Men's Assumptions A Doll House
There are similarities in the relationships between men and women in Susan Glaspell's Trifles and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House. The assumptions that men have about women lead to conflicts in both plays. Conflicts in these two plays are a result of a male-dominated society. The men believe that women focus on trivial matters and are incapable of intelligent thinking, while the women quietly prove the men's expectations wrong. In the plays Trifles and A Doll House men believe women only focus on trivial matters. While Mrs. Wright is being held in jail for the murder of her husband, she is concerned about the cold weather causing her jars of fruit to freeze and burst. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discuss Mrs. Wright's concern over her canned fruit after finding a broken jar. Mrs. Peters voices Mrs. Wright's concern, "She said the fir'd go out and her jars would break" (Glaspell 1.27). The Sheriff's response is, "Well can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves" (Glaspell 1.28). The women realize the hard work involved in canning this fruit and understand Mrs. Wright's concern. The men see this as unimportant compared to the trouble Mrs. Wright is facing.
A last similarity in these two plays is the women being treated as if they are incapable of intelligent thinking. In the play Trifles, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover a quilt Mrs. Wright is making. Mrs. Hale asks, "I wonder if she was goin' to quilt it or just knot it?" (Glaspell 1.72). The men hear the women talking about the quilt and laugh at them; this makes the women resentful. The men continue to joke and play off of these words. The men view the quilt as insignificant. The women realize the knot in the quilt is an important clue in the murder investigation, but they do not tell the men. In the meantime, the men are looking for clues throughout the farm but are having trouble building a case against Mrs. Wright. Another example where women are fraid that Mr. Krogstad will use this information against him. In the end, after the threat of blackmail has passed, Helmer patronizes Nora by saying, "You have lrts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs: Prentience- Hall, 1995. 1466-1516. A second similarity between Trifles and A Doll House is that women appear to conform to the men's expectations. In the play A Doll House, Nora conforms to her father and husband's expectations. Nora says, "When I was home with papa, he told me his opinion about everything, and so I had the same opinions; and if I differed from his opinion I concealed the fact, because he would not have liked it" (Isben 3.280). Nora's life has been shaped by a dominant father, as well as her submissive attitude. This also set a pattern for her marriage with Helmer. On the surface, Nora plays the role of a loving wife and mother. Nora plays with the children and does the things that Helmer likes. Nora says to Helmer, "You arranged everything according
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Approximate Word count = 1179
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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