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Trifles By Susan Glaspell Research Paper

1925 Words8 Pages

Susan Glaspell wrote Trifles in 1916 in the middle of World War one, and a year before America declared war on Germany. Trifles is a one act play inspired by an actual murder case she wrote several articles on when she was a reporter. Since Trifles was first written, the play has been reworked as a short story, renamed "A Jury of her Peers," and a film. Ever since its production, Trifles has been lauded as an amazing early feminist work of literature that has touched the hearts and minds of many. Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, is centered around the protagonist, Minnie Wright, a character that does not actually appear in the play, and the events that led her to murder.

It is apparent right from the beginning that Minnie Wright was emotionally, …show more content…

Hale described Minnie Wright as "kind of like a bird herself" (Glaspell 642). It is not until Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters look through the quilting supplies that they find the missing canary: in a decorative box with its neck broken. One can only imagine how much Minnie must have loved that canary based on how few visitors she receives to the point that even Mrs. Hale commented with "she liked the bird. She was going to bury it in that pretty box" (Glaspell 643). It is obvious to everyone that the bird was precious to Minnie, not only because it was her sole companion, but it was her in almost every aspect. The canary represented Minnie's desire for freedom and joy while being locked away in her small, isolated cage of a home. The bird even sung like she did in the church choir before getting married to John Wright. The article “Teaching Susan Glaspell's A Jury of Her Peers and Trifles,” by Marina Angel, stated that the broken door to the bird cage is "a sign of extreme anger and violence" from John Wright (Angel 550). That indicates that he had quite the temper just like the average abuser. In his fit of rage, he tore open the cage's door, reached in, and broke the bird's neck, possibly in front of Minnie, effectively killing the last of Minnie's joy. Although, Minnie ironically killed her husband like he did the bird: by strangling

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