Kenny Brown 5/28/16
Humanities H9 Short Paper 4
Trifles Throughout “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, the setting, stage set, societal norms, and symbolism within the play all contribute to our understanding of the wife’s central conflict. With the guilt of killing her husband, Mrs. Wright develops an internal conflict within herself. This conflict is exacerbated throughout the play due to these factors. With respect to the setting, the entire play takes place in the home of Mrs. Wright. With this being said, there are constant reminders all over her house of her abusive husband. As the men interview her and search her home, they often criticize her housewife skills. As they do this, I believe it triggers Mrs. White’s emotions and reminds her of her abusive husband. With all of these reminders, Mrs. Wright is practically biting her tongue in the play, as she did with her husband. Along with this idea, women are stripped
…show more content…
Wright’s conflict. With this being said the bird and the preserves are important symbols that represents Mrs. Wright and her marriage. The bird, although caged, similar to how women were “caged” in society was beautiful and vibrant, as Mrs. Wright was before her marriage. As the bird slowly withered and eventually died, the representation of the Wrights’ marriage is shown. In a close reading, once can determine that the bird represents the personality and individuality of Mrs. Wright slowly fading and ultimately disappearing due to the abusiveness of her husband. In response to this, killing her husband proved to be the only way to salvage what was left of her life. The preserves in the play also prove to be important as well. The term preserve, of course means to keep something fresh. For their marriage up to this point the Wrights remained preserved, or functional. As the seal broke on the preserves, it also did on their
The character Mrs. Wright is portrayed as a kind and gentle woman. She is also described as her opinion not being of importance in the marriage. It is stated by Mr. Hale that “ I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John” .(745) Her neighbor, Mrs. Hale, depicts her as “She─come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself─real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and─fluttery. How─she─did─change”. (752) It appears that Mrs. Wright is a kind and gentle woman, not capable of committing a murder. But, with the evidence provided and the description of Mr. Wright’s personality it can also be said that the audience will play on the sympathy card for Mrs. Wright. She appears to be caught in a domestic violence crime in which she is guilty of, but the audience will overlook the crime due to the nature of the circumstances. By using pathos it will create a feeling that Mrs. Wright was the one who was suffering in the marriage, and that she only did what she felt necessary at the
The play portrays women as inferior to men and stuck with household work while men have absolute control over them. The opening scene description “The kitchen is the now abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, a gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order […] other signs of in completed work.” (Trifles, 1) gives a first impression to the reader of how isolated the place is, thereby symbolizing the loneliness of Minnie Wright and her duty towards the household. Such a carefully crafted description in the very first sentence of the text tends to set off a really strong image and perception in the mind of the reader even before they are introduced to the plot. This is a really clever tactic by Susan Glaspell which she uses to emphasize her message from the
The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is type of murder mystery that takes place in the early 1900’s. The play begins when the sheriff Mr. Peters and county attorney Mr. Henderson come to attempt to piece together what had happen on the day that Mr. Wright was murder. While investigating the seen of the murder, they are accompanied by the Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale and Mr. Peters. Mr. Hale had told that Mrs. Wright was acting strange when he found her in the kitchen. After taking information from Mr. Hale, the men leave the women in the kitchen and go upstairs at seen of the murder. The men don’t realize the plot of the murder took place in the kitchen.
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 title “Trifles” to the drama has played a significant role to the composition of the story. If it hadn’t been the title “Trifles,” readers wouldn’t be able to connect to the suspense of the story easily. On the other hand, the true meaning of trifle being the less important thing is denied holding a greater value in this story. All that time, trifles were providing a signal as an evidence to solve the mystery behind the murder of Mr. Wright. In addition, the biggest trifle that draws readers’ attention is that how men take women’s every activities as of no value. Men keep criticizing on what women are doing or having a conversation about. Trifles as a title has been able to justify the whole story of the drama as it gives the readers the sense of how men treats women as unworthy.
I. Article Summary: Suzy Clarkson Holstein's article, “Silent Justice in a Different Key: Glaspell's 'Trifles'” evaluates the play Trifles and how the difference between the men in the play mirror how a woman's perspective is very different from a man's. Trifles is about two women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, who show up at a house with their husbands and the county attorney to investigate a murder. The entire time the men are looking for evidence to implicate the accused wife, Minnie Wright, of killing her husband. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are there to gather up some items to bring Minnie Wright in jail. While doing so, the women uncover evidence that would prove the wife is culpable but decide to hide it from the men in the last moments of the play. Trifles is evaluated on how the women are able to come up with the evidence unlike the men because they didn't approach it like a crime scene but rather a home, “By contrast, the women arrive at a home. Although neither they or the men realize it, they too are conducting an investigation” (Holstein 283). Holstein also notes they are able to find evidence because they use their own life experiences to relate to the accused murderer, Minnie Wright as shown here; “But the women do not simply remember and sympathize with Minnie. They identify with her, quite literally” (285). Holstein finishes the article by noting the women decide to hide the evidence because of the solidarity they feel towards Minnie Wright; “From Mrs. Hale's perspective, people are linked together through fragile, sometimes imperceptible strands. The tiny trifles of life –a neighbor's visit, a bird's song, the sewing of a quilt –have profound reverberations” (287).
In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell brings together three women through a crime investigation in the late nineteenth century. Glaspell uses symbolism, contrast of sexes, and well-constructed characters to show that justice for all is equally important to finding the truth. Perhaps the most prevalent literary device in the Trifles is the rich symbolism. Each of the women in the play are equally important, but come together to become more powerful. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters directly bond, while Mrs. Wright indirectly contributes from jail by leaving them small clues.
Mr. Wright was a cruel, cold, and heartless man. He was also a very unsociable man. He abandoned his wife's contentment and paid very little attention to his wife's opinions. He even prevented her from singing. This is revealed about Mr. Wright during the conversations between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters when they find the dead bird with a twisted neck in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket. Mrs. Hale points out, "She- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change" (Glaspell 1267). Mrs. Wright used to be a very high-s...
In the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, the play approaches the psychoanalytic perspective. As the play approaches many different angles from many characters, it is discussed from two women the behavior she accumulated. The inner mind of an individual develops unconscious thoughts which in result proceeds to the psychoanalytic perspective. The woman in this story is affected by it because of the environment that cages her in turmoil.
One in the same In this play there is a murder but who is a mystery until the woman of the house is pointed at but what would her motive be? In this essay we will be comparing and contrasting the play Trifles and the short story “A jury of her peers” both written by Susan Glaspell and her character, plot and perspectives. The characters in Trifles you get to see emotions rather then characterization. Since it is a play the audience must derive what they are feeling based off of the emotion shown through their words or the face and gestures they are making.
Trifles is based on a murder in 1916 that Susan Glaspell covered while she was a journalist with the Des Moines Daily News after she graduated from college. At the end of the nineteenth century, the world of literature saw a large increase of female writers. Judith Fetterley believed that there was an extremely diverse and intriguing body of prose literature used during the nineteenth century by American women. The main idea of this type of literature was women and their lives. The reason all of the literature written by women at this time seems so depressing is due to the fact that they had a tendency to incorporate ideas from their own lives into their works. Glaspell's Trifles lives up to this form of literature, especially since it is based on an actual murder she covered. This play is another look at the murder trial through a woman's point of view.
Trifles is a play that is an investigation of the murder of John Wright. The sheriff and the county attorney arrive with at John Wright's farmhouse to look for evidence. Mr. Hale tells the story of how he discovered Mr. Wright strangled with a rope and how Mrs. Wright was acting strangely. He describes the murder as a gruesome act to kill a man by strangling the victim since it was a gun in a house. The men investigate for evidence for a motive to convict Mrs. Wright, the wife of John Wright. The men try to find something to show anger or a sudden feeling. The men pass judgment on Mrs. Wright due to her dirty kitchen. Women were not seen as a dangerous creature during this time. So putting away a woman must take hard course evidence to convince
Susan Glaspell's play, "Trifles", attempts to define one of the main behavioral differences between man and woman. For most of the story, the two genders are not only geographically separated, but also separated in thought processes and motive, so that the reader might readily make comparisons between the two genders. Glaspell not only verbally acknowledges this behavioral difference in the play, but also demonstrates it through the characters' actions and the turns of the plot. The timid and overlooked women who appear in the beginning of the play eventually become the delicate detectives who, discounted by the men, discover all of the clues that display a female to be the disillusioned murderer of her (not so dearly) departed husband. Meanwhile, the men in the play not only arrogantly overlook the "trifling" clues that the women find that point to the murderer, but also underestimate the murderer herself. "These were trifles to the men but in reality they told the story and only the women could see that (Erin Williams)". The women seem to be the insightful unsung heroes while the men remain outwardly in charge, but sadly ignorant.
Wright was described as a beautiful women filled with such joy and life until she married John Wright. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale feels sorry for her because her husband treated her so bad. Due to female bonding and sympathy, the two women, becoming detectives, finds the truth and hides it from the men. The play shows you that emotions can play a part in your judgement. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale felt sorry that Mrs. Wright had one to keep her company no kids and she was always left alone at home. “yes good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that goes to the bone. I should of think she would have wanted a bird. But what you suppose went with it?” Later on in the play the women find out what happens to the bird. The bird was killed the same way Mrs. Wright husband which leads to the motive of why he was killed. Mrs. Wright was just like the bird beautiful but caged no freedom not being able to live a life of her own. Always stuck in the shadows of her husband being told what to do and
Susan Glaspell’s Trifles (1916), is a play that accounts for imprisonment and loneliness of women in a patriarchal society. The plot has several instances where women issues are perceived to be mere trifles by their male counterparts. The title is of significant importance in supporting the main theme of the story and developing the plot that leads to the evidence of the mysterious murder. Trifles can be defined as things of less importance; in this story dramatic, verbal and situational irony is used to show how the insignificant trifles lead to a great deal of truth in a crime scene investigation. The title of the story “Trifles” is used ironically to shape the unexpected evidence discovered by women in