Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
King Saud University
Deanship of Higher Studies
Department of English
Susan Glaspell’s Protagonists:
Change, Development, and Growth
A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Master's Degree in Literature
Prepared by:
Amira Hamad Saif AL-Menieir
Student Number:
4196049
Supervised by:
Professor Ahmad Ramez Kutrieh
(2nd Semester, 1426- 2005)
ABSTRACT
The plays of Susan Glaspell, cofounder of the Provincetown Players,
were unconventional for her era (1916-1922). As part of the modern
American drama movement, Glaspell presented a state of self-awareness to
explore in the theatre what it means to be a woman with needs and hopes. In
her plays, she dramatizes the female experience within the cultural context
of her time, showing great understanding and concern.
This study examines the issue of individuals’ concerns in five of
Glaspell’s plays: Trifles, Inheritors, Alison’s House, The Outside, and The
Verge. Analyzing these plays from the individual’s perspective reveals the
social conflict that the individuals undergo while trying to establish their
independent individuality within their social sphere.
The thesis tracks the plays’ female protagonists who develop or fail to
develop adequate understandings of the meaning of individualism. It
highlights Glaspell’s efforts to depict the impact and the effect of enclosure,
whether social or personal, upon the individual. To her, individuals need to
deal with issues of independence; they also need to establish a unique
relationship with the world, without losing connection with the outside.
Whereas the protagonists in Trifles, Inheritors, and Alison’s House
express their frustration with society by directing their aggressive impulses
towards themselves; sacrificing their rights and desires for the sake and the
hope of free individualistic future, the female characters in The Outside and
The Verge find release from their inner conflicts by detaching and secluding
themselves from all meaning of life and sociability.