Both Medea and Trifles deal with sexism and male-dominating societies. In Medea we can see evidence of male-dominance when Medea states, “Of all things with life and understanding, we women are the most unfortunate. First, we need a husband, someone we get for an excessive price. He then becomes the ruler of our bodies. And this misfortune adds still more troubles to the grief we have.” In this Medea is implying that women in Corinth are all dependent upon men for survival. She also alludes to the fact that women must pay a pricey dowry to be married and that once they are married they lose control over their own bodies. She also later adds, “For a divorce loses women all respect.” By this statement she is saying that although men may divorce with no consequences, for a woman a divorce is devastating.
In Trifles we see evidence of male domination in the way that the county attorney, the sheriff and Mr. Hale treat the women. The men addressed the women as lesser-beings with empty minds. Mr. Hale states that, “Women are used to worrying over trifles,” implying that women only occupy their minds with simple things. The Sheriff also mocks the women when stating, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it [a quilt] or knot it!” Then the men are described as laughing while the women look abashed.
Despite the fact that in both plays the women are considered less valuable then men, in Medea the main female character does not sit around and take the sexist abuse. The women of Trifles do. Medea is characterized as strong, intelligent and opinionated. She is feared and respected by kings and friends alike, and although she is living in a sexist society she refuses to give up and assume the passive role that is expected of her. The women of Trifles are never seen as strong or boldly argumentative when talking with the men. These women seem to have made peace with their roles as docile mothers and house-keepers.
Although both women face the obstacle of sexism they both end up smarter and more victorious than their fellow male counterparts. I really liked how the women succeeded over the men in their missions in both plays.
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The women definitely proved their intelligence over the men in the end. It was humorous that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seemed to be ridiculous, silly characters but in truth they used the males' false judgements of the female race to cover up the fact that they had found all the evidence.
I agree with your position that was argued. The women in Trifles certainly are seen as inferior beings, but in the end they are the ones who put their heads together to crack open the case. In Medea she is so powerful that she does not take the sexist ways in which she is treated and to prove how strong willed she is she ends up killing her own children just to make jason suffer. Certainly a much different persepctive as compared to Trifles.
I agree with your observations on Medea, and how you said that she ends up proving her intelligence over Jason's in the end. However, I feel like Mrs. Wright does not come out victorious in the end of Trifles. I think that she was literally robbed of her youth and spirit by her husband, and even by killing him she couldn't get those things back. I think that his murder was simply representative of her complete loss of sanity, as is shown in the beginning of the play when she is sitting in a chair "pleating her apron." I think that even though she was the one who remained alive at the end, her spirit and mind are as dead as her husbands.
I also liked how in both of these plays the woman seemed to come out on top, even though in "Trifles" the mend didn't know it. Therefore, despite the stereotypes that are placed on the women, it seems that in both of these plays the women were rose above their typical roles and proved themselves to be better than their male counter parts who obviously underestimated their abilities.
I definitely agree in your statements that the women are seen as inferior in Trifles. I think this is interesting because although they are seen as inferior, they end up being the ones who find the evidence, making them ultimately on top
I too thought the societies in both plays were sexist and male dominated. I thought it was very interesting how you referred to the divorce process when supporting this point.
I liked how you recognized the women characters in both plays as beeing strong and intelligent because I also felt this way.
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