The Perfect Murder In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Devising the perfect murder is a craft that has been manipulated and in practice dating back to the time of the biblical reference of Cain and Abel. In the play, “Trifles” it is not the question of who is the culprit, though that is displayed for the reader, exploration is instead focused the empathy one has for the murderer who feels they have no alternative from their abuser. As a multifaceted approach, Glaspell gives her audience a moral conflict as to whether murder should be condemned based on the circumstances rather than the crime. The story presents the murderer not as such, but instead as the true victim of a crime of domestic abuse who takes it upon herself to render her own freedom.

A wrung neck of a dead canary symbolically emulates

Wright is Mrs. Hale. When the bird is discovered by the two women in a little box wrapped in a piece of silk with its’ neck wrung the same as John’s both women understand the horrible truth. Even with her busy life taking care of her children and the farm Mrs. Hale understood the feeling of isolation and blamed herself for not being there when Mrs. Wright needed her. Mrs. Hale says, “I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be—for women. I tell you, it’s queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things—it’s all just a different kind of the same thing.” (Glaspell, p. 266) In the same social class as Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale is able to imagine how far she herself may go if in the same situation. Mrs. Peters, the Sheriff's wife, holds firm that “The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale.” (Glaspell, p. 266) Despite this position she allows herself to reflect with Mrs. Hale noting a past experience when her kitten as a little girl was killed by a boy with a hatchet saying, “If they hadn’t held me back I would have— [ Catches herself...falters weakly.] — hurt him.” (Glaspell, 265) Even being of a different social class as a Sheriff’s wife Mrs. Peters understands what it is to love something and to be so devastated by its’ loss as to do something completely irrational. The little bird was the only company and source of happiness Mrs. Wright was given in a very long time, combined with isolation,

Wright is not the only one in a situation of inequality. While neither Mrs. Hale nor Mrs. Peters are in an abusive relationship their say in matters is taken with very little regard by their husbands and other men in the investigation. Even at the beginning when the County Attorney disdainfully notes the mess the kitchen is in Mrs. Hale says, “Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be.” (Glaspell, p. 258) To which the County Attorney retorts and closes the matter abruptly with, “Ah, loyal to your sex, I see.” (Glaspell, p. 258) In line with the commonly held social belief that the work the women did could not possibly be as laborious or tasking as a man's work and dirty towels must certainly be a sign of sheer