Trifles - the Fight Against Social Standards

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the men. This is the moment when the women gain their power for their gender.

Similar to Trifles, the tragic play Just Fine by Elizabeth Primamore depicts how societal settings impact the distribution of power from a modern-day perspective. A modern-day social setting in this play is perceived as a heteronormative society and because of Susan’s sexuality, she believes that in her society, the standards work against her, thus oppressing her from equality and power. This is suggested to readers by the main character, Susan, when she talks about her partner Diana, indicating her sexuality. She then expresses how she is “so sick and tired of people looking at me” (Primamore 251) suggesting that she faces oppression from social factors like the doctor, who would not allow her to be part of Diana’s treatment, but she also perceives that everyone else around her is judging her as well. This creates a tragic flaw in Susan because the variety of oppression she encounters, or believes to, from simply being a woman. This is further complicated by being a lesbian which leads her to develop anger towards the people and social standards that question her power and authority. Being a woman also influences Susan, which can be shown when her partner Diana states that “America hates women!”(Primamore 250). This type of discriminative social setting can also be seen in Trifles from when the patriarchal society forms an automatic judgment on the way the wives should act and be, just as social settings in Just Fine has an automatic perception and judgment of not only women, but lesbians as well. The power that Susan uses to fight against the oppression comes from her career social status as a college professor. This is shown when she states that she is “a professor, not a murderer” (Primamore 253) suggesting that such a power figure should not have to fight as hard to keep their power, but because of who she is and her sexuality she feels the need to. Susan having a high-ranking job questions the social settings on women and it is just like how the wives in Trifles questioned the typical housewife identity. The questioning of authority is ultimately their way of gaining back power against the suppressive social settings.

Although both plays are placed in a different social time there is a common factor of oppression against the women due to the social stratification. This leads the strong-willed women to fight against their oppressors to either gain power that they would never be allowed to possess in the first place, or to regain the power that they had worked so hard to earn. Through keeping key evidence a secret that could be easily be used to convict Minnie, the wives stuck together and fought against their power-hungry husbands, ultimately gaining power over them. However, Susan fought against oppression from a social setting that would normally discriminate her. She uses her professional status and the power behind that to back herself up. In the end, although facing the so-called social norms these women manage to push past these views and gain power in an oppressive society.