Susan Glaspell Her complete name is Susan Keating Glaspell, born July 1, 1876, Davenport, Iowa. She died July 27, 1948, Provincetown, Mass. Her husband, George Cram Cook, founded the influential Provincetown Players in 1915. Glaspell graduated in 1899 from Duke University in Des Moines, Iowa. In college she had published a few short stories in the Youth’s Companion and had worked as college correspondent for a local newspaper, and on graduating she became a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. In 1901 she returned to her native Davenport to devote herself to writing; her stories, mainly local-colour pieces set in Freeport (Davenport), were soon appearing regularly in such magazines as the Ladies’ Home Journal. The American, and Harper’s. In 1909 Glaspell published her first novel, The Glory of the Conquered, a romance of little distinction the nonetheless enjoyed some success. After a year in Paris she produced a second novel, The Visioning (1911). In 1912 a collection of previously published stories appeared under the title Lifted Masks. The following year she married Cook, a longtime friend and the literary and radical son of a wealthy Davenport family. They quickly became central figures in the life of Greenwich Village in New York City. In 1915 she published Fidelity, a novel, and together with her husband Suppressed Desires, a satirical one act play on popular Freudianism. These works show a wide stylistic range, from psychological realism to Symbolism and Expressionism. Glaspell wrote several one act plays for the group Provincetown Players, performances at the Playwright’s Theatre in Greenwich Village. Notably, Trifles in 1916, Close the Book in 1919, A Woman’s Hour in 1918, and Tickless Time in 1919, and four full-length plays, including Bernice also in 1919, Inheritors in 1921, and The Verge in 1921. Wilkins 2 J. Wilkins Professor R. Wall English 1102 Fri. 11am- 1:45pm March 21, 2014 The Faces of Women by Susan Glaspell Thesis Statement In Susan Glaspell’s era (1876-1948) men may have seen her work of fictional compositions as ill-mannered, laxity and unskillful for prejudice and chauvinist intentions; However female readers believe Ms. Glaspell is a talented novelist and this is seen in many of her works for the reason that the stories the reader has observed by her in many examples as “Lifted Faces” (1912), “Suppressed Desires” (1915), “Trifles” (1916), “A Jury of Her Peers” (1916) and in “ A Woman’s Hour”(1918) in which demonstrates a great deal of extraordinary abilities to create, captivate and harness your attention with depth subject matters with a thought provoking visualization that is still relevant today. The reader observed confidence in her understandings of women’s rights, rational thoughts, observances, creations and in her personal life’s history. Ms. Glaspell drew on being a woman first then as a human being. As the reader examine excerpts of her novels it was realized that many of her fictional chara ...

1. Susan Glaspell
Her complete name is Susan Keating Glaspell, born July 1,
1876, Davenport, Iowa. She died July 27, 1948, Provincetown,
Mass. Her husband, George Cram Cook, founded the influential
Provincetown Players in 1915.
Glaspell graduated in 1899 from Duke University in Des
Moines, Iowa. In college she had published a few short stories
in the Youth’s Companion and had worked as college
correspondent for a local newspaper, and on graduating she
became a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. In 1901 she
returned to her native Davenport to devote herself to writing;
her stories, mainly local-colour pieces set in Freeport
(Davenport), were soon appearing regularly in such magazines
as the Ladies’ Home Journal. The American, and Harper’s.
In 1909 Glaspell published her first novel, The Glory of the
Conquered, a romance of little distinction the nonetheless
enjoyed some success. After a year in Paris she produced a
second novel, The Visioning (1911). In 1912 a collection of
previously published stories appeared under the title Lifted
Masks. The following year she married Cook, a longtime friend
and the literary and radical son of a wealthy Davenport family.
They quickly became central figures in the life of Greenwich
Village in New York City. In 1915 she published Fidelity, a
novel, and together with her husband Suppressed Desires, a
satirical one act play on popular Freudianism. These works
show a wide stylistic range, from psychological realism to
Symbolism and Expressionism.
Glaspell wrote several one act plays for the group Provincetown
Players, performances at the Playwright’s Theatre in Greenwich
Village. Notably, Trifles in 1916, Close the Book in 1919, A
Woman’s Hour in 1918, and Tickless Time in 1919, and four

2. full-length plays, including Bernice also in 1919, Inheritors in
1921, and The Verge in 1921.
Wilkins 2
J. Wilkins
Professor R. Wall
English 1102 Fri. 11am- 1:45pm
March 21, 2014
The Faces of Women by Susan Glaspell
Thesis Statement
In Susan Glaspell’s era (1876-1948) men may have seen her
work of fictional compositions as ill-mannered, laxity and
unskillful for prejudice and chauvinist intentions; However
female readers believe Ms. Glaspell is a talented novelist and
this is seen in many of her works for the reason that the stories
the reader has observed by her in many examples as “Lifted
Faces” (1912), “Suppressed Desires” (1915), “Trifles” (1916),
“A Jury of Her Peers” (1916) and in “ A Woman’s Hour”(1918)
in which demonstrates a great deal of extraordinary abilities to
create, captivate and harness your attention with depth subject
matters with a thought provoking visualization that is still
relevant today. The reader observed confidence in her
understandings of women’s rights, rational thoughts,
observances, creations and in her personal life’s history. Ms.
Glaspell drew on being a woman first then as a human being.
As the reader examine excerpts of her novels it was realized
that many of her fictional characters faces the triviality from
men hence the book titled trifles.
Quotes by Susan Glaspell, in the novel Lifted Masks a
collection of short stories.

3. “What men have thought about life in the past is less important
than what you feel about it to-day.”
“In writing ... remember that the biggest stories are not written
about wars, or about politics, or even murders. The biggest
stories are written about the things which draw human beings
closer together.”
Cited Source
https://librivox.org/lifted-masks-by-susan-glaspell/
Wilkins 6
Jebbra Wilkins
Professor R. Wall
English 1102 Fri. 11am – 1:45pm
April 11, 2014
Annotated Bibliography
The Façades of Women by Susan Glaspell
Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles” 2013. Page(s) 1383-93 Print.
Marsh, Kelly A. "Dead Husbands And Other 'Girls' Stuff': The
Trifles In Legally Blonde." Literature Film Quarterly 33.3
(2005): 201-206. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 5 Apr.
2014.
Editor Mays, Kelly J. “The Norton Introduction to Literature”
(Eleventh Edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
2013. Print.
In Susan Glaspell’s era (1876-1948) men may have seen her
works of fiction as ill-mannered, laxity and unskillful, in my
opinion for prejudice and chauvinist intentions; however, in my
research many female scholars and readers believe Ms. Glaspell
is a talented novelist, and this is seen in many of her works.
Three annotations the reader has observed by her are,
“Suppressed Desires” (1915), “Trifles” (1916), and “A Jury of
Her Peers” (1916). I believe the most popular of the three is,

4. “Trifles” a play; Because of scene visualization and her ability
to captivate your attention with in-depth subject matter women
can relate to.
In the early 1900s in the United States was a time of change in
many ways. Until that time, women had been confined to the
home in the traditional roles of wife and mother, and this play
and short stories reflect those issues and impersonations. Ms.
Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” story explores the way a bond
grows between three women as information about the case
comes to light. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale’s decision at the end
of the story is the climax of the plot. Their actions reveal an
important setting transformation as well as their new found
connection with Mrs. Wright. “Mrs. Hale speaking: Mrs.
Peters. I wish I had come sometimes when she (Mrs. Wright)
was here. Mrs. Peters speaking: But of course you were awful
busy, Mrs. Hale—your house and your children” (Glaspell). Had
she visited the lonely woman from time to time, this tragedy
might not have occurred. Every supportive situation in any
choice we must take into account both logic and feelings, we
need to look carefully at how we and others feel about the
situation as well as the facts.
I trust the following quote is appropriate and effective, it brings
home the complete meaning of the observations of this
annotation in “Trifles”. “Fifty years before the current women's
movement, Susan Glaspell understood how consciousness
raising could empower women to take actions together which
they could not take as individuals, how as women share their
experiences, they could act out of a new respect for the value of
their lives as women, different from, but certainly equal to the
world of men” (Marsh). As the age old saying goes, “Men Are
from Mars, Women are from Venus” we do not identify in the
same ways. The conflicting views of men and women have been
questioned for centuries, noting how men and women differ in
sentiments, affection, and in communications. My interpretation
on this is that women are simply still more emotional when it
comes to various things. Movies, relationships, and everyday

5. life situations are the causes that affect women more than men.
Friedman, Sharon. "Honor Or Virtue Unrewarded: Susan
Glaspell's Parodic Challenge To Ideologies Of Sexual Conduct
And The Discourse Of Intimacy." New England Theatre Journal
17. (2006): 35-58. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 8
Apr. 2014
Noe, Marcia, and Robert Lloyd Marlowe. "Suppressed Desires
and Tickless Time: An Intertextual Critique of Modernity."
American Drama 14.1 (2005): 1-14. MLA International
Bibliography. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Men have dominated all aspects of life throughout history, and
women were known as being the more tear-jerking sex. This
notion of women being unequal to men use to be a norm for
women to being subordinate in society, and a man being the
important sex. The play, “Suppressed Desires” is wrap around a
central theme of sexual tension between women and men.
However, in “Trifles” the ignorance of sexism is exposed as a
major theme in my opinion. Also, in the play it explores new
feminist theories between married couples. Through evolution,
women became more confident to speak their minds on issues
involving them. “By precisely rendering the historical tensions
surrounding the ethics of women's sexual behavior and the
public discourses that mediate personal expectations about
intimacy, Glaspell re-contextualizes familiar literary tropes and
character types informing these social ideals.”(Friedman)
“Suppressed Desire's inscription of traditional values regarding
love and marriage, as the Joyce reconcile their conflicts and
agree to live in accordance with traditional temporal
conventions.”(Noe) Glaspell expressed her thoughts and ideas
through her writings, perhaps without knowing her impact she
helped to change society through her novels, and plays.
Sexuality is now being owned by women expressing themselves;
not just for men’s enjoyment and requirements.
Bendel-Simson, Mary. "Twelve Good Men or Two Good
Women: Concepts of Law and Justice in Susan Glaspell's 'A
Jury of Her Peers'." Studies in Short Fiction 36.3 (1999): 291-

6. 297. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Mael, Phyllis. "Trifles: The Path to Sisterhood." Literature Film
Quarterly 17.4 (1989): 281-284. MLA International
Bibliography. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
The three women make significant choices and the men
approach the murder scene with a narrow perspective, guilty
before proven innocent. Despite of the women indecisiveness on
the penalties of law and consequences verses the situation,
(behavior of Mr. Wright) in-which the story nor does the play
completely explains; Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale eventually
decide Mrs. Wright should not be convicted and choose to keep
evidence from the men. “The story is an evaluation of the
different ways, men and women approach the investigation of
the crime scene. The men, all representatives of the Law (the
sheriff, the prosecutor, and a witness), are oriented to a
mechanistic view of legal propriety: they react to an action and
look for the evidence to justify the retribution they wish to
enact. The corpse of John Wright impels them forward. They
react to his death and by it are motived, indeed fixated, on
finding and convincing his killer. Believing that Minnie is this
killer, they seek the motive necessary to convince “twelve good
men”, that Mrs. Wright is guilty of murder of her husband. For
them, evidence is factual and their version of “justice” is based
solely upon a consideration of the facts they gather and
retribution fueled by vengeance.” (Bendel-Simson)
I have noticed in the news today men who killed in the heat of
passion were much more likely to be found guilty of murder,
despite the consequences of the evidence. However, with the
same circumstances women who kill their husbands are most
like to get an empathic jury thinking she must have been
abused, killing out of fear and despair. Women today are still
thought of as the weaker sex and the damsel in distress.
Nevertheless, men in earlier history have taken a dim view on
women killing their husbands when their point of view is, she is
being provided for, regardless of his behavior. I call that view
looking through rose-tinted glasses and the good oh boys club,

7. as the saying goes, boys will be boys. I also believe a man
mentality is “head verse heart,” when they think of woman in
legalities. Mrs. Hale faces the situation mostly through her
feelings (heart) and Mrs. Peters through her reason (head). As
the story progresses and Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale begin to
uncover evidence and understand each other’s view, they end up
with a settings that connects the head and heart.
“Freud would not have been surprised by the decision taken by
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters for in 1925 he wrote that women’s
superego was never “so inexorable, so impersonal, so
independent of its emotional origins as we require it to be in
men… for women the level of what is ethically normal is
different from what it is in men… women show less sense of
justice than men… they are less ready to submit to the great
exigencies of life… they are more often influenced in their
judgment by feelings of affection or hostility. Freud’s use of
value-laden terms such as “less” emerges from a vision of moral
development based upon a male model which tends “to regard
male behavior as the ‘norm’ and female behavior as some kind
of deviation from that norm.””(Mael)
In conclusion, even though we, the reader do not witness the
crime, we begin to understand Mrs. Wright’s state of mind as
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters uncover clues about Mrs. Wright’s
situation. The reader can analyze details that reveal Mrs.
Wright’s emotional state before she takes action. The fact that
Mrs. Wright’s main concern while she is in jail is about her jam
jars bursting from the cold could be the result of shock or
maybe it is an indication of how insignificant her relationship
has been with her husband, they have grown so distant that she
has no feeling for him. Drawing conclusions in the imagination
things left half done is unusual and therefore strange behavior
for Mrs. Wright, being a housewife. Whatever her cause we the
reader observed confidence in Ms. Glaspell’s understanding of
women’s truths and mindsets, and that is evident in her stories
and plays. She also leaves an open discussion viewpoint or at
least a sympatric concern still relevant today. To quote Susan

8. Glaspell, in the novel Lifted Masks a collection of short stories.
“What men have thought about life in the past is less important
than what you feel about it to-day. The biggest stories are
written about the things which draw human beings closer
together.”(Glaspell)