Susan Glaspell's Trifles Just As Murder

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Trifles Can be Just As Important As Murder John Wooden, a college basketball coach, once said, “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” In this quote lies the importance of the title Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, written in 1916. In her one-act play, characters such as Lewis Hale, a neighboring farmer, Henry Peters, the sheriff, and George Henderson, the county attorney, are all in on the hunt to find the murderer of a fellow farmer, John Wright. The wives of Lewis and Henry also play a role in finding the murderer by ways that are significant to the title of the play and to the women, but insignificant to the men. Trifles, the title of Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, fits perfectly with the theme of male dominance and superiority over women in the 1900s. The main significance of the title shown by male dominion is found through the symbolism of the small items, or trifles, discovered by the women. One of the first items…show more content…
On page 922, Mrs. Hale exclaimed, “‘Mrs. Peters, look at this one [quilt block]. Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the sewing! All the rest of it has been done so nice and even. And look at this! It’s all over the place! Why, it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about!’” The stitching job was so poorly done because Mrs. Wright was too nervous and distracted to focus on her needle and thread. To cover up such terrible work, Mrs. Hale undid the stitching and finished it herself. Later in the play, the county attorney asked the women whether Mrs. Wright “was going to quilt it or knot it” (Pg. 924). They answered with, “‘We think she was going to - knot it.’” Mrs. Wright’s stitching technique showed significance because it displayed her ability to tie and make a knot, which was the way she killed her

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