5. Susan Glaspell
Born in Iowa in 1876. Her fathers sold hay and animal feed for a
living, and she developed an appreciation of Midwest culture. She
entered journalism in hopes of eventually becoming a writer.
Inspiration for Trifles came while covering the murder of a farmer
in 1900. The man had been killed with an axe while his wife was
“sleeping.” His wife was later arrested at his funeral after finding
the hidden axe on their property and rumors of an unhappy
marriage.
Many locals showed up to the trial. There were no witnesses, so
hard evidence was important. However, the jury convicted her,
primarily because the woman was not feminine in complaining
about her marital issues and having a child out of wedlock.
Trifles was Glaspell’s way of returning the woman’s dignity by
making the motive for her murder more sympathetic to the
domestic life of women.
6. Characters
Mr. Wright- murder victim
Mrs. Wright- taken into custody on suspicion of murder. She
once was lively and sang in the choir but after her marriage, she
became withdrawn and was seldom visited.
Mr. George Henderson- the young county attorney, who makes
note of the woman’s role in maintaining the domestic hearth,
especially when he criticizes Mrs. Wright’s kitchen and makes
fun of the women for worrying about the feminine “trifles” of
the home.
Mr. Peters, the county sheriff, also pokes fun at the women and
their trivial concerns.
7. Characters
Mr. Hale- witnessed Mrs. Wright on the night of
her husband’s murder acting very bizarrely.
Mrs. Peters- new to the town and respectful of her
husband’s position. She agrees with the law, but
understands Mrs. Wright’s lonely domestic life.
Mrs. Hale- the larger of the two women who takes
personal offense at the men’s condescension of
women. She regrets not visiting Mrs. Wright more
often.
8. Significant Scenes
The men and women arrive at the Wright home.
The men gather at the hearth and criticize the
messy upkeep while the women withdraw and stay
by the door.
The women find Mrs. Wright’s preserves in the
cupboard have been ruined by the cold, but they
decide not to tell Mrs. Wright because she worked
hard on them. The men criticize them for
worrying about trifles, and move upstairs.
These scenes demonstrate the men’s attitude of
superiority to the women and the differences felt
between the genders. It is sympathetic to the
oppression of the women in their domestic life.
9. Significant Scenes
Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale speculate on why the murderer
used a rope instead of a gun in the house, and reminisce on
the happy Minnie Foster before she became the married
Mrs. Wright.
They decide to bring Mrs. Wright her unfinished quilt, but
while looking for sewing materials, they discover an empty
birdcage in the cupboard and a delicately wrapped dead
canary in the sewing box that was killed in the same
manner as Mr. Wright. They hide the bird before the men
come downstairs.
These events establish the women as the protagonists of the
story. They also subtly uncover evidence as to why Mrs.
Wright murdered her husband, providing a sympathetic
perspective into the lonely trials of the domestic life of the
time
10. Significant Scenes
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters compare the canary’s
song to the young Mrs. Wright, and decide that
she murdered Mr. Wright to get revenge for
silencing her bird.
The men return, trusting the objects Mrs. Peters
has because she has “married the law.” They
assume the women haven’t discussed anything
productive. The men aren’t able to find any
conclusive evidence to convict Mrs. Wright.
11. Dramatic Elements
• Stage Directions- Detailed and show the care the
women put into their investigation- “Takes the bottle,
looks about for something to wrap it in; takes
petticoat from the clothes brought from the other
room…” They also demonstrate the barrier felt
between the men and women by having them stand
physically apart.
12. Dramatic Elements
• Set Design- The entire play takes place in the front
room of the Wright’s home, which was simply
decorated. This was Mrs. Wright’s daily domain, and
also where the evidence uncovering her violent
motives is discovered. The unchanging setting is
consistent with the domestic woman’s sheltered life of
the time.
13. Themes
• Female Identity and Patriarchal dominance-
the woman are dominated by the men in every
aspect of their life, but the men fail to recognize and
appreciate the simple joys and struggles of a
woman’s life. The men in the play are given a first
and last name, but the women are only referred to by
their husbands’ last names. The women are able to
connect with each other under their mutual
oppression, and resolve that they need to look out for
one another.
14. Themes
• Law and justice- Mrs. Hale criticize the men for
disrespecting Mrs. Wright’s home and treating it
simply as a crime scene, but Mrs. Peters sticks up for
them claiming they are just doing their job. The
women questionably hide the evidence they find;
they believe that Mrs. Wright’s actions are justifiable,
given her circumstances. Appropriately, the name of
the short story adapted from Trifles is "A Jury of Her
Peers," indicating that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters
have served as an impromptu jury and have chosen
to dismiss the charges in the name of justice and
their duty as women.
15. Important Quotations
Well, women are used to worrying over
trifles. - Mr. Hale
Hale casually makes this statement from which the play takes
its title when Mrs. Peters calls attention to what she regards as
the significance of the exploded jars of fruit preserves. In doing
so, he gently chides the women for lacking the common sense
and mental focus to pay attention to the important things, but
he suggests that the men should forgive them for their foibles
because they are only women and thus deal every day in small,
unimportant details. Furthermore, his words imply that because
women deal in trifles, women must also be trifles. However, his
patronizing tone is undermined throughout the play as the
women ultimately outwit the men and prove their worth, and
not coincidentally does Glaspell have the women draw together
after he utters this sentence. Meanwhile, the men spend all their
time looking for evidence because they have forgotten that
evidence often consists of the little things - especially when no
eyewitnesses are involved.
16. Quotations
COUNTY ATTORNEY: No--it's not cheerful. I
shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct.
MRS. HALE: Well, I don't know as Wright had,
either.
The county attorney and Mrs. Hale represent opposing sides in the matter of understanding
domestic felicity. Henderson assumes that females are solely responsible for the domestic
realm and consequently concludes that any lack of cheer in the Wright farmhouse must
result from Mrs. Wright's incompetence. Mrs. Hale resents Henderson's ideas because she
recognizes that although domesticity has a physical aspect, the greater part comes from the
emotional and mental state of the people in the household. In her mind, because John
Wright lacked the ability to empathize with his wife and because he made her feel so lonely,
he is the one truly responsible for the unhappiness in their household. Henderson keeps
promising to return to the subject of the state of the Wrights' marriage, but he never does
and thus never comes to understand her viewpoint.
17. Quotations
Well, I don't think she did. Asking for an apron
and her little shawl. Worrying about her fruit.
- Mrs. Hale
Prior to their discovery of the quilt, Mrs. Peters claims that she has no idea if Mrs. Wright
actually committed the crime, but Mrs. Hale states her definite opinion that Mrs. Wright
is innocent, with the implication that no one so focused on trifles such as her fruit
preserves and her apron could be guilty. However, Mrs. Hale later proves to be incorrect,
which leaves the question of how and why she made her error in thinking. Most likely,
her assertion of Minnie Wright's innocence is based partly on loyalty to a friend and
partly on her assumption that a concern with trifles is incompatible with a concern with
larger problems. However, as Mrs. Hale herself shows when she and Mrs. Peters decide
to hide the evidence by pretending to be interested in unimportant matters, taking an
interest in smaller details can be a convenient way to hide one's true thoughts.
Meanwhile, the faith that Mrs. Hale shows in proclaiming Minnie's innocence is later
transferred into a determination to protect her from the law.
18. Questions
1. What other themes are prevalent throughout
Trifles?
2. Could these themes be compared to the other
IB dramas?
3. What are two (2) claims that can be made for
Trifles?
