Regarding society's view and expectations of women in the Progressive Era...I am doing an exam paper with the theme "freedom and gender." In it, I...

The Progressive Era in the U.S. considered to have taken
place between the 1890s and the 1920s. The political leaders of the time supported
prohibition because of the power controlled by saloons and "bosses." The women's
suffrage movement...

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...was promoted to bring a "purer" female vote
into the arena.

Besides the
"purification" in government circles, this was also a time of reforms in areas such as
local government, churches, the railroad, medicine, education, and many others. Many of
those who supported this movement were of the middle class. The U.S. adopted practices
already being used in Europe, and things that were considered "old-fashioned" were
synonymous with "waste and inefficiency."

However, even
though the Progressives supported women's suffrage, they had their own agenda, promoting
a "'purer' female vote," indicating a wish to improve the vote by drawing an "improved"
version of women to the cause. Perhaps we can infer that something that was
not taking place was a concern for the welfare of women and their
place not only in the family, but in society at large.

Of
the many people who were deeply involved in the Progressive movement, from leaders of
the women's suffrage movement to sociologists and statesmen, one name stands out for me.
A playwright and novelist, Susan Glaspell was an actress and director, but she began as
a journalist after graduating from college. It was her assignment to cover the murder of
John Hossack, in 1900, allegedly by his wife. She was accused of violently killing him
while he slept. Mrs. Hossack was first found guilty. An appeal produced a hung jury, and
the charges were eventually dropped.

From this assignment,
Glaspell wrote a short story, entitled "A Jury of Her Peers," and also a one-act-play
called Trifles (1916). The play is the piece with which I am
familiar.

Trifles clearly shows how
trivialized women's lives were by the male-dominated society in which they existed. Two
women in the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, neighbors of the accused (Mrs. Wright), go
to the scene of the murder (the house) to collect some things Mrs. Wright might use
while in prison (such as clothing, etc.). Throughout the course of the play, they come
to see the life of a woman—every woman (even their own lives)—in a very different light
by studying Mrs. Wright's existence—by drawing inferences regarding her husband's
treatment of her, and hearing the men's attitudes (as they search for evidence) that the
things that fill a woman's life from dawn to dusk are "trifles." The women silently join
with each other to make sure they provide no evidence to prove Mrs.
Wright's guilt, erecting an invisible wall between themselves and the thoughtlessness of
men regarding the sacrifices women make, the pain they endure, and the thankless lives
they often lead.

I believe this would be an excellent play
to use. It is very interesting, its message particularly clear, and it is based on a
real event in U.S. history. It can be found at the following
URL:

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/trifles.htm