From the Bookshelf of Morales 2341 Spring 2015 Class TTH…

Trifles

Susan Glaspell

Start date: February 19, 2015

Finish date: February 24, 2015

Discussion: Loneliness and Isolation

Discussion leader: Lillian Morales

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Loneliness and Isolation

The Modern Individual- “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock”
By Lillian · 41 posts · 59 views

last updated Feb 26, 2015 12:12PM

Trifles- A One Act Play
By Lillian · 46 posts · 42 views

last updated Feb 26, 2015 09:08AM

What Members Thought

Feb 25, 2015 Frank Corral rated it liked it

Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a short story about female prejudice, the women is this story must make a decision that will affect the life of another woman accused of murdering her husband.
The Story deals with the murder of Mr. John Wright. The characters include sheriff, County Attorney, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters. All gathered in the home of the Wright's to discuss Mr. Wright's death. The obvious culprit is his wife, because of her easy access to her husband. the story is not especially compli ...more

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Feb 24, 2015 Jaime Gonzalez rated it really liked it

“Trifles,” is an interesting and intriguing suspense story/play by Susan Glaspell. After reading the play, you will agree that the author intended for the reader/audience to interpret and analyze the meaning of what might seem like “trifle” things, to reach their own conclusions about them in relation to the murder. The men in charge of investigating the crime scene, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, the neighbor who discovered the body, came across common things in the house which they pa “Trifles,” is an interesting and intriguing suspense story/play by Susan Glaspell. After reading the play, you will agree that the author intended for the reader/audience to interpret and analyze the meaning of what might seem like “trifle” things, to reach their own conclusions about them in relation to the murder. The men in charge of investigating the crime scene, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, the neighbor who discovered the body, came across common things in the house which they passed as "trifle," irrelevant to the crime. Their wives, who were just accompanying them, saw the same things in the house, with one exception, an empty broken birdcage. Surprisingly, what the women discover next, is what they believe to be the missing piece of the puzzle!
When Mrs.Peters and Mrs. Hale came across an empty broken birdcage, they wondered and questioned why there was an empty broken birdcage. After all, they were not aware of Mrs. Wright having a bird, in the first place. While looking for Mrs. Wrights quilt patches, the ladies came across a shocking discovery, a dead canary with its neck twisted. With this discovery, the women quietly concluded to themselves that Mr. Wright must have killed his wife’s bird and that must have led her to retaliate against her husband by doing the same thing to him, to strangle him. They concluded that the bird was probably the only thing that gave her joy in her home.
Initially, Mrs.Peters was persistent in siding with the law. When Mrs.Hale expressed her feelings of guilt for not having visited her neighbor (whom she assumed was lonely, neglected and possibly abused), Mrs.Peters quickly reminded her that "the law is the law." After all, Mr. Wright was considered to be a good man, "he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, and paid his debts.” But no one knew Mr. Wright better than his own wife.
As the men walk in, both women silently decide to hide the dead bird from the men. This leads the reader to believe that the women knew that the dead bird would be considered a motive for Mrs.Wright's murder of her husband, and that was exactly what the men were looking for, a motive for murder.
Eventually, both women sided with Mrs.Wright and decided to cover up the evidence they found, jeopardizing their own morals. The men reached their own conclusion of guilt and the reader/audience reaches their own conclusion.
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