Changing The World One Play At A Time - 1644 Words

Amber Geroy Engwr 301 Professor Collins 22 April 2015 Changing the World: One Play at a Time Throughout history women have fought to be treated equivalent to men. In today’s society, although there are still improvements to be made, it is easy to see that the female population has made a significant step towards equality and independence. Looking back about one hundred years ago, gender roles were still very specific and consisted of the man working and supporting the family, and the woman taking care of the home and the family. Women had very little voice in that time and were often treated with little respect due to the cultural norm that men were superior. Two historically influential plays that were written during the birth of feminism†¦show more content†¦Wright. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters examined the Wright house very carefully, wondering if Mrs. Wright murdered her husband or not. Throughout the play the reader is not doubted of the fact that Mrs. Wright was her husband’s murderer but is also intrigued to finding out what caused her to do such a thing. Although Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were undetermined of Mrs. Wright’s actions, they sympathized with her and continued to search for more clues to protect her throughout the play. You can see in the following lines between the two women that they fought to see the good in Mrs. Wright although they were frightened by the truth: MRS. HALE. Mrs. Peters? MRS. PETERS. Yes. Mrs. Hale? MRS. HALE. Do you think she did it? MRS. PETERS. (In a frightened voice) Oh, I don’t know. MRS. HALE. Well, I don’t think she did. Asking for an apron and her Shawl. Worrying about her fruit. (606) In summary Trifles tells a story about a woman who murdered her husband and two women who break out of their gender roles as they hide evidence from their husbands in order to protect Mrs. Wright. A Doll House has a similar centric idea of marriage to that of Trifles, but instead presents the woman’s turning action in the story at the beginning rather than extending it throughout the play. The audience discovers quickly that Nora Helmer, a woman who appeared to conform to the standard gender role, had been lying to her husband and going against his will for ten years while paying off