Sunday, November 3, 2013

Reflections on Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Exploration Notes

1. What clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband?
           
          In the Wright household, the men are searching for something out of the ordinary and its prove that Minnie has been  provoked into killing her husband. The women find the clues, it is even more ironic that they find them in the household items to which the men attribute so little significance. For example “Nothing here but kitchen things,” the men mistakenly think. Because of their weak intu­ition, they do not see the household as indicative of John’s and Minnie’s characters. They do not see beyond the cheerless home to John Wright’s grim nature, nor do the dilapidated furnishings pro­vide them with a clue to his normal habits. Minnie’s depression and agitation are not apparent to them in the dismal, half-cleaned kitchen; instead, they consider Minnie an inept, lazy housekeeper then the three gentlemen do not have a clue.

2. How do the men differ from the women? from each other?

         Trifles is a murder mystery that explores gender relationships, power between the sexes, and the nature of truth. Trifles suggests that men tend to be aggressive, brash, rough, analytical and self centered; in contrast, women are more cautious , deliberative, intuitive, and sensitive to the needs of others. It is these differences that allow Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale to get to the truth. There are three men that are involved on the case and two women accompany, but are not there to really help solve the murder. These two women will solve the murder and protect Mrs. Wright of any wrongdoing. The women will dispose of any evidence they find  and justify to themselves, that the murder was justifiable. The three men seek out to find motive, but they never do and the case will go unsolved. The men would not think this was a valid reason for murder. It was only a little canary but in this story explores the fact that women pay attention to the little things that may lead to the solving of a bigger problem. The men seem to think the women only worry about the little things, or trifles. What the men do not realize is that the women are actually solving the murder by worrying, or trifling, over the small details.

3. What do the men discover? why do they conclude "Nothing here but kitchen things"? what do the women discover?

           Men do not discover anything  because of a little thing that will not being a proof for the murder. For the statement  "Nothing here but kitchen things”, regarding  to a women’s viewed , the men make it crystal clear that a women’s opinions is not important.  When the small pieces come together you will see the bigger picture. The small things  is the piecing of the quilt that the women think some kind of proof. The women were wondering if she was going to knot it or quilt it. The women take a closer look at the and Mrs. Hale points out that all the sewing was nice and neat until the point where the sewing was all messy. Mrs. Hale points out that because is a sign of nervousness. Mrs. Peters disagrees and tries to defend Mrs. Wright by saying that when she gets tired her sewing becomes messy. The quilt is a symbol of Minnie's agitation-her anger. The men though, laugh at the women's wondering about the quilt. To them it is of little importance. The quilt showed a disturbance in Mrs. Wright's life. The knotting of the quilt seemed to be the same type of knot used to strangle Mr. Wright. The women noticed that trifle, but the men were too busy looking at the dead body and making inferences about how Mr. Wright was killed that they overlooked the similar knotting of the quilt and of the rope around Mr. Wright's neck.

sources: 
http://www.enotes.com/trifles/14148

 


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