Suspense In Trifles

“Trifles” is a one act play written by Susan Glaspell about a woman named Minnie Foster, who is accused of murdering her husband John Wright. Glaspell uses conflict between the characters, symbolism, and suspense to provide the reader with how different the men and women see the crime scene. Throughout this play, the men tend to assert their patriarchal dominance by leaving the women in the kitchen while they go upstairs to investigate the crime scene. As the play unfolds, the women begin to discover pieces of evidence among the mess in the kitchen which the men look over because; each of the items tends to be associated with that of a woman. The men focus on where the crime took place, rather than searching for evidence which could provide a motive behind the murder itself. Through the character’s actions, the use of symbolism, and suspense throughout the play, Glaspell is able to provide the reader with how men had superiority during this time period and how it creates a problem with solving the crime that takes place in the Wright household.

    The conflict between the women and their husbands throughout this play shows how women felt about their role during this time of

a male dominant society. Glaspell uses this conflict between the men and women to show the reader how women were treated during this time period. Instead of spending time in the kitchen, where most of the evidence was placed, the men blamed the mess on Mrs. Wright’s poor housekeeping skills and focused on the bedroom, where the crime actually took place. Though the men looked past the mess in the kitchen, the women began to see through the messy kitchen and noticed that something very wrong must have taken place in Mrs. Wright’s world. As the play continues, more conflict begins to arise. The conflict begins when the men “ go at once to the stove “ to start a fire to warm themselves up and leave the women in the cold doorway ( Trifles 1366 ). This shows how women were treated during this time period. Another conflict takes place when the women are gathering items for Mrs.Wright. As Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters begin to gather items that Minnie has requested, they begin to notice many things are out of place. One thing that the women notice, is the quilt she has been stitching has a section that is very messily woven. As they begin to discuss whether  Minnie was quilting or knoting the cloth, the men begin to laugh and mock the women. Instead of picking up on the clue that she was knotting the quilt, much like the knotted rope used to kill Mr. Wright, the men just continue to Mock the two ladies.
    The quilt also symbolizes the mess that was the Wright’s marriage.

Glaspell uses the quilt, along with many other objects throughout the play to symbolize the character’s emotions and give the play a deeper meaning. The canary cage is also another symbol of how Mrs. Wright was trapped within her home and her marriage. Upon further investigation, the two women also discover a dead canary in Mrs. Wright’s sewing box. The rung neck of the canary represents how Mr. Wright strangled the life out of Minnie Foster, who no longer sang in the church choir or participated in the community, as well as how he himself had the life strangled out of him by the rope around his neck. The death of John Wright was Minnie’s only way at a new life in which she could be free of the abusive grip of her

husband.
    Glaspell also uses the element of suspense throughout the play to keep the reader guessing on what might happen next. As the women begin to uncover evidence, the reader begins to question whether or not Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters will turn the evidence over to the investigators, or if they will just keep what they do find to themselves. By the end of the story, the reader discovers that the women agree to keep the evidence from the men which, again, shows the conflict between men and women during this time period.
    Glaspell incorporates conflict between the characters, symbolism, and the element of suspense to express to the reader what it was like during this time of a male dominant society. As the play unfolds, the reader begins to discover that the women are not as useless as the male investigators treat them as. In the end, the two women are able discover pieces of evidence that could solve the crime scene which the men look over because they see the items as trivial articles and not as objects that could help complete the case at hand.