Symbolic Illustration of the Power of Relationships in Susan Glaspell's Trifles
A friend can be a remarkable thing. Unfortunately, many lack the powerful bonds that all humans need to survive and lead healthy, happy lives. In Susan Glaspell's play Trifles, Mrs. Wright is starved of the human interaction and relationships she so desperately needs. Consequently, she is never rescued from her loneliness, is brought to the point where she cannot handle any more of life's saddening struggles, and kills her husband in his sleep. Through powerful and often ironic symbolism, such as Mrs. Wright's kitchen, the names of the characters, and the bird, Susan Glaspell clearly displays the power of human relationships and how truly devastating a
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Another symbol of Mrs. Wright's lack of human interaction is her preserves in the kitchen. Mrs. Peters explains how Mrs. Wright "worried [that] if the fire'd go out [. . .] her jars would break" (Glaspell 1174) and feels sympathy towards her. The men, on the other hand, do not understand how Mrs. Wright can worry over such small "trifles" (Glaspell 1174) as she sits in jail for possibly murdering her husband. As strange as it is, it is because the preserves, along with any other work she does in her house, is all that she has. It is all that Mrs. Wright can proudly claim as hers. Hence, the broken jars of preserves the women find in her kitchen represent Mrs. Wright's shattered dreams and expectations of a fulfilling life with her husband. Like the jars, Mrs. Wright bursts from the unbearable pressures of her life, and so, Glaspell clearly displays the power and importance of human relationships. Therefore, through Mrs. Wright's kitchen, Glaspell symbolically implies how vital it is to reach out and befriend the lonely and disheartened.
Another symbol Glaspell uses to reiterate the importance of human contact and support is the names of the characters in the work. First, the fact that Glaspell never uses the characters' first names (except for Mrs. Wright's in one scene) signifies that the problem regarding the lack of human relationships is not only in the rural areas of America, but across the world in every
In the play, the county attorney stumbles upon Mrs. Wright?s preserves. Due to the frigid temperature, most of her preserves held in glass jars had broken. Only one jar ? a jar of cherries ? manages to survive. The fruit possess much symbolism as well. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters feel very sorry that Mrs. Wright had spent much ?hard work in the hot weather? in order to have her preserves. She had saved the fruit so that one day she could enjoy them. However, this was not the case. All of her hard labor was shattered as a result of the temperature. Similarly, Mrs. Wright was shattered by her husband killing her canary bird. The broken jars and spoiled fruit also resemble Mrs. Wright. They are both contained in this ?cold? atmosphere and sooner or later break. The one jar of cherries that manages to survive suggests Mrs. Wright?s character. Despite all the negative influences around her, she will not meet her demise and she has to do the only thing that would keep her from vanishing? that is, murdering Mr. Wright.
The play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916 is based on the murder of John Wright where the prime suspect is his spouse; Minnie Foster. “Trifles” is fixated on the investigation of the social division realized by the strict gender roles that enable the two men and women to have contending points of view on practically every issue. This is found in the way the men view the kitchen as they consider it as not having anything of significant worth. From the earliest starting point, the two women and men possess distinctive positions. For instance, the women are unimportant guests to Minnie Foster's home while the men have desired authority obligation.
One of the first symbols introduced in the work, Mrs. Wright’s apron is deeply symbolic of her personal struggle in her home and marriage. Physically, the apron is a feminine piece of
Susan Glaspell uses a variety of symbols in her play to demonstrate the stereotypical view and treatment of women by men during the start of the twentieth century. She intricately portrays the female characters in her story as intelligent, but passive due to the fact that males dismiss their ideas and conversations as unimportant. The play, Trifles, uses multiple symbols to show how men fail to recognize the intelligence of women, and oppress the feminists’ way of thinking throughout society.
In the end Susan Glaspell uses many objects in the setting to add symbolic meaning to the story. Glaspell uses the dead canary, the broken bird cage, and the dirty kitchen all to give hidden insight to the story if read correctly and deciphered with an open mind. Trifles was written to show the struggles of women in this day and age and uses the stereotypical assumption that women stick to the kitchen and making quilts when really and truly the woman solve the case without even having to try while the men are searching for clues in all of the wrong
In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the central character remains unseen for the entirety of the piece. “The central character - the person whose actions are to be understood - is absent, thus rendering her all the more a figurative blank space” (Keetley 342). The audience never sees or hears Minnie Wright throughout the piece, and therefor cannot develop an accurate opinion of the outcome of the play, as they are missing vital information about Minnie’s personality. The audience and characters instead make several assumptions about the truth that cannot be verified without closer inspection of Minnie’s personality and experiences. Glaspell’s use of an unseen central character in Trifles causes the story to develop based on assumptions made by
The prominence of the patriarchal society in Susan Glaspell's one act play, "Trifles," differentiates the roles of the two genders that society demanded them to undertake. In the 1900s, countless women were restricted within their home while the men left working to financially support the family. The head of the family and society is the man, and the play clearly depicts the limitations women had in this patriarchal society. Throughout the play, the women defy the patriarchal expectations. Thus, Glaspell reveals the patriarchy, as a restrictive force, assigns women unwanted roles.
Wright was described as a “good” man in society’s eyes, he was also described as cold. A raw wind that gets to the bone is chilling and hits hard. Just like the man, the climate of the setting was extremely cold. So cold it made the fruit jars burst. The fruit jars breaking do not just exaggerate and depict the freezing climate, they also represent Mrs. Wright’s breaking point. Mr. Wright made her “crack” after all the pressure he put on her. She broke down by murdering him, which would allow her to let herself free. The cold climate portrays character characteristics and how they affected their surroundings.
A central theme in Glaspell 's play is gender obedience, displayed seemingly by Mrs. Wright. Because the focus of Mrs. Wright 's life, as a wife, revolved around maintaining fruit preserves, we can conclude that her primary concern for the state of the jar of preserves was more significant that the mere thought of frozen fruit. The jars of fruit preserves were Mrs. Wright 's escape and distraction; something she had control over and something she could call her own. This is why the women understood why she would be so concerned about her preserves even in the midst of a legal predicament.
In the play titled Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is being accused of murdering her husband, John. In this production, Mrs. Wright is consistently referenced, and although she is not witnessed, she is very recognizable. There are important symbols in this play that signifies Mrs. Wright and her existence as it once was and as it currently exists to be. Particularly the canary, this symbolizes Mrs. Wright's long forgotten past. Additionally, the birdcage, this symbolizes her life as it currently exists. Certainly the quilt is a symbol, which is an important clue on how Mr. Wright was killed. In addition, the rocking chair, this symbolizes her life as it has diminished throughout
Susan Glaspell tells us her vision of the Wright's kitchen, where the action of her play "Trifles" takes place, through stage directions. She paints a gloomy picture of this center of activity.
“Trifles” is a one act play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, which was first performed on August 8th by the Provincetown Players in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Wharf Theater. The author, Susan Glaspell, was born on July 1, 1876 in Davenport, Iowa. Over her lifetime she had become proficient in many different professions: Playwright, Actress, Novelist, and Journalist. For her works, she won an American Pulitzer Prize in 1931. The Provincetown Players was founded by Susan Glaspell and her husband, George Cram Cook. This was the first modern American theater company. Most of her works centered on current issues at the time such at gender roles between males and females. Susan Glaspell was not the typical woman of her time, she decided to go to school and get herself an education and find herself a her own career instead of waiting around for a husband. In 1899, Glaspell graduated from Drake University in Iowa and found herself a job as a journalist for the Des Monies Daily newspaper. The play Trifles was based upon a story that Glaspell reported on when she was a journalist.
A trifle is something that has little value or importance, and there are many seeming "trifles" in Susan Glaspell's one-act play "Trifles." The irony is that these "trifles" carry more weight and significance than first seems to be the case. Just as Glaspell's play ultimately reveals a sympathetic nature in Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the evidence that the men investigators fail to observe, because they are blind to the things that have importance to a woman, reveals the identity of the murderer and are, therefore, not really "trifles," after all. Thus, the title of the play has a double-meaning: it refers, satirically, to the way "trifling" way some men perceive women, and it also acts as an ironic gesture to the fact that women are not as "trifling" as these men make them out to be. This paper will analyze setting, characters, plot, stage directions, symbolism, themes and genre to show how Glaspell's "Trifles" is an ironic indictment not of a murderess but rather of the men who push women to such acts.
Symbolic objects can be observed by inquisitive and perceptive readers. Symbols fit naturally into context and can be overlooked by even the most perceptive reader. A symbol can have no apparent connection to the text, and therefore be considered as irrational, but the symbol's relation to the object is often typical for what it stands for. However, the main goal in using symbolism is to grasp a more complex meaning beyond its natural state. Glaspell's use of a birdcage is an apparent connection to Mrs. Wright's life on the farm with her husband. While Mr. Wright works on the house farm, Mrs. Wright is held captive; as a caged animal, alone to fulfill wifely duties. In agreement, a composed analysis by Ariang Bangga on Glaspell's Trifles explains how, "Traditional beliefs have held women captive for years. In Trifles, [readers] clearly [see] that there is an obvious distinction between men’s and woman’s role" (Ariang Bangga 1). The bird cage signifies Mr. Wright's treatment and harshness toward his wife to prevent Minnie from socializing with the outside world. Due to his cruelty, Minnie is like the trapped bird imprisoned by traditional male dominance. With that being said, another object of significance is brought forth, that being the bird. Glaspell strategically places symbols for readers to form their own suggested significance. In this matter, the bird is only allowed to wonder within its cage and depend completely on its owner. Relatively, Minnie is conformed to housekeeping matters and what Mr. Wright allows. Turning back to the birdcage that the two women found later in the play, it was found already broken without a bird inside. Marisarah’s article, "A Study of Symbols," suggests that the bird was removed roughly, resulting in the cage breaking. "It implies what just happened to Minnie's life, which she can finally [break away] from a cold and hard husband with a rough way too"
Throughout the play there are three main symbols; the bird, the bird cage and the jar of preserves. The bird symbolized Mrs. Wright and how she loved to sing because the bird was always singing. As the play progresses Mr. Wright grows annoyed with the bird and kills it. The canary’s death represented how Mrs. Wright is dead inside from her neglectful marriage. The bird’s cage symbolized the cage of a marriage Mrs. Wright was in. She felt trapped by her husband’s emotional abuse. When the bird cage broke, it represented the death of Mr. Wright and the freedom that Mrs. Wright felt after breaking free from her long, painful marriage. The last jar of cherry preserves symbolized how Mrs. Wright was still standing. After a failed marriage and losing her bird, which was the one thing she cared most about, Mrs. Wright managed