In “Trifles”, Susan Glaspell creates a very “man vs. woman” feel to the play. In this blog, I’m going to explore the different ways in which she creates that feeling and how that relates to the outcome of the story.
Right from the start, as Hale explains how he went to see if the Wrights would want to buy a party telephone with him, Glaspell shows how little women were regarded in this story. Hale says, “but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John—”
Throughout the story, the men were poking fun of the women.
“Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves.”
“They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! [The men laugh, the women look abashed.]”
“Well Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to—what is it you call it, ladies?”
However, what the men failed to realize is that the little things, the “trifles”, that the ladies were discussing and picking up on, actually led to a motive behind the crime. The very things they were making fun of the women about would’ve helped them greatly in actually solving the crime!
First, as much as the men were making fun of the quilt, a good clue to the crime was found there. The women could tell Mrs. Wright had been nervous by her stitching. “Mrs. Peters, look at this one. Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the sewing! All the rest of it has been so nice and even. And look at this! It’s all over the place! Why, it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about!”
“What do you suppose she was nervous about?”
Secondly, if the men would’ve questioned the birdcage as much as the women and did some investigating on it, they also would’ve had another clue. The women noticed that someone had been rough with the cage door. “Why, look at this door. It’s broke. One hinge is pulled apart.” Then after the women find the bird, which Minnie Wright obviously loved because of the beautiful box it was found in, with its neck wrung, they are able to connect the dots. “[Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror.]”
Now, the women know that Minnie Wright killed her husband, because he killed the bird she so loved. He killed one of the only things that brought her joy. The women now sympathize with Minnie Wright. Because of this and because of how their men regard them, in the end the women decide to protect their own gender and hide Minnie Wright’s motive.
I enjoyed this play as well and I agree with you about the portrayal of women as inferior to men. In the end, it is the men who end up looking ridiculous because they are bothering with a whole set of different "trifles". The women are actually focused on Minnie's belongings and how she kept up the house, sewing, and preserves. All of these lead to the discovery of the dead bird. I kind of think the play speaks on the depressive state of mind of Minnie due to the fact she has NO children and her husband seems like he doesn't care. It is stated on page 1416 that there probably should have been some signs of ANGER in this presumed murder, but there are no signs of it. This leads me to believe that Minnie had been contemplating this act for quite sometime!!
ReplyDeleteI, personally, didn't enjoy reading this story, but if there was one thing that I got out of the story, is what Glaspell is trying to say about women. I agree with you completely. By letting the women be the ones that know about the dead bird and not the men, Glaspell really gives them focal point of our attention. They, in turn, are the ones know have the knowledge on the murder, or do they really? That's another question in it's own. What does the dead bird in the box really symbolize?
ReplyDeleteYes I agree on how the men were poking fun at women and how they thought that they were being superior to the women. Back in those days men thought that once a woman becomes their wife it was like they were signing over all their rights to them. So I see why the men acted the way they did. Also I can see how the women were trying to protect Minnie Wright, they did not want Minnie to suffer anymore. And after they found the bird they did not to show the men the possible motive that Minnie had towards killing her husband. In the end the women were just trying to protect the timid woman from more pain and suffering.
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