Comparing 'Trifles And A Jury Of Her Peers'

Stories can come to us in many different shapes and forms, they can be told as a short story, a novel, a poem or a play, but depending on how a story is told it might even change the way a story is viewed. Pulitzer Prize winning screenwriter Susan Glaspell does exactly that with her original play Trifles. Trifles is a play that deals with a wife killing her oppressive husband and being framed for murder. A year after Trifles was published Susan Glaspell rewrote her original piece, but this time as a short story. Even though “A Jury of Her Peers” is the exact same story as Trifles there are still some major differences in the way the story is viewed, the character's are described and the setting.

The Original play Trifles was published in 1916, as a play, Trifles is told in an objective third person point of view meaning that a narrator simply describes what is happening without giving additional info or insight into the character's thoughts and feelings. The only way the reader could guess what the character is thinking through the stage direction the author is giving us, “Mrs. Hale. [Stiffly.] There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm.” from the stage direction

While both works of Glaspell take on the same story, “A Jury of Her Peers” portrays the story and its character’s on a more advanced level then Trifles. The short stories capture the essence of the concept of Glaspell's idea way better than play could ever. Now few may argue that Trifles is the original piece and “A Jury of Her Piece” simply based on the play and therefor Trifles is the better written story, many would disagree with that. Just the fact that “A Jury of Her Peers” was published after Trifles make it so much more valuable. As an author Glaspell had a year to get to know her character even more as she did before and while writing a play, “A Jury of Her Peers” captures what Trifles could