Susan Glaspell Case Summary

Susan Glaspell was born in 1876 and is well identified with her literary circle for her stage plays known as Trifles and one of her short stories known as A Jury of Her Peers. According to her testimony, both of the named pieces of the literature identified above were motivated by the experiences she had in the courtroom.

Early Life

Her early life as a writer started at Iowa her birthplace. She was a daughter to a conservative family with a modest income a fact that promoted her studies. She received her degree from Drake University and eventually became a reporter for the Des Moines News station. According to her community, she did not work with the news station for a long time, and she quit after two years of working with them. She then started doing creative writing. Her very first novel after quit the regular jobs are The Visioning and The Glory of the Conquered. Both of the above books were written when Glaspell was in her early 30s.

While she was living and writing in Iowa, she eventually came to meet a man known as George Cram Cook who would be her husband. Both of them had one thing in common; they wanted to be rebels from their conservative way of upbringing. Their first meeting came when George had divorced his wife for the second time, and he was after experiencing a rile and commune lifestyle. But out what she was doing divorcing wives every time, the Iowa community could not allow it since it conflicted with the traditional values of the city a fact that made the newly married couple to move to Greenwich Village.

Information obtained from The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door, Glaspell and Cook were creative and were behind the new American style theater. It was until 1916 when she had organized for a group of writers, artists and actors to come together and formed Provincetown players. It is during this time Glaspell, and her husband and other drama icons such as Eugene O’Neill came up with a play that looked into the concept of satire and realism. After some time, Provincetown players gained a lot of fame and grew economically a fact that resulted in disagreement and disenchantment.

In 1922, Glaspell and her husband left Greenwich for Greece. It is Greece where Cook dies after two years having that he had accomplished his lifelong dreams. In 1924, Glaspell returned to America and continued to write. Her writing during this time focused on the bestselling novels and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Alison’s house.

Origin of Trifle

Trifles can be identified currently as one of Glaspell’s most famous play. The novel was on the early feminist, and it was rediscovered and embraced by the academic community. One of the underlying reasons why the above short play experiences enduring success is the fact that its insightful commentary on different perceptions of each gender. The play is also a compelling crime drama that always leaves the audience discussing what they see and experience when the characters in the play act unjustly

Susan Glaspell starts presenting Trifles by introducing a character known as John weight, who is a farmer who was murdered. John weight’s death comes at night when it is asleep. According to the author, someone strung him at night asleep. According to speculation, the immediate suspect who would have made the killing is Wright’s wife, Minnie. On the investigation day, the author presents Sheriff his wife neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Hale and the county attorney entering Wright’s Kitchen. As the men were trying to identify the possible cause of Wright’s death, the women in the searching group identified some critical facts that could implicate emotional turmoil of Mrs. Wright something which eventually makes her the main suspect of the killing.