Choices In Ernest Hemingway's Play 'Trifles'

A Trilogy of Choices

Ernest Hemingway’s, story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles,” and Adrienne Rich’s poem “Living in Sin” are three different types of literature which deal with the relationship between a man and a woman. Although the circumstances and the people are very dissimilar from each other, they are alike in that each depicts the story of common everyday people through whom they convey their shared themes. Each of these writers is challenging socially defined gender roles as they discuss the relationship between men and women and the point that at some point most women will reach a crossroad where they are forced to make a decision that will affect the rest of their lives.
All three of these texts have either dialog or actions wherein a man displays his perception of the
Wright’s past life to its present set of circumstances. Part of the play involves a bird which is intended to symbolize Mrs. Wright’s spirit. As Mrs. Hale notes, “she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery” (Glaspell, 795). She was happy and spirited until she married John Wright. They live in an isolated, gloomy farmhouse. The house is cold and there is an old worn-out stove in the kitchen that doesn’t provide much heat. This is a description of the relationship between John Wright and his wife. Like the fire, their love had long ago burned out. Her life was as busted as the birdcage and her mental well-being was as fragile as the jars of preserves which cracked from the freezing temperatures. Mr. Wright’s strangulation and the bird’s broken neck are indications of how chocked Mrs. Wright felt by her life. The low level her of her mental state is clearly represented by the unevenly sewn quilt. Even though Mrs. Wright was never actually seen, each of these symbols characterized her nature and her presence in the