An Analysis Of Susan Glaspell 's ' Trifles '

At the start of Susan Glaspell’s dark drama “Trifles” we are introduced to the characters as they all arrive at an abandoned farmhouse previously owned by the recently murdered Mr. John Wright and his killer, and wife, Mrs. Wright. The men’s dominance over the situation and the women is clear from the initial understanding of their individual roles. The men all seem to have important tasks to perform. The sheriff and the county attorney are investigating John Wright’s murder by searching for evidence of his wife’s guilt. Mr. Hale, a farming neighbor, has been requested to give his testimony of the morning he discovered the murder, thus enforcing the important roles of the male characters. The

Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play. In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general.

The men were still looking for evidence, but women are replaying the scene of murder in there minds. They conclude that Mrs. Wright was sewing in kitchen, when Mr. Wright came into the kitchen and saw the bird. This explains why Mrs. Wright was sewing nervously. I assumed that Mr. Wright didn’t like birds, because they are very noisy referring to conversation with Mr. Hale about the joining party phone line. Mr. Wright must have seen the birdcage with the bird. He must have broken the birdcage and broke the bird’s neck. This was enough of a motive need for Mrs. Wright to kill her husband. The

Though demeaning women and their concerns are considered sexist in the twenty first century, one hundred years ago, this was not the case. People acknowledged the concept of sexism since it was treated as normal behaviour. Moreover, in the early 1900s, women and men did not have equal rights. From not having the privilege to vote to the expectation of women being submissive to men. Woman essentially just had the obligation to take care of their children along with the responsibility of carrying out all household chores while the men were at work. In the play, Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the divide between men and women is distantly evident. Due to the reason that the male-dominated society viewed woman less important, men constantly treated

Wright so deeply that her whole view of right and wrong is distorted. Her decision to murder her husband in the name of her bird shows how corrupted her mind really is. Years and years of silent torture drove this woman to the brink of insanity. Her insanity symbolizes other women in that time that chose to stay in a loveless marriage rather than make a bold move like Nora did and go out into world on their own. Nora’s courageous choice empowered women to think for themselves, while Mrs. Wright’s choice revealed to them exactly how a loveless marriage can damage one’s mind to the point of no repair.

From this piece of textual evidence, we realize that Mr. Wright killed not only Mrs. Wright’s canary, but her singing, her liveliness. Page 266 describes Mrs. Wright, “She-- come to think of it… was kind of like a bird herself-- real sweet and pretty but kind of timid and fluttery. How--she did--change”. We can see that Mrs. Wright has changed a lot since she got married. From these two pieces of textual evidence, we see that Mrs. Wright changed as a result of her marriage.

"Trifles," a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell, is a cleverly written story about a murder and more importantly, it effectively describes the treatment of women during the early 1900s. In the opening scene, we learn a great deal of information about the people of the play and of their opinions. We know that there are five main characters, three men and two women. The weather outside is frighteningly cold, and yet the men enter the warm farmhouse first. The women stand together away from the men, which immediately puts the men against the women. Mrs. Hale?s and Mrs. Peters?s treatment from the men in the play is reflective of the beliefs of that time. These women, aware of

Wright killed Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale later discovers a pretty box and sees the dead bird inside (Trifles 733). They see a bird has been killed by a rope around the neck the same way Mr. Wright died. Mr. Wright strangle the pet with a rope he was probably tired of the noise the animal made. This made the wife mad because it was the only happy thing she had. After the death of the pet she felt solitary it was something meaningful to her.

In the one-act play, Trifles written by Susan Glaspell, it is often viewed as an example of early feminist drama. In this murder play, Mrs. Peters, wife of the sheriff and Mrs. Hale, wife of a neighboring farmer, are asked by the victim’s wife, Mrs. Wright (Minnie Fosters) to take her back a few items. As the women gather items per her request they discover evidence tracing back to Mrs. Wright. Since they are able to sympathize with the victims wife, and their understanding of her possible motives lead them to discover the murderer of John Wright. The men, George Henderson, country attorney and Henry Peters, the sheriff fail to realize the reality of this murder, due to their lack of emotion and insensitivity of this case. Early feminism existed, and the women characters of this play relate to the “bird trapped” lives of women lives in early civilization. As you read the play, you discover that they are left with a hard decision, whether to tell authorities the evidence they found against the victims wife, or to keep it to amongst themselves. Their choice raises questions about solidarity among women, the meaning of justice, and the role of women in society as a source of

The Susan Glaspell play, "Trifles", does an awesome job of defining behavioral differences between men and women. The two genders in this story were geographically divided, and also in their motives and thought process, the writer makes it easy for the reader to pick up the differences of the two genders. Glaspell displays the differences in the play through the characters and the plot progression. The women at the beginning of the play appear to be unappreciated and dismissed, but these same women became the winners of the game, the investigation. The women counted out by men figured out the mystery that a women was in fact the murderer of her husband. The men in this play where so high on their horse that they missed the "trifling" clues which lead to the murderer, these same men doubted the ability of the murderer as well."These were trifles to the men but in reality they told the story and only the women could see that (Erin Williams)". The men appear to be in command, but very lost while the women are witty and intelligent, although undermined.

The women empower themselves through silence, particularly in the kitchen communicating and reflecting upon things around them in the limited space they were given. The men dismiss the kitchen finding nothing that is relevant to the murder case. The men keep crisscrossing through the kitchen, ignoring and not realizing they could find the vital evidence through trivial details. Even though they were having difficulty in finding clues that lead to the murder. While the women were alone looking through Minnie’s kitchen they found the most valuable evidence the “missing piece to men’s puzzle” (Holstein 283). Mrs. Hale found the dead bird strangled in the sewing box telling “Mrs. Peters-look at it! Its neck! Look at its neck!” (782). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters recognize the bird was strangled brutally “their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror” (Glaspell 782). Both of them realized the bird was killed the same way as Mr. Wright with the rope around their neck. The strangled bird represents Minnie Foster how her freedom and joy was strangled to death. When the men came in the kitchen, the county attorney noticed the bird cage, wondering if the bird flew away, but Mrs. Hale lied and said “we think the- cat got it” ( Glaspell 782). The county attorney seek only visible evidence for murder he was wasn’t thinking critically what it may mean. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters covered the evidence keeping it between themselves for their own knowledge. They

Michelle Bachelet once said, “As long as women face violence and discrimination, our efforts to eradicate poverty, achieve equality, and advance human rights and democracy will not succeed.” In Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles,” the characters and setting illustrate a world of strict gender roles and inequality in the early 1900s that have had negatively affected the female psyche. First off, the male minor characters and female protagonists exhibit different types of mindsets and attitudes when approaching the murder of Mr. Wright. The male characters failed to see the vital clues of the murder because of their ignorant and dismissive attitude and tone regarding the symbolic kitchen. They even tease the women about their discoveries and mock them

Analytical Paragraph of Trifles In the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell, gender roles are used to portray women as a community that will support and protect each other no matter what happens, and to call into question the stereotypes that women are innocent, simple-minded, and caring people. When Mrs. Wright is accused of murdering her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters feel guilt for never befriending the lonely lady, and both take action to ensure she will not be convicted. Even though the ladies are able to find evidence to be sure that Mrs. Wright was the murderer, they take action to ensure that she will be found innocent and released from jail. In this way, we are able to infer that women have a higher regard for friendship than the law, and

The quilt stitching as mentioned above is an indicator of Mrs. Wright’s state of mind, some others include: the cherry preserves, the birdcage and perhaps the vital dead canary. As a result of the frigid temperatures the jar of cherry preserves cracked and broke just like Mrs. Wright whose spirit was broken by her cruel, unappreciative, cold husband. The birdcage is comparable to Mrs. Wright (Minnie) who in a sense is a “caged bird” herself. Last but, certainly not least is the canary perhaps the most important discovery. The canary bright, singing, and cheerful led to Mrs. Wright reminiscing about before her marriage when she would always be bright smiling and singing joyfully. This bird was the last ounce of joy in Mrs. Wright’s cold empty life and house. When her husband killed it, it was as if she had been killed, and she killed him in turn. (Beatty, 1) Thus all these objects are the little clues which solve the murder’s mystery and exposes the

Hale both decide to make a joke out of a murder. By hiding the truth from the authorities, they could have received charges for obstruction of justice and received jail time ( Cornell ). The other viewpoint would be from the women in the story or possibly anyone reading it. After years of constant neglect and criticism, Mrs. Wright decided to break out the cage of a marriage she was in with her husband. Feeling for her pain, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale mock the men as they investigate the crime scene. By not telling the truth to the Mr. Hale and the County Attorney, the women are getting revenge on the men for the they have been treating them.