Trifles and Symbolism Solve the Mystery

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Trifles and symbolism solve the mystery Many define drama to be a literary work that is to be performed in front of an audience. But to truly define drama one must comply with its themes in order to understand it fully. Drama is a form of art that is visually presented. It displays key characteristics of human emotions to give deeper meaning to what is being presented. Sometimes drama brings out what a person is truly feeling through a tragedy play or a play portraying good fortune. Drama plays are sometimes taken out of real life instances to extend the controversy of the event or elevate the excitement of the situation. Much like in Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”, where a woman is being put on trial for killing her husband. Trifles are small insignificant things that can be ignored. Women are being ridiculed in this drama due to their lack of voice in society; however their superiority is shown through their keen eye for evidence. Symbolism in this play acts as a precursor to predestined events that take place. It can be observed by looking at anything that has specific significance to a scene, which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters methodically point out. The unfinished quilt, the strangled bird, and fruit are the symbols that give insight what really happened between Mr. and Mrs. Wright, and what went wrong during their marriage to result in such a dreadful end. There are a few deliberately placed props that really depict what really took place. Glaspell writes, “Oh, her fruit; it did freeze” (Trifles, 1386). The fact that Mrs. Wright did not care enough to let her fire keep going in order to save the fruit preserves describes her state of mind. The broken jars represent her spirit and how it has been shattered by her submissive husb... ... middle of paper ... ...early mocking were clues that they needed in terms of evidence. In conclusion, though the reasons for the real murder are unknown, one can deliberate through the given symbols what really happened between Mr. and Mrs. Wright. This murder mystery really gives new light to how these situations were handled back in the 1920s. Women were not treated fairly, and due to this divorce would not have even come up as an option for these women in fear of being labeled unfaithful. Today however, men and women share an equal say in their rights to divorce one another before things get to a point where something like this would likely occur. Works Cited: Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Mays, Kelly J. New York, Norton 2013. Print "Quilts as symbol in America." Quilts as symbol in America. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.

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