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Susan Glaspell

 

About the Author

Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspell (1876–1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist, and actress. Born in Davenport, Iowa, she began her career as a reporter, covering crime and court cases, experiences that strongly influenced her writing. Glaspell was a founding member of the Provincetown Players, an influential theatre group that helped launch the careers of many American playwrights, including Eugene O’Neill. She wrote more than a dozen plays, often focusing on themes of gender inequality, justice, and the inner lives of women. Her most famous works include:

Trifles (1916) – inspired by a real murder case she covered as a reporter.

A Jury of Her Peers (1917) – a short story adaptation of Trifles.

Alison’s House (1930), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1931.

 Fun Facts About Susan Glaspell

  • Inspired by a real crime, Trifles was based on a murder case she reported as a young journalist in Iowa.
  • Pulitzer Prize Winner – Won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1931 for Alison’s House.
  • Theatre pioneer – Co-founded the Provincetown Players, which shaped modern American drama.
  • Adapted her own work – Turned Trifles into the short story A Jury of Her Peers.
  • Ahead of her time – Wrote openly about women’s rights and equality in an era when they were rarely discussed on stage.

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Trifles – Summary & Study Guide

Key-Points Author: Susan Glaspell Year of Publication: 1916, early 20th century. First performed on  August 8, 1916, at the Wharf Theatre, Provincetown, Massachusetts.  Genre: One-act play (Drama) of a mystery/criminal investigation.  Style: Realism Movement: Feminism Outline  Trifles is a short one-act play by American playwright Susan Glaspell, first performed in 1916. It is inspired by a real murder case that Glaspell reported on as a journalist. The play explores gender roles, justice, and how small, overlooked details can reveal the truth. The title reflects how women’s observations,  often dismissed as “trifles”,  turn out to be key evidence in solving a murder. Mr. Wright is found strangled in his bed, Sheriff Peters, County Attorney Henderson, and neighbour Mr. Hale investigate. Their wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, wait in the kitchen and notice “small” domestic clues — a broken birdcage, messy stitching on a quilt, and a dead canary. They realis...
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Relevance of Trifles to the Development of American Realism

Realism in American theatre emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a movement committed to portraying life as it truly was—ordinary people in believable situations, speaking in everyday language. Playwrights abandoned romanticised plots and grand gestures, focusing instead on the quiet struggles and moral complexities of real life. Susan Glaspell’s Trifles (1916) fits squarely within this movement, but it also goes further: it merges realist technique with a feminist perspective, making the domestic sphere the centre of dramatic truth. In Trifles, the setting is a plain, unpolished farmhouse kitchen—an environment often dismissed by male characters as unimportant. Yet, in true realist fashion, Glaspell uses this ordinary setting to reveal extraordinary truths. Through naturalistic dialogue, the women’s conversation wanders over what seem like small domestic concerns—unfinished sewing, broken jars of preserves, a messy towel—but these “trifles” become the key to solving th...
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