Trifles: Sheriff and Mrs. Wright

The setting of the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell during the earliest part of the 20th century is important because at that time men were more controlling. The play takes place during the winter, in a farmhouse in the early 1900’s. By locating the action in a cold isolated place over a hundred years ago, Susan Glaspell sets the tone and foreshadows the characters’ behavior especially the men’s poor appreciation of women and women’s work. time, place, and social environment help us better understand the behavior of characters and their actions. The atmosphere of this one-act play is set in a farmhouse kitchen in the Midwest. The women’s duties at the house were in the kitchen where they would spend most of their time. The sheriff and county attorney never thought of investigating the kitchen. Mrs. Wright’s goal was to cook, sew, and talk with family members as they came and went. The evidence for the murder was in the kitchen and it is the women who found what the men were looking for, the dead canary and the broken birdcage. The room has not been cleaned up and looks as if someone was interrupted in the midst of cooking a meal. Dirty pans are stacked under the sink, a loaf of bread is sitting on the outside of he breadbox and a dishtowel is left on the table.
By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, men dominated almost every aspect of life. Women had little control over it. The role of Mr. Wright was abusive. As a young girl Mrs. Wright was known as “Minnie Foster” one of the town youth who sang in a choir. Her life changed drastically once she was married to Mr. Wright. She lived in a house that was occupied by her and her husband. She had no children to care for or no other family members she saw on a daily basis. She was home alone for hours and rarely left her house. Her responsibility was to cook and keep the house clean. Mrs. Wright was no longer that lively and exciting person that everyone in town remembered her to be. She