Preview

Trifles By Susan Glaspell Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
921 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Trifles By Susan Glaspell Essay
Little Things Mean A lot Susan Glaspell, the author of the drama play, Trifles, portrays the miserable reality of men deprecating women and coming second to men. The play’s name conveys the thought of a woman having logical sense. The ladies in the play were the main ones fit for making sense of clues and finding that Mrs. Wright murdered her spouse. George Henderson (the county attorney), Henry Peters (the sheriff) with his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Hale are trying to find out the truth about the scene of the crime. The men disregard and taunt Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters because they were giving careful consideration to the things that the men believed were useless. They couldn’t accept that a woman is able to mastermind such a homicide. Despite the fact that these ladies did not know Mrs. Wright very well, they could …show more content…
They found themselves able to place themselves in her shoes and comprehend the back story to figure out this mystery. Glaspell expresses how the men ignore the women’s observation with the utilization of an interesting title, the symbolism of the canary, and its cage. The name of the play, Trifles, depicts how the men might not have considered the women important. The women look into each and every point of interest at the homicide scene and the men disregard what could be extremely vital in solving the case. Mr. Hale mentions, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 1412). In the play, it started as the ladies gradually following the men into the bleak kitchen towards the stove and anxiously gathering together close to the entry of the door, feeling inept to the men. When Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale started seeing the traces of evidence, they found themselves able to determine the significance of every possible source of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Brandon Esssay Life

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” dwelled on the investigation of the murder scene of Mr. Wright. In the beginning of the play, Mr. Wright was found dead in the upstairs bedroom with a rope hung around his neck. Lewis Hale recalled how he discovered Mrs. Wright acting bizarrely, and that she told him that her husband was murdered while he was sleeping. Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior and body language caused Mr. Hale and the Sherriff to believe that Mrs. Wright was the main suspect in her husband’s murder. There are three significant reasons for Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior. Mrs. Wright’s relationship, lifestyle, and the patriarchal dominance during that era caused Mrs. Wright to act inappropriately.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As the play went on, during the trials Reverend Hale began to figure out that the proceedings that were going on in the court were unfair. Hale realized that people in the town and the judges were developing a "hang them all" attitude and that none of them were paying any attention to the evidence that was mounting against the girls.…

    • 513 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One such example is when the attorney general Henderson tells Mrs. Peters that because she is married to the sheriff, she is married to the law and therefore is a reliable follower of the law. Mrs. Peters' response "Not--just that way," is very interesting in that it suggests that over the course of the play, she has found a different aspect of her identity, perhaps and an empowered woman and not just a housewife. Another interesting quote from Glaspell’s play is when Mrs. Hale states that women "all go through the same things--it's all just a different kind of the same thing." While Minnie Wright’s dealt with her particular situation differently than either Mrs. Peters or Mrs. Hale, they all seem to reject male dominancy to some degree. This concept of female identity and solidarity has a huge impact on the outcome of the play, as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decide, despite breaking the law, to conceal the evidence they uncovered that could be used to convict Mrs. Wright for the murder of her…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the entire play, neither of the two leading ladies seem to separate themselves from the other in an attempt to reach the spotlight. While Mrs. Hale does seem to more actively participate in the attempted obstruction of justice, it’s not like Mrs. Peters exactly stops her. Inevitably, Mrs. Peters ends up joining Mrs. Hale and aids in attempting to hide the dead bird. These actions lead the reader to…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trifles and Mr. Hale

    • 1366 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The scene of Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” is set in a gloomy, unkempt, and now abandoned farm house. The town sheriff, the county attorney, and Mr. Hale along with the sheriff’s wife and Mrs. Hale, a neighbor, enter through the kitchen. The men are there to investigate the death of the owner, Mr. Wright. The women have come along to gather some things to take to Mrs. Wright who is in jail for the murder of her husband. Susan Glaspell ties the use of exposition, conflict, and symbol together to reveal the gloomy and hopeless mood of this play.…

    • 1366 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    trifles bird symbolism

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    "Trifles" is a play which was written by Susan Glaspell in 1916. The play takes place in the empty farmhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. The county attorney George Henderson, the sheriff Henry Peters and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Hale, neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. Wright all go to the farmhouse to investigate the crime scene. Throughout the book Susan Glaspell uses a lot of symbolism. One example was the a dead bird that the women find. Hoping to find a motive for the crime the men go upstairs to the bedroom where Mr. Wright was murdered. While the women stay downstairs and look around the kitchen. The women come across a bird which symbolizes Mrs. Wright. The bird becomes the motive for Mrs. Wright to kill Mr. Wright.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women are generally guided by emotion, and Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are no different. When discussing certain situations with a woman, it is likely that emotion will come into play at one point or another. In “A Jury of Her Peers” the women are no different; they stick together and struggle with the knowledge they have to decide whether or not to reveal evidence of motive. When two women discuss the motive for murder, they take seriously into account the emotions involved when it is a fellow woman that is to be convicted. They come to the conclusion that silence after a “noisy” happiness is definitely a bad thing.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inequality in Trifles

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages

    First, Glaspell shows us that the men in this play, Sherriff Peters, Attorney Henderson, and a neighboring farmer, Lewis Hale, have the role of being head of everything. She characterizes men as not giving women enough credit for their everyday hard labor. The attorney displays this characteristic the best because he is always looking down on the women. County Attorney states, “This feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies” (1111). This statement shows the readers that he feels the need to tell the women that they can come up to the fire to get warm. He is basically allowing them to come to the fire when that is something that they should be able to do without permission. He also shows this when he says, “Here’s a nice mess” and “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies” (1113-14)? His commenting on the house exemplifies how he expects the women to take care of the house and that it should always be spotless.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trifles

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The relationship between the two Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale is that one is the wife of the sheriff in charge of the investigation of a murder that other in company of her husband found. They develop a similar felling for Mrs. Wright through the play. They defended Minnie of the cruel comments and false judgment made by the men. Based on this they decide to hide all possible evidence from the investigators trying hard to aid Mrs. Wright as much as they can.…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story is named A Jury of Her Peers because Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter basically decided the fate of Minnie. They both decided not to turn in the evidence and then held a major role in the story. The name of the play is also very interesting. In the play Hale states that women are constantly “worrying over trifles.” These are the same trifles that if the men paid attention to them then they would be able to get plenty of evidence against Minnie. It is very ironic that the men are sarcastic towards the women during the whole play while the women solved the case in a matter of…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trifles Feminist Analysis

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Since the very beginning of the play, you can easily tell that the women do not hold the same authority as the men. The men immediately walk into Mr. Wright’s residence and make their way towards the stove to warm themselves up, while the women stand close together by the door. Even though the weather dropped below zero, the women insist they are not cold. It is through the body language of the women that we…

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Examples Of Social Norms

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The play begins with a criminal investigation taking place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Wright was found dead in their bed with a rope around his neck, with his wife being the largest suspect. Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, a neighbor and friend to Mr. Wright, gather around discussing the matter, while Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stand off to the side, patiently waiting to be a help to personal connection if the men see fit (1362). Throughout the story, the men make light of any problem or important matter that the women may have, or have to offer. They initially notice how dirty and untidy Mrs. Wrights home is, and because this is very unordinary for the women of that time period, 1916, that made Mrs. Wright that much more suspicious. The men also bring up that though Mrs. Wright is held for murder, she is too busy worrying about her perseveres, an unimportant matter to any of the men (1365). Glaspell connected her title with the theme of her story with a comment made by one of her male characters, Mr. Hale, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles". As though any problem, or worry a women may have is unimportant and exaggerated compared to any "real" issue, that a man might have. Near the end of the story, the women feel sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright for they know how it feels to be a women and they feel that perhaps her actions were justified, for her husband did strangle her beloved bird. Though they have gathered much evidence to close the case, the men do not feel as if their input will be worthy of solving the…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The girls of the American colonies were educated in order to grow and become fitting wives. After a woman's homemaker education, she was ready for courtship. This took place at about 16 years of age. During this courtship, the woman did have full decision on which she was to marry. While it was ultimately up to her which man she would choose to spend her life with, her family did have some say. Before a man could date a girl, he would have to receive permission from her father. If he did not find the man fit to be married to his daughter, he would not permit the courtship to continue. If the family liked the man, they would put pressure on the girl to choose him. This idea of family involvement very much resembles the way it is now. The marriage…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night Essay How would it feel to be in the center of a four-person love triangle? That is how Olivia, a character in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night felt. In Twelfth Night four men have fallen in love with Olivia, a wealthy, beautiful, countess in Illyria. Malvolio, Olivia's steward, Sir Andrew, a friend of Olivia's uncle, Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, and Sebastian, brother to a character named Viola, are all competing for Olivia's love throughout the play.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    At the heart of every great organisation, is a world class product or service and in any competitive business market, organisations rival to be every consumer’s “first choice”. Effective brand management is essential to every business – building strong brands that not only reflect value and credibility, but also outlive the product or service the business offers, is a challenge for many organisations today. The FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry is one of the biggest industries in the world, simply because of the brands and products that make up this sector such as Colgate, Dove, Palmolive and the list goes on. This report will compare two FMCG brands within the Australian market, namely Monster Energy and Red Bull, and the consumer’s levels of brand awareness towards the selected brands. It will also discuss the importance of brand association and how this is measured. Through the use of these brands, Monster Energy and Red Bull, the report will illustrate the importance of an organisation’s ability to continuously build brand awareness with its consumers.…

    • 2335 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays