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Trifles By Susan Glaspell Research Paper

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Symbolism in Trifles by Susan Glaspell The play Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a great example of an early feminist drama because it shows two women Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters who both realize while in the home of Mrs. Wright that she was justified in her killing her husband in the middle of the night. It shows that the ladies are women first and wives second. They help Mrs. Wright verses helping the men solve the murder because the ladies can relate and put themselves in the shoes of Mrs. Wright and, they know they would do the same thing if they were treated the same way Mrs. Wright was by her husband. For example when asked where the bird was Mrs. Hale said, “we think the cat got it”(Glaspell 560). In the play it shows many examples of symbolism but of all of them the ones that really stand out among the others would have to be Mrs. Wrights bird cage, the rope used to kill Mr. Wright …show more content…

Wright’s birdcage. The birdcage is a very strong piece of symbolism because it shows the most or really has the most meaning. The birdcage showed how Mrs. Wright was trapped in a awful marriage with no chance of escaping the horror of it. The cage use to have a lock on it and that shows how Mrs. Wright was locked into her marriage and was locked in the home. She was not allowed to leave so she was never able to tell anyone the way Mr. Wright really acted towards her. The birdcage door is broken and it shows the very broken marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Wright. The broken door also represents Mrs. Wright escaping the horrible marriage because when the door is open on the cage its just as if a door is open for Mrs. Wright to finally take a chance to make a run for it. As much as she would have liked to just run it was 1916 and in that time divorce was never an option for anyone no matter the circumstances. So Mrs. Wright just felt trapped even when the door was open for her to run she knew she still could

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