TRIFLES by Susan Glaspell
In "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, the characteristics of the women and the attitudes to their men and their own roles in life are gradually illuminated. The intensity of the situation, in effect two women judging the life of the third, absent party, provides a context in which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter grow significantly, in character, strength and importance.
The principle characters in the play are effectively the three women, Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters and Minnie Foster-Wright. This is contrary to the opening lines, during which the bulk of the dialogue and the perspective on events is from the men. It not until the men retire upstairs to seek clues, and the two sexes are physically separated, that the women are revealed to be the focus of the play. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are then shown in their more natural context: without the presence of male company and in the room of the house which was regarded as the woman's sole domain, the kitchen, which Elaine Hedges calls:
The limited and limiting space of [the] female sphere.'
In terms of physical characteristics, we are provided with little information about the women. As Leonard Mustazza explains:
Of the women themselves, we know almost nothing beyond their general appearances...Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, is "a slight wiry woman [with] a...
In reality, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are even more invested in the investigation than the men, because they demonstrate an attention to detail that the men lack. By the time the men return from their fruitless investigations, the women have determined both why and how Mrs. Wright murdered her husband, and they even come to the decision not to supply the evidence without ever alerting the men. Furthermore,
Trifles Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles is frequently anthologized, and for good reason (Makowsky 59; Cerf 103). The play differs from a traditional drama in a number of ways, including its structure and narrative content, but arguably its most important feature is it reveals who its protagonists are and the effect this character choice has on the play as a whole. Although the actions of Minnie Wright constitute the narrative focus
While men ignore the kitchen as containing "nothing but kitchen things," women look for evidence precisely there because it is the only place where women are in control. As Holstein (2003) argues, women do not enter the house of Mr. Wright as a place of investigation but as a home of two human beings who have feelings. For men, what matters is the evidence and if they find one,
Trifles by Susan Glaspell depicts a world in which women are ignored in society. The play takes place in the Wright home after Mr. Wright has been murdered. Mr. Peters and Mr. Hale come to the scene to investigate the crime that has taken place. The investigators believed that Mrs. Wright is to blame for her husband's death, but they have no idea why should would do that. As the
How -- she -- did -- change."(Glaspell) the second sense of the play's title becomes obvious: there is no place in the male world of overt action for women's fragility and sensibility, symbolized by the singing bird. The two wives intuitively understand that Mrs. Wright's husband could not understand or like "a thing that sang": "No, Wright wouldn't like the bird -- a thing that sang. She used to
Trifles In Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles," a main theme is that of gender's roles in society. The women had to take care of the household, while the men's role was as public figure. The canary is one of the most important symbols in the play, because it represents the freedom of Mrs. Minnie Wright, before and after the marriage. The author describes her as being full of life "She used to wear
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