Susan Glaspell

Introduction

Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspell is one of the most important female voices in twentieth-century theater. However, several decades ago, the average student might not have known who she was. Glaspell was popular enough during her lifetime to help support herself and her husband as they embarked on their work with the now-famous Provincetown Players. Unfortunately, after her death in the late 1940s, she and her writing fell into relative obscurity. With the rise of feminism and the renewed interest in unsung female voices the movement generated, Glaspell has been restored to her rightful place in the canon. Her most famous play, Trifles, hinges on the discoveries of two women whose understanding of the domestic sphere is overlooked and ignored by the men around them.

Essential Facts

1. An Iowa native, Glaspell studied at Drake University in Des Moines, graduating just before 1900.
2. In her youth, Glaspell worked as a journalist while still in Iowa. Her coverage of a local murder trial inspired some of her most famous writing, including the short play Trifles and the story “A Jury of Her Peers.”
3. Following her marriage to George Cram Cook, Glaspell moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts. There, she formed a highly influential theater group, The Provincetown Players, which helped launch the work of playwright Eugene O’Neill.
4. Later in life, Glaspell briefly worked for the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago.
5. In 1931, Glaspell won the Pulitzer Prize for her play Alison’s House.