FEMINIST CRITICISM ON TRIFLES AND THE YELLOW WALLPAPER.

Introduction
Literary criticism, the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. It applies, as a term,
to any argumentation about literature, whether specific works are analysed. “Plato’s cautions
against the risky consequences of poetic inspiration in general in his Republic are thus often
taken as the earliest important example of literary criticism” (citation). The purpose of literary
criticism is to broaden a reader’s understanding of an author’s work by summarizing,
interpreting, and exploring its value. After giving the text a close reading, a critic formulates a
comprehensive literary analysis that can inform or challenge another reader’s understanding of
the text. The practice of literary criticism creates space for readers to better understand the
beauty and complexity of the world through literature (citation). There are a few types of literary
criticism such as post-colonial criticism, reader response criticism and feminist criticism. This
writing will discuss on feminist criticism on Trifles written by Susan Glaspell and The Yellow
Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Synopsis of Trifles
John Wright has been strangled to death with a rope in his mega-creepy Midwestern
farmhouse. The main suspect of the grizzly crime? His wife. As the County Attorney, Sheriff
Peters, and a neighbouring farmer named Mr. Hale investigate the house for clues, the real
sleuths turn out to be Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Though the menfolk constantly make fun of
the women for worrying about female things, like Mrs. Wright's unfinished quilt, it's the ladies'
attention to "woman stuff" that allows them to crack the case. When the ladies discover Mrs.
Wright's pet canary with its neck wrung, they immediately put the mystery together. Mrs. Hale
and Mrs. Peters know that the harsh Mr. Wright snapped the canary's neck, and that, after
years of neglect and emotional abuse, Mrs. Wright repaid her husband by giving him a taste of
what her pet bird got. The play comes to its spine-tingling conclusion when the ladies hide the
bird from the male authorities, denying them the evidence of motive they need to convict Mrs.
Wright. In the end, we're left with lots of juicy questions about the true meaning of justice for
woman and oppressed people everywhere. It can be concluded that Trifles carry a theme which
is gender oppression.

Synopsis of The Yellow Wallpaper

The narrator suffers from what her husband believes is a "temporary nervous depression." He
orders her to rest as much as possible and picks a room in the house for the two of them. The
narrator feels vaguely uncomfortable with the estate but obeys her husband’s decision for the
two of them to stay there. She also obeys him when he chooses a large, airy room on the top
floor instead of the smaller, prettier room on the ground floor that she prefers. Since the hubby
is a doctor, he wins all their arguments. The narrator would like to spend her time writing, but
her husband, brother, and assorted other family members think this is a terrible idea: she's on a
rest cure, which means resting instead of doing pretty much anything else. She basically just
must lie around and ‘rest’. She begins fanatically tracing the pattern of the wallpaper and soon
becomes convinced that there's a woman trapped within the paper. Shortly before the narrator
is due to depart the house, she decides that she must free the trapped woman by stripping the
wallpaper off. When her husband comes into the room, the narrator declares that she is now
free. From here, it can conclude that theme of The Yellow Wallpaper also about gender
oppression.
Gender Oppression
As defined by (citation), Gender oppression is defined as oppression associated with the gender
norms, relations, and stratification of a given society.” Gender discrimination, a form of gender
oppression is “Attitudes, conditions or behaviours that promote stereotyping of social roles
based on gender.” Despite the historical gains that women’s rights activists fought for, equality
has yet to be achieved. Women are still being raped, abused, objectified, oppressed, and
discriminated against. There are many times gender oppression in both stories.
For example, in Trifles, the male dominated society does not just lock women into lonely lives
and leave them dependent on their husbands (citation). Those very men also fail to recognize
their role in oppressing the women. As a result, the men belittle the women, mocking their
character, intelligence, and subservience. “But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the
time of day with him—[Shivers] Like a raw wind that gets to the bone.” This show how badly
women oppressed in that period and how struggle they were to have their freedom.
Besides that, in The Yellow Wallpaper, Jennie was confined to the home, not allowed to work
and considered by her husband to be fragile, emotional, and self-indulgent (citation). Her forced
inactivity was abhorrent to her. “Dear John! He loves me very dearly and hates to have me sick.
I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how I wish he
would let me go and make a visit to Cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I couldn’t go, nor able
to stand it after I got there; and I did not make out a very good case for myself, for I was crying
before I had finished.” From here, it shows how much suffer Jennie has to face.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, there are lots of thing can be learned from the past which is how bad women
oppressed. Even though gender oppression seems unlikely happening nowadays, but the fight
for women rights still actively run. This is because there still some region in the west country
especially has the old stereotype thinking on women role in society.