Stereotypes and Stereotypes in Trifles by Susan Glaspell In the play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, the male characters make different assumptions about the female characters. These assumptions concern how male characters view female characters, on a purely stereotypical and gendered level. The stereotypical assumptions made are of women who only care about insignificant things, of loyalty to the female gender, and of women who are subservient to their spouses. The first hypothesis, that women only care about insignificant things, is seen starting from line 120 where the men say: Sheriff: Well, you can beat women! Detained for murder and concern for her reserves. County Attorney: I imagine you might have something more serious to worry about before we finish. Hale: Well, women are used to worrying about trivialities. These lines show the attitude towards women prevalent throughout the play. It's the nonchalance of men towards the small details... at the center of the card... the simple things in life, things of little or no significance to the important male world in which they live. This is where we find that men are wrong, for it is in the small, seemingly insignificant details that a woman's guilt is found and stifled. Work Cited Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Comedies by Susan Glaspell. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc., 1920. Reprinted in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia Eds. New York: Harper Collins Publisher, 1995.