The Play Trifles

“Trifles” is a thematically complex work, focusing on topics of feminine identity, justice and isolation. The marginalization of women in a patriarchal society, the differing attitudes and viewpoints of the men and the women regarding the underlying theme of justice and revenge, and the despair and loneliness in Mrs. Wright’s life exposes a broader interpretation of rural American life in the early 1900’s. The play focuses around minor details, mere trifles, the implications of which become disturbingly clearer as the play progresses. Thoughtfully constructed, the play pulls the audience into a quiet struggle of isolation and hopelessness. Author Suzy Clarkson Holstein writes, “This is more than a story of women learning something that
the confident, powerful men remain ignorant about.”
Feminine identity (or the lack thereof) is one of the major themes in the play.
The title of the play, “Trifles,” is symbolic of the men's attitude toward the women and their roles. The men are the focus of what is important and the women are only interested in insignificant things: “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (149). The women seemingly have no identity apart from their spouses and have no first names, a detail that underscores their subservient roles to their husbands. Addressed only by their husband’s last name, this positions them as inconsequential observers to the men (Grose). The situation of women in rural America is a factor that clearly dominates the play’s action and “Glaspell’s depiction of passivity” in Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters represents “the lives and hardships of the simple rural women residing in various regions in America and forgotten by society” (Al-Khalili 134). The contrast of patriarchal authority and the female need for community emphasizes the theme of feminine
inequality.
The subject of differing views of justice interweaves throughout the play in a well-developed theme. The two sexes are illustrated by their contrasting roles in the rural society, their physical descriptions, and their methods of communication, but their differing powers of observation exemplifies the most fundamental difference to the plot. Since they do not share the same perspective as the women, the men cannot decipher the messages left in the details of the house, including the stitching on the unfinished quilt, the half clean/half messy table top, and the empty birdcage. “Because the men virtually ignore the women’s world, they remain blind to the truth before their eyes” (Galens). Mrs. Hale voices distress at the men's disrespect of Mrs. Wright's house, but Mrs. Peters counters matter-of-factly, "But Mrs. Hale, the law is the law” (291). Yet, as Mrs. Peters begins to follow Mrs. Hale's lead, her perspective on what is just begins to shift. Both women ultimately choose to remain silent to protect Mrs. Wright. By hiding the evidence, the women attain justice for Mrs. Wright and circumvent the men’s pragmatic view of fairness. “Glaspell juxtaposes two distinct worlds, characterized by two different ways of experiencing life, which generate two opposing forms of passing judgement” (Bode 55). The two sexes are divided in their viewpoints about what is fair and equitable for Mrs. Wright and this theme is repeated throughout the play.
The reality and harshness of Mrs.
Wright’s life is evident in the pervasive feel of bleakness in the home and surroundings. She lives on a remote homestead and rarely has visitors. Mrs. Hale comments on the lack of warmth in the house, “It never seemed a very cheerful place” (180-181) and on the lack of human interaction and communication, "We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things—it's all just a different kind of the same thing” (508-509.) While both women could agree Mr. Wright was a “good man" (394), they also agreed he was not a caring man: “But he was a hard man . . . Just to pass the time of day with him—(shivers) Like a raw wind that gets to the bone” (395-399). Mrs. Hale’s observation of the childless home suggests an unhappy corollary: “Not having children makes less work – but it makes a quiet house” (389-390). The isolation of Minnie Wright takes on a larger significance as the play progresses and thus a major theme in the plot structure.
Susan Glaspell offers a compelling description of the daily lives of rural women in early 1900’s America and their struggle with isolation and loneliness in a patriarchal society. The themes of the play, “Trifles,” intertwine with each other in a way that makes them difficult to separate. The characteristic divide between the men and women, the abject nature of the impartiality of the sheriff and the county attorney, and the empathy of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to the situation of Minnie
Wright combine into a central theme of despair and loneliness.