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Figurative Irony In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

1209 Words5 Pages

Dramas are never just a simple story. Often, many dramas are much deeper than just the words written to make it up. To make the drama interesting and worth the readers' time, the author uses elements of fiction to help deepen its meaning. Elements of fiction are tied into the story but never actually stated which element is being used. To understand the drama to the full extent the reader much think about what is going on and read between the lines. Understanding the irony, imagery, and symbolism that is used in “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell will allow the reader to put more information together other than what is written to fully comprehend the meaning of the story. To first understand the drama ‘Trifles” the reader must know what type of …show more content…

An example of the author using figurative irony with the bird that Mrs. Wright kept. Mrs. Peters states “It’s the bird.” Mrs. Hale “But, Mrs. Peters—look at it! It’s neck! Look at its neck! It’s all—other side to.” Mrs. Peters says “Somebody--wrung—its—neck.” (Abcarian et al. 972). These phases are ironic because what happened to the bird is exactly what happened to Mr. Wirght. Mr. Wirght hated the bird, and it was not hard for the people that knew him to figure that out, Mrs. Hale stated “I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird—a bird thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.” Mrs. Peter’s said, “We don’t know who killed the bird.” Mrs. Hale states “I knew John Wright.” (Abcarian et al. 973). Mrs. Wirght was devastated when the bird died, it was the only thing keeping her happy in her marriage and when John took that from her, she ironically, wrung his …show more content…

Symbolism is used in dramas or stories to help show a hidden meaning in the story that the author wants to explain though the events of the story. For example, in “Trifles” the canary bird symbolizes Mrs. Wright. The canary bird symbolizes Mrs. Wright because it is extremely sweet and pretty like her but soon turned sad, lonely, and quiet because of entrapment. Mrs. Wright’s relationship with her husband started out fine but over time turned into neglect and emotional abuse. According to the scholarly source (Karagoz Gumuscubuk) women’s lives were formed and empowered under the restrictions of a domestic space. Women were forced into the lives of cooking, cleaning, and sewing, while men did the work, brought in money, and belittled women. Mrs. Wright was in a marriage that made her feel trapped and unhappy, but all she really wanted was to feel freedom and be herself

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“She opened the window and set the bird out the ledge. ‘You're alright,’ the bird said. She stroked the underside of his chin and he closed his eyes. ‘Silly bird,’ she whispered. She closed the window and locked it.

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Hales exclaims: “She – come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery. How – she – did – change” (Glaspell 1044). Mrs. Hale clearly admits that the canary represents Minnie Foster, who once was that sweet, fluttery girl that was transformed into the lonely, depressed Mrs. Wright by years of her husband's neglect and emotional abuse. Additionally, the word “dead” next to bird suggest that Mrs. Wright is emotionally and mentally “dead.” For example, in the beginning of the play, Mrs. Wright displayed some usual sense of emotion or feelings towards her death of her husband, such as, her laughter and fearful look (Glaspell 1039-40).

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A prominent piece of evidence that was found in the house was a broken bird cage and the question lies within what her personal interpretation of this object was. With a solemn tone, Martha replied, “I believe Minnie’s husband ripped the cage door open when in a rage and snapped the bird’s neck, so she did the same to him.” It is hard to believe that one’s emotions could so greatly influence their actions but in this case, it seems as if the Wright’s were involved in an unhappy, abusive marriage. To connect back to the bird queries, I also asked Mrs. Hale what she did with the deceased creature that Minnie Wright held so dearly. Martha without hesitation mentioned that she “grabbed it without a second thought” and that she wishes to bury it because Minnie would have wanted that.

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After discovering the cage, the women find a dead bird hidden in Minnie’s closet. Minnie had placed the bird in a small box after it had been presumably strangled by her now deceased husband, Mr. John Wright. With this information the two ladies make an inference that something happened to the bird—something that was not supposed to happen. Just after discovering the cage, the two women put themselves in Minnie’s place. At one point Mrs. Peters states, “‘It would be lonesome for me—sitting here alone’” (210).

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The scene begins to unfolds in their minds. Mr. Wright yanking open the cage door, taking out the bird, and breaking its fragile neck was enough to make Mrs. Wright lash out, and in a heat of passion, kill her husband. As the trifles collect,  the women worry that the men will see their findings, and have what they need to prove Mrs. Wright guilty. Though the men believe her to be the murderer, the women are trying their best to hide the evidence that will prove it.

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Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters contemplate this disturbing discovery, and they wonder who else could be capable of this act of violence. They know Mrs. Wright surely did not do it, as she cared for the bird greatly, she even “used to sing real pretty herself” and the women have already concluded “she would’ve liked a bird.” That leaves Mr. Wright, and due to the fact that he broke the birdcage, it is only reasonable that he killed the bird as well. This realization that the women make leads them to what the men have been searching for all day, a motive. Mr. Wright likes the quiet, so he killed the singing canary which happens to be the only thing bringing happiness to Mrs. Wright.

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The men of the group, much like John in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” consider themselves more capable than the women and refuse to consider Mrs. Wright as anything other than irrational. The men leave the women to their “trifles” on the first floor, where they discover a broken bird cage, and the bird’s body, broken, carefully wrapped in a small, decorative box. They realize that Mr. Wright had wrung the neck of his wife’s beloved bird and broken its cage. Mrs. Wright, once known for her cheerfulness and beautiful singing, she stopped singing when she encountered Mr. Wright. Just like he did with the bird, Mr. Wright choked the life out of his wife until, finally, Mrs. Wright literally choked the life out of her husband.

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Wright it is easy to tell that she is not at all upset about her husband’s death. When being asked about the situation she “laughed and pleated her skirt” (4). Mrs. Wright is compared to a bird that is found later in the story. The bird was found in a pretty box with marks around its neck. Hale and Peters say that the death of her bird would have been her motive if she actually was her husband’s murderer, but the author utilizes the bird and its broken cage to be a comparison to Mrs. Wright’s life.

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The dead canary and its cage was a pivotal piece of evidence that the women discovered. The dead bird represents the old Mrs. Wright— Minnie Foster and its cage represents how she was

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That something was the motive, and the motive was Mrs. Wright’s bird. The men would not know this because they dismissed the kitchen and living area from having any significance to the case. They also mockingly asked the women what they had found without really caring about the answer. The women sensed this and therefore withheld information that would be vital in proving Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder of her husband. Had the men truly cared about what the women had found, perhaps the women would have shed light on their findings.

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As the two women are tidying up the house, Mrs. Peters discovers an empty birdcage. The two women continue their work throughout the house, but upon closer inspection Mrs. Peter finds that the door of the birdcage is broken. This specific incident makes the women grow suspicious of what may have happened to the bird that was in it. Upon further research, John Wright’s neighbor explained that John was a “hard man,” and that he was also “like a raw wind that gets to the bone” (555). This description of John Wright shows the aggressive and harsh side of Mr. Wright that not a lot of people may necessarily know about him besides people who live with him or live in close proximity to him.

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They both conclude that someone was rough with the empty birdcage. Immediately afterward, Mrs. Hale comments on the men’s progress to find evidence, saying, “’I wish if they’re going to find any evidence they’d be about it’” (Glaspell 1416). Mrs. Hale’s remark is ironic because her current conversation about the birdcage’s door hinge is indirect evidence, yet she is growing impatient with the men’s attempts to discover any solid evidence. A little later on, Mrs. Hale relates the idea of a bird to Mrs. Wright by saying, “’she was kind of like a bird herself.’”

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in Schanfield 1656). In the text, Glaspell insist on Mrs. Wright being identification as a “songbird” before she married John Wright (Schanfield 1655). Glaspell chose to do this so the audience can see how an independent woman is happier and better off alone. As her marriage played out with Mr. Wright she slowly morphed into the mold a woman was forced to fit into. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Hale (referring to Mrs. Wrights singing and happiness in the context of the bird) said, “No, [Mr.] Wright wouldn't like the bird… a thing that sang” she went on to say “She used to sing.

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Talking about Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters “the two characters begin to reconstruct the accused woman’s life. They do so through several means; memories of her, memories of their own lives (similar to hers in many ways), and speculation about her feelings and responses to the conditions of her life” (Holstein 283.) The two women immediately placed themselves in Minnie Wrights position. And while reconstructing Mrs. Wright life based on their own memories and emotions they acknowledge the murders missing clue “Minnie’s dead pet bird” (Holstein

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Wright killed the canary and is also motive for Mrs. Wright to seek revenge. The women conclude that Mrs. Wright’s bird was her prized possession, the bird even reminds the women of Mrs. Wright, “‘She—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. How—she—did—change.’”

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