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Zaiden Hagler

English 12 Per. 3

Ms. Walsh

November 1st, 2021

Short Story Analysis

In creative writing and storytelling, there are many ways to reveal a theme in a

story. Authors usually use a combination of the characters, setting and plot elements to

most effectively do this. In the short story “Trifles,” Susan Glaspell characterizes the

men as insensitive and rude, the women as understanding, kind and analytical, and

describes the setting as relatable to the women in order to set up the theme of the story

“people who face unjust scrutiny will look out for one another.”

Glaspell characterizes the men in the story as insensitive, offending the women

and proving the theme. First, when the women worry about Mrs. Wright’s fruit getting

ruined, the Sheriff says “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin'

about her preserves.” This statement indirectly characterizes the sheriff, and the rest of

the men who share his values, as rude and insensitive, as his statement is unnecessarily

critical of the women. Another way Glaspell characterizes the men is when they further

insult the women’s worries about an in-progress quilt by saying “They wonder if she was

going to quilt it or just knot it!” This again shows the men being overly critical and rude,

evidenced by the women’s “abashed” expression after the insult. This comes to a head

when the women in the end of the story decide to hide evidence of the accused

housewife’s motives for murder from the men, while the men continue to abash their

inherent interest in seemingly useless menial things. This helps prove the theme of the

story “people who face unjust scrutiny will look out for one another,” as the men being
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abrasive and rude to the women’s quarrels ends up costing them real evidence in the

case, implying their rude comments were wrong.

Glaspell also similarly characterizes the women as understanding and analytical

in order to justify the theme. When the women debate about the wife being the killer,

one says “I don't think she did. Asking for an apron and her little shawl. Worrying about

her fruit.” This supports the assertion that the women are understanding and analytical,

and that it proves the men are unjustified in their criticisms, since the women find

actual circumstantial evidence. Next, they discover a birdcage, and a dead bird that

appears to have been strangled in a box. They theorize that Mrs Wright was going to

bury the bird, but never got the chance. This obviously heavily implies that the husband

killed the bird and that would give the wife motive for murder. This again is major

circumstantial evidence against the wife, absolutely proving the men wrong in their

criticisms about the women’s quarrels. This also justifies the theme “people who face

unjust scrutiny will look out for one another,” as the men’s criticisms are proven

“unjust.”

Glaspell also uses the setting as a way to unite the women, also justifying the

women’s decision to stick up for one another, helping to reveal the theme. First, Glaspell

describes the kitchen setting, and the dirtied state of the towels, which the men criticize.

The women both immediately relate to the setting when they defend Mrs. Wright’s

housekeeping skills. This is because it is obviously implied that the women see the

similarities between their own households and Mrs. Wright’s. This is also reinforced

when the women are left alone and admonish that the bread and fruit will go bad

without care. Mrs. Hale then says “I remember the afternoon I put up my cherries last

summer.” The women, who see their own plights in Mrs. Wright’s life, unite because of
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this. This further justifies the theme “people who face unjust scrutiny will look out for

one another,” because it proves the women, including Mrs. Wright, are unified by the

end of the story.

We are first introduced to the men, who are insensitive and rude, and then the

women, who’s analytical approach proves the men wrong, and finally the setting

separates the men and women, and ties the women’s quarrels to that of the accused.

These three ways Glaspell reveals and justifies the theme are genius, and work together

to effectively convey this theme which comments on very obvious gender biases.