The Importance Of Setting In Susan Glaspell's Trifles

Victoria Mendoza
Kelsi Vanada
The Interpretation of Literature
02 October 2014
Setting: More than Meets the Eye

“You’re convinced that there was nothing important here—nothing that would point to any motive?” (Glaspell 1128). “Nothing here but kitchen things” (Glaspell 1128). This is his greatest mistake. Little does he know that there is more to this gloomy, disorganized kitchen than he thinks. In fact, all the answers he is looking for are right in that room. In Trifles, the kitchen is the setting, where an investigation is taking place looking into the death of Mr. Wright, a farmer and the owner of the house who was strangled to death. His wife is being held as the prime suspect. In the story where the men see nothing in the kitchen,
From the very beginning, the kitchen is described as a “gloomy kitchen” with “unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the bread-box, [and] a dish towel on the table” (Glaspell 1125). This disorder shows that there was something off about this house. The county attorney goes on to say that the house wasn’t cheerful, “I shouldn’t say she had the home making instinct” (Glaspell 1128). The fact that he says this suggests the view that men expected women to take the role as housekeepers, which meant cleaning, cooking, and maintaining the house. This is something that Minnie Foster couldn’t keep up with. This is also evidenced when the county attorney goes to wash his hands and finds that the towels are dirty. “Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?” (Glaspell 1128). Once again, an eye-opening statement to the way women were viewed in the time period. The kitchen was viewed as the domain for women. If they weren’t able to keep the house and the kitchen, they weren’t seen as good for much anything. When one doesn’t feel like much use, that uselessness translates itself into depression and sadness. Women back then were also expected to take care of children. She also didn’t have kids, which “makes a quiet house” (Glaspell 1132). The fact that she didn’t have children contributes to the fact that the house was
Peters points out her fruit froze, Mr. Hale said, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell 1128). It is evident that the men in the story believe that what the women speak of or what the women do is insignificant to the investigation. The “trifles” in the setting that these men don’t see are actually significant to their investigation. Through careful examination of the kitchen that these men deem unimportant, these women were able to find the truth of the crime. It is suggested that finding the dead bird is evidence that Mrs. Wright did in fact kill Mr. Wright. They had believed this because they found the bird with its neck