Murder In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

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The Wright residence “never seemed a very cheerful place“ (1389). Susan Glaspell was successfully able to publish her suspenseful play Trifles on August 8, 1916. The play defines motive for murder immensely. Not only does the story start out with finding Mr. Wright's body, but the entire play revolves around why exactly he was killed. Things are left unsaid, and unresolved, but in the end everyone knows what really happened. Minnie Wright changed from a vibrant young woman to an individual capable of manslaughter, but the purpose behind her reasons are unveiling. The Wrights marriage was toxic, and shattered. Everything may seem okay on the outside, but behind closed doors remains a difference account. Mrs. Hale mentions some of her…show more content…
Hale and Mrs. Peters are going through the Wright’s home they find a bird cage, but no bird. They assume possibly a cat got it, but Minnie did not have a cat. They then realize the cage had been tampered with aggressively. As they continue snooping, they come to find beautiful box. They only expect it to be sewing supplies. Inside, they find Mrs. Wright’s beloved bird, dead, with its neck wrung. Mrs. Hale implied that “She liked the bird. She was going to bury it in that pretty box” (1393). The canarie, or song bird, was Minnie’s only source of happiness. It sang and brought her comfort from the awful home that she had established. It seems as though John Wright became angry with the bird. Maybe it would not be quiet, or he realized that it brought Minnie happiness when she was in a dark place. He force the cage open and wrung the bird’s neck. Minnie sought out revenge on her husband. He killed the only thing that brought her happiness and love. She had, ultimately, had enough. What did she have to lose? She was miserable anyways. There was a gun in the Wright’s home. Instead, Minnie did to John as he did to her beloved songbird. She wrung his neck out of spite. Minnie Wright was a nervous wreck when sewing because her only source of happiness was gone, she was plotting to murder, or murdered, her husband, and she knew she would face

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