“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, is a dramatic one act play written in 1916. The plot of the play is about a wife who is accused of murdering her husband. Originally, the one act play was introduced to the theatre in the eighteenth century as a closing act to the main production, however in the nineteenth century, the popularity and success of the short play grew and instead of the audience watching it after the main show, it became the pre-show entertainment. Trifles is a well written one act play because it is filled with important clues through its use of symbolism and imagery. These two literary devices are extremely significant because it gives the audience mental pictures of all the clues to come to the conclusion of what happened to the accused. Though the use of imagery and symbolism such as the repetition of the coldness or the hidden bird cage; the audience can decipher the hidden messages within the play that describe the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Wright.
Symbolic images give the audience information about John Wright. Even though his character is not present in the play, the audience can see who he really was as a
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This information is hidden in the symbolic elements due to the fact that the play does not include the married couple. Susan Glaspell is extremely clever with the use of these elements to give the audience important background information of the marriage. This information is omitted because it adds to the suspense and enjoyment of the play. Also if the information was included, her play would not be able to be considered as a one act play and would not have been as popular as it is today. Without the use of symbolism and imagery, the audience would not be able to piece together all the clues and they would be left in the dark as to why Minnie killed her