Trifles By Susan Glaspell Essay

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The Play, Trifles by Susan Glaspell, explains how characters struggle with sadness, loneliness, and guilt. Trifles is a one-act play about a murder investigation, in which the wife is accused of murdering her husband who was found hung in their bedroom. The house is being investigated by the sheriff, the county attorney, Mr. Hale who discovered the death of John Wright, his wife Mrs. Hale who is a former friend of Mrs. Wright, and the Sheriffs wife Mrs. Peters. Unfortunately, this play was written about a time era when women were not thought as equal to men, therefore the wives were not involved in the murder investigation, but sent to gather Mrs. Wrights things so she may have them in jail. As the men investigate what acts transpired throughout the house ultimately leading to a murder of their friend John Wright, the women seemed to have solved the murder as they discussed Mrs. Hales relationship with Mrs. Wright and the changes in her old friends’ behaviors.

The historical aspect of this play played a large aspect in the dialogue, as men and women were not seen equally. Throughout the play the women were told what to do and they were …show more content…

If this play was written in modern times, where mental health is talked about more openly and is generally accepted by all, the sheriff may have investigated this case as a suicide as opposed to a murder. Because of the time period this play was written in, mental health was not a commonly accepted thing and there was very little tolerance for those who suffered from mental illnesses. The Sheriff immediately believes it was a murder and because there are no signs of anyone else entering the house, it had to have been committed by the wife. The thought that John Wright could have hung himself was not an option at all in that time

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