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The Relationship Between Minnie And Her Husband In 'Trifles'

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Recommended: Character analysis of trifles

Anna Theune Instructor: Young English 102 2 June 2023 The Impure Relationship In Trifles, Glaspell uses a variety of household objects to represent Minnie Wright and her marriage to her husband. One of these objects is a jar of preserves which shows the relationship’s fragileness. As the sheriff and county attorney look for evidence in the house, Mrs. Peters mentions a jar of fruit preserves and that Minnie worries about them when they turn cold because they break (1.1). This jar reveals the fragile relationship between Minnie Wright and her husband. Just as the jar is cold, so is the relationship between Minnie and her husband; the “flame” is extinguished from their relationship. Due to this, the jar breaks just like Minnie’s sanity with the …show more content…

The country attorney finds dirty towels as they look for evidence in the kitchen, yet Mrs. Hale mentions how towels get dirty quickly and that men’s hands are not as clean as they look (1.1). This suggests that the relationship, symbolized by the towel, is not pure. Minnie Wright slept around, yet Mrs. Hale’s comment suggests that Minnie’s husband may have had some fault in the relationship as well (1.1). In other words, Minnie Wright’s husband may have done something to provoke his wife to commit this crime. Since the towel dirtied quickly, it suggests that the relationship is not clean and pure. A third item found in the house is a canary and its cage which represents Minnie Wright’s freedom. Mrs. Peters finds a birdcage as they look for quilting materials and notice the bird is gone and the cage door is broken (1.1). The canary represents the freedom that was caged due to Minnie Wright’s marriage to her husband. The broken cage door symbolizes that she broke free to gain her freedom by killing her husband. The bird is not found initially, which symbolizes the freedom that the wife got once her husband died. However, Mrs. Peters finds the bird dead with a wrung around its neck (1.1). This

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Hale and Mrs. Peters feel bad for Minnie and sympathize with her so they decide that they will hide the evidence of the murder of her husband. When Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters are getting ready to leave the house, they decided to take the evidence that would out Minnie in jail, “With a rush forward, she threw back the quilt pieces, got the box tried to put it in her handbag. It broke she could not touch the bird. She stood helpless, foolish” (Glaspell 299). When it was time to leave the house, Mrs. Hale and Mrs.Peters were taking the evidence that would put Minnie in jail because they saw the emotional abuse that Mr. Wright put her through.

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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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While admiring Mrs. Wright’s pretty sewing box, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover Minnie’s dead bird: “There’s something wrapped in this piece of silk.” For a poor woman like Mrs. Wright, silk must have been difficult to acquire. She could barely afford new clothing, yet she used this extremely expensive silk to wrap her deceased pet. This shows the importance of the canary to Mrs. Wright and how upsetting its death would be. Similarly, how resentful Minnie would be towards the killer of her precious bird.

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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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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.

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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.

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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

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(kicks his foot against the pans under the sink) Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” (Meyer 1389). In an ironic turn, the audience knows that the women have solved the murder mystery while the men remain oblivious of the truth because of their assumptions. The two women end up identifying with Minnie Wright’s abuse at the hands of her husband and feel the murder was justified. They then conspire to conceal the truth from their ignorant husbands and the County Attorney.

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