The plays, Trifles and A Dollhouse use the literary tool of symbolism to portray the way women were treated during the nineteenth century. Susan Glaspell uses the birdcage and dead bird to indicate the role and life of women in marriage and society, while Henrik Ibsen uses the doll's house. These symbols allow the reader to recognize the work's major similarities in its treatment of women, such as men dismissing women as trivial and treating them as property; however, the plays portray the women's lifestyles as different, which seals their fate. For starters, in both plays the men dismiss the women as trivial. In Trifles, when Mrs. Wright is being held in prison for the alleged murder of her husband, she worries about the cold and whether it will cause her fruit to freeze and burst the jars. After the women come across a jar of shattered canned fruit, they talk about Mrs. Wright's concern about the matter. Mrs. Peters states, “He said the fire would go out and his pots would break” (Glaspell 918). The women here identify with Mrs. Wright's concern, because they understand the hard work that canning entails as part of the demanding responsibilities that women endure as homemakers. The sheriff's response is "Held for murder and concerned about his claims" (Glaspell 918). In other words, men perceive the event as insignificant; they clearly see women as a subservient group whose concerns are of little consequence. Likewise, the reader can identify with this treatment in A Dollhouse, when Torvald complains to Nora that he spent the previous year's Christmas season making frivolous ornaments instead of devoting it to family. Torvald says: "It was the most boring three weeks I've ever had!" (Ibsen 1207). He believes his role is… middle of paper… little hands–” (Ibsen 1207). Actually, what the husband means is that he wants his wife to remain like a doll and any kind of strenuous work could ruin her image in the dollhouse. Ultimately, Nora longs to break out of her elegant dollhouse and become herself, while Mrs. Wright, who was isolated, penniless, and without outside resources, felt that her only option was murder. All in all, Glaspell and Ibsen's use of the birdcage, the dead bird, and the doll's house allow the reader to identify with nineteenth-century women and the roles they played. Throughout the works, the reader can visualize how men consider women trivial and treat them as property, even though the lifestyle they lead is very contrasting. The playwrights, each in their own way, address issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.