Throughout history, one of the most important social issues is the movement for female rights. In most culture, there was unequal treatment between women and men. Women expect only to stay home and let the men support and provide them. The famous plays whose discussion revolve around female and male relationships are A Doll’s House-Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell. In the two plays, they Illustrate the similar perspectives on how men repress women in their marriages by women should obey them. In two plays, it described that men’s respective on their wives is oppressed showing the problems in two marriages. Therefore, I will compare two similar but contrast stories; A Doll’s House and Trifles, on how they describe the problems in marriages related to women as victims of suppressed right.
Both plays revolve around marriage themes and female characters. In Trifles, the play is centered around Mrs. Wright’s home after the murder of her husband. Mrs. Wright slays her husband, and two other women flog against their gender responsibilities by suppressing evidence from their spouses. In A Doll’s House, Nora seems to fit in her gender role; she forges her father’s signature to acquire a loan and also violates her husband by paying off a debt behind his back.
The two plays Incorporate the literary tool of symbolism to illustrate how women were treated in the nineteenth century which is also still practiced in the contemporary society. Susan Glaspell applies the dead bird and birdcage to depict the life and role of a woman in the community and marriage. Conversely, Henrik Ibsen uses the Dollhouse. Through these symbols, the reader can relate the plays’ major similarities in the treatment of women for instance men treating women like properties and dismissing them as trivial while sealing their fates with different lifestyles. At the beginning of Trifles, while Mrs. Wright is held in jail for the alleged murder of her spouse, she is worried about how the winter may cause her fruits to freeze and burst in the jars. Immediately after women spot a shattered canned fruit jar, they discuss Mrs. Wright’s concern over the issue. Mrs. Peters says, “She said the fire would go out and her jars would break.” This implies that the women are aware of the hard work invested in the canning as part of the demands women undergo as housewives. This show that men view the event as of less importance: women are perceived to be subservient groups of people whose concerns are insignificant. The same case can be easily related in A Dollhouse when Torvald grumbles to Nora about devoting Christmas time preceding year crafting inconsequential ornaments instead of spending it with the family. Torvald asserts, “It was the dullest three weeks that I ever spent!”
To sum up, it is the responsibility of every woman to advocate for their rights in the hope of change. Marriage duties should be shared between the wife and husband and not gender-based.
