In 1940 a new generation of influential Broadway-based critics began publishing derogatory reviews of her plays, having a sizable effect on her long-term standing. Exacerbating the issue was Glaspell's reluctance to seek publicity and her tendency to downplay her own accomplishments, perhaps a result of her modest Midwestern upbringing. In addition, Glaspell's idealistic novels of strong and independent female protagonists were less popular in the post-war era, which stressed female domesticity. Her novels fell out of print after her death. Accordingly, in the United States her work was seriously neglected for many years. Internationally, she received some attention by scholars, who were primarily interested in her more experimental work from the Provincetown years.