Misreadings by Beber and Trifles by Susan Glaspell examine education, gender inequity, and oppression using various literary strategies. Beber wrote Misreadings while Glaspell wrote Trifles. Trifles address women’s limited and undervalued lives via location, dialogue, characterization, and symbolism, whereas Misreadings emphasize education and personal independence. Margaret Atwood wrote both books. Both plays reveal society’s norms and values and the challenges individuals face while challenging them. This article will compare and contrast the literary strategies used by the two plays to explore similar themes.
In Misreadings, Simone and Ruth’s views on education’s numerous goals differ. Simone teaches while Ruth is a novice. The play’s protagonists discuss education and the conflict between individual liberty and societal expectations. The drama explores these subjects via character progression, dialogue, and symbolism. The conversation is crucial to the play because it shows Simone and Ruth’s starkly different views on schooling. Ruth sees education as a tool for personal growth and enlightenment, whereas Simone sees it as a route to social status and material possessions. “I would do anything to get a pair of Prada velvet platforms in deep plum,” says Simone. They are worth dying for.” Simone’s materialistic view on schooling shows that she values social status above personal growth.
Ruth encourages her students to read challenging material and analyze it. “What issues would you kill?”(Beber 1). This question shows how education should broaden and challenge one’s views. Characterization and dialogue help Beber build his ideas. Simone and Ruth represent the conflict between societal norms and personal freedom. Ruth, a conservative, is opposed to Simone, a rebel who challenges customs and values. Simone rebelliously replies, “See art or be art.”( Beber 1). Simone values her creative expression above social norms in her statement. Ruth, however, represents education, self-control, and hard work. Her frustration with Simone’s idleness emphasizes the need to focus on school.
Beber relies on symbols to generate his ideas. The composition books on Ruth’s desk symbolize formal education’s order and discipline. These books are in Ruth’s desk centre. Simone smoking a cigarette symbolize her eccentricity and nonconformity. When Ruth tells Simone to put out her cigarette, it symbolizes Ruth’s attempt to bring order to Simone’s chaos. Ruth instructs Simone to extinguish her cigarette. Ruth disciplined Simone.
“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell depicts a society that limits women’s lives and ignores their needs. The play’s setting, language, and characters’ interactions illuminate sexism and gender inequity. The play’s cluttered kitchen symbolize women’s restricted status in society. As a woman’s natural home, the kitchen has traditionally been seen as oppressive to its female tenants. The window has no curtain to symbolize how women are exposed to public inspection and required to fulfill their gender responsibilities even if there is no curtain.
Male characters treat female characters with condescension and disdain. They don’t trust the females’ IQ and ignore their insights. The county attorney, George Henderson, invites the women to warm themselves by the stove, but Mrs. Peters politely declines, saying she is not cold and does not require warming up. The prisoner’s defense attorney said, “I guess women are used to worrying over trifles.” This statement supports the idea that women cannot think critically and that their problems are unimportant (Susan 1). However, as the play progresses, the women find evidence that the men cannot see.
The drama depicts oppressed women. Their home life is limited, and their opinions are ignored. Characters’ dialogue shows women’s hatred of dictatorship. While the women cook, the men investigate the murder. Mrs. Hale cries, “I know how things can be—for women.” Mrs. Peters, it’s unusual. We live near and far apart. We all go through the same experiences in various ways. Susan 3 This dialogue shows that women worldwide are oppressed and helpless to change it.
The drama explores gender inequity via symbols. The women find a dead bird in the kitchen, symbolizingsymbolizing Minnie Foster’s lost independence and enjoyment. Minnie’s husband’s repression made her lose interest in singing in the choir and keeping a happy home. The play’s protagonists dismiss the bird as “trifle.” However, the women utilizeutilize the bird to establish Minnie’s motive.
Finally, Misreadings and Trifles employ language, personality, location, and symbolism to examine numerous societal topics. Misreadings explores education and personal independence, whereas Trifles examines women’s oppression and injustice. Both plays examine the challenges of rejecting social conventions and the power relationships inside them. Thanks to a range of literary approaches, the plays successfully transmit their ideas and provoke contemplation about the human predicament. Misreadings and Trifles are intriguing stories that make us think about our world and our responsibilities in it. These stories leave readers and viewers pondering these problems.
Works Cited
Beber, Neena. “Misreadings.” Playscripts, Inc., 2001.pp. 1-34)
Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles.” Plays by Susan Glaspell, edited by C.W.E. Bigsby, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 1-19.
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