WORKSHEET

Name : Muhammad Hasan tafsir (18320168)

Class : C Class

Please read the instructions carefully!

1. Write the plot structure of Glaspell’s Trifles.

The main events in sequences

12345
2. State the conflict of the play in one sentence!
3. Describe the main characters in the play! Support your character analysis with the
evidence taken from the drama script.
4. Give your personal impression of Glaspell’s Trifles (±100 words)

Answers
1. Plot structure
The drama began with the exposition. The author introduced the characters
involved in the play and the settings such as place, and situation. There are five
characters involved in the dialogue: Sheriff, Mr. Hale, their wife, and the county
attorney. The event took place in the kitchen of a farmhouse owned by Wright
family. The kitchen is described as very messy and full of undone house chores.
Mr. Henderson (attorney) and Mr. Peters (sheriff) tried to solve a crime happened
in Wright family house (which is also the crime scene). They’re accompanied by
Mr. Hale who found the dead body of Mr. Wright, his wife (Mrs. Hale) and
sheriff’s wife (Mrs. Peters). The exposition ended as Mr. Hale began to explain
the reason why he came to Mr. Wright’s house and then found Mrs. Wright who
said that Mr. Wright is dead of a rope round his neck. Mr. hale then explained the
situation in the upstairs where the body was found and then the coroner came. So,
all characters are introduced and the place was officially being a crime scene.
The next sequence is the rising action which began when the men went to the
upstairs to find the motive of the murderer. One important thing here is the men
underestimated the kitchen things and women’s work. It’s indicated by the way
the sheriff making fun of the canning jars of fruit. It was responded by Mr. hale by
saying that women are used to worrying over trifles, which led to the conflict
between the men’s point of view, which said that women’s job is unimportant and
not relevant to the case, and the women’s opinion, which said that farmhouse
works are also tough. Those different made the men and the women separate in a
way, while the men were looking for the evidence or motive in the upstairs, the
 women were doing "trifles" and collecting stuff to be brought to Mrs. Wright.
During the separation, the drama focused on the women’s dialogue. Mrs. Hale and
Mrs. Peters found the gap or the oddity one by one, started from the bad sewing of
a quilt and the bird cage which will lead to the climax of the story.
At the climax, Mrs. Hale finally found the bird in a red box when she was
looking for the sewing tools in the sewing basket in order to complete the sewing.
The bird is dead already with broken neck, as Mrs. Peters mentioned “somebody
wrung its neck.”
The women then gradually understood what were happened in this house, the
reason why Mrs. Wright acted so weird, and the motive of the murder. This
sequence indicated the falling action which will lead to the end of the story. The
men finally finished their investigation in the upstairs and joined by the women
below.
At the end of the story, the women agreed to help Mrs. Wright legally and
mentally. They hid the bird and the box so the men will never know the motive of
the murder, while the men were still making fun of the quilt.
2. There is a different argument whether the men’s or the women’s job is more
important and relevant to the case.
3. In my opinion, there is two main characters in this play: Mrs. Hale and Mrs.
Peters who took most of the dialogue in the play and found the key to solve the
conflict. I will start with Mrs. Hale. She is the wife of Mr. Hale, a neighboring
farmer. Her loyalty to the gender (woman) is very strong which can be seen when
the attorney considered Minnie as a poor housekeeper. Instead of agreeing the
attorney, Mrs. Hale defended Minnie by saying “There’s a great deal of work to
be done on a farm.” From that dialogue also, it can be concluded that Mrs. Hale
had a big empathy towards woman. In several dialogue between she and Mrs.
Peters, Mrs. Hale is very critical towards men. Especially when the men
underestimate the women. One of the examples is in the line “I’d hate to have men
coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticising.” Although Mrs. Hale
not too familiar with Minnie, she gave an amount of attentions to her. She knew
much about Minnie. It can be seen in the line “She—come to think of it, she was
kind of like a bird herself—real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery.
How—she—did—change. (silence; then as if struck by a happy thought and
relieved to get back to everyday things) Tell you what, Mrs. Peters, why don’t you
take the quilt in with you? It might take up her mind.” At the end of the play, Mrs.
Hale felt regret that she rarely visited Minnie, thought that she could help Minnie
and prevent the tragedy. “I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white
dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. (a look around
the room) Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That
was a crime! Who’s going to punish that?”.
The next character is Mrs. Peters, the wife of the sheriff. She is very loyal and
responsible to her husband. Different with Mrs. Hale, she is not very critical to the
men. She considered the men’s acts no more than their duty. It can be seen in the
line “Of course it’s no more than their duty.” She obeyed the husband, and also
 the law. Like in the line “But Mrs. Hale, the law is the law.” She also a very logic
person. She wondered why Mrs. Wright wanted an apron in jail which is useless.
She mentioned “She said she wanted an apron. Funny thing to want, for there isn’t
much to get you dirty in jail, goodness knows. But I suppose just to make her feel
more natural.” She is a woman of unwavering faith. When she and Mrs. Hale
found the dead bird, and Mrs. Hale made an assumption about Minnie killing her
husband, Mrs. Peters still being positive. It can be proven by her lines “We don’t
know who killed the bird” and “(with rising voice) We don’t know who killed
him. We don’t know.” But, at the very end of the story, there is a change of her
traits. She decided to protect Minnie by hiding the bird so the attorney and the
sheriff will never know the motive. “Suddenly MRS. PETERS throws back quilt
pieces and tries to put the box in the bag she is wearing. It is too big. She opens
box, starts to take bird out, cannot touch it, goes to pieces, stands there helpless.
Sound of a knob turning in the other room. MRS. HALE snatches the box and
puts it in the pocket of her big coat.”
4. The first time I read the script, I thought it was just an ordinary mystery play. So, I
expected the murderer will be found and then get punished. But, in the end of the
story, the main characters decided to help the murderer. So, I believed that there is
the other thing the author wanted to say beside the crime aspect. What is very
clear in this story is the gender issue which is very relevant in the late 18s and
early 19s when the telephone is just found. This story is a good example of
resistance against patriarchy which will rise the degree of women.