Glaspell's Trifles

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Plot is the first principle, the most important feature of a tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as the arrangement of the incidents, not the story itself, but the way the incidents are presented to the audience, the structure of the play. According to Aristotle, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions are superior to those that depend primarily on the character and personality of the protagonist. The end of a tragedy is a catharsis or a purging or cleansing of the emotions of pity and fear. The word “purging” arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to purge away the excess emotions and to reduce these to a healthy balanced proportion. “Trifles” does an outstanding job of not only evoking …show more content…

As the title of the play “Trifles” suggests, women's concerns are often considered to be mere trifles, unimportant issues with little or no importance. Men ultimately carried out those issues that were to be deemed important to society. Glaspell questions the relative value of men and women’s way of looking at things by setting up a drama that unravels through the addition of two narratives, one male and one female. The question Glaspell provokes is not only about women’s roles, but rather how women's knowledge and viewpoints are valued or devalued within the contexts of specific …show more content…

The most powerful piece of evidence is that Mrs. Peters argues that the law is the law; she does not necessarily feel sympathy for Mrs. Wright, as Mrs. Hale does, rather the women go to the Wright home without the motive of discovering anything and that they remain open-minded. In doing so they find valuable evidence, and they begin to construct a narrative out of said evidence. Then, because they can empathize with Mrs. Wright’s pain, they decide that they must conceal her crime; in effect, they feel her actions were justified. Clearly, the men would see the law and their place within it differently because of their positions and the ways of knowing and seeing that they have become accustomed

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