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1. A trifle is something of little value. The title, "Trifles," refers to the seemingly small, unimportant details that women focus on both in solving the murder case, and in regular life. These small, domestic details focused on by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, and overlooked by the men in the story, are the evidence that the men are searching for. Because the men see these trifles as insignificant, and only for women, they never get the evidence they wanted. The women did not only look at the obvious aspects of the murder, like the men. Because the women were more intuitive and sensitive to Minnie Wright's life (or lack of), they were able to solve the murder with the trifles, which were actually extremely valuable. The men and women were exposed to the same clues, however the men were too blinded by the "role of a man" and disregard for the important role of a woman to realize the significance of the clues (trifles). The first clue was fruit preserves that were broken because of the cold. These preserves symbolized Minnie; surrounded by the coldness of her husband, she shattered. Th...
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).
Minnie Wright, John’s wife, is the main suspect. This time, Sheriff Peters asked to bring his wife Mrs. Peters, the county attorney George Henderson, and his neighbors Martha and Lewis Hale to the crime scene. He intended for Lewis Hale, Mr. Henderson and him to solve the case. While Lewis Hale tells the group the details of how John Wright was found, Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale begin looking around the house to judge the state of the crime scene. Before even looking for evidence, Lewis Hale says “Oh, well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (160) to the dismay of Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters. Martha Hale notices that the Wrights’ house was unkempt and sad-looking, which was strange because Minnie Wright used to be a cheerful and meticulous homemaker. Again, Lewis Hale dismisses this as an inconsequential detail, stating that Minnie was just not a good homemaker, even though his wife Martha already told Mr. Henderson that “farmers’ wives have their hands full” (160). A few moments later, the men explore the house, but not before Mr. Hale ironically questions “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (161). The women began to
The farmhouse in Trifles was accessed by several individuals between the time of the murder and law enforcement arriving. The sheriff even sent Frank over that morning to start a fire for warmth, instructing him “not to touch anything except the stove – and you know Frank.” The men in the play are only interested in observing the areas where John would have been within the home, deeming the kitchen as unimportant. If they had only taken a few moments to consider the mindset and life of Mrs. Wright they would have discovered all the information they sought. Minnie’s obligation once married was to provide John with children, the fact they were childless helps to show her “failure” in this role in the men’s eyes, yet the women see the detached relationship she shared with John and the profound silence of a home without little ones. Mrs. Hale discovers an unfinished quilt with some very erratic stitching where Mrs. Wright has left off and begins to remove the stitches, as if trying to undo what has already happened. When the quilting method of Mrs. Wright is discovered the women link her method with the knot used around John’s neck. Without ever seeing
“Trifles” is a play in which Susan Glaspell manages to masterfully incorporate numerous amounts of drama; and at the same time, spin a story of murder, justice, and male superiority all into one. Glaspell writes of a woman who murdered her husband because he was to blame for her cold and lonely life. The women character's in the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, solve the murder, while the men, the county attorney and sheriff, try to solve the murder their own way. From the moment the three male characters, George Henderson, Henry Peters, and Lewis Hale, enter the abandoned farmhouse, the reader can begin to acknowledge the presence of a patriarchal society. The men enter first, followed by the two women. Even in the description of the women, it can be observed that they (the women), tend to keep to the side lines, and allow the men to dominate. It is seen when the men which are “much bundled up and go at once to the stove.” (595). While the women almost creep in after them. In Susan Glaspell's “Trifles" the purpose is to emphasize the importance of gender roles during the early 1900s using symbolism. Examples of symbolism that she that she uses includes, the dead canary bird, the title, and the assertion that Mrs. Wright was going to knot rather than quilt the patchwork quilt. Glaspell used symbolism as clues to the murderer's motive that only the women were able to figure out, and in turn kept the motive of the murderer a secret due to the bond of women.
In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, a small number of people are at the Wright house trying to figure out why and how Mr. Wright was murdered. Mrs. Wright is already the suspect, and all that is needed for the case is evidence for a motive. The jury needs something to show anger or sudden feeling so that they can convict her for murder. The men, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Hale are there to find the evidence. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are there to pick up a select few items for Mrs. Wright. While the men are going about business and looking for evidence to build a case against Mrs. Wright, the women are looking over what Mrs. Wright left behind and intuitively trying to understand what happened. They are also trying to fathom why Mrs. Wright would be compelled to perform such an act of violence. As the story goes on, it constructs each of the characters in slightly different means. Susan Glaspell presents Mr. Wright and Mrs. Hale as having contrasting and comparable characteristics. While Mrs. Hale and Mr. Wright differ in terms of emotions, they are similar in their cleanliness and are well respected by others.
The play, Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, establishes the discrepancy between men and women’s perception and roles during the early 1900s. Its title, Trifles is tied to the concept that is reemphasized many times in the play, which illustrates that women’s thoughts, observations, and voices were considered as trifles or something of which that has least significance to the society and its values. Glaspell gradually builds the plot up to a controversial murder mystery by giving each character specific attributes and by developing symbolism with the objects mentioned in the play. However, if the play was elaborated to incorporate more details of some factors such as characterization and background of Mr. Peters, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale for a movie, then it could possibly lose its mysterious sensitivity and hinder imagination of particular components of the mystery in the readers’ mind.
In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles Mr. Wright’s murder is never solved because the two women in the story unite against of the arrogance of men to hide evidence that would prove Mrs. Wright as the murderer. The play Trifles is about the death of farmer Mr. Wright and how the town sheriff and attorney try to find evidence that his wife Mrs. Wright killed him. As the play progresses the men’s wives who had come along were discovering important pieces of evidence that prove the men’s theory but chose to hide from them to illustrate the point that their ideas should have been valued and not something to be trifled. The very irony of the play comes from its title trifles and is defined as something that isn’t very important or has no relevance to the situation that it is presented to. In this play the irony of the title comes from the fact that the men find the women’s opinions on the case trifling even though the women solve the crime which ends up being the downfall of the men as they would have been able to prosecute Mrs. Wright if they had listened which made the women’s opinions not trifling. Glaspell was born in an age where women were still considered the property of men and they had no real value in society in the eyes of men except for procreation and motherhood. This attitude towards women was what inspired Glaspell to write the play Trifles and to illustrate the point that women’s attitudes should be just as valued as men’s and to let women have a sense of fulfillment in life and break the shackles that were holding them only as obedient housewives. Trifles was also inspired by a real murder trial that Glaspell had been covering when she was a reporter in the year 1900. Glaspell is a major symbol of the feminist movement of l...
Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles", attempts to define one of the main behavioral differences between man and woman. For most of the story, the two genders are not only geographically separated, but also separated in thought processes and motive, so that the reader might readily make comparisons between the two genders. Glaspell not only verbally acknowledges this behavioral difference in the play, but also demonstrates it through the characters' actions and the turns of the plot. The timid and overlooked women who appear in the beginning of the play eventually become the delicate detectives who, discounted by the men, discover all of the clues that display a female to be the disillusioned murderer of her (not so dearly) departed husband. Meanwhile, the men in the play not only arrogantly overlook the "trifling" clues that the women find that point to the murderer, but also underestimate the murderer herself. "These were trifles to the men but in reality they told the story and only the women could see that (Erin Williams)". The women seem to be the insightful unsung heroes while the men remain outwardly in charge, but sadly ignorant.
After reading the play Trifles, I have several assertions. Mrs. Wright felt controlled by Mr. Wright, so she killed him. Mrs. Wright felt trapped by Mr. Wright. Mr Wright’s killing of her bird is what caused her to kill him.
The strong women characters in Trifles allow for feminist discussion, but also question the classic gender roles present at any point in time. Through the crime committed by Minnie Wright, three women grow together and establish that justice for all is deeper than finding the culprit. Justice occurs in all things, in hiding the clues by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, in the quiet dignity they both have by helping their friend, and by proving that women are capable of anything they are determined to
The women’s silence about their knowledge at the end of “Trifles” is a sign of defiance of male authority because it describes the suffrage that women had and probably still goes through. They don’t want to seem like they had to give them the evidence because if they did that mean they were obeying the male. Because of the nightmares Mrs. Wright has been going through so they stood up for her and they have hidden the evidence. I feel as though two stories of revenge were told in this play, one was the revenge of suppression and being portrayed as ‘unworldly, mindless’ women. In the beginning of the story, it describe the struggle that she be going through with her husband. Even the other women realize her emotional life. They propose that her
The title of this drama "Trifles" demonstrates how men have the assumption that women and their respective actions are seemingly unimportant. Trifles can be used in two forms in the English language. In verb form, trifle means to treat someone or something as unimportant or non-essential. The word trifle in noun form means something of little value or importance. Both definitions of this word yield an idea in this story that women are seen as trivial and are not worthy of respect by men. This idea is conveyed throughout the entire story by the belittling assumptions and attitude the men use toward the women. For example Hale says, " Well, women are used to worrying over trifles" (1003). Typically, a kitchen represents women's work and the idea of domesticity. In Glaspell's eyes, men tend to assume that nothing of importance occurs in the kitchen and this can be related to the idea that women are insignificant. As Glaspell writes,
The story of Trifles was written in 1916 which is a period in time when women played a minimal role at solving situations, and was thought of as not having much to say or do of importance. There were important issues that plagued women, such as birth control, socialism and women’s suffrage. Also during that time few women went to college or sought employment outside of the home. Women were thought of only being interested in little things of no importance thus the meaning of Trifles.
Susan Glaspell’s Trifles (1916), is a play that accounts for imprisonment and loneliness of women in a patriarchal society. The plot has several instances where women issues are perceived to be mere trifles by their male counterparts. The title is of significant importance in supporting the main theme of the story and developing the plot that leads to the evidence of the mysterious murder. Trifles can be defined as things of less importance; in this story dramatic, verbal and situational irony is used to show how the insignificant trifles lead to a great deal of truth in a crime scene investigation. The title of the story “Trifles” is used ironically to shape the unexpected evidence discovered by women in
The title “Trifles” to the drama has played a significant role to the composition of the story. If it hadn’t been the title “Trifles,” readers wouldn’t be able to connect to the suspense of the story easily. On the other hand, the true meaning of trifle being the less important thing is denied holding a greater value in this story. All that time, trifles were providing a signal as an evidence to solve the mystery behind the murder of Mr. Wright. In addition, the biggest trifle that draws readers’ attention is that how men take women’s every activities as of no value. Men keep criticizing on what women are doing or having a conversation about. Trifles as a title has been able to justify the whole story of the drama as it gives the readers the sense of how men treats women as unworthy.