By

Trifles Susan
Glaspell
Unit 1-reading
Before Trifles
Answer these questions.
a) In what ways do societal norms
affect you?
b) Are women dominated by men in
your society?
c) Are there differences between
men and women in how they
think, act, communicate, behave
and relate to others?
 Things to know
Unit 1-
Title: Trifles Trifles
= something
Writer: Susan Glaspell
of little value.

Genre: One-act play

Written Date: 1916
About:
• The play, Trifles revolves around a murder
mystery that explores gender relationships,
power relationship between the males and
females, and the nature of truth.
• It presents a radical woman rebel, Minnie
Foster Wright, who goes to the extreme to
free herself of male domination.
Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) was an American
playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. First
known for her short stories (fifty were published),
Glaspell is known also to have written nine novels,
fifteen plays, and a biography. Her works typically
explore contemporary social issues, such as gender,
ethics, and dissent (protest), while featuring deep,
sympathetic characters. Her first novel The Glory of
the Conquered was published in 1909. She wrote
three best-selling novels Brook Evans (1928),
Fugitive's Return (1929), and Ambrose Holt and
Family (1931). Her first play Trifles (1916) was
based on the murder trial she had covered as a
young reporter in Des Moines. Her play Alison's
House (1930) earned the Pulitzer Prize for
drama in 1931.
Glaspell is today recognized as a pioneering
feminist writer and America's first important
modern female playwright. The play Trifles
revolves around murder investigation
providing a perspective about the status of
women in contemporary American society
reflecting the male mentality as the
dominant gender. Trifles chronicles the day
after Mrs. Wright is arrested on suspicion of
murdering her husband. Though the play is
about the Wrights and the circumstances of
Mr. Wright’s death, Mrs. Wright never appears
onstage. The audience learns about her from
the perspective of her neighbours and their
reactions to items they find inside the
Wrights’ home.
 One-act play
 Drama: A drama is a literary genre which is written in prose or verses in the form of dialogue,
especially intended to be acted on the stage by actors in front of the audience.
 A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts.
One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes.

 One act plays often have a more contained story than a full length play, and they can be more
experimental.

• More tightly compressed

▪ Typically short, with playing times of fifteen to forty-five minutes

▪ The number of characters introduced must be limited

▪ Their personalities must be highly developed

 Elements of plays
Setting: It refers to the time, place and physical scenery in which the
actions take place.
Plot: It refers to the chronological, systematic and logical development
of actions or activities in the play.
Dialogue: It refers to the conversation between the characters in the
play. It is the prominent feature of a play.
Character: Characters refer to the human beings who perform certain
role to develop the plot. Characters are the representatives of us, our
society and our situation.
Theme: It refers what the play is about and what message it delivers.
 Types of the play
Tragedy: It is a play in which the protagonist or the
main character suffers a downfall due to tragic flaw.
Comedy: It is a play with light-hearted tone that is
meant to amuse the audience and end on a happy note.
Tragicomedy: It is a complex play with serious
storyline told in a humorous and sarcastic tone.
Romantic comedy: It refers to a play in which love is
the main theme and love leads to a happy ending.
 Setting
Place:

The play takes place in an empty farmhouse in rural Iowa.

- A bleak, untidy kitchen. The men go to the bedroom where

the murder occurred, while the women focus on the

kitchen.

Three doors : One to the parlor (living room), One to the

upstairs, One to the outdoors

In the middle of the kitchen, there is a rustic (old) dining

table and chairs. A wood-burning stove for warmth.

 Setting
The room has not been cleaned up and looks as if someone was

interrupted in the midst of cooking a meal:

▪ Dirty pans are stacked under the sink

▪ A loaf of bread is sitting outside the breadbox

▪ A dishtowel is lying on the table

Time:

Early 1900s:

a cold winter wind blows outside

 Title
 Written in the early 1900s, “Trifles” deals with the rights of, expectations for and
assumptions about women in society at the time. Susan Glaspell uses the word “trifles”
appropriately when naming this play, and she uses this play to establish that women were
taken for granted.
 Literally, “Trifles” refers to the things of very little importance. In the play the
concerns of the women in the play are dismissed by the men as “trifles.” This includes
such things as the canning jars of fruit that Minnie Wright is concerned about despite
being held for murder, as well as the quilt and other items that Minnie asks to have
brought to her at the jail.
 The men leave the women inside to discuss “trifles” while they go outside to do
the ‘real’ investigation. The men’s mock exemplifies the way that men often
overlook women’s concerns. The men, who arrogantly assume that women’s
interests are “trifling” and unimportant, are blind to the importance of these items
in the investigation of John Wright’s murder and to the importance of women’s
concerns and situations in general.
 The title 'trifles' is ironic, because what is referred to as 'trifles' in the play
embodies the most important answers to the mystery of John Wright's death. The
women that are trivialized and dismissed by the male-dominated society win over
male prejudice, which disregards the dominant beliefs of gender.
• Glaspell’s inspiration was the true crime story of the murder of John
Hossack, a 59-year-old farmer. Working as a journalist at the time of
the incident in 1900, Glaspell covered it for the Des Moines (Daily
News).
• The case was a sensation, because Hossack’s wife Margaret was
accused of killing him. Neighbors believed that Margaret Hossack was
an abused wife, and thus, she was the object of suspicion.
• Margaret claimed that John had been murdered with an axe by an
intruder. She was found guilty, but later, the verdict was overturned
on appeal. A reprint of Glaspell’s coverage of the actual case can be
read here. Shortly after reporting on this story, Glaspell quit
journalism to write fiction.
• Some years later, the incident came back to haunt her. She wrote
“Trifles” in ten days, and a year later fashioned it into the short
story “A Jury of Her Peers”.
On Stage Characters

 George Henderson is the county attorney (lawyer) who will prosecute

Minnie for murder. He is young. Accordingly, he is more brash (bold and
assertive), sarcastic (mocking) and foolish.

When questioning Hale about John’s murder he misses important details.

Unlike Hale and Peters, Henderson is quick to make judgments.

 At the end of the play, he mocks Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters for their
interest in whether Minnie was going to quilt or knot her sewing project, not
realizing the answer was actually one of the clues he was seeking.
 Sheriff Henry Peters is leading the investigation into John's
murder. He visited the farmhouse the day before, found John’s
body, arrested Minnie, and secured the premises.

 Lewis Hale is the neighbour of the Wright family. He is a farmer.

A straightforward, honest man, Hale is a bit rough from the harsh
life of a rural farmer. Hale was the first to discover John’s murder
when he stopped by the Wright’s farmhouse to interest them in
sharing a telephone line.
Mrs. Hale is Lewis Hale's wife. She empathizes with Minnie. At first
timid, she eventually commits what she thinks is a justifiable crime: a
conspiracy to conceal evidence from a murder investigation.

She understands and empathizes with Minnie’s isolation and alienation.

In their youth, she was friends with Minnie, who was then a vivacious
and interesting girl.

She knew Minnie was isolated and probably lonely after her marriage;
moreover, she noticed her change into a drab, quiet woman as the years
passed. Mrs. Hale seems to be the more observant and more prone to
action.
Mrs. Peters: is the wife of the sheriff. Mrs. Peters is more
timid than Mrs. Hale and more aware of the
responsibilities the women have to the law and to their
husbands when they uncover the truth of Minnie Wright’s
murder of her husband. However, she is unwilling to
expose the uncovered evidence to the men.
 Off Stage Characters:
• Minnie Wright: is a woman accused of killing her husband, John Wright Mrs.
Hale remembers Minnie for her youthful innocence and happiness before she was married
(when she was Minnie Foster). Back then, she sang joyfully in the local choir. But in
marriage Minnie became timid, sad, and isolated. The women investigating her home
uncover evidence that suggests Minnie was abused.
• John Wright: The deceased farmer. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters describe him as a good man
because he did not drink and paid his debts, but a hard man. He was not considered good
company, and the other women imagine the loneliness of Minnie’s life as his wife.
• Frank: Deputy sheriff, who the Sheriff sends to turn on the stove in the house of the Wright.

• Harry: Another neighbour of the Wrights.

 Summary (Long One)
The play opens on the scene of John and Minnie Wright’s abandoned
farmhouse. The kitchen is in disarray with unwashed dishes, a loaf of
uncooked bread, and a dirty towel on the table. The county attorney George
Henderson arrives at the house accompanied by the local sheriff Henry
Peters and the neighboring farmer Lewis Hale. The wives of two of the men,
Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, both of whom appear disturbed and fearful,
follow the men inside.
The sheriff asks Lewis Hale to describe the scene he discovered at the
farmhouse the previous day. Before Mr. Hale begins, Mr. Peters reassures the
attorney that nothing has been moved in the house since he saw it last,
despite having sent one of his men ahead to prepare a fire. He explains that
he couldn’t have kept one of his men there the previous day to monitor the
house because they were too busy. Mr. Peters knew George Henderson would
arrive the next day for them to go over the house for evidence.
Mr. Hale tells the story of arriving at the Wrights’ home the previous day. He
had been hoping to convince John Wright to invest in a party line telephone
with him, and thought maybe it would help to ask him in front of his wife,
though he acknowledges that John paid little attention to what his wife
wanted. Mr. Hale arrived at the house and found Minnie Wright sitting there
in her rocking chair. He describes her as looking out of sorts. Mr. Hale asked
to see John and Minnie told him that he couldn’t because John was dead.
When Mr. Hale asked what he died of, Minnie said that he died of a rope
around his neck.
Mr. Hale describes calling one of his men, going upstairs and finding John
Wright’s body. His first instinct, he says, was to remove the rope, but his
companion cautioned him to not touch anything and to preserve any
evidence. Before leaving, he questioned Minnie Wright about who killed her
husband. She said that despite having been sleeping in the bed with him
where he was killed, she didn’t wake up when it happened.
The county attorney asks what Minnie did when Mr. Hale sent for the
coroner to question her and Mr. Hale says she stayed quiet. But when he
mentioned that he’d originally come to ask about putting in a telephone,
Minnie laughed and then looked fearful.
George Henderson asks Mr. Peters if there’s anything in the kitchen that
could point out any motive for killing John Wright, but the sheriff
dismisses the scene as being unimportant, as being only kitchen things.
The county attorney discovers that the mess comes from Minnie’s
canning jars of fruit, which have exploded. Mrs. Peters says that she
knew Minnie was worried about this happening when it turned cold, and
her husband laughs over a woman worrying about fruit when she’s held
for murder. Mr. Hale says “women are used to worrying over trifles.”
George Henderson, looking over the mess in the kitchen and noticing in
particular the dirty towel, says Minnie seems to be a poor housekeeper.
 Mrs. Hale stiffly points out that there’s a lot of work to be done to keep
a farmhouse running. The attorney accuses Mrs. Hale of being loyal to
her own sex, or at least to her friend. But Mrs. Hale explains that she has
rarely seen Minnie Wright over the last few years. She explains that she
was busy, and that the Wrights’ home never seemed very cheerful to her.
When the attorney questions her further, she backs off of saying anything
negative about John Wright.
Mr. Peters asks George Henderson if his wife can collect a few items to
bring to Minnie Wright in jail and the attorney says yes, but that he’d
like to see what she’s taking. The men go upstairs. Mrs. Hale is upset
over the men coming into Minnie’s space and accusing her of being a
poor housekeeper. Mrs. Peters, though, notes that the men are only
doing their duty. Mrs. Peters discovers the bread Minnie Wright had left
out, but had not baked. Mrs. Hale is sympathetic for Minnie’s hard work
on her canning jars of fruit having gone to waste.
The women collect some clothes for Minnie. Mrs. Hale recognizes in the
clothing that Minnie had very little money for herself and that her
husband, therefore, must have been particularly tight with money. She
wonders if this is why Minnie kept to herself so much and didn’t join in
other women’s activities. She remembers the lively girl Minnie used to be
when she wore pretty clothes. Mrs. Peters says that Minnie also requested
to have an apron brought to her, and thinks this is a funny thing to want.
Abruptly, Mrs. Hale asks Mrs. Peters if she thinks that Minnie killed her
husband. Mrs. Hale says she doesn’t think that she did. Mrs. Peters
whispers that her husband said that it doesn’t look good for Minnie. The
women acknowledge the strangeness of killing a man in the way that
John Wright was murdered, strangled in his sleep. Mrs. Peters says that
George Henderson said the men are looking primarily for evidence that
would show a motive for killing John.
The women discover a quilt that Minnie Wright was in the process of
making. The men reenter and, overhearing Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale
discussing the quilt, laugh at the women for wondering about whether
Minnie was planning to quilt or knot her piece to complete it. The men
go out to the barn. Mrs. Hale resents that the men would laugh at them
for passing the time while they wait, but Mrs. Peters attempts to excuse
them, saying they must have a lot on their minds. Mrs. Hale notices that
the quilt is very poorly sewn at the end, and she starts pulling out
stiches to correct them. It seems to the women that Minnie must have
been nervous or upset.
Mrs. Peters looks for paper or string to package up the clothes they’re
taking to the jail and discovers an empty birdcage in a cupboard. Mrs.
Hale doesn’t know whether Minnie had a bird, but remembers that she
used to sing very beautifully. They wonder what happened to the bird
from the empty cage.
Mrs. Hale wonders if the cat got it, but Mrs. Peters knows that Minnie
didn’t have a cat because she doesn’t like them. The women notice that
the cage is broken, the door pulled roughly apart.
Mrs. Hale expresses her frustration with herself for not visiting Minnie
more often in her lonely home. She says she stayed away because she
didn’t like the place, not because she was too busy to make the trip.
Mrs. Peters attempts to console her. Mrs. Hale asks her if she knew Mr.
Wright, and while the pair acknowledge him to have been a good man
who didn’t drink and who paid his debts, Mrs. Hale says he was a hard
man. She isn’t surprised that Minnie would have wanted a bird in her
lonely house.
Mrs. Peters did not grow up in the neighborhood and so Mrs. Hale starts
to tell her about Minnie as a girl (back when she was Minnie Foster). She
says that Minnie Foster was a sweet and timid girl but changed when she
married Mr. Wright into a timid and unhappy woman.
Mrs. Hale suggests bringing the quilt to Minnie to distract her, and the
women look for her sewing materials. As they search, Mrs. Hale notices a
fancy red box, opens it, and the women discover the body of the dead
bird.
The dead bird’s neck is twisted and the women realize that someone
must have wrung its neck. The men return and Mrs. Hale hides the box
containing the dead bird under the quilt. George Henderson asks if
they’ve decided whether Minnie was going to quilt or knot her quilt, and
Mrs. Peters says they think she was going to knot it. The attorney
acknowledges the birdcage and the women quickly say that they think
the cat must have got the bird. The men go upstairs again.
Mrs. Peters says that she remembers a kitten she had as a young girl,
and that a boy took a hatchet to it before her eyes. She says she would
have hurt him if she could. Mrs. Hale says she knows John Wright must
have killed the dead bird.
Mrs. Peters, growing emotional, tries insisting that they don’t know who
killed John Wright. Mrs. Hale says it must have been awful to have no
children, to have a bird to sing and then to have that bird be still. Mrs.
Peters is transported into memory again as she recalls knowing what
stillness was after her first child died.
Mrs. Peters comes to her senses and reminds Mrs. Hale that, “the law
has got to punish crime.” Mrs. Hale cries out in response that her failure
to visit Minnie and her lack of support for the isolated girl was a crime,
and “who’s going to punish that?” Mrs. Hale says that she should have
known Minnie needed help because all women go through “a different
kind of the same thing.” Mrs. Hale says they shouldn’t tell Minnie that
her canning jars of fruit broke.
The women then overhear the men talking as they come down the stairs.
George Henderson is saying that the murder is all perfectly clear except
for a motive, a reason for killing John Wright in such a strange way.
The attorney says he’ll stay at the house longer and go over everything
again. Mr. Peters asks if he wants to look over what Mrs. Peters is taking
to Minnie in jail, but the attorney says that she’s trustworthy because,
after all, “a sheriff’s wife is married to the law.”
The men leave the room momentarily and Mrs. Peters tries to hide the
box with the dead bird in her too small bag and then Mrs. Hale conceals
it in her pocket. The attorney returns and jokingly acknowledges that at
least they found out Minnie wasn’t going to finish her quilt by quilting it.
He appeals to the ladies for the correct term for she was going to finish
it. She was going to “knot it,” Mrs. Hale says, with her hand over her
pocket.
(It can be easily noted that the play explores themes like the Social
Oppression of Women, Justice, The Blindness of Men & Gender
Allegiance vs. Legal Duty.)
 Summary (Short One)
The play opens on the scene of an abandoned farmhouse. The house is in
disarray, with various activities interrupted, such as dishes left unwashed and
bread prepared but not yet baked. Five people arrive at the house to
investigate the scene of a crime, including the county attorney, George
Henderson, the local sheriff, Henry Peters, and the neighbor, Lewis Hale, who
discovered a murdered man, John Wright, strangled with a rope in his bed.
The men are accompanied by two of their wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale.
Mr. Hale describes for the country attorney the experience of finding John
Wright’s dead body the previous day. He stopped by his neighbors’ house to ask
if they’d want to install a party line telephone. He encountered Minnie Wright
sitting in her rocking chair, and she calmly announced that her husband was
dead. Mr. Hale went upstairs to find the body, and left everything in place for
the inspection of the attorney and the sheriff. Minnie claimed that she didn’t
wake up when her husband was strangled in their bed.
Mrs. Wright (Minnie) has been arrested for the crime and is being held until her
trial. The men do not look closely around the kitchen for evidence of a motive,
but discover Minnie’s frozen and broken canning jars of fruits. Mrs. Peters and
Mrs. Hale know that Minnie was worried her canning jars would explode in the
cold weather, and the sheriff jokes that a woman would worry about such
things while held for murder. The men criticize Minnie’s poor housekeeping, as
evidenced by the mess in the kitchen and a dirty towel. The men go upstairs to
inspect the bedroom and Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale collect items from the
kitchen that Minnie requested be brought to her at the jail, including clothes
and an apron. The women comment on the strangeness of strangling a man to
death when the men had pointed out that there was a gun in the house. The
women admire a quilt that Minnie was working on, and are wondering if she
was going to finish it by “quilting” or "knotting” when the men reenter and,
overhearing the women talking, joke about the women’s trivial concerns at a
time like this. Once again left alone by the men, the women notice that some
of the stitching of the quilt is very poor, as if Minnie were nervous or upset.
The women then find a birdcage without any bird in it. Mrs. Hale
expresses strong regrets having not come to visit Minnie more often,
acknowledging that John Wright was a hard man and that it must have
been very difficult for Minnie to be alone at her house. She recalls
Minnie before she married and how cheerfully she sang in the choir. The
women then uncover a beautiful red box, and in it, the dead bird that
was missing from the birdcage, its neck broken.
When the men return, Mrs. Hale hides the box with the body of the bird.
Once the men leave again, Mrs. Peters remembers a boy who killed her
childhood pet kitten, and her certainty that she would have hurt him in
return if she could have. And yet, Mrs. Peters says, “the law has got to
punish crime.” Mrs. Hale berates herself for what she sees as her own
crime of not visiting her neighbor Minnie, crying out, “who’s going to
punish that crime?”
The men return, and the sheriff asks if the county
attorney wants to take a look at the items Mrs. Peters is
bringing to Minnie at the jail. He says that Mrs. Peters
doesn’t need supervising and assumes the things she’s
taking aren’t harmful. The women hide the box with the
body of the bird. The county attorney jokes that at least
they discovered the fate of Minnie’s quilt project, and
Mrs. Hale reminds him that she was planning to finish
the quilt by knotting it.
Summary in points:
 The play opens in the somber and empty Wright farmhouse. Sheriff Henry
Peters and county attorney George Henderson visit the farmhouse to
investigate the murder of John Wright.

 His wife, Minnie Wright, has been arrested for the murder, and the two men
have come to collect evidence against her.

To that end, they have brought Lewis Hale, Minnie Wright's neighbour, who
was the first person other than Minnie to see John's dead body. Hale will be a
witness for the prosecution at the trial.

 With the three men are Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, and Mrs. Hale, Lewis's
wife, who have come to collect some of Minnie's personal effects to bring to
her in prison.
 Mr.Hale describes for the county attorney the experience of finding
John Wright’s dead body the previous day.

 He stopped by his neighbors’ house to ask if they’d want to install a

party line telephone. He encountered Minnie Wright sitting in
her rocking chair, and she calmly announced that her husband was
dead.

 Mr. Hale went upstairs to find the body, and left everything in place
for the inspection of the attorney and the sheriff. Minnie claimed
that she didn’t wake up when her husband was strangled in their bed.
 Mrs. Wright has been arrested for the crime and is being held until
her trial. The men do not look closely around the kitchen for
evidence of a motive, but discover Minnie’s frozen and
broken canning jars of fruits.

 Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale know that Minnie was worried her
canning jars would explode in the cold weather, and the sheriff
jokes that a woman would worry about such things while held for
murder. The men criticize Minnie’s poor housekeeping, as
evidenced by the mess in the kitchen and a dirty towel.
• The men go upstairs to inspect the bedroom and Mrs. Peters and
Mrs. Hale collect items from the kitchen that Minnie requested be
brought to her at the jail, including clothes and an apron.
• The women comment on the strangeness of strangling a man to
death when the men had pointed out that there was a gun in the
house.
• The women admire a quilt that Minnie was working on, and are
wondering if she was going to finish it by “quilting” or "knotting”
when the men reenter and, overhearing the women talking, joke
about the women’s trivial concerns at a time like this.
• Once again left alone by the men, the women notice that some of
the stitching of the quilt is very poor, as if Minnie were nervous or
upset.
➢The women then find a birdcage without any bird in it.
➢Mrs. Hale expresses strong regrets having not come to visit Minnie more
often, acknowledging that John Wright was a hard man and that it must
have been very difficult for Minnie to be alone at her house.
➢She recalls Minnie before she married and how cheerfully she sang in
the choir. The women then uncover a beautiful red box, and in it they
find the dead bird that was missing from the birdcage, its neck broken.
➢Mrs. Hale hides the box when the men come.
➢When the men leave again, Mrs. Peters remembers a boy who killed her
childhood pet kitten, she says that she would have hurt him in return if
she could have.
➢Mrs. Hale reprimands herself for what she sees as her own crime of not
visiting Minnie from time to time. She askss, “Who’s going to punish
that crime?”
➢Lastly as the men come into the kitchen the sheriff
asks if the county attorney wants to take a look at
the items Mrs. Peters is taking to Minnie at the jail.
➢ He says that Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising
and assumes the things she’s taking aren’t harmful.
➢The women hide the box with the body of the bird.
➢The county attorney jokes that at least they
discovered the fate of Minnie’s quilt project, and Mrs.
Hale reminds him that she was planning to finish the
quilt by knotting it.
 Symbols
Symbols
The caged bird: It represents Mrs. Wright’s life as a whole and how she had
limited space and freedom after marriage.
Cage: It represents how Mrs. Wright was trapped in her marriage, and could not
escape it.
Stove: The stove fire appears to represent John and Minnie Wright's marriage.
Quilt: The unevenly sewn quilt represents Mrs. Wright's disturbed mental
condition.
Rope: It is a symbol of her revenge and rebellion against her husband.
The rocking chair: It represents Mrs. Wright’s nervousness and impatience
Knotting the quilt: It represents the killing or murder of her husband.
 Dramatic Irony
Dramatic
know that leads them toIrony
• Dramatic irony is defined as a plot device where the audience knows something
the characters do not act under false assumptions. In
“Trifles,” County Attorney George Henderson, Sheriff Henry Peters and local
farmer Lewis Hale are blinded by their assumption that women concern
themselves with only trifling things and are not intelligent. In reality, it is they
who trifle about Minnie Wright's housekeeping, while Mrs. Peters and Mrs.
Hale solve the mystery of why Minnie Wright killed her husband. As a final
twist, the two women end up identifying with Minnie Wright’s abuse at the
hands of her husband and feel the murder was justified. They then conspire to
conceal the truth from their ignorant husbands and the county attorney.
• In an ironic twist, the audience knows that the women have solved the murder
mystery while the men remain oblivious of the truth because of their
assumptions.
 Difficult Words
Unit 1- Trifles
Preserves: food that has been prepared
through canning so that it will remain
edible after storage
Queer: bizarre; strange; odd
shabby: mean and unfair.
choir: an organized group of singers
apologetically: regretfully
Quilting: one method of making a quilt,
by stitching layers of cloth together
Reproach: to criticize for wrongdoing
Resentfully: angrily, unhappily
scoffingly: scornfully
hatchet: a small axe with a short handle
for use in one hand.
falters: hesitates
sheriff: an elected officer in a county who
is responsible for keeping the peace
tippet: a shawl or scarf, a shoulder cape of
fur or cloth often with hanging ends
Trifle: something of little importance
Wiry: lean but strong, like a wire
Wring: to twist with force
done up: exhausted; worn out; tired out
to set down: to sit down
Well, can you beat the women! : Can you
believe the women! It's hard to understand
women
 Difficult Words
timid: shy
Covert: hidden from obvious view
Homestead: (as provided by the federal Homestead Act of 1862) live in
an area of public land granted to any US citizen willing to settle on and
farm the land for at least five years
Pleat: fold cloth
Knotting: a method of making a quilt, by tying fabric squares together
along the edges
Petticoat: a skirt worn as undergarment for women
A dipper: a ladle or scoop.
Fluttery: restless, irregular and flighty
 Difficult Words

Abashed: embarrassed or ashamed

Attorney: a lawyer; advocate
Conciliation: willingness to appease or soothe
Canary: a small, yellow bird which is also kept as a pet
Strangle: squeeze or constrict the neck of (a person or
animal), especially so as to cause death.
Coroner- an official in charge of examining non-natural deaths
Facetiously: in a manner not meant to be taken seriously
fidgety: restless or uneasy
Fluttery: restless, irregular and flighty
 Exercises
a. Do you believe that Mrs. Wright killed her husband? Explain.
 I believe Mrs. Wright is the murderer of her husband in the one-act play
“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. Mrs. Wright claimed not to know who murdered her
husband. However, the dead canary and messy kitchen point to the abuse that Mrs.
Wright faced under her oppressive husband. She lived a very lonely life, without
children, and was oppressed by her strict husband. Mr. Wright killed Mrs. Wright's
canary in a fit of rage just as he had killed her spirit. The bird was the only thing
she cherished. When the bird was killed, she had nothing else to look forward to.
Her life became still again. She decided to end her oppression by strangulating her
husband with the rope in the same way he had wrung the neck of the little canary.
 b. Do you think Mr. Wright’s death would have been uncovered if Mr. Hale
hadn’t stopped by the Wright’s house?
 In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, it is possible that if Mr. Hale had not stopped by the
farmhouse, the death of Mr. Wright would not have been uncovered for a long
time. Few people visited the farmhouse. Mrs. Hale confesses that she had stopped
visiting Mrs. Wright. If Mr. Hale had no interest in installing a party line telephone
with Mr. Wright, he also would have no reason to visit the farmhouse in the near
future. Furthermore, when Mr. Hale entered the house, the kitchen was in a mess,
and Mrs. Wright was in a rocking chair pleating her apron. She seemed distraught
and distracted. It is unlikely that she would have gone for help. It is possible that
the murder would still eventually have been discovered, but it might have taken
certain time.
c. Why does Mrs. Hale think that Mrs. Wright’s worries about
her preserves indicate her innocence?
 In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles Mrs. Hale thinks that Mrs. Wright was
innocent because she was so focused on trifles such as her fruit
preserves and her apron. Prior to their discovery of the quilt, the
birdcage, and the canary, Mrs. Hale feels that she must be innocent.
For her, the canning jars of fruit represent Minnie’s extreme concern
over her household responsibilities. The woman who is concerned
about domestic detail cannot be the guilty of the murder.
d. How does Mrs. Peters’ homesteading experience connect her to Mrs.
Wright?
In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles Mrs. Peters’ homesteading experience connect her to
Mrs. Wright with their shared experience of the silence of a childless home and
loneliness. Mrs. Peters remembers her own loneliness as a homesteader in Dakota.
She gives the personal testimony of the death of her first baby, which resulted in
the stillness of her life. Similarly, Mrs. Wright's childlessness caused her isolation
and loneliness. Her loneliness was magnified by her separation from female
company. In Mrs. Wright's life, her bird had become her company. It is her loved
one’s death that makes her seek revenge upon its destroyer.
e. How do the perspective of women differ from those of men?
The one-act play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell challenges the gender-based prejudice by highlighting the
difference in the perspectives of men and women. They approach the farmhouse of the Wrights,
conduct murder investigation and perceive Mrs. Wright from different points of view.
The murder mystery depicts that unquestioned dominance has made the wits of dominant males blunt,
while the subjugated women have sharpened their intelligence. The men come to a scene of crime
with a goal of finding the motive behind John Wright’s murder. The women are not interested in
discovering any evidence, but they encounter the evidence in the process of trying to get few things
for Minnie. While the Sheriff, County Attorney and Mr. Hale view the kitchen as irrelevant in solving the
mystery, the women prove them wrong. The women focus on the domestic things like canning fruit
jars, clothes, broken cage, imperfect stitches on quilt, but the men dismiss them as “trifles.” The men
conduct their official investigation methodologically by interviewing key witness, Mr. Hale and
observing the murder site. The men perceive themselves as thorough in their investigation as they
think that they have left nothing of importance. However, the women try to place themselves in the
position of Minnie Wright and consider the similar experiences they have shared in their unofficial
investigation. Besides, the men are not interested in knowing Mrs. Wright’s situation while women
reveal evidence that points to her lonely life, which compelled her action. Moreover, the men perceive
Minnie as the criminal, the women are convinced that she is a victim.
In this way, the perspectives of the men and women differ on almost every issue due to the social
division of gender roles.
 Reference to the context

Read the extracts from the play given below and answer the
questions that follow.
a. “MRS. PETERS:(glancing around). Seems funny to think of a bird
here. But she must have had one, or why would she have a cage?
I wonder what happened to it?
 MRS. HALE: I s’pose maybe the cat got it.”
i. Who does ‘she’ refer to?
ii. What does the word ‘one’ stand for?
iii. What is the full form of “s’pose?”
iv. What do you mean when Mrs. Hale says, “the cat got it”?
i. Who does ‘she’ refer to?
In the above dialogue from Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles,” “she” refers
to Mrs. Wright who has been arrested for the murder of her
husband.
ii. What does the word ‘one’ stand for?
The word ‘one’ stands for the bird that Mrs. Wright was assumed to
have.
iii. What is the full form of “s’pose?”
The full form of “s’pose” is “suppose.”
iv. What do you mean when Mrs. Hale says, “the cat got it”?
Mrs. Hale says “the cat got it” wondering about the broken empty
cage. She thinks the cat got the bird and ran away.
b.“MRS. HALE: Wright was close. …… she used to
wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was
Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the
choir. But that— oh, that was thirty years ago.”
i. Why does Mrs. Hale refer to Mrs. Wright as
“Minnie Foster”?
ii. What does her description tell you about Mrs.
Wright?
iii. What does Mrs. Hale mean by “that was thirty
years ago”?
i. Mrs. Hale refers to Mrs. Wright as Minnie Foster, her maiden name. It is
because she prefers to remember Minnie in her youthful happiness and to
imply how her life changed after her marriage and becoming Mrs. Wright.

ii. Mrs. Hale’s description tells us that Mrs. Wright’s given name was Minnie
Foster and she was lively, vibrant and outgoing in her youth. She used to be
happy and looked charming in her attractive clothes. She used to sing in the
town choir. But in marriage Minnie became sad and isolated. Her frugal
husband did not allow her to wear good clothes and restricted her freedom.
She lived the suppressed life for thirty years.

iii. Mrs. Hale’s remark “that was thirty years ago” refers to the fact that
cheerfulness and social life of Minnie were things of past. Her marriage with
John Wright affected her life. In a close family, she suffered for thirty years.
 What is the main theme of the play?
 The main theme of Susan Glaspell’s one-act play “Trifles” is gender inequality. It dramatizes the ingrained gender
discrimination in the contemporary patriarchal American society, explores the dangers of such subjugation of females
and even suggests the women solidarity as the way of overcoming the disparity.
 The play presents a world of strict gender roles, in which the men occupy the sphere of work while the women
exist only in the home. While men occupy the important positions such as the Sherriff and the County Attorney, women
are attributed to play domestic roles. Social expectations and restrictions have essentially confined women to the home
and bound them to their husbands with little control or identity of their own. The men in the play use their names, but
the women use their husband’s names. For example, Henderson tells Mrs. Peters that because she is married to the
sheriff, she is married to the law and therefore is a reliable follower of the law. The society expects women to remain
silent before men as revealed in the crime scene. The men undermine the women and are not allowed to contribute to the
investigation. The men question the women's wisdom and intelligence by telling them to keep their eyes out for clues.
They conform to the societal gender stereotypes that women are the housekeepers and child bearers. They completely
dismiss the kitchen as a woman's territory. The play also depicts that such gender discrimination takes psychological
toll on women. It is her husband’s oppression that forced Mrs. Wright to murder her husband. At the same time, the play
shows female solidarity as a source of challenging power imbalance between the genders. Mrs. Hale decides to hide the
clue to motive of the murder in order to challenge the male-centred judicial system and Mrs Peters support her. They
identify themselves with Mrs. Wright and show compassion towards her.

 In this way, the play shows the gender inequality by dramatizing the opposition between male professionalism and
female domesticity. It shows that women should not be trifled with.