Minnie In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

In the play Trifles, the reader is led to an understanding as to why Minnie Wright has murdered her husband. This revelation can lead the reader to understand why Mrs. Hale defends Minnie so vehemently. If the reader analyses the environment, the factors, and the theme of this play, one can come to the conclusion as to why Mrs. Hale defended Minnie. The environment of the play takes place in the early 1900’s. The roles of the family members were much different then than they are today. The Husband would often times do the hard work that would take place outside, and the wife would simply take care of the house and children. This system was actually pretty efficient, but some men saw themselves more powerful than the woman, and often would
Wright was definitely not happy with her marriage, mainly because of the degrading tone towards women and also because of their conflicting personalities. Mr. Hale describes Mr. Wright’s personality as a quiet and aggressive one. Mr. Hale wanted to have a party phone line system installed in her own house and what this called for being the Hale family and the Wright family to share lines. Whenever Mr. Hale confronted Mr. Wright about this issue, he rejected him by stating, “Folks talked too much anyway, and all he asked (for) was peace and quiet”. (Glaspell 255) Mrs. Wright is the exact opposite as Mrs. Hale stated, “She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that—oh, that was thirty years ago.”(Glaspell 260) so obviously according to the text Mr. Wright’s personality brought down Mrs. Wright’s mood and changed her into a “Shabby” (Glaspell 260) lady. This can lead the reader to the next factor. Mrs. Wright owned a bird. The author’s purpose of this bird was to act as a reflection of Mrs. Wright’s personality, and unfortunately the bird acted as a negative attribute toward Mr. Wright’s personality. In regard to the degrading way that Mr. Wright most likely treated his wife because of the environment of the time it is no surprise that Mr. Wright killed off what was left of Mrs. Wright’s personality and goodness.
Hale defended Minnie. Throughout the play the reader can see dialogue from both Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Through this dialogue the reader can discover that Mr. Hale is a farmer when Mrs. Hale states, “Farmers' wives have their hands full.”(Glaspell 258) Mrs. Hale says this in understanding of Mrs. Wright because she was the wife of a farmer as well. Based upon this premise the reader can identify that maybe Mrs. Hale defends Mrs. Wright because she may have dealt with the same degradation that Mrs. Wright dealt with, and understands the ramifications of the situation. Another valid point would be that Mrs. Hale realizes that Mrs. Wright has changed, and in a negative manner. Mrs. Hale pities the Wright family because of the confinement that Mr. Wright has put Mrs. Wright through. Mrs. Wright feels even more sorrow now because of the literal confinement that Mrs. Wright is in while being in jail. This pity is part of the reason why “MRS HALE slips box under quilt pieces” (Glaspell 265) near the end of the play. Mrs. Hale understands that Mr. Wright was contingent upon his power over Mrs. Wright, and when Mr. Wright destroyed what little she had left, it was then that he lost complete control. The play Trifles is a story filled with horror, and perhaps a twisted sense of justice. The information that the play provides has led to three key points of importance and a revelation to