Triffled by Susan Glaspell

For this story in particular, the stark contrast between gender roles is made very clear. Where the men felt self-important enough to believe they were trully solving the case, the women felt more that they were being a little simpathetic towards Mrs. Wright's situation.  As the women continue to make observations about what they see, the men pop in occasionally and laugh at the "triffles" they fill their heads with while they do the REAL work.  The women, in the other hand, have actually made more progress than the men because they are in the room (the kitchen) where Mrs. Wright's spent most of time working or reflecting. However, in the end the women have found the most telling evidence and have also empathized to the extent of hiding the evidence. 

"The Mill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson pg835

       The Mill presents the conclusion of a struggling husband and wife who own a small mill that is forcing them to find a way to make ends meet.  The husband finally confesses, " 'There are no millers anymore," meaning they have been put out of business.  The poem is dated 1920 when the industrial revolution was paving the way for the economy, so the miller's words are more than just a temporary absence, but the end of the use of the mill.  That evening she waits for him until, "The tea was cold, the fire was dead." When she finally heads over to the mill, she finds him hanging form a beam, "What else there was would only seem/ To say again what he had meant;/ And what was hanging from a beam."  She then concludes she has nothing left to live for, no husband or job, and drowns herself in the water that once moved the mill and was their livelihood. 

"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson

The poem begins by describing Richard Cory, "Clean favored,/ and imperially slim"  followed by, "But still he fluttered pulses when he said,/ 'Good Morning,' and he glittered when he walked.// And he was rich--yes, richer than a king--."  A very interesting verse is the following, "And he was always human when he talked."  In other words, he looked so awe-inspiring that people doubted he was of this world.  Moreover, the poem also expresses how everyone felt around him, "We people looked at him:/ He was a gentleman from sole to crown," and, "In fine, we thought he was everything/ To make us wish that we were in his place.//So on we worked, and waited for the light,/ And went without the meat, and cursed the bread."  They all feel jealousy towards his fortune and status and wish to be in his shoes.  However, they find out Richard Cory shoots himself and are faced with the reality that even he, with his fortune and kingly manner, felt misery and despair.  The poem leaves the reader hanging because there is still an untold story about Richard Cory; his truly personal story, not what everyone saw in the exterior.