In the 19th century, women had different roles and were treated differently compared to women today in American society. In the past, men expected women to perform the duties of a housewife, which included cleaning and cooking. In the past, men did not allow women to have opinions or work outside the home. In today's societies, women are leaving home to pursue jobs that allow them to express themselves and take on the roles that men previously held. In the 19th century, men stereotyped women as insignificant and not mentally thinking about issues outside the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer describes how women in the early years had no rights and men treated women like dirt. Trifles is based on the true events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a reporter in Des Moines and the play is based on Susan Glaspell's earlier writings, "A Jury of Her Peers." The play is about a farmer's wife who seems cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating his wife terribly, the farmer's wife lashes out and murders her husband. Additionally, the play describes how men and women can stick together in same-sex roles in certain situations. The men in the room are busy searching for evidence that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding the evidence proving that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt smarter than women in the early days, the play describes how too much is expected of women in their roles, which could cause an emotional crisis, but leads women to band together to prove that they can be. .... middle of paper ......stine. “On the Edge: The Plays of Susan Glaspell.” » Modern Drama 31.1 (March 1988): 91-105. Rep. in 20th century literary criticism. Ed. Marie Lazzari. Flight. 55. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. Gale Library Resources. Internet. November 27, 2011. Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Literature and the writing process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, Robert Funk and Linda Coleman 9th ed. Longman: Pearson, 2011. 1028-1037. Print. Kastleman, Rebecca. “A silent woman.” American Theater February 2010: 19. Gale Literary Resources. Internet. November 27, 2011. Wright, Janet Stobbs. “Law, Justice, and Female Vengeance in “Kerfol,” by Edith Wharton, and Trifles and “A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell.” Atlantis 24.1 (June 2002): 299-302. Rpt. in News Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Flight. 132. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Library Resources. Internet. November 29. 2011.