FREE ESSAY ON JAILED AND STUCK

JAILED AND STUCK

Jailed and Stuck
The authors Kate Chopin of "Desiree's Baby" and Susan Glaspell of Trifles present a caste
system of the 19th century. They both focus upon the theme of the inferiority of women
with respect to marriage, gender, and prospective positions in a caste system of society.
Actually, these two authors can be thought of as feminists of their times. Surely, many
readers thought that these two authors were very liberal in their writing. Many of
today's readers would be in agreement of the women's plight of past times. 
In each of the stories, the women characters are inferior to their husband counterparts.
In "Desiree's Baby," Desiree knows she must believe and follow her marriage vows of
"honor, obey, and respect." When Armand listens to gossip and does not inquire further,
he believes his wife is not a white woman. He shuns both her and the baby. Desiree asks
him, "Shall I go, Armand? Do you want me to go" (Chopin 359). She finally leaves with the
child without any pleading or begging for justice or explanation but out of consent. In
addition, the characterization of Armand points to his dominance over his wife. This is
seen when Desiree realizes "a strange, an awful change in her husband's manner, which she
dared not ask him to explain" (358). During this time, women were forbidden to question
their husbands. 
In Trifles, Mrs. Peters is said to be "the sheriff's wife" and "married to the law"
(Glaspell 65). She is unimportant and belonging to the sheriff more like property that
one owns. This tolerance of being dominated by her male husband is emphasized by Mrs.
Peters stating to Mrs. Hale, "But Mrs. Hale, the law is the law" (61). Her husband makes
the law for everyone and for her. She does not question him. Glaspell describes Minnie
Foster, later known as Mrs. Wright, as happy when she was young. She dressed nicely, she
sang in a choir, and she was out in society a great deal. Her husband, Mr. Wright, is
characterized as being like a hermit, "saying folks talked too much anyway" when
referring to buying a telephone (57). Once Mrs.Wright married Mr. Wright, she obeys him
and ends up changing her whole lifestyle. The other husbands' wives notice her change
saying "she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of
the town girls singing in the choir. But that-oh, that was thirty years ago" (60).
Because these women were thought of as the "wives," they were told what to do, when to do
it, and how to do it by their husbands. 
The husbands, because of their gender, see themselves as the authority figures. They do
not value any of the women's opinions, thoughts, or even intelligence too highly in these
stories because of the women's gender. In "Desiree's Baby," the baby is determined to be
black; one of the parents is black. Armand sort of takes the initiative and declares
himself, who is of nobility and master of the plantation by gender not to be the one
tainted with the inferior bloodline. This only leaves Desiree, who does not really know
her background. However, it does not matter. Desiree, being female, assumes the guilt and
gets no chance to explain, or to seek explanation. This is significant because the one
who actually had the black heritage was Armand. In Trifles, the men criticize the women's
thoughts and opinions. The men even make fun of the women. When the women are talking
about the fruit, the sheriff says, "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and
worryin' about her preserves" (58). Mr. Hale also says, "Well, women are used to worrying
over trifles," about the same situation. Neither man fully comes to understand the
significance of the women's opinions nor thinks that the women could add anything to help
solve the case at hand. The reader realizes that the women, with their opinions and
thoughts, are the ones who actually figure out the how, who, and why of the murder.
Because of the women's gender, the men in these patriarchal societies in each story do
not fully realize the women's' values or intelligence.
When looking closer, one can see that the wives in these marriages are also restricted to
being homemakers and mothers. The males agree that there was not much more for their
wives to do other than being a homemaker or a mother to their children. In Trifles, the
wives talk about their lives and responsibilities. Mrs. Hale finishes the loaf of bread
"in a manner of returning to familiar things" (59). Mrs. Peters says, "she (Mrs. Wright)
wanted an apron," "to make her feel more natural" (60). Mrs. Hale then comments about
"trying to get her own (Mrs. Wright's) house to turn against her" (61). The wives comment
on "piecing a quilt" and "worrying about her bottles of fruit" (64). All of these
comments suggest that all the wives did was housework. Even the County Attorney remarks
on how Mrs. Wright was "not much of a housekeeper" and how she did not "have the
homemaking instinct" (59). Later when Mrs. Peters leaves he "picks up the apron, and
laughs" (65). These remarks intensify the feeling that the husbands thought of their
wives as homemakers. 
In addition, the reader gets the feeling that the wives had no free time. Mrs. Hale says,
"there's a great deal of work to be done on a farm" and "farmers' wives have their hands
full" (59). Mrs. Peters remarks "you were awful busy, Mrs. Hale-your house and your
children" (62). Mrs. Hale mentions "I've not seen much of her of late years" (59). One
can conclude that the wives do all the work around the house and raise the children with
not much spare time left over for them. This conveys to the husbands the feeling that
Minnie Foster could not have had time to commit the murder. Yet, the women, who see all
of the tasks half done, feel that Mrs. Wright suddenly had to do something right then in
her busy day. 
In "Desiree's Baby," one sees that Armand, the husband, is in charge of all the work.
Chopin writes that "Young Aubigny's rule was a strict one, too, and under it his negroes
had forgotten to be gay" (Chopin 357). Living in a time of plantations and slaves,
servants do the work around the house. "One of La Blanche's little quadroon boys stood
fanning the child slowly with a fan of peacock feathers" (358). Desiree is restricted to
childbearing and raising their child. Even Desiree's mother urges her, "to come back to
your mother who loves you. Come with your child" (359). In this day, the wives did this
and nothing more than was expected of them.
All of the above stated qualities about marriage lead to one conclusion--the wives of
this time were inferior to their husband counterparts. Today, in a marriage, the wife and
the husband are closer to equal. Today, more women have well-paying jobs that allow them
to share in the support of the family expenses. Today, the thoughts that women are
inferior because of their gender are all but gone. Today, neither the woman nor the man
exclusively does the work around the house. Today, men and women are so much more
independent and self-sufficient that sometimes they do not marry or if they do, they
adjust their marriage vows accordingly. Since so much has changed with the times, the
types of marriages portrayed in these stories are almost totally gone. The only
exceptions would be the ones in movies, which portray this earlier period.
The authors Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell speak out against the inferiority of women in
these marriages. They each lived close to the time of their stories and therefore could
get a great deal of input by looking at other marriages and maybe their own. They both
show that the women were essentially belittled and not taken seriously. In the case of
Desiree in "Desiree's Baby," this is because of her gender, marriage, and race. In the
case of Mrs. Wright and the other wives in Trifles, this is due to their gender, social
positions, and marriage. For the period that these authors lived in, the disparaging of
women was commonplace. The authors should be commended for writing such liberating
thoughts and ideas that would otherwise never be thought of in that day and time.
Citations
Glaspell, Susan. "Trifles." Literary Culture: Reading and Writing Literary Arguments.
Editor L. Bensel-Meyers. Massachusetts: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1999. 56-65.
Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." Literary Culture: Reading and Writing Literary 
Arguments. Editor L. Bensel-Meyers. Massachusetts: Simon & Schuster
Custom Publishing, 1999. 356-360.