ipl-logo

How Does Susan Glaspell Use Symbols In Trifles

514 Words3 Pages

Trifles is a play by Susan Glaspell, who uses objects to elucidate the life of its main character without directly explaining what takes place. The concept of choosing objects to interpret or represent a situation without elaborating comes from the idea of using symbolism. Glaspell takes the reader into the mind of Mrs. Wright, the main character, whose husband has just been found murdered. In Trifles, Glaspell uses symbolism to illustrate the isolation and oppression that takes place in the life of one of its characters. Susan Glaspell uses the symbolism of objects to give hidden meaning to a moment in the play as two women discover the real reason Mrs. Wright kills her husband. Mrs. Wright was living a lonely, isolated, and depressed life. Her husband withheld his emotions and affections from her and eventually pushed her over the edge when he killed her precious canary. Glaspell writes: …show more content…

It’s the bird. MRS HALE. [jumping up] But, Mrs Peters-look at it! It’s neck! Look at its neck! It’s all-other side to. MRS PETERS. Somebody-wrung-its-neck. (260)
The manner in which the bird was killed is symbolic as to how Mr. Wright was killed. Just as he had choked the life out of Mrs. Wright or ‘Minnie’ by keeping her isolated from the rest of the world; thereby killing her freedom, her joy, her love for life, her spirit, and her essence as a woman. A rope was subsequently tied around his neck until it choked the very life out of him. Glaspell uses different symbols to reveal different meanings about what really went on in the farmhouse between the Wrights. Glaspell uses the symbol of a bird cage to depict another perspective of what is actually taking place in the story. Towards the end of the play Trifles, the two women are rummaging around in the Wrights’ kitchen and come across a bird cage in the cupboard: MRS HALE. In that cupboard, maybe. MRS PETERS. [looking in the cupboard] Why, here’s a bird-cage. [holds it up] …..

Show More
Related
404 Words | 2 Pages

She used to sing. He killed that too”. Minnie Wright got the canary bird because it was a symbol of her past life. The bird symbolized the love Mrs. Wright had for singing. Furthermore, Mrs. Wrights wardrobe represented the neglect and frugality she received from her husband.

Read More
599 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

The women gather Mrs. Wright’s quilt to work on while incarcerated when they find something that frightens them. They find the bird, and its neck is broken. Mrs. Peters, obviously startled, says “Somebody – wrung – its – neck” (1087). The women are unsure what to do with the bird, but know they need to hide it from the men. This clue is more important than the others; it shows Mrs. Wright's breaking point.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
874 Words | 4 Pages

The bird is Mrs. Wright. It was locked up in a cage as was Mrs. Wright when her husband was alive. He wasn’t a very “cheerful” man, therefore, people didn’t come to visit them. Over the twenty year time period of their marriage she became lonely, which resulted in her buying a bird and the drastic change in personality. The broken door to the cage represents Mrs. Wright’s freedom from her husband.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

She sees it as vital information; something that could present them with Mrs. Wright’s state of mind around the time of her death. Mrs. Hale is currently mending the quilt when Mrs. Peters asks where she might “’find a piece of paper, and string.’” This leads Mrs. Peters to discover the empty birdcage inside of the cupboard. Instantly, they both start asking one another questions regarding the cage; they are unable to recall Mrs. Wright ever owning a bird. While talking back and forth, they notice that one of the door’s hinges is broken.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

By placing the bird so high up, yet incredibly close to the family, it can be taken as a warning. The bird only appears in this single line throughout the excerpt, acting as an observer but also as a predator waiting for a chance to strike, providing an unsettling truth to death being out of our control. Though many efforts may be made to create a sanctuary, there are things out of one's control and when power is exercised, there will be forces fighting back. The opening sections of the novel A Bird in the House demonstrate this clearly by how Margarets Laurence's’ use of literary devices can be interpreted.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

The only thing that seems to bring joy into Mrs. Wright’s life is a little canary bird. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find the bird with a broken neck. The bird has had its neck broken. Mr. Wright is not an enjoyable man and wants no pleasure in the life of his wife or the atmosphere in his home. Without a loving, tender, and compassionate husband Mrs. Wright is no longer the woman she was, she has lost herself in a miserable marriage, excluded and

Read More
942 Words | 4 Pages

In the play, Mrs. Peters said, “We don’t know who killed the bird” Mrs. Hale said, “I knew John Wright.” This showed that John Wright’s not only killed the bird but killed Mrs. Wright in the inside as well. All over the play, you see that Mrs. Wright did not have a choice of killing her husband because she would have to live with the abuse or kill him to free herself from this pain she

Read More
690 Words | 3 Pages

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.’”

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

When the door is hanging half off its hinges, it resembles the parallel between life and death. This comparison is evident when the child is rushed to the ER and doesn't make it, and the author says, “the hinge gave”. Wallace uses the door multiple times throughout the story to foreshadow the death of the baby. The bird is mentioned as another symbol and represents nature as a whole. The author tries to explain that no matter what’s going on in someone’s personal life, nature and the world around them will continue.

Read More
460 Words | 2 Pages

Hale and Mrs. Peters find that the daily activities of Mrs. Wright remained consistent with daily activity, having bread rising on the counter. Further, in searching for quilting items, the dead canary is discovered. Through dialogue, we conclude that the bird was purchased as a companion for Mrs. Wright when a door to door salesman came calling some time ago. The fact that the dead bird was placed in the decorative box indicated that the bird was cherished by Mrs. Wright. However, the apparent cause of death of the bird, an apparent broken neck, and the broken birdcage suggest that there may have been intentional harm caused to the

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

The death of the canary was the final straw for Minnie. It was her last connection to her previous life and after her husband broke its neck, Minnie decided that he deserved the same

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

1.2. Analysis the symbol in trifle According to dictionary, symbol is a word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized. There are many symbols in a play Trifles.

Read More

More about How Does Susan Glaspell Use Symbols In Trifles

Related Topics

Open Document