Trifles: Wife and Mrs. Wright Shoes

“Trifles” was a very mysterious play. This play was written by Susan Glaspell. It does not explain why the two women helped Mrs. Wright. It does not mention any information about them being friends with her, so why would they help her? Mrs. Wright basically was tired of her husband’s ways and abuse and retaliated by murdering him. He was said to have killed her kitten years ago and in more recent terms, he killed her bird.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters clearly did not have respect for the law. They both kept the evidence that Mrs. Wright killed her husband a secret. These two women put themselves in Mrs. Wright shoes. They understood why Mrs. Wright killed her husband. They both knew that if their husband had treated them the way Mr. Wright treated Mrs. Wright that they would have probably done the same thing. They also snuck Mrs. Wright things in prison that they were aware she was not suppose to have. “Mrs. Peters is governed by this dogma, until she remembers the silence in her own house after the death of one of her children. This memory produces a powerful bond between her and Minnie 's experience of isolation and loneliness, so powerful, indeed, that Mrs. Peters herself attempts to hide the box with the dead canary in it—fully aware that this action goes against everything society and her husband expect her to do, not only on legal grounds but also because, as a wife, Mrs. Peters is not supposed to act against her husband” (Brown 2011 ). These two women were not close to Mrs.Wright but illegally hid evidence in this case in her favor.

Mr. Hale and Mr. Peters should have known their wives were hiding something from them. That shows that they do not honestly know their wives. It also shows that both marriages are not very strong. In the Hale’s and Peters’ marriages there may be a strong lack of communication. The fact that Mr. Peters is a sheriff and could not tell his wife was hiding something from him shows that he might not be that good at his job. Some say gender was the essential theme of trifles. The men believe in justice and law enforcement and do not have much consideration of why it happened (Brown 2011). They are more focused on putting Mrs.Wright behind bars because they feel it is the right thing to do. The women however, consider why Mrs.Wright killed her husband and show remorse and try to comfort her while she is in prison by bringing her a few things from home (Brown 2011).
Many critics said that the economy of this particular play was masterful (Bryer 2010). "Just as the women create their instinctive theories out of trifles, so the playwright builds her play out of small gestures (a broken hinge on a birdcage which reflects the broken neck of the bird, the broken neck of the man, but also the broken spirit of the woman, who had bought the cage). The man imprisons the woman, the woman imprisons the bird. And yet they are all imprisoned in a system equally implacable.… It is a play which works by understatement" (Bigsby 25–26). This play was first produced by the Provincetown Players. It is considered one of the best that the group offered in its history (Bryer 2010). “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is an interesting play. It has received both positive and negative criticism. This play had five main characters. It was revolved around a murder case. This play was also a one act play and not very long.

Work Cited
Bigsby, C. W. E. A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama: Volume One—1900–1940. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Brown, Elke. "Gender in Trifles." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETL0475&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 10, 2012).
Bryer, Jackson R., and Mary C. Hartig, eds. "Trifles." The Facts On File Companion to American Drama, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CAD510&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 10, 2012).

Cited: Bigsby, C. W. E. A Critical Introduction to Twentieth Century American Drama: Volume One—1900–1940. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Brown, Elke. "Gender in Trifles." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETL0475&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 10, 2012). Bryer, Jackson R., and Mary C. Hartig, eds. "Trifles." The Facts On File Companion to American Drama, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Bloom 's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CAD510&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 10, 2012).