright. He says, “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell 1158). In the nineteenth century, women tended to be housewives and looked after the household responsibilities while the men provided income. Therefore, the county attorney says this in correlation to the century’s accepted norm of

Desai 2 a female’s role in society. Additionally, the man’s response to the messy kitchen shows his feelings towards Mrs. Wright’s work. Housewives had more than just a few chores, and his response depicts the separation of a male and female’s value of work. This is why only the men in the story are looking for any evidence that would help figure out who killed Mr. Wright. On the other hand, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are not doing anything but looking around the house and finding evidence the men specifically do not find. For example, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale ultimately figure out that Mr. Wright killed the bird which led to Mrs. Wright killing her husband. Furthermore, the men believe they are looking for the important things, but ultimately the women figure out who murdered Mr. Wright. In contrast, today women work as officers and investigate such similar situations which shows the progress a woman’s work has gone overcome through the centuries. Moving forward, in showing sympathy towards Mrs. Wright’s housework, her neighbor, Mrs. Hale interjects and provides justification for the way the kitchen currently looks. Mrs. Hale says, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” (Glaspell 1158). If men judge the work of women, it is apparent only other women will understand the significance of a woman’s doing. This is the reason for which Mrs. Hale quickly defends Mrs. Wright as the county attorney judges her because Mrs. Hale knows the struggles of being a housewife. The men in the play are too quick to judge the kitchen’s physical setting, but being a housewife and a woman of the progressive era, Mrs. Hale believes that Mrs. Wright’s hard work had all gone to waste. This translates to women overall in the nineteenth century because they understand all the dedication and hard work that is put towards being a housewife. In correlation to the representation of Mrs. Wright’s kitchen, the setting of the farm houses signifies the distance between them. According to an academic journal by Bailey L.

Desai 3 McDaniel, the physical setting of farm houses made it difficult for women to interact on a social level, and domestic abuse would prevent victims from obtaining help. McDaniel states, “Life in the rural Midwest at the turn of the century was a . . . depressing . . . The isolation and despondency with which Glaspell characterizes Minnie Wright's existence is not far from the reality that many farmers . . . miles between the nearest neighbor. . . small networks of sewing circles and churches would have provided . . . farmers' wives to connect with others” (McDaniel 7). With this type of physical setting in Mrs. Wight’s life, it would be challenging to escape her marriage troubles with her late husband that is depicted throughout the messiness of the kitchen. Not only does it show Mrs. Wright’s hard work but the messy kitchen is a symbolic illustration of the marriage between her and her husband. Mrs. Hale also adds “I wish I had come over sometimes when she was here” (Glaspell 1162). The word she is most likely italicized because Mrs. Hale wishes she visited when Minnie Foster was there, not Mrs. Wright, which are two different identities of Mr. Wright’s wife. As Minnie, she was able to anything freely but as Mrs. Wright, she was only subjected to be home and perform duties of a housewife. However, today, men and women play roles of both sex such as in jobs or even at home. For example, men tend to cook and clean just as much as women are running businesses and providing income. Since the kitchen symbolizes an unhappy marriage, Mrs. Hale can even testify to this interpretation. She tells the county attorney, “It never seemed a very cheerful place” (Glaspell 1158). This proves that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Wright was indeed unhappy and unbearable for Mrs. Wright which is why she killed him in order to escape to her freedom. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters even say in the play that Mrs. Wright was a very lively person before she had married Mr. Wright. In the text, Mrs. Hale says “I think maybe that’s why she kept so much to herself . . . She used to wear pretty clothes and lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the

Desai 4 town girls singing in the choir. But that – oh, that was thirty years ago” (Glaspell 1159). Mrs. Hale says this because Minnie Foster can no longer be the same woman she used to be before the marriage. Therefore, Mrs. Wright’s responsibilities of the stereotypical housewife replaced what she enjoyed doing after the marriage. According to the text, the women even refer to Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster, which was her name before marriage. This was also the identity she had before her marriage with Mr. Wright which he took away when she stopped wearing pretty clothes and singing in the choir. Hence, she no longer did the daily things she used to do as Minnie Foster because since she has taken the last name of her husband, she must abide by whatever he tells her. Therefore, the marriage had changed who Mrs. Wright originally was and transformed her into nothing but a housewife. She could not bear this, so she kills her husband and is finally free from his abused and the norm of what a woman is supposed to do in marriage, which is perform household duties, during the nineteenth century. However, the centuries further have progressed and advanced in relation to women’s work. Women no longer are only housewives, they take on other roles in the community. Women today are excellent lawyers, doctors, therapists, etc. This also changed the view of men being superior than women because in the twenty first century, women’s work is more recognized than compared to the nineteenth century. To further support this argument, an academic journal written by Hanna Rosin, discusses how the men were always the dominant sex but that changes when women partake in more professional jobs and take on job titles that a man would in the nineteenth century. Rosin says: Man has been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind . . . Many wives who failed to produce male heirs were abused and treated as domestic servants . . . Then, in the 1970s and '80s, the government embraced an industrial

Desai 5 revolution and encouraged women to enter the labor force. Women moved to the city and went to college. They advanced rapidly, from industrial jobs to clerical jobs to professional work (Rosin 9). Rosin successfully states how the progression of women in society has flourished, women go to college and obtain professional jobs. Although this would be uncommon for a woman to accomplish in the nineteenth century since her role was primarily to be a housewife, it shows how far women have come to earn this respect for their work. It also gives grants respect to the men and women partake in both male and female related works such as females working in construction and males working as nurses. Not only does this depict the overall progression of a woman’s work, but it also serves to say that a woman’s work is always changing. They transformed from housewives to doctors, businesswomen, lawyers, etc., and it will continue on as many more jobs are created.

Desai 6 Works Cited Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Spencer Richardson- Jones. New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. 1155-1165. Print. McDaniel, L. Bailey. "Literary Contexts In Plays: Susan Glaspell's "Trifles." Literary Contexts In Plays: Susan Glaspell's 'Trifles' (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 16 Nov. 2016. Rosin, Hanna. "The End Of Men." Atlantic 306.1 (2010): 56-72. Literary Reference Center. Web. 16 Nov. 2016...