Women have been marginalized for centuries. Religious teachings emphasize inequality from the story of Adam and Eve and the original sin of the first women to endless verses teaching women to obey and submit to men. The earliest laws of our country were unapologetically discriminatory – property rights for women didn’t begin until 1839, women didn’t have the right to vote until the 19th amendment of 1920, women couldn’t serve on juries in all 50 states until 1973 – as the ruling class consisted exclusively of white men. Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” addresses these inequalities head on through intrigue, humor, and, ironically, derision of the men’s insistence that they are far superior to women. Published in 1916, “Trifles” takes place in …show more content…
Lewis Hales visits his neighbors, the Wrights, and Mrs. Wright matter-of-factly announces her husband was strangled to death in his sleep. She is promptly the prime suspect and put in jail. The following day, Mr. Hales and his wife, the County Sherriff and his wife, and the County Attorney visit the scene of the crime. While the women have been assigned the meager task of getting a few of Mrs. Wright’s things to take to her in jail, the three men proceed to the bedroom and barn to look for evidence. The Sherriff confidently asserts there is no need to examine the kitchen, “Nothing here but kitchen things” (3). The men disparage Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping skills while accusing women of despairing over trivial things, “Women are used to worrying over trifles” (4). As the men proceed with their work, the women begin to identify clues. They find a quilt with uneven stitching, signaling that Mrs. Wright was nervous about something. They find an empty bird cage with a broken door and then, shockingly, a dead canary with a broken neck wrapped in silk in one of Mrs. Wright’s boxes. Knowing that Mr. Wright neglected his wife, they intuitively assemble these clues to determine that Mr. Wright killed the bird and, as a result, Mrs. Wright killed him in a
In their discussion of supposedly unimportant items, such as the ill-stitched quilt, broken bird cage door, and dead canary, the women are able to collect important evidence and know enough information about Mrs. Wright to give her a motive for murdering her husband. The men, though, are clueless as to who killed Mr. Wright and why, even after they thoroughly search the house for clues. They believe that they possess superior intelligence and knowledge of the world in comparison to women, but cannot find enough evidence to convict Mrs. Wright. Even if the men did uncover the same clues as the women, it is highly unlikely that they would understand how that would make for a motive for Mrs. Wright, as they simply cannot relate to her as a female. Glaspell's Trifles shows how women reveal basic truths about life by paying close attention to detail, and shows the true importance of the things which men generally find to be trivial.
The Sheriff, Attorney, and neighbour Mr. Hale look for evidence while the women Mrs. Peters and Hale are left to their own devices in the kitchen. Condescendingly, the men mock the women’s concerns over Mrs. Wright’s stored preserves, its stated: “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Hale, act 1) It’s inferred that women- who care only of trifles, something of little or no importance, must be trifles themselves. Ironically, these said trifles: the quilt, preserves, a little bird- which will be discussed later, are what solves this mystery. A major concern expressed by all the characters is motive; why would Mrs. Wright kill her husband? While discussing the marriage and disposition of the victim, its stated: “Yes--good; he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him. (Shivers.) Like a raw wind that gets to the bone.” (Mrs. Hale, act 1) Abuses, which have been hinted at all throughout the play are finally spoken of in these lines. Audiences find, that Mrs. Wright- “real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid” - would murder her
When they first enter the house they all “bundled up and go at once to the stove”, this concept is repeated throughout their time in the house and represents that the men want the cold hard facts and nothing else. The stove is located only in the kitchen where the women are and the women are the ones who solve the crime. Other major symbols include the sewing box, half completed chores, and the bird and broken bird cage. Mrs. Wright was “kind of like a bird herself” meaning that she was the bird and Mr. Wright was the broken bird cage. The bird cage was broken because the bird wanted to be freed from it, literally it being her husband. The broken bird cage also represents that now Mr. Wright is broken, meaning that he is dead and not able to trap the bird or Mrs. Wright anymore.
Well, women are used to worrying over trifles. " They are not taken seriously. They are women and are not intelligent enough to understand the concept of murder. The men forgot, it's the little things that bother people the most and for Mrs. Wright, it must have been the death of her canary. I think the canary symbolized Mrs. Wright.
In fact, when Mrs. Hale comments that Mrs. Wright was not one for housekeeping, Mrs. Peters replies by saying “Well, I don’t know as Wright had either.” (748). The disheveled state that the house is in, as well as the fact that Mr. Wright is characterized as a hard man who is unwilling to share his part expresses the idea that their marriage was unhappy, and in turn, Mrs. Wright could have motive to harm him. Likewise, when the men leave the women to find clothes for Mrs. Wright, the two discover more possible evidence that the men will shrug off. For example, Mrs. Hale examines some quilt work that Mrs. Wright was working on, and notices that the most recent square is very sloppy compared to the rest of the work on the quilt. Moreover, the fact that they believe she crafted it by knotting is very significant (750). This correlation times closely with Mr. Wright’s time of death, and could indicate as a stressor, which the women can pick up on. Since the men laugh at their seemingly trivial observation, they are close to solving the crime on their
Until the last hundred years or so in the United States, married women had to rely on their husbands for money, shelter, and food because they were not allowed to work. Though there were probably many men who believed their wives could “stand up to the challenge”, some men would not let their wives be independent, believing them to be of the “inferior” sex, which made them too incompetent to work “un-feminine” jobs. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, feminist writers began to vent their frustration at men’s condescension and sexist beliefs. Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” and Zora Neale Hurson’s “Sweat” both use dialogue to express how women are capable of and used to working hard, thinking originally, being independent
The females begin responding “stiffly” rather than “quietly”(7) as before. This adjective usage serves to support the speech even more by allowing readers to see the progression from silence to a bold rebellion in the women regarding their husbands, for “by hiding the canary Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are also going against their husbands” (Bee2). Indeed, this act was the major act of defiance that secured the women’s strengthened devotions to each other rather than their husbands. Peters especially undergoes a drastic transformation when she eventually joins in as “support of her fellow oppressed women” (Block B 1). When, at the climax of the story, the bird is hidden from the men in the sentimental tin box, Glaspell exhibits the tension with the selection of detail. She chooses to focus on the clammy hands of Mrs. Peters as she stuffs the tin away and the quivering voice of Mrs. Hale as she denies knowing any information about the crime. The descriptions of the seemingly miniscule and weakening objects around her house match the “quiet desperation” (Schotland 3) Foster repressed until it overflowed the night before. Considering that the adjectives show how burdensome it is for the women to conceal the evidence, it truly demonstrates how strong the relationships between them has grown based
Susan B. Anthony, a woman’s rights pioneer, once said, “Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done” (“Women’s Voices Magazine”). Women’s rights is a hot button issue in the United States today, and it has been debated for years. In the late 1800’s an individual named Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote literature to try and paint a picture in the audience’s mind that gender inferiority is both unjust and horrific. In her short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman makes the ultimate argument that women should not be seen as subordinate to men, but as equal.
Mrs. Hale’s keen wit and patience contributes to her embodiment of The Fate sister Clotho the Spinner, which is even more evident in her correcting of Minnie Wright’s improper stitching (Russell). Mrs. Peters begins the process of investigation deeply devoted to keeping the law. She doesn’t want any disruption in the house, saying, “I don’t think we ought to touch things” (Glaspell p. 666) when Mrs. Hale began searching for clues. Upon finding the dead canary, Mrs. Peters view on the situation changes drastically, and she decides with Mrs. Hale to hide the tiny dead bird from the men. They both figure that if the dead canary was discovered, Mrs. Wright would be thought to be a mad woman, though it was likely Mr. Wright who killed it.
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...
Mrs. Wright, however, justified killing her husband due to Mr. Wright trapping her inside the house and how Mrs. Wright job is only to be domestic wife. When Mrs. Hale (farmer’s wife) and Mrs. Peters (sheriff’s wife) discovered a dead bird with her neck bruised all over, they start to put the pieces to the puzzle together and ...
The men leave the room once more, the same room that Mrs. Wright spent most of her time performing activities such as cooking, laundry, and sewing.(Search) Giving these points the men ignorantly don’t even attempt to investigate the one place Mrs. Wright spends most of her time. The men never examine the kitchen, ironically the kitchen is where the women eventually find the bird cage and dead canary.
Mr. Hale found his neighbor, John Wright, strangled upstairs in the Wrights’ house with Minnie Wright, John’s wife, sitting calmly downstairs. With John Wright dead and his wife in jail, Mr. Hale, the sheriff, their wives, and the county attorney all crowded into the Wright’s house to try to find clues about the murder. While the men go upstairs, they leave the women downstairs “.worrying over trifles.” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 264) Unbeknownst to the men, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find clue after clue that would convict Minnie Wright of the murder. Instead of telling the men about the clues, the women hide the clues and the men have no idea what the women have found.
The two females noticed everything around and questioned everything. The find a bird cage and wondered if she owned a bird and it not, what was the bird cage for. Ms. Peters and Mrs. Hale find the bird and notice that the neck had been twisted. Mrs. Hale states how all the women live close together but feel far apart, they all go through the same thing. George Henderson, The County Attorney says that all these things the woman found and were about to take, weren’t relevant to the crime scene because they were things that weren’t dangerous, in other words I believe that he said these things were unrelated to anything that happened that night, because they were things that belonged to a women or mainly because there were small things that during the 20th century wouldn’t hurt a man or a man wouldn’t let himself be taken down, by something so irrelevant. At the end of the story the women conclude that Mr. Wright, killed Mr. Wright the same way he had killed her bird. Mrs. Hale and Ms. Peter decide to hide what they had uncovered about the event that took place that night Mr. Wright was killed. In my opinion the reason they decided to hide all this information was because like they said Mrs. Wright was very happy and her husband was very
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