One Act Play Trifles

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A wise man once said, “marriage can change a person, for better or for worse”, a phenomenon that is portrayed by Susan G. Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles. The play ponders the murder investigations of Mr. Wright, a man who was found dead, strangled by a rope. The sheriff and county attorney begin the investigation, as the men quickly try to find evidence to prove that Mrs. Wright killed her husband. On the other hand, the ladies, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peterson begin wondering around the murder scene, as they try to find items to bring back to Mrs. Wright who’s in custody, only to find disturbing evidence that would make Mrs. Wright’s motive very clear. Unique to this one-act play is Glaspell’s use of the literal device exposition to develop the …show more content…

Wright is also another important character who through exposition the audience can generate a strong comprehension of her. Specifically, through the conversation between Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the audience is able to understand and contrast Minnie as a person before and during her marriage with John Wright. It is indisputable that Minnie was a different person before she married John Wright, as Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters “I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang” (125). Mrs. Halle also states “I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir” (120). Before Minnie Foster married John Wright she was a social and happy women who participated in the choir and wore beautiful clothes. After getting married to John Wright her life became very lonely and isolated. Her isolation is very evident, as Mrs. Hale says “I think maybe that’s why she kept so much to herself. She didn’t even belong to the Ladies’ Aid” (120). Furthermore, in the article “In the Presence of a Domestic Drama: Susan Glaspell’s Debt to Joseph Conrad’s THE SECERT AGENT”, David Mulry states, “[t]he Wright household is cold, empty, and quiet” (294). This information is revealed to the audience through exposition during the introduction of the play, as the prologue describes the scene as a “gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order-the walls covered with a faded wallpaper” (115). Metaphorically, the description of the household portrays the marriage of Mrs. Wright, as her marriage was depressing and distant. Further, through the dialogue between the ladies, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, we learn that Minnie showed symptoms of anxiety and nervousness, as the ladies discover a quilt that is “so nice and even” (121). However, a part of the sewing is “all over the place” (121), which demonstrates anxious and nervous behaviour. Mrs. Hale

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    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

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