Compare And Contrast Trifles And A Jury Of Her Peers

A Comparative Contrast, Trifle and A Jury of Her Peers

Before A Jury of Her Peers came Trifles, a play about the investigation of an unlikely suicide following a couple of women that withhold evidence that could convict their friend of murder. Trifles was published in the same year it was first performed on the eighth of August, 1916 and shortly after was turned into a short story on March 5, 1917. However, regardless of both stories sharing plot and direction they have enough differences to warrant varying opinions depending on which rendition they are. Coincidentally, both stories excel in certain fields the other does not. Furthermore, The differences between the play Trifles and the short story A Jury of Her Peers are subtle and forthright

in terms of minor changes to the narrative and the vast parallel of being different mediums, yet the fact remains they are the same story with specific alterations to the story such as character interactions, items of interest while remaining similar in structure and plot.
Notably, one of the most subtle changes between renditions is the way characters interact, more specifically how it is shown and is not shown from the play and story. As a result, the story relies heavily on description to portray how the characters think and interact with one another. In addition, the play has the luxury of relieving those limitations by allowing intricate interactions only possible via a visual medium, for example in the short story on pp. 577 Mrs. Hale approaches the birdcage and says, “Looks as if some one must have been-rough with it” and then the story describes Mrs Hale and Mrs Peters crossing eyes with a stir of emotions twisting inside of them. Significantly, the event presented is one that emits powerful emotion and suspense. However, the play has a significant advantage as the actors can perform the actions in real time evoking instinctive responses from the crowd as they experience it in the arguably most relatable form. While both execute their own devices exceedingly well, the play offers an intuitive experience far more familiar to the consumer. However, that is not to say the play does everything better, the narrative has its own strengths and it just so happens that play allows for less limitations when it comes to portraying human beings thinking and interacting due to the instruments of the medium, I.E. real people.
Another notable difference between both works are the items of interest presented within both renditions, more specifically the addition of items within the short story A Jury of Her Peers and how they add depth.

For one thing, in the short story in addition to kitchen being unkempt there were bottles of sticky, poorly preserved fruits, to add to the disheveled pattern hinting towards an unhappy marriage between the characters of interest. Furthermore, on pp. 571 we have the scene where the county attorney investigates the cupboard only to discover a sticky mess, the following page (pp. 572) uses this to set up the dirty towels as the attorney grabs for one to clean himself he says, “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper would you say, ladies?”. As an illustration, where A Jury of Her Peers differs in this aspect from Trifles is that the ladies are more sympathetic about the preserves in the short story, feeling pity that the preserves had gone bad and the hard work in vain. By the same token, we have the sugar and the bread, Trifles has a some bread left out turned into unsifted sugar in A Jury of Her Peers. Comparatively, the change could have been to portray a more difficult selection of work to allow the audience to sympathize with Minnie Foster as her home difficulties led to an unpleasant impression of her unkempt kitchen. Identically, both present a sympathetic light for Minnie Foster within A Jury of Her Peers, as for in Trifles they serve as evidence of a poor mistreatment of Minnie Foster in her own home by her own husband and in both renditions build a case for why Minnie might have commited

murder.
However, regardless of the subtle differences the plot and characters remain unchanged. In this case, both renditions Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers tell the same story with similar events, for example both versions have Mrs Hale shove the corpse of the mangeld bird in their pockets. While neither share the bread or unsifted sugar they both serve to further the dark undertones of Minnie Foster’s abusive relationship with her husband, both renditions depict Minnie as a caged, beautiful creature withered away by neglect and time. To repeat, Minnie’s evolution as a character is not one that is experience conventionally, both Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers depict a Minnie that began as beautiful young woman turned into a distant, messy murderer broken by the person she had first placed her trust into to. As a result, both versions do a fantastic job of establishing why the dramatic tones that come with evidence hit so hard, it is because Minnie Foster’s transition was so drastic and the evidence helps the audience understand completely why that is. Because the evidence presented develops a sympathetic story to why Minnie commited the crime, in the context of the story she is both wrong and right. Accordingly, in the eyes of her peers she is judged innocent, however in accordance to the resolute word of law she is guilty by all means. With this in mind, both renditions do this theme perfect justice.
To enumerate, both renditions do their own justice to the strengths inherent of the mediums they belong to, Trifles does character interaction best while A Jury of Her Peers does a better job at describing what is happening. Moreover, both genuinely deserve equal praise in regards to the quality of the product that the audience receives. Certainly, both offer different experiences that appeal to different audiences, however the changes are marginal and regardless of the medium the experience is similar enough to stick to one rendition. Under those circumstances, it is difficult to see the flaws within the narratives as they are written exceedingly well and are quick to become favorites. Consequently, the short length of the story allows for a level of accessibility unlike most other stories, giving the individual very little reason they should not experience such a classic.