Writer's Name

Institutes Name

Instructor's Name

Date

Trifles

Introduction

Trifles, one-act play, were written by Susan Glaspell in the early 1900's. It was written before the beginning of women's movement. At that time, women's were looked down upon by their husbands, and they were more like a property to their husbands (Rudden12). Everything belonged to the women were supposed to be the possession of their husbands like their children's, belongings and wages "as well". Susan Glaspell has beautifully portrayed the role of women and men of that time in the society (Collins 10).

In this story, the writer has proved her point through a conversation among two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peterson. Both women were having a discussion at that moment about the murder scene of John Wright. They were associated with the Sheriff, County Attorney and Mr. Hale to their house. Everything was explained by Mr. Hale, when he saw the body of Mr. John Wright in the morning (Desai 13). Now, the men came to the house for collecting evidences to sentence Mrs. Wright. Whereas, they were also looking for evidences in the house, and they hold slightly distinct view as compare to the women. The initial distance and subsequent growth of understanding among Minnie Wright, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters, based on a gradual realization of their shared experiences as women limited by a patriarchal society, are conveyed through the complex communication system of signs, feelings, looks, and words that the three share (Janet 300). Glaspell's decision to accentuate the female characters in her short story was probably based partially on the possibilities and limitations of genre. In her play, Glaspell includes few descriptions of the women, their movements, and their manner of speaking; however, because Glaspell was so directly involved in the theatre, she probably had in mind the endless interpretive options of stage productions for fully portraying the characters. In the short story, Glaspell was unable to rely on actors but had more opportunity to use a narrative voice to convey certain traits, and she chose to do so (Judith 88). Only the female characters are expanded in the short story, a further indication that Glaspell was intentionally weighing interpretive focus toward Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Minnie Wright. The women's communication network, working against the patriarchal restrictions of female potential, reveals Glaspell's concern for women's plight and her hope for the possibilities inherent in her sex.

Background

Trifles, is the story regarding the couple of investigations, about the John Wright's murder. The official investigations were carried out by the male characters in the story, whereas unofficial investigation was carried out by female characters on their own (Isaac 472). The play started with the entry of main five characters in the kitchen of John Wright's farmhouse. The county attorney took charge of the investigation by leading Mr. Hale and the Sheriff in describing their tasks and responsibilities in the investigation of the murder. Mr. Hale, explained how did he come to Mr. John's house in order to ask him about the distribution of phone ...