The play, Trifles, is one of the most significant literary works penned by the famous playwright, Susan Glaspell. The drama with its content and portrayal succeeds in leaving a very lasting impression on the audience. The playwright exudes her literary quintessence and raises a number of grave societal issues through this drama. A close scrutiny of this play would lead to a better understanding of the dynamics between Mrs. Wright and her husband who has met with his demise. The entire perspective is portrayed through the other characters who are engaged in conversations about the death. The audience comes to know that Mrs. Wright is the one who has strangled her husband, John Wright, in his sleep. Now, this initiates a moral as well as conscientious dilemma among the minds of the audience to support or oppose the action of Mrs. Wright. However, by the end of the play’s narrative it becomes clear that the grave act on the part of the lady is justified.
This play is thought to be one of the very first feminist works of literature in America. The narrative shows the audience how the women were left to be ignored, neglected and even belittled by the males. The audience knows at the inception of the play that the murder has already been done and the men are here to investigate the crime. Mrs. Wright is in police custody, but her looming presence in the course of the drama via the conversations of the other female characters brings out the details of her life and delves into her psyche. The conversation between the two female characters makes it clear how Mrs. Wright was oppressed and subjugated in the marriage. She was definitely not a happy person and marriage had only worked as a bondage confining her life and curbing her happiness. Mrs. Hale opines toward the beginning of the play, “But I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it.” (Glaspell 636) This shows the nature of John Wright as a husband. In fact, the way in which the two women present inside the Wright residence conceal the evidence that could have convicted Mrs. Wright is a very strong marker that shows how the other females could very well comprehend the mental state of Mrs. Wright. In their eyes, the murder of her husband was not a grave crime but an act of emancipation from the onus of the bondage of marriage. (Khalaf 2)
It needs to be reckoned that the story of John Wright and his wife that is shown in this play can be seen as the microcosm of the society. At that time in America, the women were subordinated and oppressed in the nuclear families and the society at large. They were seen as passive individuals inferior to the males. (Maillakais 1) They were not respected and given their due dignity by the men who were influenced by the patriarchal norms and parameters of the society. The murder by Mrs. Wright can definitely make the audience judgmental about her action. One needs to remember that Mrs. Wright was not at all happy in her marriage. While the men are upstairs searching for evidence, the women recall how Mrs. Wright was a very happy person before she got married. Mrs. Hale describes the cheerful self of Mrs. Wright before her marriage saying, “She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls signing in the choir.” (Glaspell 638) This comes to show how marriage with all its constrictions and bondages took its toll on her. Mrs. Wright had faced years of emotional abuse and subjugation at the hands of her marriage. It can be surmised that she was denied her due position and she had to kill her own aspirations for fitting into the marital bond with John Wright.
The very fact that County Attorney, Sheriff Peters and Mr. Hale make fun of the two ladies, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters describing them to be the ones engaged in trifles, shows the general view of women in the American society at that time. The women are mocked by the men for being wary about the feminine things. At one point of time the County Attorney mocks the ladies saying, “Well, ladies, have you decided whether she was going to quilt it or knot it?” (Glaspell 643) The women are concerned about the unfinished quilt and even find out the main lead in the mystery. They find how the canary had been strangled just as John Wright was murdered. The bird-cage was left empty with the dead bird lying inside a box in the sewing basket of Mrs. Wright. Eventually the two ladies decide to hide this key evidence from the men who are eagerly engaged in investigating the murder. Thus, the men are not able to find any convincing piece of evidence so as to convict Mrs. Wright of the murder of her husband. The attitude of the ladies toward Mrs. Wright plight shows the amount of subjugation meted out to women and how they felt united in their pain and imposed passivity.
Indeed, the murder of John Wright might not be judged to be a correct act in the eyes of law. But, it needs to be considered that Mrs. Wright must have been exasperated by the onus of the subjugation, disrespect and oppression of her husband. The play has enough signals to prove that she was never given her due respect by her husband. The dead bird acts as a strong symbol of her state of mind. She was bound in the shackles of the societal institution of marriage and patriarchy, and her aspirations, desires had met with an untimely end just as the dead bird found inside the box. As such, the killing of her husband by strangling must be seen as an act of vehement subversion of the patriarchal order and the subjugation. It should be seen as her last and resolute resort to escape from the claustrophobia of her marriage. Although she did commit a crime, the murder can be seen as a just act on her part as it was committed in a bid to find emancipation from the repression and onus brought about by her marriage to John Wright. Her vulnerable and distressed state of mind should be considered while making the crucial judgment about the act of murder.
Works Cited
Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles.” In Back Literature. pp. 633-645.
Khalaf, Sara Abu. “Feminist Analysis: Trifles Feminist criticism.” Academia.edu.
academia.edu, n.d. Web. 7 April 2016.
Maillakais, Mikes. “A Woman's Place: Literary Background for Glaspell's Trifles.”
American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. itech.fgcu.edu, n.d. Web. 7 April. 2016.
