Susan Glaspell's Trifles

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When stuck between what is right and wrong, normally people look at all the facts before deiciding. Women are commonly thought of to decide with their feelings while men with hard facts. In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, the County Attorney, Sheriff, and Mr. Hale, a farmer, are at John and Minnie Wright’s farmhouse investigating John’s murder who they believe was killed by Minnie but are unable to find a motive. Along with them, Mrs. Peters and Mrs.Hale, the sheriff and Mr. Hale’s wives, are there to gather things for Minnie while she is in jail. Although the men investigating John’s murder believe that Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are being frivolous about Minnie’s belongings, it is through Glaspell’s use of characterization and symbolism that the…show more content…
Starting the investigation, the men ignore the one place that has all the clues which is Minnie’s kitchen. During the time the play was written, the kitchen was a woman’s area so it would be obvious that the men would ignore the “kitchen things”. Instead the men started looking for clues in places John would have been or mainly a man (Glaspell 923-24). The women, though, are interested in Minnie’s belongings so Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale can not help worrying over Minnie’s preserves because that is what is important to them. The men, however, see it as frivolous. It is not until Mr. Hale says “Women are used to worrying over trifles”, that Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale start to slowly form a bond. They have both been slightly ridicule by the men and slowly get the sense of “us against them”. Then the men make matters worse when they start criticizing Minnie’s kitchen. The women understand that Minnie was having a hard time with John and to have someone come and critique their space is just rude to them(924-25). Mrs. Hale is obviously the one who is more sympathetic towards Minnie and gives hints early on in the play about why Minnie might have killed John. In response to the County Attorney’s statement about Minnie’s dirty towels,

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