"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell

           After reading the play Trifles I couldn't help but compare it to Overtones. Although the subject matter seems completely different (a murder in a small town vs. a tea party between two old acquaintances) they both focus on the inner workings of a woman's mind. The characters of Mrs. and Mr. Wright are used as plot points to display the main differences between men and women. On several occasions during the play the characters make considerable effort to defend their sex and justify their roles. For example, when the county attorney sees that the towels are dirty in the kitchen, he asserts,"[Mrs. Wright]…not much of a housekeeper..." to which Mrs. Hale fires back,"There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm…Men's hands aren't always as clean as they might be." This indicates an attempt by Mrs. Hale to shift the power from men to women. It's her not so subtle way of letting him know that the men are causing the problems that the women then have to fix.

Oh Haaale NO!            

           Mrs. Hale is the character fighting to be heard, while Mrs. Peters is more reserved. What strikes me as interesting about these characters is they are never given first names. One reason for this could be that it's an illustration of these women "belonging" to the men they are married to. In that case, it reinforces the feeling Mrs. Wright had about being trapped as merely an extension of this man with no way of making a happy, "cheerful" life for herself. A different reason could be that these two women are the two sides of Mrs. Wright. You may think of Mrs. Peters as the side that was on the surface, very agreeable, stands behind her husband and doesn't make trouble. On the other hand Mrs. Hale is what is bubbling below the surface. The side that takes exception at being condescended to and desperately craves equality and respect.

         "quilt it or knot it"

They keep bringing it up almost as a little joke, so it must mean something. What is the significance? When looking into knitting you find that to "quilt" takes a lot of effort but makes the quilt incredibly durable. One piece should be completed by multiple people at once, while "knotting" is a much quicker method that can be done on your own. The obvious correlation of the "knot" would be that Mr. Wright was killed by a knot around the neck. But if you look deeper, you see that if she were going to "knot it" as the ladies implied she would, it again speaks to her intense isolation from the world. Finishing the quilt by herself, because she has no circle of friends to help her.

"Overtones" by Alice Gerstenberg

         The first play we get to talk about is called Overtones. It was a very easy read, taking maybe 45 minutes to get through the whole thing. On top of that, the entire time you're reading it you can't help but be completely fascinated by these 2 characters, er 4 characters…For me, it brings me back to every conversation I've ever had with someone that I don't like, don't trust, but for whatever reason it was important for me to "play nice". 

         The focus of this play is the idea that women make effort to maintain a facade when dealing with others. In this case the facades are physically manifested as the "primitive selves", Hetty and Maggie, the rough counterparts of the "cultured selves", Harriet and Margaret. It doesn't even matter whether or not they care about or even like each other, but the fact of the matter is that they need to be perceived a certain way. They'd like to be thought of as happy, successful, brilliant, etc. These two women are threatened by each other. This is why their counterparts, Hetty and Maggie, are so prominent in the scene as it unfolds. These "primitive selves" are activated when primal instincts, like fear and anger, become front and center. They believe that the lies they tell are vital to their very survival. For example when Hetty and Harriet discuss that neither one loves their husband Charles, Harriet offers,"…a man who is managed only by the cleverness of my artifice." This tells you that it's not just other women, but her own husband, that she deceives in order to preserve her status. This stems from her fear of being poor and alone. In Margaret/Maggie's case her deception stems from the same fear although hers is more of a present danger. In one instance starving Maggie pleads with Hetty,"Help us! Help me! Save me!" while at the same time hating Harriet/Hetty for "sneering at [their] poverty". It's as though something as modern and tedious as social discord can cause these women to respond as though they are being physically threatened, and their counterparts instruct them to "attack" and "defend" themselves as they see fit. Though the so-called attack is cleverly hidden by each character's overtones.

Thought for the day: