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From the play “Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell I’ll be explaining the role of the women characters and how they were portrayed in the story. The play describes setting with homicide, mystery and dishonesty among its characters. It's a play that bases on stereotypes in relationships and attitudes between men and woman at this time in our history. The male characters play the powerful leader being for example, the sheriff, deputy and the attorney where the female characters Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale in a kind of seen but not heard role. Who were sent out to learn more about the details of the murder of Mr. Wright, who was found hanged in his bed. The male characters carefully look around in the bedroom and outside in the barn for clues. Why, the women are sent into gather some things for Mrs. Wright, who is the main suspect to her husband’s death. The women are mocked at by the men. The attitude the men at this time had toward women is provided by Glaspell in the opening of the investigation when the men noticed the kitchen. For example the male characters don’t take the Mrs. Wright when telling them about the important of having the heat on so that the jars of preserves wouldn’t break because of the cold weather. Yet, the male characters didn’t take Mrs. Wright seriously. As if they are just good for nothing women which lack the smarter to understand how to solve a homicide. However, the men take the women for granted because it’s the women who truly solve this case without the sheriff or county attorneys help. The focuses of the play by Glaspell is less about the men’s mission to solve this case but more about the women and how they solve the case along with overcoming the male ignorance. At start of the story, after the me... ... middle of paper ... ...ht. Another reason that Mrs. Wright could’ve been pushed to murder her husband was because of some evidence the women found in a shoe box and assumed to be the husbands doing was the broken neck of her canary. The canary was used by Glaspell to represent Mrs. Wright’s spirit and her marriage. The reasoning for this distinction was because earlier in the story the two women described Mrs. Wright as a free spirited person with a sweet voice like a canary. She needed to stand up for herself against the abuse and oppression as a housewife a decision made from the death of her beautiful bird. Just like the bird had a cage she too was caged in her own home. She felt in prisoned to her marriage so with free of death to her bird brought courage to give herself freedom or perhaps it’s just coincidence that her husband was discovered with a broken neck just like her canary.

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