Triffel

Trifles

        In the play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, show how women pay attention to the little things that may lead to the solving of a murder case; where a wife got tired of been unappreciated and kills her husband. This play demonstrates how women are treated and how they are not given enough credit for the little things they do. While man go all over the house looking for evidence or clues of a motive for death, the women solved the entire case while remaining in the same place looking at all the trifles around them. Through the play we fine different trifles that are consider symbols and clues to help bring the case to close. The messy kitchen, bird cage, and quilt, and are three main clues that help the women decide who killed Mr. Wright.

        Around this time period the kitchen is where most woman spend their time; therefor the kitchen becomes a crucial place to the solving of the murder. As the man go through the kitchen they completely miss the significance of the mess around them, and say “not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” The women, unlike the men, are able to notice that something has gone terribly wrong with Minnie. The unorganized massy kitchen showed how she was disconnecting from her regular rotten as a women.

The birdcage that is found is a very important clue in understanding the reasons for the murder. The birdcage represents the life Minnie live in, and like the bird she was caged in her own home. Mrs. Hale describes Minnie as, “…kind of like a bird herself, real sweet and pretty but kind of timid and fluttery.’’ When the broken birdcage was found Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters think nothing of it until they find the bird its self. The bird was found wrapped up in a piece of silk and placed inside a pretty box. Her putting the bird in a pretty box in a way shows her cherishing of her pass life. When john strangles the life out of the bird, he is also strangling the life out of Minnie. We are also able to determine that the broken birdcage found represents Minnie's liberation because by killing John she is freeing herself from him, just like the bird.