The Repression of Women Exposed in Trifles Susan Glaspell explores the repression of women in Trifles. Since the beginning of time, women have been looked down upon by men. They were considered “stupid” and even a form of property. Suffering physical and emotional abuse from men, women in the early 1900s struggled to break the mold formed by society. Even with the pain of having children, raising them, doing housework and even farming, their efforts were never truly appreciated. Mrs. Wright was "...really sweet and pretty, but a little shy and flighty..." as Mrs. Hale, her neighbor, describes her (22). Everything would soon change after her wedding day. With Mr. Wright's bland character and lack of patience for any joyful sound, Mrs. Wright's spirit dwindled to nothing. It seems she spent hours at a time concentrating on her quilts, canning, and caring for the only life in the house, her canary. Even when Mr. Hale offered to get a phone for the party, Mr. Wright replied, "...people talk too much anyway..." (5). This silence he preferred also applied to his wife. There were no hugs, much less a smile. He failed to give her even the slightest sign of appreciation, much less the emotional warmth she was hungry for. The coldness felt in the house when the sheriff and the court attorney entered the house symbolized the same coldness caused by Mr. Wright. That the house was cold and gloomy and everything else outside was the exact opposite was more than just a coincidence. It was as if when you entered the house a corpse, cold and slimy, had embraced you in its arms. “I don't think a place would be happier if John Wright were there,” Mrs. Hale told the trial lawyer (11). Mrs. Hale knew exactly what kind of personality Mr. Wright had, so she said that she would have liked to have visited Mrs. Wright when she was the only one there. “There is a great deal of work to be done on a farm,” says Mrs. Hale, but it is seen as nonsense because women take on these tasks. “The Treatment of Women in 'Trifles,'” a website that analyzes women's behavior throughout the play, states: “Women are betrayed as if they were second-class citizens with nothing more important to think about than take care of medial household chores such as cooking, cleaning and sewing"..