THEME.“Trifles” is a play written by a female writer, Susan Glaspell which is for the ProvincetownPlayer and credited for the 1916 season although she had previously never written a drama.When Susan Glaspell and her husband George Cook arrived in Greenwich Village in the middleof an artistic renaissance, Glaspell began to write openly about issues relating to similar themesand concerns inherited from women writer in 19

century with their well-known female literaryfigures, two of which included Kate Chopin and Fanny Fern. Chopin and Fern wrote about theinequality of the sexes and the inability of women to live their own lives without reliance onmen. The literary “

Trifles

” itself is written by a female writer who concerns about women’sfeelings and men perceptions towards them. The ironic title itself provide insights of the themethat women’s concern with “trifles” (unimportant stuff) may get to the heart more effectivelythan the preoccupations of self-important which men always do. The settings of the play itself focus on the two female characters whom lingering at the crime scene in the house, Mrs. Petersthe sheriff’s wife and Mrs. Hale. The setting of the play itself mostly focused in the kitchen andstuff which always men prescribed as “unimportant” or “women’s stuff” such as the sewing box,shawl and apron and the quilt which both of them wonder whether Mrs. Wright (Minnie Foster)is going to knot or quilt her unfinished quilt. Glaspell uses a symbolic feature to represent issuesconcerns about women’s feelings and men perceptions towards them. For example, the canary bird in the cage represents Minnie’s herself and her heart. Canary can sing beautifully as she isused to sing in the Church before married to Mr. Wright and after she married, she is the canary,caged and being a prisoner. Mr. Wright is the men manifestations who think they own womenand have superiority towards them until they thought women don’t have brains to think and theyshall control 110 percent over them. The name itself where how the name “w

RIGHT

” is writtensymbolizes that how men think they always

right

and think wisely. The act of the canary’skilling by Wright symbolizes that “it is right” to kill his wife, Minnie personality and freedomwhere bird itself is always related with the symbol of “peace” and “freedom”. After married toMr. Wright, Minnie rarely seen out of the house and she is no longer sings in Church, moreover she is known as Mrs. Wright. It is Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale themselves who find out from thesewing box and the dead canary that the actual killer of Mr. Wright is his wife himself. Byunderstanding each other women’s heart, they understand how Minnie is frustrated living incaptive where she really wants a child but her husband will never allow her to, and even to makefriends with a Canary is prohibited. The killing of Mr. Wright (men) represents how Minnie(women) can live without being dependant to men and to have the EQUAL OPPORTUNITYwith men and BE FREE over themselves (women) before or after their marriage. Men could saythat women cannot think but one thing they failed to do is to understand women’s heart and in“Trifles” both the three gentlemen found nothing useful that could help them to find the murderer and both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decided that Minnie Foster “knot” her quilt (strangle Mr.Wright) and they will “k

NOT

” going to tell their findings (their intentions of understanding andto protect Minnie).

CHARACTERS.Susan Glaspell's Trifles explores how male assuming that women frequently worry aboutunimportant stuff. This stereotype makes the assumption that only males are concerned withimportant issues that females would never discuss. The male characters spend the entire of the play searching for clues to solve a murder case. Ironically, the female characters, Mrs. Peters andMrs. Hale, find out the important evidence and solve the case, not the male characters. The menin the play, the Sheriff, County Attorney, and Mr. Hale search for evidence on their own, andmock the women's discussions about the quilt. From the broken bird cage door and dead canarywhich are assumed to be unimportant is what leads to the crime solving. The women are able todiscover who the killer is by paying attention to detail, and prove that the items which the menconsider insignificant are important after all.

Mr. Hale. (A neighbouring farmer)

Mr. Hale is a neighbouring farmer of the Wright’s family. Mr. Hale is a straightforward andhonest man who discovers firstly the dead of Mr. Wright when he stops by the Wright’s house toshare a telephone line. In funny way, slowly he finds out that Mrs. Wright is involved with themurder.

Mr. Henry Peters (The Sheriff)

Mr. Henry Peters is the local sheriff who involves in investigating the murder case of Mr. Wright.From his wife, Mrs. Peters, we know he is a strict man of discipline and give a great influencetowards people around him. Mrs. Peters says to Mrs. Hale “law is the law” (pg 776) means morethat she is much influenced from her husband behaviour and custody. Sheriff is a politicaland alegaloffice held under common law, where here Mr. Peters character represents the law.

George Henderson. (County Attorney)

The scene description describes the county attorney as a young man. Probably he is the youngestamong them all. Henderson is a very careful man and serious with his job. He asks Mr. Haleabout the crime scene in full detail from what happened when Mr. Hale enters the house andwhat Mrs. Wright is doing when she enters the house and the condition of her, how queer she is.Henderson also asks some question about the Wright’s family from Mrs. Hale as they are their own neighbour. Hence, after asking all these questions he himself tries to investigate the crimescene for any proof to solve the crime. Unlucky, he found nothing and keeps on searching. Acounty attorney in many areas of theUnited Statesis the chief legal officer for acountyor local judicial district. It is usually an elected position. The role of the county attorney can be similar toor complementary to that of a localState's Attorney,Commonwealth's Attorneyor District Attorney.

Mrs. Hale (Mr. Hale’s wife)

Mrs. Hale is a wife of Mr. Hale and a neighbour of the Wright’s family. She is a woman full of curiousity and she is the first who questioned whether Minnie killed her own husband. (

Pg776 “Mrs. Hale: Do you think she did it?”

. Fortunately her curiousity leads to the crime solvingwhere she found out the evidences (with Mrs. Peters) the actual killer of John Wright. She livesaround with the Wright’s family and a friend of Minnie but since a year she didn’t drop by to seeMinnie because she didn’t seems to like the dull and not cheerful environment of the Wright’sfamily house. Later she regrets so much for she does not even drop by to visit or to check Minnie because she is awful busy with her house and family either she dislike the dull house of theWright’s family.

Mrs. Peters (The Sheriff’s wife).

The sheriff’s wife described as a slight wiry woman with a nervous face, married to the

law

asdescribed by her husband.

pg 781 Sherrif: (chuckling) Married to the law.

Influenced by her husband disciplined job makes her to become as a well disciplined person.

Pg 776 Mrs. Peters: But Mrs. Hale, law is the law.

Such statement also represents how women stereotypedthemselves that they cannot think, make decision and do things they like as they are bounded bythe law. (The law saying that women must stick with her husband rules and being dependant withthem).Strangely, both these female characters are the “detective” or the person who discovers Minnietrue feelings. From Minnie’s quilt, they know Minnie is nervous for something while sewing

(pg 777 Mrs. Hale: What do you suppose she was so nervous about?).

They know Minnie buy acanary from someone who Mrs. Hale knows as selling it cheap and Mrs. Peters acknowledge theWright’s family doesn’t own a cat. Both of them know how Minnie’s feeling when John Wrightkills the precious Canary of Minnie.

Minnie Foster. (John Wright’ wife).