Susan Glaspell's Trifles

The Webster’s Dictionary definition of trifle is: something that does not have much value or importance (“trifle”). When one looks at the title of Susan Glaspell’s short play, at first they may think that it is as the title implies; unimportant or the story being told is for nothing more than entertainment. Upon further examination and consultation of critical sources, the reader is able to tease out a deeper meaning. The play, Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell is an intricately weaved narrative on gender roles and home life as it was in early 1900s. In Trifles, a wife is accused of having brutally strangled her husband. The county attorney and the sheriff both of whom are blinded by their male gender perform a by-the-books investigation. Thinking that they have searched the first floor entirely and gathered up everything pertinent to the case, the county attorney suggests that they move their attention to the second floor leaving the two women alone (Glaspell 1720). Alone,
Hale and Peters cover-up. Holstein asserts that the two women were not just mindlessly helping a fellow woman, but instead were reliving her [Mrs. Wright] sad and seemingly abusive life (Holstein). Holstein brings the reader’s attention to the mundane details that in the dialogue between the women such as describing Mr. Wright as a “raw wind” (Glaspell 1723). The two wives more than just empathize with Mrs. Wright, they “identify with her.” Holstein brings the reader’s attention to the fact the both women defend the messy farmhouse against the two investigators showing they understood what Minnie was going through than previously shown (Holstein). Holstein’s critical essay has presented a different view compared to my view of Trifles and gives many more examples that I have time to