Many women have been stereotyped at one point in their life. Usually, this stereotype presents women as intellectually inferior. Even today, women are sometimes labeled as "airheads" or "twits." In "Trifles," a very symbolic tale, women administer revenge for their suffering in more ways than one.
The female characters of "Trifles" were seen by males as being nothing more than dim-witted women, who should be seen and not heard. This is typical of society in the late 1800's/early 1900's, which is the time setting of this play. The male characters, Sheriff Henry Peters and Attorney George Henderson strut around like kings making lewd, sexist remarks while investigating the murder of farmer John Wright. Throughout the drama, the male characters walk around the farm house looking for clues that would prove that Mrs. Wright committed the murder. Unfortunately, they do this from a male point of view and are completely oblivious to the environment around them. Meanwhile, the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, actually end up solving the murder of John Wright. There is evidence of abuse in the Wrights" marriage. The discovery of the broken door leads the women to conclude that John was very physical and strong. Second, it is assumed that Mr. Wright broke then neck of his wife's canary. The canary, which was caged, represented Mrs. Wright herself. The canary is a beautiful, free spirited bird that had a sweet voice, just like Mrs. Wright had when she was still known as Minnie Foster, "one of the town girls singing in the choir." (1241) The bird's cage symbolized her own jail in her marriage to John Wright. However, when Mr. Wright killed his wife's bird, for some reason, that was the last straw for Mrs. Wright. She was finally able to stand up for herself, and killed her husband as revenge for the years of abuse she had to endure.
Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, while waiting for the men to investigate the scene, are the ones that are able to figure out what really happened.
