Embodiment Of Moral Authority In Antigone

What is the ultimate authority that dictates human behavior? In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, conflict arises when the two main characters must choose between submitting to legal authority, therefore condemning an acquaintance to prison, or following their own moral compass and essentially letting a murder go unpunished. The battle between one’s own morals and the law of the land is not a new concept though. It can also be witnessed quite clearly in the Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. Antigone who is clearly the embodiment of moral authority in the play, defies her legal ruler and future father-in-law based on her own strictly held beliefs. In both plays, despite different circumstances and outcomes, the choice to follow one’s own definition

of morality rightfully prevails over obeying the established law.

To understand why following a moral code despite legal consequences is the better choice in both plays, the reader must have an understanding of the society of the time. The circumstances in which the protagonists find themselves in Trifles, provide fundamental insight to the plight of women in the 1900’s. Once the setting is established, the reader is made aware of the type of man the dead John Wright was when Mr. Hale says, “I said to Harry that I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John-” (Glaspell 1108), and again when Mrs. Hale states, “No, Wright wouldn’t like that bird –a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too” (Glaspell 1116). A hard seemingly uncaring man like John Wright is not uncommon in this time. As the play progresses the protagonists learn that after 30 years of marriage to this hard man, Minnie Foster is triggered by a single act, the killing of her pet canary, and strangles her husband in his sleep. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters make the decision to hide their revelation. She says, “Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who’s going to punish that?” (Glaspell 1116) in regards to the killing of Minnie’s joyful spirit by John. He spent 30 years killing her slowly. Knowing all too well the hard life she had been sentenced to, Mrs. Hale cannot in good conscience condemn Minnie to prison.