The Use of Symbols in Trifles
by A. Dawn Baire
In Susan Glaspell s play, Trifles, the theme of isolation is discussed. The main character (although the reader does not hear from her directly except at the beginning of the work), is Minnie Foster Wright, a lonely older woman in her forties, married but without any children. Her husband, John Wright, has been murdered and Minnie is the prime suspect. The sheriff and county attorney come to inspect the crime scene, along with the sheriff s wife Mrs Peters, and Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Hale, a friend of John s, discovers the crime while inquiring of Minnie about the possibility of John purchasing a joint telephone. Minnie proceeds to tell Mr. Hale that John is dead. He alerts the proper authorities and shortly thereafter, the group appears at the crime scene.
Throughout the play, Glaspell uses symbols to further and support her isolation theme. Two major symbols carry the play, one of which is considered a "trifle" by the educated lawmen. The other symbol is overlooked by them but found by the women. The first symbol is found in Minnie s quilting. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stumble across some squares that Minnie had sewed, all of which were sewn in a neat and orderly fashion, except one which was sewn haphazardly and carelessly. This befuddles the women and they wonder why she had evidently not cared about this particular square. "Why, it looks as if she didn t know what she was about!" Mrs. Hale comments. The women discuss it for a few moments and impulsively, Mrs. Hale decides to rip a few stitches and resew the piece. Mrs. Peters, who "is married to the law," is upset over Mrs. Hale s abrupt decision, wishing instead that she would leave things alone.
The women discuss whether or not Minnie hoped to quilt it or just knot it and decide she was probably going to knot it. Knotting is not only the easier of the quilting techniques, but is also the way in which John was killed. Minnie tells Mr. Hale that "he died of a rope round his neck" while he slept. Everyone feels this is a strange way to kill a man. Mrs. Peters notes "It must have been done awful crafty and still." The men agree that this is an odd way to kill a man and feel that they must find convicting evidence because as the attorney points out, "you know juries when it comes to women."
Had they not passed off the women s concerns as "trifles," maybe the men would have picked up on the clues in the house. For example, the women discover a bird cage that someone was "rough" with. They do not know if Minnie had owned a bird or not, but they later discover a dead bird wrapped in a piece of silk. Mrs. Peters exclaims "Somebody-wrung-its-neck." This is the other pertinent symbol in the play. Mrs. Hale says that "[Minnie] was kind of like a bird herself..." She also says that "when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir," she was full of life and probably a very happy and pretty girl. The women decide John would not have liked the bird because he was "close," "hard," and like a "raw wind that gets to the bone." Mrs. Hale says of Minnie, "She used to sing. [John] killed that, too." Although it is never implicitly stated, it is obvious that John killed the bird and because of the "stillness," isolation and loneliness Minnie felt, she killed John.
As previously stated, Glaspell uses symbols to further her theme. Had the men not degraded the women and their "trifles," they may have found the evidence they sought.
The Treatment Of Women In Trifles
by Adam Krentzman
In America, as elsewhere in the world, women commonly were regarded as inferior beings. Their children, property, and earnings belonged by law solely to their husbands, and various legal and social barriers made divorce almost unthinkable. In most respects American women were legally on a par with criminals, the insane, and slaves."(1)
The above statement accurately reflects the role of women that is portrayed in Susan Glaspell s short play "Trifles". This play, which was originally entitled "Jury of Her Peers," was a vehicle for the expression of Glaspell s views on the treatment of women in the 1900 s. Through "Trifles" Glaspell is able to bring attention to the poor conditions women faced, and the sexual inequality they encountered. The way that Glaspell accomplishes this is through the conversation of two women after a murder. The murder is that of John Wright. It is being investigated by the County Attorney and the Sheriff. Both are men and both believe that John Wright s wife killed him but they can t prove it, so they go to the house with Mr. Hale, who was first on the scene, looking for evidence. With them they bring two women, Mrs. Hale, Mr. Hale s wife and a neighbor to the Wright s, and Mrs. Peters, the sheriff s wife.
The men when they go into the house see a very different picture than what the women see. What the men see is a messy house that is poorly taken care of, but no reasons why Mrs. Wright would kill her husband. For example the men go to use towels and find them dirty but don t consider that they are dirty because the women have so much other work to do (as women of the time did). The men didn t even consider the work that a woman has to do; instead they criticize Mrs. Wright. Then the men find broken jars of preserve since it was cold at the time, but the men can t understand why Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters make such a big deal of the broken preserves. To the men such things are just " women s trifles" but the women know that Mrs. Peters must have worked hard to make the preserves. Mr. Hale just says, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." This is just another example of how the men saw women as inferior and the often hard work that they did as frivolous.
In the end the men are unable to find evidence but are going to convict Mrs. Wright anyway. However the women have found the evidence and know what happened. They conclude that Mrs. Wright was treated poorly by her husband, as many women of the time were, and she just couldn t take it any more. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters feel bad because they never visited Mrs. Wright and they both knew from experience how lonely it can be for a woman who has no children. The men could never come to this conclusion because they can t see a man treating a woman poorly. The women are only property to the men, and the men treat them as such.
(1) "Woman Suffrage," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, 1994.
Manhood In 1917
by Ashley Lindsey
Susan Glaspell s short play, "Trifles," depicts manhood of the time. Two men are detailed in this story, both of whom are dominant characters.
One male character we are introduced to, because he is the victim of a murder, is John Wright, owner of a small country farm. Through dialogue, we are given a description of Mr. Wright. We are told he was a hard working man but not too friendly. He wasn t very nice to many people, mostly minded his own business and was never seen out in the community. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale speak of how busy he was saying, "...he was a hard man..". They also explain how hard it was working on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Wright didn t have any children and in 1917, nothing was modernized, especially in the country, making it more difficult for their work to be accomplished. With no one to help out and farm animals to help sow the fields, Mr. Wright did most of the laborsome work himself. All in all, John Wright was a stern man, but did the work he must do in order to make what little money he could with the small farm he had.
Another character we are introduced to is the Sheriff of the town who is investigating the murder of John Wright. The Sheriff, or Mr. Peters, is a prominent figure of society. People look to him as a very knowledgeable person. He and his wife were most likely summoned by the community for social occasions. The title of "Sheriff" gave him the ability to be more dominant in society than other men. Someone would be more likely to ask a favor of any man, but, Mr. Peters would be a better candidate than John Wright. Mr. Peters had the title and power, whereas, John Wright a lonely country farmer didn t. Even though John Wright was hard working, he didn t show his face in society.
As stated, men of the early 1900 s were seen as great figures. No matter their occupation, all men were great workers. Women were degraded, because they weren t given the credit of accomplishment of a harvest, but it was always seen as the man does everything. During the time, men were hard workers, no machinery to help with the farming, and given great respect because of the amount of crops they would bring to the communities and homes. Other men, such as the "Sheriff", were also dominant. Titles, given to men of the time, meant great respect for people. Women were never to have such superior titles. They were given the role of "housekeeper" or to take care of their families, while their husbands were working. Therefore, women were kept away from society and were too busy to take the title as a predominant figure of society until later in the century.
http://tweb.lisd.net/brandi_schwertner/Trifles%20Commentary.doc (17 Mar. 2009)
المادة المعروضة اعلاه هي مدخل الى المحاضرة المرفوعة بواسطة استاذ(ة) المادة . وقد تبدو لك غير متكاملة . حيث يضع استاذ المادة في بعض الاحيان فقط الجزء الاول من المحاضرة من اجل الاطلاع على ما ستقوم بتحميله لاحقا . في نظام التعليم الالكتروني نوفر هذه الخدمة لكي نبقيك على اطلاع حول محتوى الملف الذي ستقوم بتحميله .
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