“Trifles”, a play written by Susan Glaspell, is based on the bloody murder of John Hossack, a farmer from Des Moines, Iowa. According to Iowa Cold Cases, Glaspell is featured in the book, Midnight Assassin, which tells all the gory details of the Iowa cold case. At the time of the murder, Glaspell was a journalist for the Des Moines Daily News. Glaspell created a very connectable character, Mrs. Wright. She is accused of murdering her husband by strangulating him with a rope. Glaspell’s use of symbolism in “Trifles” is based on one feminine perspective. Her use of symbolism focuses on trifles, things of little value or importance, that normal male readers as well as the male characters in the play would not normally understand. This domestic …show more content…
Mrs. Peters and Mrs Hale find the bird when they are looking in her sewing room. It had been placed in a pretty red box wrapped in a piece of silk. When they find the bird they notice that the neck of the bird has been rung. Most men would find the bird in the red box simply weird! However, Glaspell’s female characters are more insightful. The bird itself also symbolizes death in many superstitions. According to Audubon California.org, there are thirteen well-known superstitions. Number thirteen states, “A bird that flies into a house foretells an important message. However, if the bird dies, or is white, this foretells death” (Audubon California). The irony of the bird’s broken neck strongly parallels Mr. Wright’s death. Even though Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale continuously try to cover up the birds discovery, it symbolizes a harbinger of death even as Mrs.Peters tries to get it out of the house and out of the way of discovery. As a symbol of the end of the relationship and life, the bird is evidence for Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters that perhaps Mrs. Wright is guilty of strangling her …show more content…
Wright was nervous about an upcoming event. When they look at the quilt they notice the following: “....Look at the sewing. All the rest of it has been so nice and even, and look at this! It’s all over the place! Why it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about!” (Glaspell 1161) This statement shows how a simple break in domestic patterns, unnoticed by men, holds an importance that is seemingly insignificant. However, as it holds true with the entire play, the women use their intuition to determine that an event has occurred that caused an upset or nervousness in Mrs. Wright. The quilt is a symbol of the Wrights’ life unraveling. Everything was smooth, and then nothing seemed to come together or be quite complete. The use of the quilt by Glaspell attracts female readers to look closely at the patterns that Mrs. Wright has left. However, once again, the use of a feminine item, a quilt, leaves the male reader grasping at straws. Is the quilt a real piece of evidence, or is it once again a trifle that does not need further investigation. As the drama closes, Glaspell uses different symbols to show how and why Mrs. Wright could be the main suspect. The male characters did not find any evidence they could use against her. Therefore, they could not prosecute the case to the full extent of the law. The female characters choose not to share all the evidence. As the circle continues, one finds that Glaspell
The quilt is described in the story as being nice and neat, except for one small part of it that was “messy”. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters question whether Mrs. Wright meant to “quilt” it or “knot” it. Along with this is the condition in which Mrs. Wright left her kitchen. Mrs. Hale questions why it appears as though she was interrupted. These are symbols of Mrs. Wright’s life with Mr. Wright, in that on the outside, things seemed happy and in order, but with closer observation, they were not. Furthermore, the rocking chair in which Mrs. Wright was sitting represents herself. This is known because Mrs. Hale states that the rocking chair “didn’t look the least bit like the Minnie Foster of twenty years before”. She mentions the chair is now “dingy red”, and
Born in 1867, Susan Glaspell was raised in rural Davenport, Iowa during a time where young ladies were expected to marry and raise a family. Glaspell never conformed to this expectation; instead graduating from Duke University, becoming a reporter for Des Moines Daily News, and becoming a successful author and playwright. During her years as a reporter, she covered the story of Margaret Hossock, a farm wife in Iowa accused of murdering her husband. This would later serve as her inspiration for Trifles. Glaspell was a woman who bucked societal expectations but was not blind to the plight other women faced. (Ozieblo) Trifles shows how silencing a person’s soul can be just as dangerous as taking the song out of a caged canary; stealing
Susan Glaspell's Trifles explores the classical male stereotype of women by declaring that women frequently worry about matters of little, or no importance. This stereotype makes the assumption that only males are concerned with important issues, issues that females would never discuss or confront. The characters spend the entirety of the play searching for clues to solve a murder case. Ironically, the female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, uncover crucial evidence and solve the murder case, not the male characters. The men in the play, the Sheriff, County Attorney, and Hale, search the scene of the crime for evidence on their own, and mock the women's discussions. The women's interest in the quilt, broken bird cage door, and dead canary, all of which are assumed to be unimportant or trifling objects, is what consequentially leads to their solving of the crime. The women are able to discover who the killer is by paying attention to detail, and prove that the items which the men consider insignificant are important after all.
In “Trifles” there are two plots occurring simultaneously, the men have a story offstage while the women have the attention on stage. This adds a dynamic to the play to further emphasize the sexism within it, Glaspell separates them physically as well as mentally to demonstrate that the men do not think that the women were clever enough to find any evidence. By
Devising the perfect murder is a craft that has been manipulated and in practice dating back to the time of the biblical reference of Cain and Abel. In the play, “Trifles” exploration is focused on the empathy one has for a murderer who feels they have no alternative from their abuser. As a multifaceted approach, the author Glaspell gives her audience a moral conflict as to whether murder should be condemned based on the circumstances rather than the crime. Presenting Mrs. Wright as the true victim of the crime of domestic abuse rather than a murderer gives Glaspell a stage which shows her audience the power of empathy.
Glaspell’s decision to present "Trifles" as a play instead of its short story original form (titled :"A Jury of Her Peers) gives the reader an opportunity to "see" the action better than usual, and therefore get a clearer understanding of the author’s meaning.
In “ A Jury of Her Peers”, when the county sheriff and attorney go to the Wright house to investigate a murder. They search for clues to incriminate Mrs. Wright but find nothing. They discover Mr. Wright strangled in his bedroom and saw Mrs. Wright completely unaffected. Although Mrs. Wright claims to have been asleep while the murder occurred, the women conclude she choked her husband, Mr. Wright, as evidenced by the broken bird cage, the strangled canary, and the errant quilt patch.
In Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles a man has been murdered by his wife, but the men of the town who are in charge of investigating the crime are unable solve the murder mystery through logic and standard criminal procedures. Instead, two women (Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters) who visit the home are able to read a series of clues that the men cannot see because all of the clues are embedded in domestic items that are specific to women. The play at first it seems to be about mystery, but it abruptly grows into a feminist perspective. The play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell can be considered a revolutionary writing in it its advocacy of the feminist movement.
In Susan Glaspell’s 1916 play, Trifles, apparent evidence points to Minnie Wright as the murderer of John Wright. Signs include the fact that Minnie slept undisturbed while someone strangled John to death with a rope. Moreover, that Minnie was emotionless regarding John’s death. In addition, through the omission of Mrs. Hale, John and Minnie Wright rarely had visitors, due to the Wright’s rather depressing and lonely farmhouse (Glaspell, 1916).
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.
Wright was outraged. The only thing that kept her sane was gone. In order to calm herself, she starts to quilt. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find this quilt. Mrs. Peters states, “‘The sewing,’ said Mrs. Peters, in a troubled way. ‘All the rest of them have been so nice and even—but—this one. Why, it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about!’” (Glaspell ¶166) We know that Mrs. Wright is good at quilting, so not just anything could mess her up this badly. It is also suggested throughout the story that the women don’t know whether she was going to knot it or quilt it. Quilting it would mean she would sew the patches together verses knotting which means to cut little slits and just simply tie the strips together. It is believed that the quilting symbolizing Mrs. Wright continuing her life the way it is with an abusive husband and no happiness, and knotting symbolizes her knotting the rope around his neck and killing him therefore ending the
In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, a small number of people are at the Wright house trying to figure out why and how Mr. Wright was murdered. Mrs. Wright is already the suspect, and all that is needed for the case is evidence for a motive. The jury needs something to show anger or sudden feeling so that they can convict her for murder. The men, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Hale are there to find the evidence. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are there to pick up a select few items for Mrs. Wright. While the men are going about business and looking for evidence to build a case against Mrs. Wright, the women are looking over what Mrs. Wright left behind and intuitively trying to understand what happened. They are also trying to fathom why Mrs. Wright would be compelled to perform such an act of violence. As the story goes on, it constructs each of the characters in slightly different means. Susan Glaspell presents Mr. Wright and Mrs. Hale as having contrasting and comparable characteristics. While Mrs. Hale and Mr. Wright differ in terms of emotions, they are similar in their cleanliness and are well respected by others.
One woman’s Trifles is another man’s clues. The play Trifles, was written by Susan Glaspell based on the murder of John Hossack, which Susan reported on while working as a news journalist for Des Moines Daily News. Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, actress, novelist, journalist, and founder of the Provincetown Players. She has written nine novels, fifteen plays, over fifty short stories, and one biography. At 21 she enrolled at Drake University even after the prevailing belief that college make women unfit for marriage. But many don’t know that her work was only published after the death of her husband George Cram Cook. Trifles is an example of a feminist drama. The play shows how male dominance was
Instead of focusing on the men and their quest to solve the case, Glaspell concentrates on the women in the kitchen. It is at this point, when the men leave the kitchen and go upstairs, that the women begin to, perhaps inadvertently, find out for themselves who had killed John Wright. I believe the rising action of this play begins when the men leave the women alone in the kitchen. Without even knowing it, the women are using the tactics that a trained detective would use: asking many questions and making inferences. They engage in small talk and comment on how the kitchen was left after the murder. For example, when Mrs. Peters was looking through the cupboard, she discovered that Mrs. Wright had a bread set. Mrs. Hale then concludes that "she was going to put this in here," referring to a loaf of bread beside the breadbox. Another example is when Mrs. Peters noticed that Mrs. Wright had been "piecing a quilt." As the two women are wondering whether she was going to "quilt it or knot it," the men come down the stairs and overhear them. The Sheriff repeats out loud what he had heard them say and the men all laugh, obviously making fun of the women. This situation is interesting because the men have no idea that the women were actually making valuable conclusions. I think the next line that Mrs. Hale says is very important: