ipl-logo

Symbolism In Glaspell's Trifles

1061 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How is the bird a symbol in trifles

The Lost Identity
If you were in a situation where your husband just takes over your life, would you let that happen or would you switch it up?. Although simple and understandable symbols are used, they convey a deeper meaning than what you think. In this play, Minnie Foster the wife of Mr.John Wright, is put for the blame of killing her husband by strangling him in return for all the ways he treated her like she was nothing(according to Russell, Judith Kay. "Glaspell 's Trifles." Glaspell 's Trifles. Taylor & Francis Ltd, n.d. Web.) and for the way he just took over and ran her life. There are symbols in the play that exemplify Mrs.Wright and the old her Minnie Foster, how her past was just disremembered and she was just known as …show more content…

For example, in trifles there 's a bird, and the bird belongs to Minnie. The bird was always happy, however, when her husband killed the bird, it was like Minnie died along with the him. Therefore, Minnie killed Mr.Wright in return (according to source2, note5 Beatty, Greg. "Trifles." Web.b.ebscohost.com. Salem Press, Sept. 2003. Web.). The bird symbolizes Minnie, because “‘she was kind of like a bird herself real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery’”(according to source1, note3 Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. 1916 ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.) meaning that she and the bird were alike. Also the bird is like Minnie in her old ways because when Minnie became Mrs.Wright everyone overpassed the old her and how she used to be (according to source2, note12 Beatty, Greg. "Trifles." Web.b.ebscohost.com. Salem Press, Sept. 2003. Web.) . For example, Minnie Foster used to sing in a local choir and was happy, until she married John. Mrs.Hale is the only person who remembers how Minnie used to be, and she feels sorry for her and regrets not coming over to her house to visit her(according to Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. 1916 ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.). The bird also represented Minnie’s freedom. For example, the bird’s singing and ways made Minnie happy and when John killed him all of that went away. That 's when Minnie became a …show more content…

The play Trifles is based off of two married couples (Minnie and John) known in the play as Mr.Wright and Mrs.Wright. Before Minnie met John she was a singer on a chior and had a happy and enjoyable life. When they got married John essentially just ruined Minnie’s life, and she was no longer known as Minnie Foster she was just Mrs.Wright. Back then women lives were run by men and they hardly had a say so. Minnie had a pet bird. The bird always was singing, additionally that made her happy , until one day John killed the bird. Long story short, “‘for Minnie, isolation drove her to murder’” (according to source3 ,note5 "Themes." Drama for Students. Ed. David Galens. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 220-21. Print.). For making her life completely disconsolate. When others found out that he was dead, she was the first suspect to go in. Minnie sent Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters to her house to get some of her meaningful belongings. Mrs,Hale and Peters dug for her belongings and they discovered a dead bird, a broken through bird cage and more. Through the use of the bird, the bird cage, and the setting of the play, Susan Glaspell depicts the death of Minnie Foster’s life in

Show More
Related
727 Words | 3 Pages

Over the years, as she grew older, it became obvious that she did not care as much about the birds. When she was a teen she left the house for a date, taking a piece of gum, but not using the wrapper for origami. Her mom was then crying later in the commercial because she knew her daughter was growing up not being as dependent on the parents so the father gave a bird to the mom to bring back happy memories. The commercial then goes on to the girl moving out and as her dad was loading up boxes, the box of origami birds fell out, bringing back so many happy memories

Read More
1166 Words | 5 Pages

In the play, Minnie Foster was once a lively young lady before marrying her husband Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale realizes he had taken everything she once loved away from her. Mr. Wright even took away her song bird that reminded her of the days she sang in the church choir. When Mr. Wright kills her song bird, she stands up for herself and decides he deserves the same

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

The hidden meaning is the lack of affection and passion that exists between a husband and the wife. Since their marriage more than 20 years ago, lack of sisterhood and interaction between Minnie Wright and her neighbors leads to her isolation. The miser nature John Wright sows discord and lack of trust with his wife leading to a loveless marriage. Sisterhood would manifest by sharing of sorrows among the women and assisting each other to avoid

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

Mrs. Wright is the main character in Susan Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles. While Mrs. Wright is being held by the police for her husband’s murder, a few men go to investigate her home, and a few women go along to gather some of her things to bring to her in jail. As the ladies collect Mrs. Wright’s possessions, they begin to come across trifles. The trifles include: a messy kitchen, a poorly sewn quilt, and a broken bird cage with a missing bird. The women view these items as important clues, and withhold their findings from the men so that they could help Mrs. Wright out of her troubles.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

The story opens with Mrs. Wright imprisoned for strangling her husband. A group, the mostly composed of men, travel to the Wright house in the hopes that they find incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright. Instead, the two women of the group discover evidence of Mr. Wright’s abuse of his wife. Through the women’s unique perspective, the reader glimpses the reality of the situation and realizes that, though it seemed unreasonable at the time, Mrs. Wright had carefully calculated her actions. When asked about the Wrights, one of the women, Mrs. Hale, replies “I don’t think a place would be a cheerful for John Wright’s being in it” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 7).

Read More
874 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Minnie’s quilt, the dead bird and its cage, and the kitchen show that living in a man’s world is not easy. In the end, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale recognize that they too have experienced the same loneliness and mistreatment that led Mrs. Wright to murder her husband. The men don't value the women in this story and they don't see them as being very intelligent either. It is for this reason “A jury of her peers” is created. Peers being the women themselves as they stand up, united against the subjugation they have all experienced.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

In Susan Glaspell's play “Trifles,” there is a difference between the men and women’s way of perceiving evidence to Mr. Wright’s murder case. The men spend most of their time searching for solid evidence upstairs where Mr. Wright's murder takes place. However, the women spend most of their time in Mrs. Wright’s kitchen. Instead of seeking tangible evidence, they inspect the condition of the items and acknowledge how they have been muddled around. Different perspectives lead to a variety of discoveries such as the women’s way of perceiving evidence.

Read More
1577 Words | 7 Pages

The audience is constantly trying to figure out if Minnie actually killed John, more than if John abused Minnie. Because of this, “Trifles” is distracting and thinking about the murder takes attention away from the theme of abuse, while “POOF!” is directed on the abuse and what to do with her husband’s ashes the whole time. By staying on the topic of abuse and clearly laying it out, the audience can learn about domestic abuse and genuinely understand the meaning behind the

Read More
473 Words | 2 Pages

This play also describes everyone’s relationship with each other in the play, and more importantly their relationships with John Wright and Mrs. Wright. I believe Mrs. Hale possesses the strangest relationship in the play. She always talks of how great Mrs. Wright was, when everyone else seems to think the opposite, as well as the audience. We see Mrs. Wright as the killer of her

Read More
1454 Words | 6 Pages

Gabal Said The Trifles of Society The society holds different realities to act naturally obvious, that all men are made equivalent, and that they are enriched by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that include; liberty, life, and the quest for happiness among others. "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, is a one-demonstration play, which incorporates components of what the women’s suffrage development is about. The play from Glaspell recounts the tale of a murder riddle of the wedded couple of Mrs. Minnie Wright and her better half, the murder casualty, John Wright; this story likewise joins the temperament of society at the time towards women, and how they were seen as trifled in the eyes of society as they are under the subordinate of men.

Read More
691 Words | 3 Pages

The women began to pity Mrs. Wright as they knew her before she married to Mr. Wright. The females felt pity, where the men just accessed the situation at hand. After the women examine the empty bird cage they remember the way that Mrs. Wright use to sing and compared her to her former self as Minnie Foster. “Trifles,” introduced the masculinity here from the Sheriff’s side instantly putting his instinct into saying that there was a murder that happened at the farmhouse, was caused by Mrs. Wright without any hesitation. He didn’t look into the sadness, or let the depressing home get to him as much as what his intentions and his well-being come into play before his

Read More
2102 Words | 9 Pages

They find various clues including a dead canary inside of a box, which was the final clue behind Minnie’s motive for committing this crime. The men are initially dismissive of this information, but the women understand the emotional significance of the bird to Minnie. According to Mrs. Hale, Minnie herself resembles a bird; “‘Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and— fluttery’” (211). Through this powerful moment, Glaspell highlights Minnie’s queerness. The women are able to uncover the truth because they approach the case with empathy and emotional intelligence, rather than simply relying on evidence and logic.

Read More
740 Words | 3 Pages

The short story “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett expresses a dynamic character named Sylvia who loves to adventure the woods but is normally afraid of people. However, one day she meets a stranger who she connects with and starts to change how she feels towards people and the shyness of her personality. In the beginning, Jewett explains that Sylvia had came to live with her grandma on the farm to get away from the crowded manufacturing town. Mrs. Tilley tells that Sylvia is afraid of people.

Read More
1044 Words | 5 Pages

Trifles, something of little importance, is the opposite of what the women are distraught about. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find several items that were “women things”, such as an unfinished quilt and a bird in a box with its neck snapped. These items are key symbols, not only to the play, but to the motive of the murder. Mrs. Wright never revealed that her husband had done cruel things to her, but her husband was known to be harsh at times. Mrs. Hale brings up how Mrs. Wright lived before she married, “I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir.

Read More

More about Symbolism In Glaspell's Trifles

Related Topics

Open Document