Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Susan Glaspells's Trifles is a little gem of a play. In one short act, the playwright presents the

audience with a complex human drama leaving us with a haunting question. Did an abused Nebraska

farm wife murder her husband? Through the clever use of clues and the incriminating dialogue of the

two main characters, this murder mystery unfolds into a psychological masterpiece of enormous

proportions. Written in 1916, the play deals with the theme of the roles of women in society. This was a

time before women had the right to vote or sit on juries. Shortly after writing the play, Glaspell wrote it

as a short story entitled A Jury of Her Peers.

The scene is set in the cold, gloomy kitchen of a Nebraska farmhouse. The room is quite messy

with signs of uncompleted work everywhere; unwashed pots, a dirty hand towel, and bread left open on

the table. The first characters to enter the stage are two middle-aged men, the county sheriff, Henry

Peters, and Lewis Hale, a local farmer. They are followed by a younger man, George Henderson, the

county attorney. Then, the main characters arrive on stage, the sheriff's wife and the farmer's wife, Mrs.

Peters and Mrs. Hale.

The men have arrived to investigate the murder of the owner of the house, John Wright. The

women have come to gather some clothes and personal belongings for Minnie (Foster) Wright, who now

is in the county jail on charges that she killed her husband. The men are all caught up in the so called

"important" investigation of the case, belittling the women's concerns as being mere "trifles", when

actually the women are the ones uncovering the clues which cou...

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...y and perhaps, battered woman. Mrs. Hale was sympathetic because she also was a farm wife but

at least, she had her children to keep her company. Mrs. Hale felt guilty that she hadn't taken the time to

visit Minnie Wright but she excused herself saying that their was so much work to do on the farm and

the Wright place never looked cheerful.

The play was filled with symbols, especially the broken cage and the dead bird, which could have

represented Minnie Wright herself, a woman whose zest for life had been squeezed out of her by her

tyrant of a husband. There was suspense as the women hide the evidence, perhaps saving Mrs. Wright's

life. This leads to a moral dilemma. Did the women have the right to conceal the evidence? Were they

doing it only for Minnie Wright or for all women who could never have a jury of their peers?