Life is like a seesaw, sometimes we show a courage to won or sometimes we show the power.
Susan Glaspell short play, ‘’Trifles ‘’was about a woman who killed her husband because she thinks that her life is difficult and sad just for him. Susan Glaspell shows two women, Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peter was a wife of the sheriff who investigates Mr. Wright murdered, and Mrs. Hale was a wife of hale they are neighbor of Mrs. Wright's. Mrs. Wright was a slightly wiry woman and Mrs. Hale was a slightly wiry woman, a thin nervous face. (Glaspell 14). In a ‘’Fence, By August Wilson’’ is a short story he portrays the African American experience between the 1900s to 2000 (Wilson 11). In Fence August Wilson shows the story of a poor family. Troy
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Hale and Mrs. Peter shows the courageous to disguise the evidence from Sheriff and attorney because if they tell them to court will never understand her emotions and gave her serious punishment. When they find a cage and then they see a fancy box, In the fancy box there was a bird up in this piece of silk. ’Steps are heard outside. Mrs. Hale slips box under quilt pieces and sinks into her chair. Enter Sheriff and County Attorney Mrs. Peters rises’’ (Glaspell 29). Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter demonstrate the courageous to hide the evidence before the Sheriff and attorney had seen it. They understand that Mr. Wright was a strict man for his wife’s. Wright was a lonely woman because without children and with a bored husband I, it must be having been lonely for her.’’ Wright wouldn't like the bird—a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too’’ (Glaspell 31) This statement revealed that Mr. Wright didn’t like the bird and he also didn’t like that her wife was singing. Mr. Wright killed a bird that’s why her wife take a revenge on his husband because she could not waste her life anymore and take the abuse from her husband. In a Trifles by Susan Glaspell shows that how two women Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter showed courageous to hide all evidence to prove that Mrs. Wright was …show more content…
Maureen was a Catholic woman and active member of her local church group. She has a deep belief in Christian virtue. For example, in part one Maureen said that past few years are very terrible for her and ‘’because I was going to go on sinning and sinning until the day I died when I would commit the biggest sin of all (Hornby 5). This line shows that Maureen was very deserved because of religious and she thinks that she is doing everything wrong until the day she died. Yet, Maureen was a soft heart woman, when Jess organize a reunion meeting. Maureen showed the courage to help Jess for good relationship with her parents. She helps her to tell her parents that ‘’ ‘’ So I told Jess’s father that I thought Jess just wanted people to understand better, and that I was sorry if that wasn’t what had happened’’ (Hornby 288) Maureen also said to her parents that might be Jen took her earrings with her and Jess was telling the truth. She thinks might be their parents had a good attitude with Jess. ‘’ When I went home, Mum and Dad wanted to speak to me. And at first, I was like, Whatever, but they were keen, and Mum made me a cup of tea and sat me down at the kitchen table, and then she said that she wanted to apologize to me about the earrings and that she knew who’d pinched them (Hornby 317) this statement described that her parents had realized that Jess
Therefore, Mrs. Wright murdered her husband simply because he murdered her pet bird, and she did so the same way he murdered the bird, making the motive is unethical. Mrs. Hale finds a dead bird with a broken neck inside of Mrs. Wright’s sewing box wrapped in a cloth. Obviously as lonely as Mrs. Wright was the death of her bird would have been catastrophic for her. This is evidence of a motive proving Mrs. Wright killed her husband out of sheer revenge of the death of her bird, it was the last thing he was ever going to take away from her. Along with the broken cage Mrs. Peters states, “Why, look at this door. It’s broke. One hinge is pulled apart” (8). Then Mrs. Hale comments, “Looks like someone must have been rough with it” (8). This is how it happened, Mr. Wright came home from work in
Hale and Mrs. Peters find a dead canary and a broken bird cage, it becomes obvious that Mr. Wright was an aggressive and controlling husband. Mrs. Hale states, “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird- a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too” (1012). The canary represents Minnie Foster. Before she married Mr. Wright, she was a joyful girl who sang in the church choir. After her and Mr. Wright get married, she is forced to stop singing and is stripped of her happiness. The broken cage represents Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s controlling marriage. The bird cage is violently broken to represent how Mrs. Wright violently escaped her marriage. The women’s discoveries cause Mrs. Peters to sympathize with Mrs. Wright. Ultimately, Mrs. Peters decides to stand up for what she believes.
In Susan Glaspell's “ A Jury Of Her Peers” Mrs. Wright’s husband is found strangled in their bed and Mrs. Wright is in the living room calm but in the same way concerned, claiming she “sleeps sound” and didn’t wake up or hear anyone in their house that night. Mrs. Hale a lifetime friend of Mrs. Wright compares her to the canary saying “She was like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery.” Although Mrs. Wright does not initially appear capable of murder, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale concluded Mrs. Wright strangled her husband as evidence by the crazily sewn quilt patch, the unhinged bird cage, and the mutilated canary.
As the ladies examine the house, while the men are other places, picking clothes and an apron up for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale gains sympathy for her until finally she starts to take action. When they find the block of quilting that has stitching askew, she starts to fix it, perhaps to cover for Mrs. Wright?s distraught state of mind. While Mrs. Hale is finding sympathy for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters offers a counterpoint that tries to justifies the men?s viewpoints and actions. Her comments to Mrs. Hale?s resentful musings on Mrs. Wright?s unhappy life and on the actions of men in regards to women in general all seem to be rote answers programmed into her by society and a desire not to cause any trouble. This all changes as soon as Mrs. Peters finds the bird.
In “Trifles”, a division between the two sexes is quickly established as the men enter the house and huddle by the stove while the women remain still by the door. As the men start their detective work the women wander around the house to gather some of Mrs. Wright’s belongings. While searching for her belongings, the women discover an empty birdcage and find a dead bird in a “pretty box” (Glaspell, 956) inside of Mrs. Wright's sewing basket. Mrs. Hale jumps at the sight of the bird’s neck and Mrs. Peters points out how “somebody-wrung-its-neck” (Glaspell, 957) similar to the way Mr. Wright was found earlier. Mrs. Wright's murder of her husband can be seen as an act of feminine revolt against the male-dominated society. Another example of women defying against patriarchy is of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters hiding the evidence that can prove Mrs. Wright to be guilty of her husband’s murder. Before their departure from the Wright’s house, as the men are returning, the sheriff suggests that the county attorney take a look through the items Mrs. Peters had collected for Mrs. Wright. However, he decides that anything collected by the women cannot have much significance and overlooks it. His assumption that the women would have came forward if they saw any possible evidence costs him. The sheriff’s belief is that women derive their identity solely from their relationships with men; the dominant gender.
Trifles, written in the early 1900’s by Susan Glaspell, is a one-act play illustrating how women can overreact to their own emotions, allowing these emotions to cloud their judgment. This is shown by describing the feelings of two women who are willing to defend a suspect, blame the victim, and go so far as to hide evidence, to protect another woman from being charged with murdering her husband. Mrs. Wright is the suspect in the murder of her husband, who was strangled in his sleep, found with the rope still around his neck. The sheriff and an attorney are examining Mrs. Wrights home for evidence. Mr. Henderson, the attorney, speaking of Mrs. Wright says, “Here’s a nice mess, ..Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper,
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
The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is type of murder mystery that takes place in the early 1900’s. The play begins when the sheriff Mr. Peters and county attorney Mr. Henderson come to attempt to piece together what had happen on the day that Mr. Wright was murder. While investigating the seen of the murder, they are accompanied by the Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale and Mr. Peters. Mr. Hale had told that Mrs. Wright was acting strange when he found her in the kitchen. After taking information from Mr. Hale, the men leave the women in the kitchen and go upstairs at seen of the murder. The men don’t realize the plot of the murder took place in the kitchen.
Detectives are always looking for little pieces of evidence when investigating a crime. After all, it is this evidence that can turn a trial around, whether be it for the good or bad. This is especially the case in Susan Glaspell's Trifles. When Mrs. Hale comes across little pieces of evidence, she passes them off as being "trifles", hiding them from the detective. She is the sole reason that very little evidence is collected that would convict Mrs. Wright, and can be believed to have some sort of involvement in the murder of John Wright.
While searching a cupboard for some sewing supplies to fix a poorly sewn quilt, Mrs. Hale finds a birdcage tucked away inside of it. The birdcage that Mrs. Hale finds is the most symbolic object that reveals the motive for the crime. A birdcage can be symbol of confinement or imprisonment. Mrs. Hale says, “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird—a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too” (781). Mrs. Hale compares Mrs. Wright to a bird in the sense that birds sing but Mr. Wright does not want her
consequences. Mrs. Hale's actions are surreptitiously handled and do not cause any damage. Mrs. Hale's scheme is better approached and is smartly executed. She prevents herself and her neighbor from any punishment. As the Sheriff and the County Attorney search for "some definite thing" (Glaspell 1300) or "something to show anger" (Glaspell 1296), Mrs. Hale finds a dead canary. Knowing Mr. Wright is "a hard man" (Glaspell 1298), Mrs. Hale assumes the husband killed the wife's pet. Mrs. Hale notes, "No, Wright wouldn't like the bird-a-thing that sang. She [Mrs. Wright] used to sing." (Glaspell 1299). Mrs. Hale realizes the significance of the dead bird. The dead bird is "something to show anger" (Glaspell 1296). She
Susan Glaspell's play Trifles explores male-female relationships through the murder investigation of the character of Mr. Wright. It also talks about the stereotypes that women faced. The play takes place in Wright's country farmhouse as the men of the play, the county attorney, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, search for evidence as to the identity and, most importantly, the motive of the murderer. The attorney, with the intensions of proving that Mrs. Wright choked the husband to death, was interviewing Mr. Hale on what he saw when he came in to the house. The women, on the other hand, were just there to get some clothing for the wife who was in jail for suspected murder of her husband. However, the clues which would lead them to the answer
Even so, the domestic system the men have set up for their wives and their disregard for them after the rules and boundaries have been laid down prove to be the men's downfall. The evidence that Mrs. Wright killed her husband is woven into Mrs. Hale's and Mrs. Peters's conversations about Mrs. Wright's sawing and her pet bird. The knots in her quilt match those in the rope used to strangle Mr. Wright, and the bird, the last symbol of Mrs. Wright's vitality to be taken by her husband, is found dead. Unable to play the role of subservient wife anymore, Mrs. Wright is foreign to herself and therefore lives a lie. As Mrs. Hale proclaims, "It looks as if she didn't know what she was about!" (1177).
The climax of the play unfolds as the women find an empty birdcage with a broken hinge. As the two women speculate why it was empty, Mrs. Hale describes Mrs. Wright to Mrs. Peters as she knew her when they were single women. The suspect's maiden name was Minnie Foster. She was a beautiful songstress. A voice that was muted when she became Mrs. Wright.