Susan Glaspell's Trifles

‘Trifles’- An interesting play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916, is a play dealing with mystery and murder, revenge and deceit, and is full of irony from beginning to end. Seven characters form the cast, although 2 are non-active and will not be viewed; only spoken of. The County Attorney is a young man who seems for the most part to have a solid interest in his work. Although the County Attorney has a professional demeanor, he still joins in and laughs at the comments that the Sheriff direct towards the ladies. The Sheriff is a middle-aged man with a demeaning attitude towards women. The Sheriff continuously and erroneously makes derogatory comments, laughing at Mrs. Wrights request for her preserved after she is held for murder, and
Mr. Wright does not have an active role in this play (as he is passed away) but is described by the other characters as a good, non-drinking man who pays his bills. Contrarily, the neighbor Mrs. Hale describes that Mr. Wright was “like a raw wind that gets through to the bone”(1348) and that a “plac’d (not) be any cheerier for John Wright being in it” (1348) Minnie Wright is the wife of the late John Wright. Minnie also does not have an active role in this play as she has been jailed for suspicion of hanging her husband to death. Minnie is described by her neighbor as “real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery”(1352). And that she was “kind of like a bird herself”(1352). Mrs. Hale also notes the Minnie “has changed” after marrying John Wright, that he “killed” the bird-like traits in her. Mrs. Peters, the Sheriff’s wife, is described as a “slight wiry woman with a nervous face” (1345). Mrs. Peters seems to share her husbands law-enforcement interests as she at one point tells Mrs. Hale the “The law has got to punish crime”(1353), but ultimately helps Mrs. Hale to hide evidence found showing motive, and withholds vital information from her husband and the County