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Susan Glaspell's Trifles

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The play, “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell was first performed on August 8th, 1916 and is based on the accounts of a murder trial on which she attended as a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News (Gainor 38). The story of the play is based on a woman named Margaret Hosack from Iowa, who was on trial for killing her husband due to his abusive behavior towards her.
In order to understand the play, it is important to understand the author’s background, as it relates to the main themes of the play: gender dominance, confinement and loneliness. Susan Glaspell, from Davenport, Iowa is only the second woman to win a Pulitzer Prize and much of her writing is strongly feminist, dealing with society’s view of women and male dominance.
One of the most important …show more content…

One major example is the canary bird and the cage. The cage is first noticed when Mrs. Peters opens the cupboard while examining the house for clues relating to the murder of John Wright. “Mrs. Peters: (looking in cupboard) Why, here's a bird-cage, (holds it up) did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?” (Glaspell). Minnie Wright’s birdcage, which she might have purchased due to her loneliness and lack of children, serves as a symbol of her imprisonment in her own house and also as a condemnation of her husband (Ben-Zvi 154). At this point in the play, both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are unaware of the significance of the cage until they discover the dead canary. “Mrs. Hale: Not having children makes less work—but it makes a quiet house and Wright out to work all day, and no company when he did come in. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?” (Glaspell) This particular line makes us aware of Minnie’s childless state and her confined life. Our growing awareness of the meaning of a cage for a bird, which is to prevent it escaping from its owner’s control into its natural habitat and enjoy its freedom, is employed as a symbol by Glaspell to reflect on how women like Minnie Wright are confined to the house and dedicate their lives to their husbands. Glaspell compares Minnie Wright and the canary bird through Mrs. Hale as she …show more content…

One important aspect that does not go unnoticed is the way women in this text are referred to. Except for Minnie Wright, the other two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, are referred to only by their last names and the reader never really gets to know their first name. This shows the level of male dominance in society where women are not really given any importance and rather have an identity based on that of their husbands. For instance “For that matter, a sheriff's wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?” (Glaspell). These words, spoken by the court attorney show how women were expected to follow in their husband’s footsteps. Also if one looks closely enough at the name Minnie Wright, the name Minnie itself has an underlying symbol of minimization. The name creates in our minds an image of an oppressed woman and as we move further into the play we find that this is in fact the case. The use of symbols such as the rocking chair emphasizes the oppression of Minnie Wright and the drastic changes to her life that occurred as a result of her marriage. The physical appearance of the rocking chair is briefly described in “Trifles” but the short story based on the same play, named “A Jury Of Her Peers” by Glaspell describes it more fully, which can help in the analysis. “It came into Mrs. Hale's mind that that rocker didn't look in the least like Minnie Foster [….] rungs up the back, and the

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