Trifles

"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, a 1916 one-act play, explores gender roles amid the first-wave feminist movement. It contrasts women's behavior in public versus private and in the company of women versus men. Inspired by the John Hossack murder, Glaspell initially depicted Margaret Hossack as formidable but shifted to a sympathetic portrayal after visiting the crime scene. The play's success led to Glaspell adapting it into the short story "A Jury of Her Peers," highlighting women's challenges in a legal system that denied them the right to be jurors. "Trifles" gained Glaspell literary fame as an iconic feminist play.