Women in Literature is a branch of literature that focuses on issues pertaining women by both

men or women writers. Usually writers convey their writings to the readers in order to fight for womens

right. This especially happens during the years where women face a lot of oppression from the
opposite gender, (American Womens Right Movement, 2009). Using these stories, writers were
able to communicate with readers, especially those who face the same issues in their life. These
stories also help the readers to know that they are not alone in this world facing this problem as
they are a lot more women who went through the same thing as they do. One of the issues that is
discussed and elaborate in several texts of women in literature is women are being seeing as
fragile beings and they are being treated and viewed as less important than men. This can be
analyzed in texts such as Trifles by Susan Gaspell (1916), The Force of Circumstances by W.
Somerset Maugham (1920s), and Kitchen Gods Wife by Amy Tan (2001), and some of the fairy
tales that are being read mostly by young girls.
Trifles is short play by Susan Gospell is a story about the murder of Mr. Wright, and
the country attorney, sheriff and some locals come to the house in order to find the evidence that
can connect the murder to his wife, Mrs. Wright who is being accused for the crime. In this story,
the wife of the sheriff Mrs. Peters and the neighbor Mrs. Hale tag along their husband to get
some stuff for Mrs. Wright who is presently at the jail. While the men are busy finding the
evidence at the crime scene which is located at the bedroom, these women are able to identify the
motif and the evidence of the murder in the kitchen without telling the men.
The title Trifles itself conveys the issue that is being discussed which is the
insignificant of women. According to Meriam Webster online dictionary trifle means something
that does not have much value or importance. The writer perhaps chose the word for the tittle to
sum up the theme of the play that shows men see women as something that is less important. The
word is also used in the play when the men are about to go upstairs from the kitchen and Mrs.
Peters claims that Mrs. Wright is worried about her fruit will not be in a good condition. Then the
sheriff adds that how can they beat a women for murder that is worried about her preserves fruit
more, and the country attorney believes that the men have more serious things to discuss of than
fruit and lastly Mr. Hale says that Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.. This
indicates that these men never take what the women said seriously. To them, women only care

about trifles things, not like men, who is able to think and care about more serious matter.
Perhaps this shows that men feel they are better and superior to women because men are able to
think about more serious matter.
Moreover in trifles it also can be analyzed that women are seen less significant than men
when all women are being dominated by the husband. Men believe that they give the women her
identity solely by the relation they have with her as the husband. For example, this can be seen
when Mr. Henderson tells Mrs. Peters due to the fact that she is married to the Sheriff she is
married to the law. Furthermore, all women in Trifles do not have the first name stated within the
story except for Winnie Wright. All of them are being referred to using their husbands last
names. They lost their identity once they are married and everything is revolves around their
husbands and their identities are not significant anymore.
Susan Gospell may write this play, as a way to present the readers what really happened
in the western society back then in the 19 th and 20th centuries. According to Pandora, (1982),
Women were indoctrinated from birth to accept their lowly status and yet many did rebel, and
some analyzed, criticized, and published books on women's situation. An excellent review of
these can be found in Dale Spender's Women of Ideas. By the 20th century, we can see that
womens feminism movement blossom and more writers carry out on the theme of feminism.
Women in the early twentieth century were perhaps most active and influential as writers and
artists. The arrival of the new century did witness a change in the style and content of women's
writing, as well as an increase in the depiction of feminine images and themes in literature.
Women authors such as Dorothy Richardson, May Sinclair, and Katherine Mansfield focused on
topics pertinent to women, and the difficulties that they face. Hence, in this notable work,
perhaps Gospell was also stating the issue of feminine and try to educate the women to see
themselves as important and powerful as men.
Throughout this story we can also see that her main characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale
also evolve. At the beginning of the story, the two wives are being portrayed as the insignificant
and weak characters who are being the inferior toward the opposite gender. The men walk
through the door and followed by the women who can be analyzed from the text they look scared
and uncomfortable while stand closely to one another. However, the women characters evolve
from the weak and fearfully looking when they are defending their own gender. This can be

analyzed when the country attorney is complaining about Winnie Wright poor housekeeping
skills when he finds a dirty towel in the kitchen, Mrs. Hale defends her by saying that, Towels
get dirty awful quick. Mens hands arent always as clean as they might be. Then in the other
situation it can also be seen that Mrs. Peters character changes from a timid fearful women to a
women who is able to defend herself and her own gender when Henderson states that because
she is married to the sheriff, thus she is married to the law. The she replies, "Not--just that way,.
This also can be implied that she has evolved and found her own identity rather than sticking
over the identity of her husbands.
In The Kitchen Gods the issue of women are seen as less significant than as men is
also being addressed within the story. The Kitchen Gods Wife centers on the relationship a
mother and a daughter who are at first fail to understand one another due to the secret that the
mother keeps from the daughter. The mother Winnie never told Pearl, her daughter, about her
real father as he had abused Winnie sexually and mentally. Back in China before Winnie goes to
America she has go through a lot of difficulties in life. She is left by her mother and was forced
to stay with her uncle that she feels is paying less attention towards her. Before she marries Wen
Fu, she goes to meet her father in order to get his blessing. Being in a setting of 1920s in China
where they are practicing Confucian ideal, the women are supposed to be submissive toward
men. According to the Women in A World History, (2013), the Confucian ideal believes that
women are in a lower level to men and it is natural for women to submit themselves to her
husband. Thus her father, who practices Confucian like most of them during that time, blessed
her and told her to put her husband desires and opinion first than her own self.
After she married to Wen Fu, who at first she thought was a gentleman, turns up to be an
abusive selfish man, who is also having so many affairs with other women. Winnie struggles to
be a good wife as she suffers through many miscarriages and also the death of her babies.
Though there are so many times she tries to escape her husband but she fails to do so because her
husband refuses to divorce her. She is trapped to serve her husband in this abusive relationship
this is due to the fact that the wife is less important than the husband and she has to obey him and
his needs. By this we could see that though she is suffers but, she has to obey the Confucian ideal
which put that women are seen less than men or in the other word is less significant then men.

However not until she went to Beijing where she met her cousin who has successfully
divorce her husband and is staying with women who has the same fate as her. There she learns
how to be strong like the rest of the women and knows that she too could escape the oppressive
relationship. With the help of her friends and her current love interest, Jimmy Louie, she is able
to flee to America in order to settle down with him. By this, we could analyze that her character
is also evolved from the nave women to a strong independent lady who is willing to fight her
way from an abusive relationship.
Nonetheless from both of the stories Trifles and The Kitchen Gods Wife we could see
the difference in terms of the oppression. For the women in the trifles there are seen as less
significance and are having less power than men, but according to the text they are not physically
being abused by the men. Perhaps that the way they treat women is because how the society
shapes them to be by that time. However in the later story, Winnie was being abused sexually,
physically and mentally by her husband. It is true that within the Confucian ideal that they are
practicing sees women have the lower ranked than the husband but not all of the men abuse their
wife in such ways. However Robert L. Worden, Andrea Matles Savada and Ronald E. Dolan,
(1987) stated that in 1920, the people in China starts to accept a little of equality among the men
and women. Thus being in the urban area and according to the time frame, it is believed that not
all men treat the women as cruel as Wen Fu. From the text, Winnies uncle never physically
abuse his wives, he treats them well according to the era. Wen Fu is just a mean deceptive man
who never cares about anyone in the particular. He is not interested in marrying Winnie in the
first place but is eyeing on her cousin because he thought that her cousin is the richest girl in the
village. However upon knowing that Winnies father is far richer than the uncle he decided to
change his intention and seduces Winnie, who is smitten by him. He also takes the identity of his
dead brother in order to get accepted in the Air Force. Thus he is never a good man and not all
men during the setting behave that way.
Cat in the Rain also carries out the same issue of women are seen more insignificant than
men. The story is about a married couple who goes out on a vacation and decides to just stay in
their hotel room. The wife is seen as wanting her husband attention by posing on several acts.
She asks the husband whether she looks nice if she cuts her hair and is trying to talk to him. She
also states that she wants a baby and it would be very nice if she has one as she is able to take

care of the baby and loves the baby, just to keep herself occupy. However her husband does
nothing to entertain her and asks her to be quiet because he is busy reading his books. This
shows that the husband sees the wife to be insignificant for him and does not really appreciate
her wife.
All she wants from him is his attention and love. Thus because she does not getting
any of this from him she tries to seek the attention from other people. She loves the hotel worker
who she feels that he is really warm and nice towards her. In this sense she is trying to make
herself happy in this dull relationship that she is having. Later on she sees a cat in the rain
outside of her hotel and she really wants the cat to keep her company however her husband
refuses to get the cat. She went down and tries to get the cat but fails to do so. Luckily, the hotel
worker that she fancies brings the cat to her. The reason why she wants the cat so much perhaps
because the cat can keep her a company and she can also give her love and affection to the cat as
shes is seen as less important to her husband and refuses to give her any of the love and
attention.
Within these stories we can that the women are seen as less significant than the men, but
they are fighting for themselves in their own way. In the story cat in the rain the wife feels
unsatisfied with her marriage life, but she does not just sit and complain about her miserable life
instead she finds a way to make herself happy by adopting a cat. In Trifles, they stand together as
women in other to protect one another from the oppression of the opposite gender. Mrs. Wright
defends Winnie Wright and her messy towels by stating that the towel is dirty because of the
mens hands and both women Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters successfully find the evidence that leads
to the murder. However, they never disclose the information to the men in order to protect
Winnie Wrights who they found to be miserable and lonely in the marriage which leads her to
murder her husband who is always cold towards her and killed the birds who is the only
companion that she has.
However in the Kitchen Gods Wife her fight is more radical. In order to attain the divorce
Winnie decides to confront Wen Fu but he refuses to divorce. However she decides to run away
from him with the help of Jimmy Louie. Then, she stays together with Jimmy Louie for some
months before Jimmy has to go back to America. Nevertheless Winnie is unable to follow her
because she has a problem with her visa. When Jimmy left, Wen Fu decides to bring her to the

court for the charge of adultery and the death of their son. However, he says that he can close the
case if she comes back to him and publicly apologizing to him for becoming a slut. Winnie
refuses to do so and she ends up in a prison. After quite sometimes her friends are able to get her
out from the prison and she receives the visa from Jimmy and she is able to leave China and flee
to America. This shows that she is such a powerful woman who fights for her freedom and
happiness in life though she is oppressed by a cruel husband.
It is also can be analyzes that both Winnie Wright from trifles and The wife from Cat in
The Rain face the similar thing where both women have no children and are being ignored by the
husband but they are trying to substitute their attention to their pets. However tragically, in Mrs.
Wrights case her husband kills her pet animal, the only companion that she has as she has and
due to this incident she becomes really miserable and decides to kill her husband who has taken
away her precious bird while the wife in Cat in the Rain happily enjoy her kitten.
Other than novels, short stories and plays the issue pertaining women are seen as less
important than men can also be seen within the Disney princesses. The princesses is always
being portrays of having the characters of a damsel in distress. Damsels in distress is usually
being define as a beautiful young woman who has to face a danger by a villain or a monster but
is lucky enough to have a prince charming to save her. Within this context we could see that
women is being analyzed as someone who is really weak and people only perceive her as a
beautiful person and not more than that and on the other hand men are usually being depicted as
handsome, smart and strong princes. This clearly shows that they do not value the women by
their worth and only see them by their beauty which means that they are not important and all
that matters is their beauty.
One of Disney princesses that portrays the insignificant of women is Cinderella. Disney
claims that Cinderella to be the most popular princess of all time. Cinderella is the story of a girl
who lost both of their parents and is being raised by her mean step mother who also has two
other daughters. The step mother oppresses her to do all the chores in the house, never gives her
anything nice to wear and also sabotages her attempt to go to the royal ball that invites all the
young women in the kingdom. With the help of the fairy god mother Cinderella is able to attend
the ball and looks exceptionally beautiful. There, the young prince fell in love with Cinderella
and however fail to get to know her identity because she has to go back to her home before

midnight as the spell will be end by that time and she will go back to her normal form. While she
was running one of her glass shoes slips and the glass shoes is the only way for the prince to
identify her. Then he declares that whoever is able to wear the glass shoe will be his wife. Finally
Cinderella successfully fit the shoe with the help of her mouse friends.
While watching the movie, it is always occurred in some minds will he ever fell in love
with her if she wears her usual clothes without any fancy make up and a nice hair-do? What if
she only goes to the ball with her usual clothes? Why are women only seen based on her
appearances rather than her true self? Perhaps this is because the Disneys Cinderella is actually
an adaptation of one of the stories from the Grimm Brothers fairy tales. According to Purdue
University, (2003), from all 168 of their tales 94% of them acknowledge the physical
appearances of the female and 13.6% can be found in each of the stories. All of these show that
this story only shows that the most important feature of a woman is her physical characteristics
and herself as a whole is not important at all hence she is view as insignificant.
From the three of the texts before it can be seen that all women fight in order to gain in
order to gain their freedom or for their own gender empowerment and also to gain their
happiness. However from the animation film of Cinderella it is shown that she only knows how
to dream. She will look at her own window and stare at the castle and waiting for a miracle to
happen to her and never truly work hard to achieve her dreams. Though it eventually did but this
is not the reality that is faced by women. In order to get something in life, we have to work hard
to earn it as no fairy god mother is willing to help us in the real world.
In a nutshell, all of these stories have the setting of within 1920s until 1950s. Within this
era some of the writers here are trying to educate women to be stronger in order to fight for the
equality among men. This is due to the women within this era has long been oppressed by the
opposite gender in such that they are being seen as less significant than the opposite gender,
weak and dependent just as being portrayed by these text, Triffles, Kitchen Gods Wife, Cat in
The Rain and Cinderella. Nonetheless by using these texts the readers can learn that they are
being oppressed but they can do something about it and fight the oppression that happens against
them.

TSL 652
WOMEN IN LITERATURE
CRITICAL COMPARATIVE ESSAY
THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF WOMEN

NAME : SITI ZAINAB BINTI KAMARUDDIN

MATRIC NUMBER: 2010695042
LECTURER: MIS MUNIRAH
CLASS: ED2208B

References

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Present , Washington Post.
C. Claire, (2012), The Problem with Fairy Tales, Feminism, www. Hbom.com.
Feminism in Literature, (1998). Feminism in Literature Essay - Women in the Early to Mid-20th
Century (1900-1960). Enotes.Com.
Y.C.ShIn.2013, Place and Gender in Susan Glasspells Trifles and Womans
Honor,Tamkang University, China.

America Online (August 1995), The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The San Jose
Mercury.