In 1900, a man by the name of John Hossack was brutally murdered while he laid rest in his bed. John suffered from two blows to his head by an axe. His wife Margret of 32 years was the first to become a suspect. “Margret Hossack claimed to be innocent, but stories of domestic troubles and abuse provided prosecutors with a motive for the crime. Neighbors and family members were reluctant to talk about what they knew concerning the couple’s troubled marriage.” (Iowa) According to the previous source, Margret claimed she had been sleeping next to her husband during the time of the murder and claims she did not hear a thing.
The Hossack’s owned a dog by the name of Shep. Shep was knows as a rambunctious dog by the neighbors, who frequently barked
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at other animals and strangers. Shep was featured in the trial and many believe that due to the dog’s strange behavior and not barking during the murder was proof that Margret had committed the crime. Margret testified in court, claiming that she only heard the dog bark earlier that night and that no one else heard anything else from him. One of the reporters on the trial was Susan Glaspell, who would later go on the write a play inspired by the true events—Trifles.
In the play by Glaspell, there are quite a few similarities to the true story. One in which was that of a women murdering or possibly murdering her husband. In the play Trifles, Mrs. Wright’s, married to Mr. Wright, home was being investigated by a County Attorney and the local Sheriff in search for evidence that would link Mrs. Wright to the murder. Both women claimed to be asleep next to the men at the time of the murder, but did not witness anything due to them being heavy sleepers. Another similarity between the two was both wives reportedly experienced spousal abuse, which is both cases, neighbors were reluctant to share their knowledge of this to law enforcement. Both families also owned a pet. The Hossack family own a dog that would be used for evidence in the trial that would later find Margret guilty. While in Trifles, Mrs. Wright owned a bird that could have convicted her if it would have been …show more content…
discovered. Glaspell also used a great deal of symbolism in her play that subtly tied in well with the Hossack story. The scene starts off with all the main characters gathered around the fire. Mr. Hale tells his story of how he discovered the body and he mentions that Mrs. Wright seems to not be phased by her husband’s death, due do her rocking in her chair static. The first symbolism that I noticed stood when they are investigating the kitchen and the ladies, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, find a jar of cherries fully intact; however, a lot more of them had burst from the freezing temperatures. My perspective is that the cherries represent innocence and the broken jars symbolize Mrs. Wright pressure of being an amused house wife and in due course exploding under that pressure. I believe that the cherries signify that the reader, Mrs. Hale or Mrs. Peters do not know if Mrs. Wright is guilty at this point. Later on in the play the ladies—Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters—are back in the living room and they find a bird cage broken, and the bird is missing. They find a basket of an unfinished quilt and they mention that all the squares are perfect except for the last one that Mrs. Wright was working on. The unfinished and/or unperfected square that Mrs. Wright was working on, symbolizes her sanity and it slipping away. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find the bird later in the quilt basket as it lays dead, neck broken, inside of a sewing box. “But, Mrs. Peters—look at it! Its neck! Look at its neck! Its all—to the other side.” exclaims Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peters replied, “Somebody—wrung—its—neck.” Stage direction reads, “[Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror…]” indicating that they realized that Mrs. Wright may, in fact, be guilty. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters believed that Mrs. Wright had intentions to bury the bird, due to it being in the box. If you care for something, then you bury it. This all indicated that Mr. Wright may have killed the bird; therefore, gave Mrs. Wright a motive to kill Mr. Wright. Once Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find this out, they agreed implicitly not to share the bird with law enforcement. At the end of the play, the gentlemen walk into the room with the ladies—Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Hale hears the gentleman’s footsteps and places the bird in her pocket of her jacket. The footsteps symbolize a hasty decision on whether or not Mrs. Wright was guilty and whether or not they would tell. The county attorney asked frivolously, “Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to—what is it you call it, ladies?” Mrs. Hale responded, with her hand pressed over her pocket, “We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson.” The hand over her pocket symbolizes that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were going to keep their secret and not hand over the evidence to the law enforcement. The term at the end of the play, knot it, means not only that Mr. Wright was killed by his wife by a knotted rope, or that they were not going to tell, but also that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters believed Mrs. Wright to be guilty and still chose to stand by her. Judith Kay Russell, Middle Tennessee State University, writes about symbolism between the three women in Trifles, by Susan Glaspell—Mrs.
Wright, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters and the three women of the Mythical Fates—Lachesis, Clotho and Atropos. Russell’s comparison between the two stories were exceptionally impressive. Russell compares Mrs. Peters to Lachesis—disposer of lots—since “she moves to hide the bird and thus denies the men;” (Mulry 89) therefore, choosing to pull the string from the string of life and chooses in Mrs. Wrights favor. Russell compares Mrs. Hale to Clotho—the Spinner—for she “spins the thread of life” (Mulry 88) which is indicated by her idea that Mrs. Wright was not completely guilty, because Mr. Wright was a “harsh man” (Glaspell). Russell compares Mrs. Wright to Atropos—the Cutter of Thread—because Mrs. Wright remained the ultimate decider of Mr. Wrights fate, regardless if she remains “guilty” or not by her
peers. I believe that Glaspell chose to symbolize these women with the Mythical women because it gave some empowerment. The fate sisters were not Goddesses, but they did, however, have a high amount of power. Glaspell also changed the ending of the play from the true life murder case in Mrs. Wrights favor. “Glaspell’s need to change the ending of the trial, to empower women to rectify an apparently unjust situation, is both a criticism of the legal system and an indictment of the social and romantic conventions of society.” (Alkalay) Glaspell appropriated a true story, transformed it into an educational play to bring awareness and hope to women everywhere who may be living a similar like to Mrs. Margret—Mrs. Wright. Glaspell empowered women by her play—Trifles—to which the ending would show justice—sort-of-speak—rather than the law protecting a man. Glaspell’s changing of roles of empowerment from men to women shows that we are all equal, man and women. “We all go through the same things—it’s just a different kind of the same thing” (Trifles)
I. Article Summary: Suzy Clarkson Holstein's article, “Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell's 'Trifles'” evaluates the play Trifles and how the difference between the men in the play mirror how a woman's perspective is very different from a man's. Trifles is about two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, who show up at a house with their husbands and the county attorney to investigate a murder. The entire time the men are looking for evidence to implicate the accused wife, Minnie Wright, of killing her husband. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are there to gather up some items to bring Minnie Wright in jail. While doing so, the women uncover evidence that would prove the wife is culpable but decide to hide it from the men in the last moments of the play. Trifles is evaluated on how the women are able to come up with the evidence unlike the men because they didn't approach it like a crime scene but rather a home, “By contrast, the women arrive at a home. Although neither they or the men realize it, they too are conducting an investigation” (Holstein 283). Holstein also notes they are able to find evidence because they use their own life experiences to relate to the accused murderer, Minnie Wright as shown here; “But the women do not simply remember and sympathize with Minnie. They identify with her, quite literally” (285). Holstein finishes the article by noting the women decide to hide the evidence because of the solidarity they feel towards Minnie Wright; “From Mrs. Hale's perspective, people are linked together through fragile, sometimes imperceptible strands. The tiny trifles of life –a neighbor's visit, a bird's song, the sewing of a quilt –have profound reverberations” (287).
Sue Grafton once stated: “Except for cases that clearly involve a homicidal maniac, the police like to believe murders are committed by those we know and love, and most of the time they're right.” This is clearly the thought the Boulder Colorado police conceived in the case of little beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. As many have observed from the onslaught of media coverage, the day after Christmas 1996, six year old Jon Benet Ramsey was found buried under a white blanket, bound, beaten, and strangled to death in the wine cellar of their Boulder home. With such a strikingly rare and glamorous story of a six year old beauty queen dead, who was a part of a “perfect American upper-middle class family”, combined with a lack of a lead and ever mounting suspicion piling up against the parents it was no surprise to find that it was fuel to the media and soon stories sold and became a matter of competition between the press. So, like wildfire, this heart-breaking story spread, stretching across the nation, shattering the souls of the world. News broadcasts, magazine and newspaper articles, and television specials all shaped and molded peoples perceptions of this beautiful child’s murder, especially her parents, John and Pasty Ramsey’s involvement or lack there of. The police and FBI’s merciless quest to connect Jon Benet’s murder to her parents, seemed to cause the them to overlook important evidence, or at the very least dismiss suspicious findings that would otherwise send red flags to investigators. There are many contributors as to why this case remains unsolved including lack of investigative expertise, failure to protect valuable evidence, and focusing too much on the parents as suspects but, ultimately, the over involvement of...
The character Mrs. Wright is portrayed as a kind and gentle woman. She is also described as her opinion not being of importance in the marriage. It is stated by Mr. Hale that “ I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John” .(745) Her neighbor, Mrs. Hale, depicts her as “She─come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself─real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and─fluttery. How─she─did─change”. (752) It appears that Mrs. Wright is a kind and gentle woman, not capable of committing a murder. But, with the evidence provided and the description of Mr. Wright’s personality it can also be said that the audience will play on the sympathy card for Mrs. Wright. She appears to be caught in a domestic violence crime in which she is guilty of, but the audience will overlook the crime due to the nature of the circumstances. By using pathos it will create a feeling that Mrs. Wright was the one who was suffering in the marriage, and that she only did what she felt necessary at the
On a cold northern morning the body of a man lay still in his bed. His blood did not flow, his heart did not beat, and his chest didn’t fall with breath. His wife sits still downstairs in the gloomy house that she views as a cage. Her stare is blank and her hands move slowly as if she is in some trance that shows absolutely no remorse. Minne Foster is guilty of murdering her husband which becomes apparent through the evidence and details given by Susan Glaspell in “A Jury of Her Peers”. Glaspell gives evidence and shows the realization that both women in the story also know that Mrs. Foster is guilty. Minnie Foster is guilty of murdering her husband, but a defense could be made to protect her.
In both of Glaspell’s pieces, the main character, Mrs. Wright, is accused of killing her husband. Minnie Wright was a farmer’s wife who didn’t have much contact with the outside world. The murder investigation took place inside her home. Three men are used to investigate the case and two women come with them. The women were no help to the men, but solved the case but also protected Mrs. Wright from any wrongdoing. The three men tried to find a motive, but the case remained unsolved. Susan Glaspell show’s in the two pieces how women are disregarded in investigative matters.
The short story and the play written by Susan Glaspell are very much alike. The story takes place in an old country town in the early 1900’s. Mr. Hale has found his neighbor, John Wright, strangled upstairs in the Wrights’ house with Minnie Wright, John’s wife, sitting calmly downstairs. With John Wright dead and his wife in jail, Mr. Hale, the sheriff, their wives, and the county attorney all crowded in the Wright’s house to try to find clues about the murder. While the men go upstairs, they leave the women downstairs “…worrying over trifles.” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 264) Unbeknownst to the men, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find clue after clue that would convict Minnie Wright of the murder. Instead of telling the men about the clues, the women hide the clues and the men have no idea what the women have found. The clues are little things like a half cleaned kitchen, sewing that is messed up, and the sugar jar being left open. The clues the women find are very noticeable to them, but a man would over look them without thinking twice.
The canary and the birdcage are symbolic to Mrs. Wright?s life in the way that the bird represents her, and the cage represents her life and the way she was made to live. Mrs. Hale compares the canary that she and Mrs. Peters discover to Mrs. Wright, when Mrs. Hale refers to Mrs. Wright as ?kind of like a bird herself?real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and?fluttery.? Minnie Foster was a distinctly different woman than Minnie Foster ...
Mr. Wright was a cruel, cold, and heartless man. He was also a very unsociable man. He abandoned his wife's contentment and paid very little attention to his wife's opinions. He even prevented her from singing. This is revealed about Mr. Wright during the conversations between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters when they find the dead bird with a twisted neck in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket. Mrs. Hale points out, "She- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change" (Glaspell 1267). Mrs. Wright used to be a very high-s...
On the morning of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was violently beaten in her home in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. She was four months pregnant and had been felled by 35 vicious blows (Quade). Right away Sam Sheppard was accused of being the victim to do this. Sheppard had told investigators that he had been asleep downstairs and was awakened by his wife’s screams. Sheppard said when he went upstairs and entered the room he was knocked unconscious by the intruder. He denied any involvement and described his battle with the killer he described as “bushy-haired” (Linder). After a police investigation, Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. With the hectic media covering it, they were quick in decision that it was him that committed the murder. This was an unfair trial, ruined a man’s life, and gave him no time for a career.
Wright’s life and the way that the women help in sewing up the loose ends. Mrs. Peters is at first concerned that Mrs. Hale is going to take out the stitches and re-stitch them correctly. She asks, “Oh, what are you doing, Mrs. Hale?” (881). Mrs. Hale replies that she is “just pulling a stitch or two that’s not sewed very good” and that she will “just finish up this end” (881). This is ironic because the women end up sewing up her defense the way they sewed up her quilt. It is ironic that the two women end up being in charge of Mrs. Wright’s fate when they are not in charge of their own. Mrs. Peters is another example of the situational
In Trifles, the play takes place at an abandon house at a farm where John Wright and his wife, Minnie Wright lived. John was killed with a rope around his neck while his wife was asleep. The neighbor, county attorney and sheriff came to the crime scene for investigation. Along with them came their wives, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters; they were told to grab some belongings for Mrs. Wright that she may need while she’s in custody. Once they all entered the home the men dismissed the kitchen finding it as unimportant. The three men focused more on legal regulations of the law. The play was mostly revolved around the women, discovering the motive through “trifles” and other symbolic things that had significance to Minnie’s guilt. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters understood the reason behind the murdering they hid the evidence from their husbands, and kept quiet. Many readers would visualize this play as a feminist point of view due to women’s bonding in discovering Minnie’s oppressive life after marriage. However Glaspell, provokes two ethical paradigms that have different perspectives of justice. Glaspell uses symbolism to characterize women’s method in a subjective way, by empowering themselves through silence, memories of her and their own lives as well as having empathy about her sit...
Trifles is based on a murder in 1916 that Susan Glaspell covered while she was a journalist with the Des Moines Daily News after she graduated from college. At the end of the nineteenth century, the world of literature saw a large increase of female writers. Judith Fetterley believed that there was an extremely diverse and intriguing body of prose literature used during the nineteenth century by American women. The main idea of this type of literature was women and their lives. The reason all of the literature written by women at this time seems so depressing is due to the fact that they had a tendency to incorporate ideas from their own lives into their works. Glaspell's Trifles lives up to this form of literature, especially since it is based on an actual murder she covered. This play is another look at the murder trial through a woman's point of view.
Mrs. Hale’s keen wit and patience contributes to her embodiment of The Fate sister Clotho the Spinner, which is even more evident in her correcting of Minnie Wright’s improper stitching (Russell). Mrs. Peters begins the process of investigation deeply devoted to keeping the law. She doesn’t want any disruption in the house, saying, “I don’t think we ought to touch things” (Glaspell p. 666) when Mrs. Hale began searching for clues. Upon finding the dead canary, Mrs. Peters view on the situation changes drastically, and she decides with Mrs. Hale to hide the tiny dead bird from the men. They both figure that if the dead canary was discovered, Mrs. Wright would be thought to be a mad woman, though it was likely Mr. Wright who killed it.
Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, seems to describe the ultimate women’s suffrage story. No longer will men have an upper hand against women after reading this story. Cleverness will be the key to retaining power from the men in this story. The one thing that woman are criticized for, the idea that women tend to look at the ‘little picture’ instead of the ‘whole picture’, will be there path to victory. Two stories of revenge are told in this story, the revenge of suppression and revenge of being portrayed as ‘unsophisticated, unintelligent’ women. First we have the story of Mrs. Wright and the struggles with her husband, John. Married women throughout history have been portrayed and played the role as being inferior to the husband in marriage. This seems to be the case with Mrs. Wright. Even though John’s public image was somewhat respectable, it was obvious that behind close doors the story was different. There is evidence of abuse in this marriage. First, the discovery of the broken door leads me to conclude that John was very physical and anguished. Second, it is assumed that Mrs. Wrights husband had broke her canary’s neck. The canary, which of course had to be caged, was represented as the old Minnie Foster herself. The canary is a beautiful, free spirited bird that had a sweet voice, as Minnie had at one time. This was the end of the line and ‘Minnie Foster’ was about to be reborn. She would stand up for all those abused and suppressed house wives across the world and makes the first ‘final’ decision she had ever been allowed to make. The bird’s cage was her jail. The bird’s death was her freedom for the fate of the bird was the fate of her husband. John was discovered with a rope tied around his neck, the freedom of a women who could no longer be held down. This was the first implementation of women’s power in the story. The women at Mrs. Wright’s home played an important role in the story as well. The ‘professional’ detectives were busy about the house finding clues to indict Mrs. Wright in the murder case. They ridiculed the women in the house by ‘putting them in their place’ as typical ladies, so worried about small things and useless ordeals. Mrs. Hale noted the stitches in the quilt to be erratically stitched as if something were wrong.
Wright was described as a beautiful women filled with such joy and life until she married John Wright. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale feels sorry for her because her husband treated her so bad. Due to female bonding and sympathy, the two women, becoming detectives, finds the truth and hides it from the men. The play shows you that emotions can play a part in your judgement. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale felt sorry that Mrs. Wright had one to keep her company no kids and she was always left alone at home. “yes good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that goes to the bone. I should of think she would have wanted a bird. But what you suppose went with it?” Later on in the play the women find out what happens to the bird. The bird was killed the same way Mrs. Wright husband which leads to the motive of why he was killed. Mrs. Wright was just like the bird beautiful but caged no freedom not being able to live a life of her own. Always stuck in the shadows of her husband being told what to do and