The Knot in Susan Glaspell's Trifles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Knot in Susan Glaspell's Trifles - Essay Example Wright for not keeping her house in order, Mrs. Hale defends her through reminding the men of their multiple burdens as women: â€Å"There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm† (Glaspell, 1916). For her, men fail to appreciate the work they do to support their families. Mrs. Hale expresses the poor attention given to women’s contribution in society: â€Å"Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be† (Glaspell, 1916). This statement has double meaning because it indicates that men should not charge women as irresponsible, when they make their lives so physically and emotionally taxing. Contradictory to the opinionated Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters serves as her foil; she represents the traditional submissive woman. At first, Mrs. Peters defends her husband and the men doing the investigation. For her, they are only doing their â€Å"duty† (Glaspell, 1916). She also resists talking about the culpability of Mrs. Wright. She is ada mant that â€Å"the law is the law† (Glaspell, 1916). When Mrs. Peters realizes, however, that Mrs. Wright lost her identity during their marriage, she remembers that she knows â€Å"what stillness is† (Glaspell, 1916). She understands that it is not right for any woman to stay still for a man all her life. Thus, in the end, Mrs. Peters asserts that she does not see herself as being married to the law, just because she is the sheriff’s wife. ... PART 2 A psychoanalytic reading: The knot in Glaspell’s Trifles Several female writers such as Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell contested the idea of a woman’s place under her husband. They questioned gender norms and practices that served male interests, while eradicating the rights of women to speech and self-determination. In the short play Trifles, Glaspell (1916) used the setting of the kitchen to demonstrate the differences between women’s and men’s investigatory skills and processes. Her female and male characters, especially in how they speak with their fellow gender and the opposite sex, reveal the uneven gender relations of the early twentieth century. A psychoanalytic reading that focuses on Mrs. Wright helps uncover her innermost emotions as a woman. The symbolism of the knot and the gender conflict in the play revealed that Mrs. Wright killed her husband because of her repressed feelings of anxiety against her domineering husband and the patriar chal culture of her times. The knot stands for how marriage knots or ties women to their husbands. Marriage is represented as a knot around women’s necks because they are imprisoned in the confines of their homes. Trifles describes the burdens of domestic drudgery, and yet society does not appreciate women’s contributions to it. The County Attorney judges Mrs. Wright’s character as an unfit homemaker, for instance, because her towels are â€Å"dirty† (Glaspell, 1916). His attitude signifies his belief that the only right place for women is in the house, and that the house is their only source of identity. Furthermore, the knot represents the idea that men can tighten it around women as they please. The men criticize Mrs. Wright for not keeping the kitchen immaculately clean. For these men,

Greek Rationalism and Philosphies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Greek Rationalism and Philosphies - Essay Example Research by different history scholars including Duikar and Andrea, irons out various factors to be responsible for the early golden wisdom. Some of the reasons get related to the religion while other relates to various traditions of the Greece. Medieval philosophy and the scholasticism relies on logical reasoning manifested by ancient Greeks, which had the capability to apply various principles and concepts of different field to come up with solutions and inventions in life2. Rationality and philosophy of the Greek is an extremely imperative subject that should be addressed with considerable concern. It is, therefore, vital that reliable and up to date sources are used. The sources must have data well presented and historical in nature without alteration in favor of the author. It is for this reason that I chose sources such, as Duiker’s world History and Andrea’s Human record, as well as other sources in the reference list. The references offered valid information, wh ich helped me in coming up with a proficient and a well-detailed paper. The ability to read and write is one of the factors attributed to the ancient rationality of the Greeks. This is related to the discovery of Alphabet letter system, which enabled joining of the letters, to form words. This became part of history when ideas could get recorded and be relied on for reference. Buddhism, for instance, neglected reading and writing after some time, until they Developed, Brahmi alphabet. This marked the beginning of their spreading to other parts of Asia from Greece. Alphabets used to date by different people, were invented by the Semites of the Mediterranean coast; not forgetting the Phoenicians and the Hebrews. This was due to natural drawings and practice that later led to representations of consonants as an alternative to words. This was raw ideas and further improvements and modifications were needed. It is at this point that the Greece invented vowels, which could make meaningful words. Reading and writing was, therefore, a common activity to scholars and certain people that enabled developing of ideas and rational thinking. In addition, it facilitated communication while at the same time enabling sharing of ideas by people from different calibers. This further pushed for the earlier rational philosophy in Greece3. The earlier rationalism also gets attributed to involvement in trade by the Greece in the ancient time. Their closeness to Mediterranean ocean for instance facilitated international trade. Moreover, the Greece used the presence of sea winds to motivate trade. Oversea trading enabled interaction with people from different regions a factor, which added more ideas to the Phoenix, which were downright traders and at the same time inventor of alphabets4. The role of religion in the ancient rationality is also not forgotten as it influenced enormously to the general shrewdness. The logics and reasoning from Christian cultural masters, for instance, con tributed to the scholarly nature of the ancient Greece. In their teachings, they differentiated their methods were derived from Greek’s natural reasoning and not from any other source. This could confirm the church Dogma at that time as prime philosophical