As Marion walks into the parlor, a close-up of the owl and raven are shown between shots of Marion as she scans the room. The black raven is both a predator and a scavenger whereas the songbirds are the targets of owls, hawks, and even ravens. As the songbirds sit next to Marion and the crow hovers eerily over her, Norman tells Marion that she “eats like a bird”. Assuming that Norman is comparing her to a songbird and not a predatory bird, Marion seems to exemplify Norman’s statement by picking at a piece of bread for the whole scene. Norman then says, “I hear the expression ‘eats like a bird’ is really a falsity, because birds really eat a tremendous lot”. Then, Norman says, “I think only birds look well stuffed because, well because they’re kind of passive to being with.” As Norman places his hand in an almost affectionate way on the smaller bird next to him, he describes how he uses his hobby of “stuffing things” to fill time rather than pass time. The small bird that Norman has his hand on symbolizes his feelings toward all women: they are better dead and inactive. As Marion stands to leave the parlor and return to her room, each shot of Marion reveals the raven’s beak pointing straight toward her neck. Audience feel a sense of threat toward Marion, but after the owl becomes associated with Norman’s mother, the tension between Marion and the birds…
Wright’s death. The antagonists throughout the play are the five characters searching the Wright home, until the ending when the two women hide possible evidence from the men. Once the women choose this secrecy they join in thinking that Minnie may be innocent, or at least begin understanding why she did it and thinking that it was alright to kill the husband in order to get out of this…
Throughout the story, they find several motives for why Mrs. Wright would kill her husband and sympathize the pain she goes through. As they look through Mrs. Wright’s closet to find clothes to give to her in jail, the two women observe how rugged and old her clothes appear, showing that Mr. Wright must not have been financially stable enough to provide her with the items that she desires. This extremely upsets Mrs. Hale, for she had known the unmarried Mrs. Wright, who was widely known to be beautiful, lively, and one of fashion. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters also examine the kitchen of the house and find everything in a mess and every chore half-finished. While the men degrade her for not fulfilling her duties as a wife, the women support her and exclaim that “farmers’ wives have their hands full” (207). The stove in the poor conditioned kitchen is also used as a metaphor to Mrs. Wright’s relationship with her husband when the two women find it to be broken. The story states that Mrs. Hale thinks “of what it would mean, year after year, to have that stove to wrestle with, and Mrs. Peters replies, “A person gets discouraged—and loses heart” (210). This clearly exemplifies the…
The significance of the canary in “Trifles” suggests that Mr. Wright wanted to “kill” anything that gave Mrs. Wright pleasure. “She- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery.(1901) This quote by Mrs. Hale also suggests how important the canary once was to Mrs. Wright due to the pleasant singing it did, which reminded her of how she once sang. “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird- a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too” (1896). This quote by Mrs. Hale suggests Mr. Wright took something important away from his wife that she could relate to. He took away all of the special things from Mrs. Wright which was inevitably the motive for the murder she committed. He not only suppressed and dominated his wife but also had a reputation of caring very little as to what his wife thought or wanted.…
Sylvia’s great understanding of the animals comes from her love for nature and wild creatures. Sylvia knows a lot about many different types of birds. 'So Sylvy knows all about birds, does she?' The hunter exclaimed, as he looked at the little girl who sat, timid but extremely sleepy in the moonlight. The hunter finds out that Sylvia knows a lot about birds and that she may be able to help him find a white heron for his bird collection. Sylvia's love for the outdoors is also very obvious when she says that she would have liked to have her home to be outside rather than in doors because of its beauty and peace. Sylvia said, this was a beautiful place to live in, and she never should wish to go home. It is obvious that Sylvia is happier living in nature, rather than in a humid house. She also likes to watch the animals in their natural environment.…
This was a time period when women didn’t vote and really didn’t have an opinion to men. When the men left the kitchen they commented that, “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it!” (Glaspell, 541) The women payed attention to the details of the kitchen and could tell that she had stopped in the middle of something. Mrs. Hale talked about how Minnie Foster used to be so cheerful and sang in the choir. Mrs. Hale thought to herself, “What had interrupted Minnie Foster?” (Glaspell, 542) She remembered worrying about how she had to un-expectantly leaving her kitchen a mess. The ladies found the bird cage and noticed that it had been damaged and wondered where the bird was. Later they found the bird in the box underneath the quilt blocks. They are the ones that put two and two together about how the bird was killed and the way Minnie’s husband was…
When the women are looking around downstairs they come across a bird cage in the cupboard. Mrs Hale observes the door is broken off and someone must have been "rough with it," suggesting the motive for the crime. When Mrs. Hale looks inside Mrs. Wrights sewing box hoping to find scissors she finds a box and inside is the dead bird wrapped in silk. The birds neck looked as if it had been strangled. The women recall that when Minne Foster was younger she was lively, wore pretty clothes and sung in the choir, they said "I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir." The bird represented Minnie before she was married to Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale says, "She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How- she- did- change." Minne and the bird were both caged, the bird was in stuck in an actual cage and Minne was stuck in the house all the time. Mr. Wright changed Mrs. Wright, he took all those good things away, he was controlling he didn’t allow her to see her friends or leave the house, he even stopped her from singing. The bird was her motive…
The play begins with a criminal investigation taking place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Mr. Wright was found dead in their bed with a rope around his neck, with his wife being the largest suspect. Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, Mr. Peters, the sheriff, and Mr. Hale, a neighbor and friend to Mr. Wright, gather around discussing the matter, while Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale stand off to the side, patiently waiting to be a help to personal connection if the men see fit (1362). Throughout the story, the men make light of any problem or important matter that the women may have, or have to offer. They initially notice how dirty and untidy Mrs. Wrights home is, and because this is very unordinary for the women of that time period, 1916, that made Mrs. Wright that much more suspicious. The men also bring up that though Mrs. Wright is held for murder, she is too busy worrying about her perseveres, an unimportant matter to any of the men (1365). Glaspell connected her title with the theme of her story with a comment made by one of her male characters, Mr. Hale, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles". As though any problem, or worry a women may have is unimportant and exaggerated compared to any "real" issue, that a man might have. Near the end of the story, the women feel sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright for they know how it feels to be a women and they feel that perhaps her actions were justified, for her husband did strangle her beloved bird. Though they have gathered much evidence to close the case, the men do not feel as if their input will be worthy of solving the…
I think it is very strange for Mrs. Wright not to have any type of emotional concern for her husband’s death. Although she deny murdering her husband how can someone come in the room where both of them were sleeping and not hear or see anything. I must agree with you about her concern about the bird. I think her husband killed the bird as well. I also think it is really extreme to kill someone over a bird.…
Hale and Mrs. Peters both had a feeling that Mr. Wright killed the bird, “wrung-its-neck” (Glaspell 260), which I think determines the mindset of the women for the rest of the story. This is the point that is a very significant turning point in the story due to the fact that the two woman hide the evidence they have found and not only hide it but eventually steal the evidence from the scene. I believe that this is both ethically and morally wrong in all circumstances due to the fact that both women knew this would be a key turning point in the case. It states that Mrs. Wright suffered an abusive relationship her whole life which I think was the reasoning behind the women hiding the evidence due to the fact they knew it would be a motive for the murder leaving Mrs. Wright jailed for the rest of her life. I really like how the author compares Mrs. Wright to the bird herself in the story because it leads the reader to understand the meaning of why Mrs. Wright may have “rung her husband’s neck” because he had done the same to her bird. Susan Glaspell states, “She, come to think of it, was kind of like a bird herself, real sweet and funny, but kind of timid and funny. How she…. did change.” (Glaspell 260) This statement shows how Mrs. Wright after years of abuse…
It is set in the kitchen of the house belonging to the Wrights. Mrs. Hale describes the house as lonesome, which is much like Mrs. Wright’s life. She did not have any contact with the outside world and interacted only with her husband, who mistreated and belittled her. Their house was located in a hollow ground, which ensured that she did not see what was going on outside their home. Her life was sad and lonely (Hosseini 5-8). Using dialogue, the author shows the readers that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters also felt much like Mrs. Wright had. They are unhappy with the manner in which their husbands undermine…
References: Glaspell, S. (1916). Trifles. In D.L. Pike and A.M. Acosta 's (Eds.) Literature: A world of writing stories, poems, plays, and essays [VitalSource digital version] (pp. 139-145). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.…
The bird is symbolized to be motivated in the first part of the poem when he is stated to be standing up for what he is going through. “But a caged bird stands on the grave of his dreams/his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream/his wings are tied so he opens his throat to sing” (Angelou 26-29). This shows that even though his feathers are clipped and his feet are tied, he is still standing up on behalf of his imprisonment and singing for freedom. The bird is also symbolized to be rebelling when he is stated to be expressing for freedom. “When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that sends his heart’s deep core, But a plea that upward to Heaven he flings” (Dunbar 17-20). This shows that the bird is symbolized to be rebelling against him being caged. This is related to the theme as it shows that the soul will rebel against the obstacle they are facing. This is how the bird is symbolized to be motivated and rebelling in the end of the…
The play “Trifles” is a murder mystery, which takes place in the kitchen of the Wrights home. In the beginning of the story, Glaspell sets the murder scene in the audiences mind by having Mr. Peters and Mr. Henderson interview Mr. Hale on his discovery of Mr. Wright’s body. Mr. Hale then begins to talk about the condition of Mr. Wright, and then continues on and talks about the behavior of Mrs. Wright…
Birds represent a class of animals who are vertebrates and live in nature. They have the ability to fly and roam all over the wilderness and the sky. The story the bird in the house manifests a theme of entrapment. This theme represents confinement which is experienced Vanessa’s father. This theme is perpetuated by her grandmother, MacLeod who is believed to love…