In all literary works, authors are required to provide the reader with the setting of the story. Setting is the context in which the action of a story occurs. The major elements of setting are time, place, and social environment. The author's tone of voice and use of vocabulary can also help the reader understand the setting of a story or play. In the play, "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, symbolism, use of vocabulary, and dialogue help the reader develop an understanding of the circumstances leading up to he situation. She uses these methods to also help the reader visualize where the story is taken place.
The year is 1916. Women did not have many rights and were expected to stay at home and tend to their husband's needs. John Wright was in control of everything and did not allow his wife to have much of a social life. Before the play opens up, Glaspell sets the scene for the audience. "In the abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, a gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order, -..." (p.1006). The description given at the beginning of the play, establishes an atmosphere that will influence our judgment of Mrs. Wright. The gloomy, unkempt kitchen allows one to envision the uninviting place where Mrs. Wright spent her time. It is later mentioned that John Wright was a "hard man" and never showed too much expression. Glaspell's choices of words, "signs of incomplete work," suggest that there may have been problems within the marriage.
Dialogue is another way in which Glaspell establishes setting. Through conversation between characters, we can also develop an understanding of the situation. For example, the sheriff states, ."..I knew you could get back from Omaha by today..." (p.1001). His statement suggests that the story takes place somewhere in the Mid West, where winters can be cold and desolate. Further into the conversation between the Sheriff and the attorney, we also find out that John Wright has been murdered and that his wife has been arrested for the crime. The dialogue between the characters is important because it allows the reader to build up suspense and understand the mood of the story.
Lastly, Glaspell uses symbolism to characterize Mrs. Wright. Her use of symbolism can be used to understand what may have caused Mrs. Wright to murder her husband. For example, the Wrights' neighbors, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are at the scene of the crime.
In this play, the women are housewives; responsible for bearing children, and keeping the house. They are often made fun of or made to feel less of themselves when they didn’t perform those duties to the specifications of the men. The city attorney openly criticizes Mrs. Wrights housekeeping skills by stating “here is a mess, dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell 1109-1110). Mrs. Hale describes Minnie Foster as “real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery” (Glaspell 1114). But a lot of changes are evident once she marries Mr. Wright. She spends her days in isolation, focusing on her quilts, preserves, and caring for her canary. She didn’t receive any type of appreciation for her hard work. This defeats her mentally and she doesn’t have any joy left in her life. While looking for evidence in the murder, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find red flags that support her mental decline, such as blocks on the quilt described as “all over the place” (Glaspell 1113), like she didn’t know what she was doing and a “dead bird in a fancy box, wrapped in a piece of silk” (Glaspell 1114). After the death of her beloved canary at the hands of her husband,
The most prominent settings used throughout the entirety of the novel are Berlin and Auschwitz. In these settings, the active transition from one house to the other and the locations of which the houses are positioned in. The next setting is the fence, as the fence is situated on the border of the camp to divide both sides, from Jew and German. Due to the current relations of the Germans and Jews at the time. Along with the hole or opening under the fence, exhibiting a penitential connection to occur between both sides. And finally the third settings are the gradua...
One of the most fundamental elements of a literary work is the setting. It usually includes the place, time and social conditions of the described world and affects the story immensely. It allows the reader to relate to the events and characters within a story. It explains to the reader why the characters behave in a certain way or why they are susceptible to certain situations. As Welty states, ''Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else. . . . Fiction depends for its life on place''. It can be argued that this is no different when it comes to television shows or the works of cinematography. The appropriate selection of the setting has a substantial effect on how the fictional world is perceived and can result in a perfectly created sense of space for the story the audience wants to follow. It enables the audience to effectively visualize the characters' environment, stimulates their imagination and helps them to identify with the characters' everyday life struggles. The established setting does not only act as a decorative background for the unfolding story, but it also draws the
One of the great literary devices is setting. Throughout the story there are three different setting.
Social gender separations are displayed in the manner that men the view Wright house, where Mr. Wright has been found strangled, as a crime scene, while the women who accompany them clearly view the house as Mrs. Wright’s home. From the beginning the men and the women have are there for two separate reasons —the men, to fulfill their duties as law officials, the women, to prepare some personal items to take to the imprisoned Mrs. Wright. Glaspell exposes the men’s superior attitudes, in that they cannot fathom women to making a contribution to the investigation. They leave them unattended in a crime scene. One must question if this would be the same action if they were men. The county attorney dismisses Mrs. Hale’s defenses of Minnie as “l...
In the play titled Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is being accused of murdering her husband, John. In this production, Mrs. Wright is consistently referenced, and although she is not witnessed, she is very recognizable. There are important symbols in this play that signifies Mrs. Wright and her existence as it once was and as it currently exists to be. Particularly the canary, this symbolizes Mrs. Wright's long forgotten past. Additionally, the birdcage, this symbolizes her life as it currently exists. Certainly the quilt is a symbol, which is an important clue on how Mr. Wright was killed. In addition, the rocking chair, this symbolizes her life as it has diminished throughout the duration of her most recently survived years. Lastly, but not least, the containers of cherry preserves that seem to be a symbol of the warmth and compassion that she has yet to discover in her life. Every one of these symbolizes and characterizes Mrs. Wright?s character and her existence in the play.
...could relate to the daily struggles of completing chores to please their husbands and children and understood how Minnie Wright could develop feelings of desolation due to the lack of variety in daily activities. When the men found the unwashed towels by the sink and the burst jars of fruit in the cupboard, they quickly took a tone of disgust and disappointment that Mrs. Wright fell short of her “womanly duty” of picking up daily messes. Women in the early 20th century often were not rewarded for completing difficult tasks amongst the homestead on a daily basis, but could be punished and mistreated for not completing the tasks in a timely manner. Glaspell’s work “offers a sympathetic portrait of an abused wife, a woman who is mistreated economically, psychologically, emotionally, and perhaps physically… [her actions] supporting battered woman syndrome” (Keetley).
Setting is a major part of the theme in a work of literature; however, the theme is also influenced by the characters , point of view, and plot. The time and physical location along with details of the setting are interconnected with the morals and attitudes of the characters throughout the piece. There can be many hidden ideas demonstrated throughout a work of literature from the setting. Trifles accomplishes this very effectively, displaying many underlying points from locations in the play and using many different props. While conveying the thoughts and emotions of the writer, the setting can also provide more information about the conflict of the work. The details of the setting of Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles provide clues for solving the murder of John Hossack.
At the start of the play, all of the characters enter the abandoned farmhouse of John Wright, who was recently hanged by an unknown killer. The Sheriff and County Attorney start scanning the house for clues as to who killed Mr. Wright, but make a major error when they search the kitchen poorly, claiming that there is nothing there ?but kitchen things.? This illustrates the men?s incorrect belief that a kitchen is a place of trivial matters, a place where nothing of any importance may be found. Mrs. Peters then notices that Mrs. Wright?s fruit froze in the cold weather, and the men mock her and reveal their stereotype of females by saying ?women are used to worrying over trifles.? The men then venture to the upstairs of the house to look for clues, while the women remain downstairs in the kitchen where they discuss the frozen fruit and the Wrights. Mrs. Hale explains that Mrs. Wright, whose maiden name was Minnie Foster, used to be a lively woman who sang in the choir. She suggests that the reason Mrs. Wright stopped being cheerful and active because of her irritable husband.
McDaniel, L. Bailey. “Literary Contexts In Plays: Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles.” (2006): 1. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Settings are used in short stories so that they can complement the themes. Themes in “The Cask of Amontillado” included revenge and deception, which were brought out by the carnival and the catacombs settings. Themes in “Hills Like White Elephants” included evasion of responsibility and miscommunication, and this was outlined by the train tracks, the environment on either side of the train tracks, and the hills themselves. Hence, in both short stories, setting played an integral role in emphasizing the themes.
The coldness felt in the house as the sheriff and court attorney entered the house symbolized the same coldness brought about by Mr. Wright. For the house to be cold and gloomy and everything else outside the total opposite, was much more than just coincidence. It was as if when you entered the house a cadaver, cold and clammy, had embraced you in its arms. “ I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it”, Mrs. Hale told the court attorney (11). Mrs. Hale knew perfectly well what kind of personality Mr. Wright had, which is why she specified that she wished that she had gone to visit Mrs. Wright when only she was there. “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm”, says Mrs. Hale, yet they are seen as mere trifles because it is the women who take on these tasks.
The setting of a story is the physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs.(Meyer 1635) The setting can also set the mood of the story, which will help readers to get a better idea pf what is happening. The major elements of the setting are the time, place, and social environment that frame the characters. (Meyer 1635) "Trifles by Susan Glaspell portrays a gloomy, dark, and lonely setting. Glaspell uses symbolic objects to help the audience get a better understanding for the characters. The three symbolizes used are a birdcage, a bird, and rope.
Most of the actions take place in the kitchen setting which demonstrates the author’s deliberate move to show the important details about the wifely role. The women hold their conversation in the unkempt kitchen, a domestic sphere that reveals everything about the lives of women. While the men were busy searching for clues around the farmhouse, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale see some evidence in the trifle that Mrs. Wright had left in the kitchen. The women can deduce that the messy kitchen with dirty pans gives a signal of incomplete work. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter spend most of their time in the messy kitchen that significantly reveal Mrs. Wright’s state of confusion (Manuel 61). Mrs. Hale understands Mrs. Wright’s experiences of loneliness and desperation from the male-dominated circumstances. The female characters sympathize with her situation by acknowledging the forces in her life that made her take the roles including that of murdering her husband. The men overlook the evidence that the women can trace in the house, and their dialogue suggests lack of sympathy towards women as noted from their humiliation and sarcasm towards women. For example, the women can relate the death of the canary to the murder scene. The attorney shows how woman’s concerns are unimportant, instead of sympathizing with Mrs. Wright for what has befallen her, they portray their women
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