Essay about "Trifles" and the American Experience

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.

Trifles, Susan Glaspell’s play written in 1916, reveal concerns of women living in a male dominated society. Glaspell communicates the role that women were expected to play in late 19th century society and the harm that can come of it to women, as well as men. The feminist agenda of Trifles was made obvious, in order to portray the lives of all women who live oppressed under male domination. John and Minnie Wright are two main characters who are never seen; however provide the incident for the play. In this play women are against men, Minnie against her husband, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters against their husband’s, as well as men in general.

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.

Throughout history, and especially in the early 20th century, women were not in the same arena as men; they were not a man’s equal. The Mariam-Webster Online Dictionary, defines “trifle” as something of “little value, substance, or importance,” which is the way women are seen in both William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” and Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles. Both authors use of style and settings are different but their theme is the same. Faulkner and Glaspell were born and wrote in approximately the same era, America’s late 19th and early 20th centuries. Glaspell, the author of Trifles is from the northern United States and uses a lower class, uneducated vernacular of that area; whereas, “A Rose for Emily” is written in an eloquent upper-class English tone, by Faulkner who was from the south. Faulkner metaphorically and symbolically describes the personality, life, and death of the main character, Ms. Emily Grierson, and the murder- mystery surrounding her. Glaspell’s murder -mystery Trifles also surrounds the life and death of the main character, Mrs. Wright, and her husband. Both women, while representing opposite ends of the socio-economic class spectrum, are isolated and lonely,not only due to their social class but also due to a time in history when men were not kind to the “fairer sex.”

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,

So, Mr. Wright busted the cage door and strangled the bird. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decided not tell the men about their discovery. The play ends with the characters exiting the kitchen and the women announcing that they have determined Mrs. Wright’s quilt making style. She “knots it” instead of “quilts it”. I think with women were referring to the fact that Mrs. Wright killed her husband, knotting the rope around his neck. But saying it in such a way that the men will continue thinking that they pay attention to ‘trifle’ matters. In trifles, the title is ironic as the reader sees what is silly and "trifle" to men, is the key to solving the murder. The title, the characters, the role of women and they all work together to paint not only a picture of Minnie’s life with John but by adding the lives of all women who live abuse under male domination. In Trifles, the male characters are regarded as intellectually superior to their wives, who are treated as rather childish for their concern in domestic details. But, in fact, the author makes a feminist glory as she describes her female characters with such a witty way to secretly win over male

The plays, Trifles and A Dollhouse use the literary tool of symbolism to portray the way women were treated throughout the nineteenth century. Susan Glaspell uses the bird cage and the dead bird to signify the role and life of women in marriage and society, whereas Henrik Ibsen uses the dollhouse. These symbols allow the reader to recognize the plays main similarities in the treatment of women, such as men dismissing women as trivial and treating them like property; however, the plays portray the women’s lifestyles as different which seal their fates.

The play ?Trifles?, by Susan Glaspell , is an examination of the different levels of early 1900?s mid-western farming society?s attitudes towards women and equality. The obvious theme in this story is men discounting women?s intelligence and their ability to play a man?s role, as detectives, in the story. A less apparent theme is the empathy the women in the plot find for each other. Looking at the play from this perspective we see a distinct set of characters, a plot, and a final act of sacrifice.

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.

Accordingly, in “Trifles,” Minnie is accused of murdering her husband. The Sheriff and the County Attorney come to her house to find any evidence that may lead to the reason why she kills her husband, Mr. Wright. Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale, also contribute a huge part in the play because of them, Minnie is noticed as her own character. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter both are having a monologue conversation throughout the play in which they also provide details of how Minnie could be the murder victim. “Well, I guess John Wright didn’t wake when they was slipping that rope under his neck.” (563) Mrs. Peter is a stationary character, she is very calm and respects the laws, in comparison to Mrs. Hale, which is a dynamic character. Mrs. Hale says what she feels to anyone and always speaks before she thinks. Both characters are left at the kitchen of Minnie’s so called "unpleasant house” due to the lack of cleaning and the solitary vibe that is felt. In this kitchen, both women find lots of evidence that might lead to the possibility that Minnie could be the suspect in the death of her husband, but both decide to hide the info from the authority towards the end of the play. “We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson.” (567) The Sheriff and the Attorney don’t find any evidence in the house whatsoever. After marriage, Mrs. Wright became this lonely character that is seen as a crazy wife that killed her husband.

In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, a canary bird and a bird cage are seen as symbols. The canary represents the life Mrs. Wright once had before she got married. The bird cage represents Mrs. Wright’s life after she got married. Mrs. Wright once was like the canary; beautiful, alive, and always singing. After getting married, she was caged from her freedom and happiness similar to the canary.

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 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

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.

The few and far between female authors of the nineteenth century have been used time and time again as examples of feminists, while feminism was still a dirty word. Authors like Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and Emily Dickinson have written works that could stand on their own being criticized through a feminist lens. Despite this, Trifles, a play by Glaspell, seems to champion an ideal that could be viewed as anti-feminist. Glaspell used the play Trifles to imply that gender roles in nineteenth-century America provide a necessary societal structure in which women live if not thrive. The two women Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find themselves drawn to the empty bird cage and stitching pattern of Minnie Wright and through their use of “women’s things” crack the case that Minnie killed her husband, and why. The women were able to solve the mystery of the murder all while staying comfortably in the domestic space which society placed them. They are ultimately fighting the system by working its rules. Through Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters experience as women in the nineteenth century, Susan Glaspell uses her play Trifles to demonstrate that women could possibly be benefiting from the same patriarchal system that oppresses them.