Trifles by Susan Glaspel - an overview

Explain the use of settings, symbolism and irony in “Trifles” to highlight the theme of the play.

Born in Davenport, Iowa, on July 1, 1876, Susan Keating Glaspell is an active writer during her years. She holds a Ph. B. in philosophy from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Her first position as a full-time reporter has enabled her to involve with significance report on the murder trial of John Hossack in 1900. Thus, she wrote several precious literary works based on the story which is "A Jury of Her Peers,” and the one-act-play Trifles. Furthermore, her fiction which is "For the Love of the Hills" won a prize from Black Cat Magazine which sparked more success on her writing. She married to George Cram Cook, a classics professor, novelist and poet, and an itinerant farmer. However, cook’s bad behavior likes having affairs with numbers of women and alcoholic has sometimes inspired Glaspell to write as a path to reduce her unhappiness and tensions. Besides that, Glaspell tendencies to write about feminism might comes with several factors, she was living with a supportive community which fight over gender equality, feminist, socialist and also her active involvement in heterodoxy, a radical group of women activist who were the well-known feminist movement in new York. Her highest chievement is when she was awarded the Pulitzer award for her play “Alison’s house”. Sadly, her hardest period after struggled with alcohol and poor health conditions has leads to her less productivity on literary works. Surprisingly, she is able to control of her bad deeds and rejoined her family after she came back to provincetown and finished her federal theater project until she died in 1948.

Susan Glaspell wrote a play titled “trifles” in 1916. Basically, the story is about a mysterious and violent murder of John Wright who was been killed while he slept by her own wife, Winnie. The play starts when Mr. Hale, a neighboring farmer and Mrs. Hale, a local sheriff, Mr. Peters and his wife together with the investigator which is Mr. Henderson entering into Wright’s farm house. They are discussing about a violent murder of Mr. Wright by listening Mr. Hale’s explanation who arrived at Mr. fundamentally, the main point of the story is not focusing on John’s murder but mostly emphasize house a day before the murder because he needs to install a telephone for Mr. Wright. At first, Mr. Hale illustrates how he saw Mrs. Wright rocking in her chair and told to Hale that Mr. Wright was dead with a rope slipped around his head and he found his body upstairs of the house. Hence, the men go upstairs to examine the scene and the women continue to go through things and discuss about Mrs. Wright. However, they did not find any evidences. Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale pick several things while in the kitchen for Mrs. Wright and they are quite surprised with the abandoned and gloomy kitchen, under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the bread-box, a dirty dish-towel on the table, and a sticky shelf due to a breaking of preserved fruit, because Mrs. Wright is a good housewife. Apparently, she is very cheerful and able to socialize with others. Then Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find quilting that Mrs. Wright was working on with a log cabin pattern under part of the small table and also a bird cage upon try to find sewing supplies to take back to Mrs. Wright. They find small and fancy box, and surprisingly they found dead bird, with its neck wrung. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter made a decision to hide the box with the bird from the men to save Mrs. Wright from being sentenced to jail. Therefore, readers would be clear and understand that Mr. Wright had been insulting, and his killing of the bird had made Mrs. Wright very depressed until she killed her own husband.

The essay consists of several important elements of literary devices which are the setting, symbolism as well as the irony. To be clear, the elements of literary devices enable readers to understand the scope and what writers try to convey about. Furthermore, it will help to increase interest among readers about their writing and projecting ideas to produce better literary texts. Initially, setting in literature will cover several elements which are time, location and even any events in which it takes place. Besides, the setting will give clear justifications about props and main background of the story. However, setting can be a character itself and in some cases, setting will be the tone of a story. Susan Glaspell wrote Trifles in 1916, where a time when women were beginning to confront their socially defined roles.

Basically, within that time women were aware and realizing that their identities as ordinary wives will only keep them in a minor position in society as well as a second class gender. Besides that, women are been more eager to ask for their freedom and asking to reexamine discriminations especially marriage which under traditional institutions where husbands are likely tend to act as superior. The society outlook of the time assumed women as lesser than a man. As an example, “Three men, Sheriff Peters, the court attorney Mr.Henderson, and the neighbor Mr. Hale, enter the house. Behind the men are two women. One is Mrs. Hale, the neighbors wife and Mrs. Peter’s, the Sheriff’s wife Both women stand by the door while the men go over to the stove to warm themselves up”. The term “women are behind the men” somehow shows to readers that women are inferior to the men and are supposed to follow behind their husbands.

Later, the significance of telephone in the play is more to portray of isolation. John Wright isolated his wife from other people who could have offered support by cutting off means of communication, as in the play is the telephone. In addition, in “triffles” there are several physical setting to emphasize on which is the kitchen. The story only takes place in the kitchen which is the prototypical women’s room and where roles have set out for women to clean up households. When the women realize that the kitchen is messy thus, it might be something wrong with Minnie Wright as they are aware that a messy kitchen might reflect her personality because she is sad all of the time and do not want to or have the desire to clean the house. She is somewhat a "mess" just like the house. In contrast, weather setting in the play may represent symbolic meanings behind it. Therefore, the cold winter might shows how is Minnie Wright felt after her marriage. Broadly speaking, she is perhaps are not happy with her marriage and undergo gloomy days as her abandoned kitchen and gloomy weather can illustrate sadness and loneliness. Mr. Wright’s action cannot be justified and accepted anymore by Minnie Wright until he had been killed and did not realize foreshadowing of his death.

Moreover, symbolism that consists in the story can be useful for readers to be more analytical and critical to figure out the hidden agendas or motif about particular things especially the backdrop usage. The bird in the story may symbolize Minnie Wright itself. She has been trapped inside her own house which merely represents the cage. Furthermore, the kitchen might stand for a specific place for women and lastly the apron symbolize loyalty of women toward their jobs. As for example, when Minnie Wright still wearing an apron when she was detained in a jail which shows an ordinary Minnie Wright as a women and a wife.

Besides that, irony in literary text is a language device to emphasize the multilayered, contradictory nature of modern experience. Basically, irony can be divided into several categories which are verbal irony and dramatic irony. Verbal irony is either in spoken or written form in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the literal meaning of the words. In contrast, dramatic irony take place when the audience knows something that the characters do not in the story For instance, even though women in trifles can be classified as lesser importance in the community and investigation, however, they are able to understand why Minnie Wright killed her husband because of they are more particular about tiny things which men seen as unimportant.

In conclusion, “trifles” is a very interesting play since readers are able to understand what is the story is all about and understands clear themes of the play as well as excellent blended literary devices usage by the writer which are irony, settings and symbolism.