b'Lovely has inherited thirty thousand pounds but cannot access it until shewomens domestic lives. This deliberate theatrical choice invites the audience to marries, and even still, the fortune will be in the husbands name. The storythink against the grain by valuing what the male characters overlook. It illustrates her captivity in her own life as she is confined by the rules of her deadimmediately captivates the audience to take the womens side and look at the father, who had wished her dead a thousand times (Centlivre 1998 [1718]: Actstory from a feminist point of view. She writes the play inspired by a true murder One, Scene One). The father, who loathed progeny and the idea of having an heir,case, which she reported on at the age of 16. Margaret Hossack is under investi-ensures that no one can claim the inheritance by charging Anne and her wealth togation for the murder of her husband, John. She is described as cold-blooded, but the care of four guardians. Each guardian represents a different path of life and isGlaspells mind is changed, generating a sense of sympathy, when she visits the tasked with preventing Anne from marrying, as any suitor would need theircrime scene and can recognise the circumstances that Mrs Hossack lived under. individual consent to wed her. The play has more desperation than hope in it andGlaspell writes Trifles as a cry for help and uses the theatricality of theatre to provides a mirror to the frustration of the reforms of common-law notions of protest against the marital issues present in the law.marriage (Anderson, 2002: 138). Indeed, Centlivres plays main premise is the conventional portrayal of marriage in early eighteenth-century society. To anFinally, Camille expands views on womens roles and socialisation through audience of the day, this debate would have been rarely brought up, and when itVotes for Women!did, it quickly was shut downwomen didnt have a voice. Hardwickes Marriage Act of 1753 shows rare evidence towards the progress and evolution of affectiveLastly, Elizabeth Robins Votes for Women! is a pivotal juxtaposition of theatre individualism and the egalitarian family (Lemmings, 1996: 356), but Centlivreand activism. This play represents a momentous point for Robins career, which uses the power of the stage to denounce the lack of freedom women have in theirdescribes her as an innovator seeking a new kind of theatre for the new century marriage. (Kennedy 1985). The story critiques the reduction of women to passive participants in a patriarchal society, where their value is tied to domesticity and marriage. The Therefore, A Bold Stroke for a Wife is a crucial story in the way that it asks thesecond act is set in the heart of London, Trafalgar Square, where a Suffragettes audience to learn to see as women do, to become feminist spectators (Kennedy,rally is taking place. Robins uses this act to challenge every societal norm that the 2007). patriarchal state has set. The ever-public bustling square challenges the argument that womens sole place is at home, which determines this act as the plays turning Next, Camille expands views on womans roles and socialisation through thepoint. People from all classes interact and converse coherently, and despite some one-act play Trifles: arguments between the two, women and men are seen as one body. A pinnacle moment for this play is Vida Leverings speech, which tackles the personal costs Susan Glaspell uses her play and the power of theatre to expose the oppression ofof societal expectations, drawing on her personal experiences to critique the world women and the duality of gender roles and expectations. Trifles highlights the gen- that set them into these oppressed positions. Vidas good looks are to be dered undercurrents of the investigation by creating a contrast between the menstranslated as an overt political manoeuvre, a retort to pervasive stereotyping of dismissive critique of the home and the womens perceptive observations. Thesuffrage women as all dowdy and dull (Stowell 1992: 16). Her words should County Attorney, Mr Hale and Mr Peters ridicule the state of the household, usingalso alarm audiences as she urges them to change the ways of the male-led state; its mess and disorder to blame Mrs Wright for neglecting her householdthe question What man has the knowledge that makes him a fit judge for a duties. Given that a womans role was traditionally measured by her ability towomans deeds? (Robins 1907: 78) addresses so many more people than the maintain an exemplary home and ensure the well-being of her family andcharacters on stage. This scene, however, did not always please everyone and property, the men see the untidy house as evidence of Mrs Wrights failure.was often rebutted with the retort: What shall we say of many of the girls drawn by Glaspells portrayal of the ignorant nature of the male characters suggests amen? (Stowell, 1992: 13). Robins uses Act II as a powerful way to pin down the denunciation of a patriarchal world in which a womans value lies solely in herpatriarchal state and critique societal norms. The theatre has a unique and ability to manage a home. This subjection is further accentuated by the fact thatremarkable ability to challenge the publics expectations. In this case, she seeks to the men are making this judgement without considering the emotional toll of hershift the audiences perspectives, to provoke reflection and change.isolation and oppression. Glaspell contends that even though the state is in favour of the patriarchy, men arent always emotionally or intellectually superior.To conclude, Susannah Centlivre, Susan Glaspell and Elizabeth Robins have all Furthermore, Susan Glaspell uses the influence of theatre for subversion. Thebeen pioneering women with renowned influences and the power of the stage, action of the play is all in the title: Trifles. In this piece, it is described as somethingwith its theatricality, asked audiences to think against the grain. In this sense, they women always worry about. The title draws attention to the dismissed aspects ofhave demanded audiences to shift their minds to the feminist lens. Their works 14 15'