Minnie's Quilt In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

In the play Trifles, Minnie Wright is accused of murdering her husband. Although, most of the evidence is circumstantial and hearsay; the motive is never determined by the authorities. However, some evidence to prove her guilt would have been her strange attitude, her error in stitching the quilt, the dented birdcage, the dead canary, and the witness testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Also, there was no evidence of a break-in or any burglary and the rope was their personal property (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012).
The largest part of the evidence is most certainly circumstantial due to hearsay. The witnesses are only recounting how Minnie and John Wright interacted with one another no actual evidence of a troubled marriage. Minnie had a dull, boring home which was secluded from the road and her neighbors. Minnie’s behavior was noticeably different

according to Mr.

and Mrs. Hale. Minnie was once a cheerful soul who sang in the choir. Now she had become a lonely farmer’s wife, who had been found in a somewhat cationic stated seemingly unbothered by the death of her husband. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find her quilting pieces and notice where her once perfect craftsmanship seemed to be rushed and poor quality. Then the ladies find the dented birdcage and begin discussing what may have happened, as Minnie was spotted happily carrying the canary through town. At this moment, a key piece of evidence is located by the ladies. The box containing the dead canary is found. Inside the box, the ladies find the canary has had its neck wrenched. At this point, Mrs. Hale recounts her memory of John Wright. She states John was a hard man while Minnie was a cheerful timid soul like a canary. Based on hearsay, Mrs. Wright was extremely lonely with no children. The house has been very silent except for the timid canary chirping. John kills the canary and this triggers Minnie to

murder him. The canary would have been one of the few cheerful sounds in the house and the sudden quietness seems to have driven Minnie mad. The key evidence is kept from the authorities, who prohibit them from determining a motive for the crime. Only speculations can be made based on Minnie’s behavior, the murder weapon was owned by the couple, and there was no sign of a break in. No one would seem to sneak into John’s house and kill him after all the town considered him a good man (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012).
Authorities were unable to determine the motive. Motives can be complex and without the knowledge of the dead bird and the recounting of Minnie’s former life, the motive for the killing of John is undetermined. The hearsay and lack of break-in are the biggest supporters of motive in this case, but the crime scene is disturbed and altered by witnesses causing the only “real” evidence inadmissible in court. The only way to prove there was motive would be for the ladies to provide the court with the evidence they located (Verstein, 2018).

References
Kirszner and Mandell, (2012). Lit. Wadsworth Cengage, Boston.
Verstein, A. (2018). The jurisprudence of mixed motives. Yale Law Journal, 127(5), 1106-1175.