Bogthe Play 'Bug': Summary

“You’re Convinced there was nothing important here…Nothing that would—point to any motive?” (Glaspell, pg. 5, 1908). In 1916, Glaspell worked for Des Moines daily news as a reporter where she later met her husband George Cook who was a play director. Together they wrote and produced plays, two of which are Trifles and Jury of Her Peers which are based off a crime scene she encountered while being a reporter. Glaspell’s plays are on the feminist side focusing on the roles women are forced to play in society and their relationships with men. Motive is the overall theme found in both versions of Glaspell’s story and is evidenced through the Wright’s relationship, the anger portrayed in various ways, and finally, regret found in Mrs. Wright.

Given the time of the play and gender of the main character, the reoccurring themes in this play revolve around Esther. Being an African American female in the early 1900’s, times were hard. She had become a very successful seamstress and was able to provide for herself. After many years of hard work, Esther had saved a small fortune in her quilt to build toward her dreams of creating her own beauty salon where African Americans will receive the same level of care as whites. This, along with her other dream of falling in love and getting married, is all she has worked for. Once George, a laborer from overseas who unexpectedly began writing love letters to Ester, had moved in and was looking for work, Esther felt the need to accept the gender roles of time and give up her life savings in order to help George make something of himself. George tore open her quilt without a care for her feelings and was only focused on himself. He then goes to gamble it all away with Mayme, a prostitute who happens to be one of Ester’s customers.

In today's society, we generally view upon everyone as equal beings who deserve equal rights. At the turn of the 20th century, this particular view didn?t exist. Men clearly dominated almost every aspect of life and women were often left with little importance. The Wright?s embody this view of roles in Susan Glaspell?s play Trifles. Mrs. Wright was a typical woman who suffered the mental abuse from her husband and was caged from life. In Trifles, a mixture of symbolism of oppression illustrates Mrs. Minnie Wright?s motives to kill her husband and to escape from imprisonment.

In my opinion, the key theme of this play is tyranny. How is tyranny exerted by a small group that is able to manipulate the situation for their own ends? One clear example is how the court arrests many people on the word of the girls alone. Contrastingly, Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Proctor are shining examples of people who insist on the truth, regardless of the

The play Trifles is a world-famous production written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 during the women’s suffrage movement. The women’s suffrage movement was a point in U.S. history when rights for women, like voting and gender equality, were greatly stressed to be enforced. Glaspell’s involvement in the movement did not go unnoticed. Today Glaspell’s plays are famous worldwide for her feministic and socialistic views on legal reform, and involvement in the women’s suffrage movement. However, the play Trifles stands out amongst her others due to it being based on a true murder story she covered as a reporter. The play is about a man named Mr. Wright who is discovered by his neighbor, Mr. Hale, with rope around his neck murdered. Upon discovering Mr. wright, the county attorney and sheriff get involved, along with Mr. Hales wife, Mrs. Hale, and the sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters. Throughout the investigation at the Wright residence, the women are not asked for help, and are looked down upon by the men. While the men seldom ask the women for their opinion on the murder, the case unfolds right in front of the two wives’ eyes. Like the women in the play, Glaspell was unable to play a significant role in the murder case she was involved in, and her observations over small and minor details she thought may be of importance went unnoticed by the men. Throughout the play, Trifles, Glaspell symbolizes the conflict of men versus women seen during this period through recognition, the

The play shows the audiences what the children had been through in the residential school. Whether it is physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, each had made a big influence in their life. The native women in the play who claims herself as Johnny accuses George of sexual abuse back in the day when he is teaching at the residential school she attended. Thought the play did not clearly state whether George did or did not do the thing she said, but it surely put on a focus point of child abuse was one of the main issues in the school. The woman real name was not revealed until near the end of the story. The purpose of this part of the play was to show the audiences of how residential school

The theme of the story is under some circumstances people can be blind to the truth. Character Edie determines the style of the story by talking about the circumstances of her life as a fifteen year old girl and as an older woman. She retells the stories of those that she has known, and the man that she believed she loved deeply. Sometimes the things we want to happen may not be the things that life has for us. We need to be open to all the opportunities in life that are different from what we believe.

The play Trifles takes place in a rural area and centers around a woman, Mrs. Wright, who has been accused of killing her husband by strangling him. The act starts off in Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s home on a cold, winter morning the day after Mr. Wright’s body was discovered by the neighbor; the county attorney, the sheriff and his wife and the neighboring farmer and his wife are all inside the

The play Trifles by Susan Glaspell is an interesting story about a woman named Mrs.Minnie Wright. Mrs. Minnie wright does not actually take part in the scene but is actually the main character throughout the play. The focus of the play is about whether or not Minnie Wright did in fact murder her husband, John Wright or did he commit suicide. Throughout the scene, they bring in people to look over or find evidence that can be used to give testimony at her trial. Mrs. Minnie wright should be found innocent of her husband's death, It does not matter if she had a part in his death or not. The fact that she was not happy because of her husband's attitude towards her tells the audience that she was not happy and was a captive in what was supposed to be her home.

The play first reveals the shortsightedness of stereotypes made by Westerners, when the submissive Asian woman is awaiting a dominant Western male. Throughout the play, Gallimard is reliving his experiences that he has shared with Song in prison so he flashes back to describe his story of the perfect woman. Gallimard first flashes back to the German Ambassador house in 1960’s where he first meets Song. Gallimard and Song end up conversing about the opera Madame Butterfly that Song was performing in. Song thinks the opera is ridiculous, but Gallimard likes the opera. Gallimard tells Song how she did a beautiful job as butterfly and how her character was very convincing. Song argues with Gallimard, stating that this opera is only beautiful to Westerners. He asks if “it’s one of your favorite fantasies, isn’t it? The submissive oriental woman and the cruel white man” (17). After hearing these words, Gallimard turns rather defensive; despite his own stereotyping of Asian women, he does not want to be trapped in a stereotypical Western mindset. Song effectively trashes this stereotype by using his devious skills to manipulate

There are many themes within this play/movie. First, I noticed that love is a major theme. Roger had lost his girlfriend; April to suicide after she found out she had contracted HIV. He is trying to write one more song for her, and cannot find the right words. Another key theme for this movie was acceptance. Each of these characters accepts each other, and overall really cares about each other despite their differences. Angel who is also infected with AIDS soon found Collins, who was left in an alley after being beaten by thugs. Angel proceeded to take car of him and take him back to his place to fix him up.

Have you ever wondered what people say about you behind your back or what they think of you what you're not there? This book strongly shows what other people think of Minnie Wright and their true opinions come through. Trifles is a play written by Susan Glaspell. It is a murder mystery about who killed John Wright. Towards the end of the story, we come to the conclusion that the murderer was Minnie Wright, John wrights wife. Minnie Wright took her own husband's life because he had killed the one thing that she had loved most, her bird. She thought as if she needed revenge on him for doing what he did, this being said she killed him in the same way that he had killed her beloved bird; a rope around the neck. Susan Glaspell decides to tell this story mainly through the eyes and minds of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. While the main plot of the story is about Minnie Wright and her actions, she never appears in the story because well, she doesn't have to. Susan Glaspell chiefly relies upon the characters in the story to give the readers and audience a sense of what type of person Minnie Wright is. Readers can sense her presence through the way she and her house are described. The characters say things like, “here is a nice mess (referring to her house)” (118.) or “she looked queer” (116.) These small statements can help us form an image of what Minnie Wright is like when she is not even present. Minnie Wright’s absence also allows the women to sympathize with her and therefore makes the women feel obligated to keep her secret.

The lovers are in love with themselves being in love. They love each other, but are more preoccupied with being seen as lovers. They often feign mild hatred. She is extremely aware of being watched and plays with the audience for sympathy in their plight and ccasionally flirts with spectators.

Setting can also be used to develop the theme. The setting in the play was Mrs. Wright’s kitchen. The Wrights’ house was isolated, down in a hollow. The isolation, coupled with not going to town any more, might have felt terrible for Mrs. Wright. In the 1920’s, the woman’s place was traditionally in the kitchen, so any clues about Mrs. Wright would be in her kitchen. She had left a mess out in the kitchen: a half-wiped table, unwashed pots and pans, a dishtowel lying out, and a misplaced loaf of bread. Mrs. Wright would only have left a mess if she was in a hurry or was interrupted, such as by Mr. Wright coming in and killing the canary.

The talented actors and actresses of THEATREWORKS present a haunting and captivating production about a son returning home from a free-spirited life to his devoted, widowed mother. But dark secrets are slowly revealed from Mrs. Alving’s hidden past that not only affect her but the lives of everyone around her as well. Directed by Murray Ross, every component of this play was clearly thought out, thus leading me to give this play a score of 8 out of 10 overall.