Category: English

Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles”
Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” revolves around stereotypes and gender. As the play’s events and conflict progress, the audience encounters multiple layers of meaning as the women discover things in the kitchen that appear to be of little value. Mrs. Wright’s preserves, quilt, cage, canary (the dead bird), etc. symbolize things beyond suspicion from the men’s point of view. The women, in the play, inspect trivial details or objects belonging to Mrs. Wright; however, they provide tangible or physical evidence that can be taken against Mrs. Wright. Also, Mr. Hale relates what he saw at the farmhouse where the murder crime was committed, but the County Attorney does not thoroughly take this witness’s narration. Mr. Hale’s story, in a sense, sheds light on Mr. John Wright’s private life and how he disliked having telephone installed in his house. On the other hand, Mrs. Hale tells of how Minnie Foster (or Mrs. Wright) was happier when she was young or before marriage; she was a member of the community choir. In addition, there is another dimension in the play: the struggle between law and justice. This conflict between the two is resolved when a decision is made at the end of the play; therefore, the women decide to hide the dead canary from the male authorities, denying the motive that could convict Mrs. Wright.
Basic Assignment: Write an organized, focused, and clearly argued literary essay in response to the prompt below:
Prompt: What are the “trifles” the men ignore, and the two women notice? Why do the men dismiss them, and why do the women see these things as significant clues? What is the thematic importance of these “trifles”?