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Glaspell’s Trifles

Trifles by Susan Glaspell is simply the story about the death of a man and the

subsequent handling of the wife who is the main suspect. There is a clear boundary in how

the men in the play react to the women above all how they regard them as well as what they

have to say about and pertaining to the suspect. Besides this, there is a strong interplay of the

three women and their collective behavior in influencing the murder case of their woman

friend. Just like in the interpretation of the play by Judith Russell, the play has a strong

representation of how literary criticism can happen especially relating to feminism. Literary

criticism is as open as it gets allowing for different interpretations and levels of understanding

on any piece of literature. Russell’s essay on Glaspell’s play likens the three women in the

play; Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Wright to Clotho the spinner, Lachesis the disposer of

lots and Athropo the cutter of the thread.

In literature, there is an added level of understanding that comes with expounding on

a text using other relatable materials and examples. Mrs. Hale who is likened to Clotho the

Spinner [ CITATION Rus97 \l 2057 ] appears critical to the driving force of the play where; her

insight on the whole scene, her outspokenness on the way the men treat and dismiss Mrs.

Wright’s belongings and experience influences the investigation’s outcome [ CITATION Gla16 \l

2057 ]. She is the key supplier of the information that the reader has on Mr. Wright suggesting

that she - Mrs. Wright, is not solely responsible for the death of his husband. Her choice of

words and remarks throughout are worth the name ‘the spinner’ of the thread of life as
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strongly insinuates that Mr. Wright is also responsible for how his wife changed and turned

out.

The Disposer of Lots who in this case is Mrs. Peters is the Sheriff’s wife and as such

is keen and aware of the responsibilities they as women have to the law and their husbands.

Russell describes Mrs. Peters as one enraged by the boy who killed the kitten [ CITATION

Rus97 \l 2057 ] and as such, the killing of the bird is endeared to her in a manner that she

knows that it would be used as evidence to further incriminate Mrs. Wright. Just like the

‘disposer’ she is, she hides the bird to make sure that the men do not find out during the

investigation. On the other hand, Mrs. Wright is the Cutter of the Thread which closely

relates to her use of the sewing box which of course would mean that at some point she used

scissors to cut threads. Mrs. Wright denies having killed her husband but yet agrees that she

was beside him when he was killed while asleep [ CITATION Gla16 \l 2057 ]. Not much can be

linked directly to her in the whole situation but there is a lot that she contributes towards the

death of his husband and in a way proving Russell right that she is ‘severing the thread of life

– not spinning or disposing of the lot.’[ CITATION Rus97 \l 2057 ].

Trifles is a story of circumstances that require evidence to uncover. From Russell’s

perspective, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are displayed as women who control the fate of their

friend Mrs. Wright and in the process control the fate of the men’s investigation. Literary

criticism in this case is skewed towards a feminist aspect since the play does not bring down

the woman’s image even in the presence of men and their demeaning nature towards them.

Glaspell is only responsible for the story in whichever way she had intended to tell it but

Russell’s use of the Greek mythology for the literary criticism sheds more light on the power

that literature has on pushing the theme of inequality and the subsequent feminism that is

born as a result such as in this case of two women against three men; fighting for the justice

of their friend.
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Works Cited
1. Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Ed. Kennedy X.J and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature, 2016.
2. Russell, Judith Kay. "Glaspell's Trifles." The Explicator Volume 55.No 2 (1997): p
88.