Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE

PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
GRADUATE STUDIES
Sta. Mesa, Manila

Name: DE LARA, SIEGFRED Z Program: MAELT

Professor: Doc. Junie Rosales Subject: TESL 606

TESL 606: Approaches to the Teaching of Literature

Challenge 3: Read “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell and answer the following questions:

1. Did you enjoy the play? What, specifically, pleased or displeased you about what was expressed
and how it was expressed?
I loved how the power of silence over actions is emphasized in the drama. The play's dynamics between men
and women illustrate the concept of forceful silence. The women are generally silent at the start of the play,
and their sparse talk is mostly about unimportant matters—or so the men perceive it.

2. What is the significance of the play’s title? How does it suggest the author’s overall emphasis?
The title of the play alludes to the women's concerns, which the men dismiss as "trifles." This contains the
canning jars of fruit that Minnie Wright is worried about regardless of the fact that she is being jailed for
murder, as well as the quilt and other things that Minnie requests be delivered to her at the jail. Trifles
represent the significance of the issues and items that worry the ladies in the story, as these issues and items
offer the women with the information necessary to understand Minnie's crime.
Just like what I mentioned, the overall theme of the play focuses on how the society views the thoughts and
voices of women as trivial and insignificant. It is depicted by how the men mostly disregard what the women
have to say in the beginning of the play. The men believe their observations and findings are "trifles," yet the
play's conclusion implies the strength of their quiet and trivial discussion.

3. How is the exposition presented? What does it reveal? How does the playwright’s choice not to
dramatize certain events help to determine what the focus of the play is?
The entire crew arrives at the Wrights' foreboding farmhouse, and we get a hearty helping of backstory as well
as learn what everyone is coming to do. Mrs. Wright is incarcerated primarily for strangling her abusive
husband with a rope. The County Attorney and the other men are here to gather information, while the women
will collect items for Mrs. Wright. The playwright chose not to put a character for Mrs. Wright. By omitting this
character from the stage, Glaspell emphasizes how an individual's identity is "equally created as it is innate."
Mrs. Wright's perception by the audience can only be formed via the prism of the on-stage characters as they
relive and discuss her personal life and claimed murder, and these characters may not all have the same
perception of Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright's identity is fluid and evolves depending on the biases of the other
characters, as a result of the many viewpoints of the people in the farmhouse.

4. In what ways is the setting important? Would the play be altered significantly if the setting were
changed?
The setting of the play aids in character development and also serves to advance the plot. Although the drama
is set in an abandoned farmhouse, the setting is more nuanced than that. Men gravitate toward the room
where the crime occurred, while women gravitate toward the kitchen. Both men and women observe Mrs.
Wright's home in its unkempt state, but the ladies are protective of her too. Additionally, they begin to
understand that the chaos (which is a part of the scene) may be a hint of the "sudden emotion" that the sheriff
and attorney are seeking for but are too arrogant to perceive. Mrs. Hale knows the seclusion of farm life and
Mr. Wright's nature. Mrs. Peters, as a newbie, must change her mind on that point.

5. Are foreshadowings used to suggest what is to come? Are flashbacks used to dramatize what has
already happened?
When the county attorney places his hand on Mrs. Wright's cabinet shelf, he discovers that it is sticky. Mrs.
Peters observes that Mrs. Wright's preserve jars have broken due to the freezing temperatures in the house.
Mrs. Wright's own freezing and bursting is foreshadowed by this occurrence (in a metaphorical sense). She
got emotionally frozen while living with her faraway spouse, and her murder of her husband was essentially an
explosion as a result of exposure to emotional coldness. Additionally, the quilt discovered by the women in
Mrs. Wright's residence demonstrates premonition. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are tasked with the task of
locating Mrs. Wright's quilting squares. One is perfectly stitched, while the other is unraveling at the seams.
Mrs. Hale even untangles one of the weak knots, as she senses in a foreboding way that Mrs. Wright's
dissolution into lunacy is a result of the poor sewing. As for flashbacks, this devise is only present in the
exposition of the play wherein the sheriff is just trying to gather some data.

6. What is the major conflict the protagonist faces? What complications constitute the rising action?
What is the climax? Is the conflict resolved?
The play's central conflict is external — men vs women. Mrs. Hale, the neighbor's wife, and Mrs. Peters, the
sheriff's wife, gather clothing to present to Mrs. Wright in jail. Men demean women's jobs, saying, "Well,
women are used to worrying over trifles," instilling resentment in the women. However, the women's
preoccupation with trivial matters, the so-called "trifles," is what ultimately leads to the truth in the murder
case. The conflict reaches a head when the women debate whether or not to inform the men about the critical
evidence they discovered, a strangled canary, and ultimately opt to lie. The men search for evidence that
would convict Mrs. Wright, but occasionally hurl sexist insults at Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Hale
becomes increasingly enraged by the men's drive-by misogyny, while she and Mrs. Peters come to appreciate
Mrs. Wright's miserable life with her horrible husband. The first major issue occurs when the ladies discover a
dead canary, most likely killed by Mr. Wright, demonstrating Mrs. Wright's motivation for murdering him. Mrs.
Hale sneers at the County Attorney as she presses her hand against the dead bird in her pocket. The guys
seem oblivious, but we know who won this round: the women. The story is concluded, and the case has been
closed—at least for the ladies and the audience.

7. Are one or more subplots used to qualify or complicate the main plot? Is the plot unified so that
each incident somehow has a function that relates it to some other element in the play?
Two subplots occur concurrently in Trifles: the men have an off-stage story as they search for clues to Mr.
Wright's murder; the women have an on-stage story as they unravel Mrs. Wright's life. The story's plot is tense
due to the speed with which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters comprehend what has occurred. Suspense rises as
the two women, along with the audience, attempt to determine who murdered Mr. Wright and why. The moral
question of whether the women should conceal incriminating evidence — and if they will be discovered – adds
to the intrigue. Of course, one reason the males in the story are unable to determine what happened is that
they disregard the women's statements as trivial.

8. Does the author purposely avoid pyramidal plot structure of rising action, climax, and falling
action? Is the plot experimental? Is the plot logically, and chronologically organized, or is it fantastical
or absurd? What effects are produced by the plot? How does it reflect the author’s view of life?
The pyramidal structure is still followed in the play; however, we are somehow left hanging with the last part of
the pyramid which is the falling action. The playwright chose to let the audience decide on what should
happen next. I believe that the plot is not experimental, rather the writer chose to leave it as is. I would say
Glaspell did an excellent job in exposing the plot, for it gave us a hint of how life was back then. Throughout
the drama, women are entrapped in the gendered position of domesticity. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are both
portrayed throughout the play remaining inside Minnie Foster's house while the guys go outside to do their
"real work" of investigating this incident. While women are confined to this gendered role, "women's lives are
both shaped and empowered under the restrictions of a domestic space."

9. By what means does the playwright reveal character? What do the characters’ names, physical
qualities, actions and words convey about them? What do the characters reveal about each other?
The play's characters are the dynamic that reflects the tensions and provide the key to our comprehension.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters evolve during the play, becoming less certain of their own convictions, disappointed
in themselves for failing to be better friends to Mrs. Wright, and compassionate to her sad loneliness. Men do
not change (static characters). We learn about each character through their chats, particularly how the
conversations shift when the males are present.
10. Does your response to the characters change in the course of the play? What causes the change?
Yes. The change in perspective about the characters began in the rising action of the play wherein the men try
to impose their authority, meaning the exposition of masculine power. The guys leave the women inside to talk
"trifles" while they do the 'real' investigation outside. The title of the play, "trifles," highlights the men's mockery
and dismissal of women's concerns. The masculine characters regard the house and women's concerns as
purely physical spaces devoid of emotion. Finally, as the males downplay the women's concerns, it is their
'trifling' issues that lead to the investigation's resolution.

11. Are words and images repeated in the play so that they take on special meanings? Which
speeches seem particularly important? Why?
There isn’t any particular repetition of words or speeches in the play, but rather, the recurring theme of women
talking about trivial things—well at least to the construct that the playwright has created based on her
depictions of what is currently happening during that generation. This recurring theme is important because it
served as a protest, a call to action saying that men and women should have equal voices in the society that
needs to be heard, and this is still relevant even up to our time now.

12. How does the playwright’s use of language contribute to the tone of the play? Is the dialogue, for
example, predominantly light, humorous, relaxed, sentimental, sad, intense, or violent?
Susan Glaspell's play Trifles has a dark, sardonic tone, with an almost palpable sense of evil hovering over
the crime scene. As if the discovery of the cages with its missing bird wasn't enough, the discovery of the
concealed dead canary with its neck broken deepens the permeating darkness, as Mr. Wright was strangled
to death. This is an unmistakably grim play. We've got a terrible murder, a dead bird's carcass, and the first
stage direction informs us that we're in the "gloomy kitchen" of a "now-abandoned farmhouse" (1). The
audience will immediately recognize that they are not in for a light comedy when they see the stage.

Additionally, it is crystal evident that the author of this play has some strong beliefs on how women should be
treated. As in the lines:
County Attorney: No—it's not cheerful. I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct.
Mrs. Hale: Well, I don't know as Wright had, either.

Glaspell demonstrates how sexist males are by presuming that women are only valuable if they are good
housewives. Then she shatters that notion by reminding us that it is also men's role to build a house. As a
writer, she is not particularly deft with her opinions. However, given the huge amount of oppression women
faced during her lifetime, it was probably not the time for subtlety.

13. Are any unfamiliar theatrical conventions used that present problems in understanding the play?
How does knowing more about the nature of the theater from which the play originated help to resolve
these problems?
The very obvious yet unconventional technique used in the play was that the key character, Mrs. Wright was
not physically embodied in the play. So the construct that was formed by the audience was based solely on
the stories told by the on-stage characters and their prejudices. This technique was then essentialized
knowing how the role of women were viewed during that time—overshadowed, insignificant and irrelevant.

14. Is the theme stated directly, or is it developed implicitly through the plot, characters, or some other
element? Does the theme conform or challenge most people’s values?
Trifles' core themes include gender, isolation, and justice. Glaspell demonstrates how sexist males are by
presuming that women are only valuable if they are good housewives. Then she shatters that notion by
reminding us that it is also men's role to build a house. As a writer, she is not particularly deft with her
opinions. However, given the huge amount of oppression women faced during her lifetime, it was probably not
the time for subtlety. I believe during that time, the theme did challenge most people’s views, specially that it
was written during a time where is masculinity holds power in the society and women do not have a voice.
This is also one of the reasons why the play became an iconic movement for feminism and women
empowerment.

15. How the play reflect the values of the society in which it is set and in which it was written?
Trifles is heavily invested in the idea of justice, particularly as it relates to women. Additionally, the topic could
be interpreted as a form of silent justice. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are both aware of and comprehend Mr.
Wright's motive for murdering her husband. Glaspell's short story based on Trifles is titled "A Jury of Her
Peers," alluding to the fact that women were not permitted to serve on juries during this era. The greatest irony
of justice in Trifles is that a woman's social circumstances, compounded by patriarchal culture, may drive her
to commit a crime and then be unjustly punished for it. The play establishes a clear distinction between the
legal meaning of justice, which requires Mrs. Wright to be convicted and jailed for murder, and the moral
definition of justice, which does not require Mrs. Wright to be punished for fleeing her abuser. Glaspell depicts
the lives of Minnie Wright, Margaret Hossack, and the numerous women whose experiences were omitted
from court proceedings because their lives were deemed irrelevant to the determination of their cases in
Trifles.

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