Susan Glaspell's Use Of Symbols In “Trifles“
In one of Susan Glaspell’s first plays “Trifles” (1916), her use of symbols serves to build characters and add emphasis to her main points. In “Trifles” the main symbols are used to illustrate the status of women in the early twentieth-century rural society. The play tells the story of two women coming to the house of a neighbour, Minnie Wright, who has been accused in the strangulation murder of her husband. They’ve come to collect some of Minnie’s things while the men, the sheriff, county attorney, and a witness, search for clues and answers. Minnie Wright is never seen in the play, but the audience can learn a lot about her character in Glaspell’s representation by use of symbols such as the house, Minnie’s quilt and the way she quilted it, the bird, and the sardonic title of the play. “I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful - and that’s why I ought to have come. I - I’ve never liked this place. Maybe it’s because it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road. I dunno what it is, but it’s a lonesome place and always was” (Glaspell, 983). This is a description of the Wright’s house given by Mrs. Hale, a neighbour who Minnie in her happier days before marrying John Wright, as Miss F
The women knew that with the “trifles” they had found the case would have been open and shut. Their position as women in the early twentieth century made them laugh at themselves for thinking, something they were not generally supposed to do. “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell, 980). Minnie worked hard on her preserves but the men still ridiculed her for worrying about them, thinking that a woman could only care about something that didn’t matter. Glaspell used symbols to illustrate to standing of women in this time, and the details represent how small women were considered to be. Before they all left the Wright house, the men had taken the last stab at ridiculing the women’s concern over trivial things, but that one “trifle” could have solved the whole case for them. The County Attorney said mockingly, “Well, Henry, at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to – what is it you call it ladies?” (Glaspell, 986), and Mrs. Hale replied “We call it – knot it, Mr. Henderson” (Glaspell, 986). As the women collected things to bring for Minnie they came across her sewing box with a quilt that she was working on. She was quilting it in a “log cabin” design, the concentric bars suggesting the entrapment she felt. Minnie felt trapped in the house, fated to a life
Some topics in this essay:
Minnie Wright,
Hale Peters,
Wright Minnie,
Susan Glaspell’s,
County Attorney,
John Wright,
Foster Minnie’s,
minnie wright,
Henderson” Glaspell,
glaspell 986,
john wright,
glaspell 980 minnie,
symbols illustrate,
twentieth century,
title play,
glaspell 980,
980 minnie,
wright house,
neighbour minnie,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 931
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
CUSTOMER SERVICES
| |
|
Example Essays Home
