to her, affording her a certain dignity as he takes interest in her doings and, especially, in her feelings. Above all, he truly loves Nora: 

RANK ...I have loved you as much as anybody--....I'm at your service with my life and soul....

• Selfish concerns override any of the wives' concerns

Like Mr. Hale, who says, "Women are used to worrying about trifles," Helmer is also dismissive of Nora's concerns. He is completely unaware that she has sacrificed to repay the loan on which she has forged her father's name so that she could procure money for her husband to travel abroad in order to recuperate when his health failed.  When he does learn about this loan, he is, however, outraged that she has endangered his own honor,

HELMER You have ruined all my happiness.  My whole future--that's what you have destroyed.

When Nora asks her husband to sit down and talk, Helmer tells her that he does not understand her, and she remarks that this is the first time in their eight-year marriage that they have had a serious talk. Like the men of Trifles, Helmer has never tried to understand his wife.

But, again, Dr. Rank communicates frequently with Nora, sharing his feelings of love, his concerns about his forthcoming death, and asking what he can do for her. When, for example, Nora asks him for "a great proof of your friendship," he replies, 

RANK Would you really for once make me as happy s all that?

Krogstad, too, becomes solicitous of Nora. For, he tries to retrieve the letter he has written Helmer that reveals Nora's forgery.

• Lack of real communication

Because the women in Glaspell's drama feel that the men have dismissed their abilities to discover any motives as "trifles," when the men return from searching upstairs, Mrs. Hale conceals the dead bird from them by shoving it in her coat pocket. In a similar manner to that of Mr. Wright in Trifles, Niles Krogstad's first threats to Nora to expose her to her husband reflect his anger at not being given a second opportunity in life. Later, however, in contrast to Mr. Wright, he does try to rectify his cruelty to her when he becomes more understanding, and he tells Nora the secret of her forgery will be among her, Mrs. Linde, and himself:

KROGSTAD  The whole thing can be settle quite amiable. Nobody else needs to know anything. It will be among the three of us.

Dr. Rank, too, communicates to Nora his deepest feelings, telling her of his approaching death, as well as of his love for her all the time he has lived with the Helmers.

The characters that seem most similar to me in comparing Trifles by Susan Glaspell and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen are Mr. Hale and the County Attorney, and Torvald Helmer.

A theme common to both plays is the total lack of appreciation, respect and concern shown by the men for the women of the society in which each story is set. The County Attorney is a man who has no knowledge the hard life of a woman. He is quick to believe he knows all there is about the accused, Minnie Wright: in his mind, under no circumstances would she have a right to harm her husband. It never occurs to him that Mr. Wright may have been physically abusing his wife (as the dead bird infers). He makes light of the hard work women do, and dismisses them all in a patronizing way. Mr. Hale is little better.

When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters express concern that Mrs. Wright's preserves have been ruined, Mr. Hale makes a thoughtless remark from which the play gets its title:

Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.

The County Attorney responds:

I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about.

And then...

And yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? (…He goes to the sink…washes his hands. Starts to wipe them on the roller-towel, turns it for a cleaner place) Dirty towels...Not much of a housekeeper…

Through the stage direction, we witness a quiet resentment forming between the women for the men as they search for incriminating evidence; it is clear that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters can sympathize with Mrs. Wright because their own lives are filled with hours of unappreciated work. Even Mrs. Peters has suffered loss and heartache that allow her to empathize with Minnie Wright's pain.

Torvald Helmer is similar in his belief that he completely understands Nora, and that nothing she does is important. In fact, she is not important. This is evidence by his treatment of her as if she were a child, his expectation that Nora will be a dutiful wife, and his inability to see that his wife has sacrificed a great deal to save his life. Torvald can only see that her actions might compromise his position in society.

When Nora notes that she saves all the money she can (and she really does so she can pay off the loan she took to move him to a healthier climate when he was near death), he belittles her:

NORA:

...I do really save all I can.

HELMER:

[laughing]. That's very true—all you can. But you can't save anything!

Torvald never tells her he loves her, but treating her like a small child, calling her by animal names:

Come, come, my little skylark must not droop her wings. What is this! Is my little squirrel out of temper?

When the news comes out that she borrowed money to save Torvald, he has little time for the details. He does not even acknowledge her sacrifice or her fears, but berates her:

NORA:

...I have loved you above everything else in the world.

HELMER:

Oh, don't let us have any silly excuses...Miserable creature: what have you done?

Torvald only relents when he realizes that his reputation is saved, but he has no worries about Nora: only himself. While Nora finally realizes that her husband does not really love her, and has little regard for her as a person, Torvald would be happy to continue as if nothing happened.

The men in both plays show no regard for the women in the play, but belittle and criticize them.