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Trifles Women

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The drama “Trifles” tells the story of a group of people looking for clues which lead to the murder of Mr. Wright. Two of the three men, Mr. Hale and Mr. Peters, bring their wives, but do not take the wives seriously. The women, however, discover the clues of which Mrs. Wright leaves behind. The men and women in “Trifles” accept their roles of the men being more superior and the women being more inferior. First and foremost, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Hale, and Mr. Peters fail to see the clues of which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discovers due to believing the women are inferior to the men. Mr. Henderson makes a statement about the state of the house, “County Attorney: Not much of a housekeeper, would you say ladies?” (Glaspell 1041). Mrs. Hale then …show more content…

While the clues are in plain sight to the women, the men are unaware of the clues hidden in the kitchen. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are able to discover the clues because they understand and know how Mrs. Wright thinks. “The obtuse investigator continues to look in all the wrong places for all the wrong signs, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat and arrogantly above consulting the women...” (Grose). The men automatically assume there are no clues to the murder in the kitchen and continue looking for clues in a different area in the room and never once do the men ask the women for their help. The men act as if the women are only useful when it comes to keeping the house clean, cooking and sewing. The men treat the women as if the women are house slaves. A major clue Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover is an empty birdcage in a cupboard. Later on, the women also …show more content…

Henderson, Mr. Hale, and Mr. Peters make several insulting remarks about what Mrs. Hale or Mrs. Peters say or the things of which interest the women due to the fact the men believe they are more superior than the women. The men also say insulting remarks towards Mrs. Wright. For example, while inside the kitchen, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are discussing Mrs. Wright’s fruit freezing and the mess the broken jars have created. “Hale: Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 1040). Mr. Hale believes women only worry about things with little importance. The women do not try to defend themselves and continue to let the men treat them as if they are not equal to the men. By Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters not standing up to the men, the women will only continue to be treated unequally and inferior to the men. While waiting for the men, the women discover one of Mrs. Wright’s quilts. “They return downstairs just in time to overhear Mrs. Hale commenting on Minnie's quilt pieces; the sheriff ridicules their interest in such trivial details, joking, "They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! [The men laugh, the women look abashed.]" (1394). The women nervously make excuses for themselves and for their husbands as the men again leave the two alone.“ (Grose). However, instead of defending themselves, the women just take what the men say, allowing the men to continue to act more superior and treat the women as if they are

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Hale, the wife of Lewis Hale, is a farm wife just like a woman named Minnie. In the story, there is no real direct description of Mrs. Hale, but what shows who she really is by her behaviors that throw some clues of what she experiences in her life. Through her outspoken opinions and how vocal she is with her opinions, you can sense how she feels about her husband, Lewis Hale, being the man who is a farmer who was the only one to witness the aftermath of the murder of John Wright. It is obvious that Mrs. Hale is he husbands “right hand”, and just like Emilia, is very obedient to her husband when he asks her to collect all of Minnie’s belongings. Compared to Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Hale is the women who the one to feel free to express her feelings, though she is looked to be less “sophisticated” than the others.

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When Hale describes the events that occurred the day before, she claims that Mrs.

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Hale is being the crusader for women’s rights and is not afraid to stand up against the men when they continue to snoop around the kitchen criticizing everything they see and touch but not taking in account that maybe Mrs. Wright did not have time to tidy up the house since she was carried out in such a rush to jail, and that maybe the deputy sheriff that came ahead of time to start the fire could have dirtied up the towels and they just blaming it on Mrs. Wright not being a good housekeeper without knowing the circumstances surrounding the issue of untidiness. Mrs. Peters take a casual stance and defends the men’s rights as investigators but Mrs. Hale has a great come back line with sarcasm “Duty’s all right”, this is her way of challenging Mrs. Peter’s stance and placing the blame back on the

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Hale and Mrs. Peters, but Lewis Hale, the sheriff George Peters, and the County Attorney George Henderson play an important role in serving as the male attitude during the time period. When paying attention to particular .mannerisms and attitudes of the County Attorney the reader can truly gauge how sexist the environment was in the 1920s. One of the first signs of sexism appears from the County Attorney’s remarks towards the two ladies about the housekeeping. He notes that Mrs. Wright was not much of a housekeeper and turns to the ladies for their opinion because in the setting this was one of their common roles. Hale even states that, “women are used to worrying over trifles” (965).

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Wright’s belongings are incomplete and out of place, particularly in the kitchen. The women find this to be abnormal and begin speculating the significance of these items. During one point in the play, Mrs. Hale notices an uneven stitch in Mrs. Wright’s unfinished quilt. She asks Mrs. Peters, “’what do you suppose she was so nervous about?’” Because of the death of Mr. Wright, Mrs. Hale views the stitching in a suspicious manner.

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The men also take light of the small details that the women take note of, in particular as to how Mrs. Wright was contemplating the construction of the quilt. As the women converse and share experiences of their own and those of Mrs. Wright, they begin to form

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Peters and the play begins. It is a large change to differ the characters from Glaspell’s original idea. Mrs. Hale is referred to as “married to the law” (Glaspell 989) by the County Attorney because she is the Sheriff's wife. Because a large part of the show is done without the men in the room the characterization of these two women are very clear, and very different. Mrs. Hale is very quick to talk against the men, when they are not around.

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