Free Essay About Drama Analysis

The words that a playwright chooses, i.e. the language, is one of the elements of drama that moves the action and plot of the play along, while it also helps define the various characters and provides exposition. Playwrights tend to come up with their own particular style in when it comes to the language they opt to use in order to establish character and dialogue. In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell uses symbolic language as both an element of drama and a literary device in order to highlight her theme. Symbolic language has been used in the play to justify the murder of Mr. Wright.
The very first use of symbolic language is when Glaspell describes the disorder in the kitchen to give readers the impression that Mrs. Wright had not been paying attention to clean up the place. When Glaspell describes the old black stove and iron sink that has a hand pump, she seems to be suggesting that the room is very uninviting with nothing brightening it up. By using symbolic language to describe the mess in the kitchen, Glaspell actually alludes to the deteriorated mental state of Mrs. Wright.
Through her use of language, Glaspell implies that the two women identify with Mr. Wright’s murder. As wives of farmers, both women apparently had very similar lifestyles. Through Mrs. Hale, Glaspell describes Mr. Wright as a stern man who never permitted his wife to do anything. When the women find a quilt, Glaspell describes that the stitching is not very good, again using language to further allude to the stress that Mrs. Wright was most likely under when sewing. Glaspell uses a lot of symbolic language to justify whatever the women find, and to justify their eventual foiling of the investigation.
Through Mrs. Hale, Glaspell also describes how Mrs. Wright herself was like a bird, pretty and sweet, and once used to sing in a choir. Moreover, she also mentioned how Mrs. Wright has changed, since everything stopped once she got married. Her husband apparently did not allow her to attend social functions or sing. Like her canary, she had become caged in the house. Another point of justification that Glaspell presents to readers is the fact that Mrs. Wright had no children, so her canary was her only companion and very important to her, hence she murdered her husband for killing the bird.
Finally, Glaspell uses symbolic language once last time to describe how the quilt appears to be knotted, which is a symbol of the rope Mrs. Wright had used to murder Mr. Wright. Thus, the women succeed in fooling the men into believing that everything is intact and undisturbed, and that there is no evidence.
It should be apparent the role language plays in the play Trifles, especially the use of symbolic language. Had the symbols and symbolic language been absent, the story would probably lack the way in which all the events and instances seem to be connected. If Susan Glaspell had not used symbolic language, perhaps readers would not be able to figure why the two women decided to help Mrs. Wright or why she even deserved to get away with mother. Indeed, Glaspell used such language to justify Mr. Wright’s murder and she has done a good job.