Trifles

• This play is about the murder case of Mr. Wright. Mr. Hale is the first one to tell his side of the story. He says he went to go see Mr. Wright the day of the murder, and Mrs. Wright was acting strange. He asks if he can go see Mr. Wright, but she just laughs and says he is dead. He asked what he died from, and she simply responds from a rope around his neck. He goes to look at him and begins to ask Mrs. Wright questions. He asks if she knew who killed him, and she had no idea. This made him wonder because she sleeps with him in that bed, so she should have woken up. Mr. Hale says Mrs. Wright didn't seem too upset by this incident. They head to the kitchen to see many preserves all over the floor. They begin to talk about Mrs. Wright's life on the farm. They also say Mrs. Wright was never really cheerful either. They also say she put a lot of hard work in the summer for her fruit. The men believe Mrs. Wright did it, but the women think she didn't because she was worried about her trifles before the incident. It doesn't seem like something you would be worrried about before killing your husband. They begin to investigate some more. They notice a quilt that Mrs. Wright had been making, and the men just simply laugh at this. The women notice that the quilt is neat and clean, but in one spot it is all over the place. This obviously shows that she was not herself while making that part. They now encounter a bird cage. They don't remember her having a bird or anything, but they do remember before she was married she used to sing like a bird. They look at the cage closely and notice it looks like someone had been in it. They wish they would've been over more often because they think Mrs. Wright was very lonely. They begin to head out to leave, but as they are leaving they see a bird that has a broken neck. The men enter and are mocking the women still. They think what drove Mrs. Wright to kill her husband was because of the death of her bird. She was sad and lonely.

• This play can be looked at from a gender criticism because the men think the women have no idea what they are talking about through out the whole play. They are mocking the women, but it is actually the women who figure out what went down. Also Mrs. Wright is a typical woman because her husband is always working, and she is always working around the house. This is what women were like back in this time when it was written. She was upset because she was lonely over her husband and her bird. It is kind of like she became mentally ill after the death of her bird because she was so upset. There was a lot of symbolism in this play too. They relate the quilt to the incident of Mr. Wright by using the knot as a symbol. They say she did knot it meaning she did kill her husband.