Free Trifles Analysis Essay Sample

Susan Glaspell wrote this play in the year 1916, which was post world war period. This play is mainly based on the past murder case that the author happened to go through while doing his duties as a young reporter in the State of Iowa, USA. The play is mainly centered on the differences in men and women’s take on issues which usually result to grave developments. The play rotates around the murder of Mr. Wright by his wife and the process of getting the culprit that did the act

For vengeance to occur there must be disagreements at that precede the act of vengeance. These disagreements in the Trifles are brought about by the attention with which men have to those things (trifles) that women treasure most. The Attorney and the Sheriff in their observation in the kitchen are chauvinistic to the level that they don’t recognize the importance of the kitchen appliances and instead view this appliances with less importance “Nothing here but kitchen things.”

The author is very clear on his choice of name for the main characters, Mr Wright who by the nature of his behavior sees all the things that he does is always right to the extend that he can not accommodate the feelings of the wife. This is demonstrated when he decides to do away with the Canary which happens to be a treasure to his wife.

The disagreements also come in the way that the men believe in the superiority of their actions and their way of doing thins as compared to that of the women. This can be observed when the men including the Sheriff, the Attorney and Mr. Hale criticize Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping skills. Disagreements also come in the form of trying to defend each others gender. For this matter the members of the two genders believe that their actions and way of doing thins is the best. In doing this, the women end up trying to hide the negativities of their actions.

At the end of the Play, the aspect of revenge is well brought out through the actions and the statements brought out by the characters. This is brought out in two ways, through the action of Mr. Wright to kill the Canary and Mrs. Wright decision to strangle the Husband. Mrs. Wright had placed a lot of attachment to the Canary bird she was keeping in the house. However Mr. Wright was not happy with this Canary which she later decided to strangle in a way of doing away with it forever. Mrs. Wright on getting to know that her hubby strangled her Canary decides to revenge in way of killing the husband.

The second instance where we find revenge is where the three women are together in the house together with their husbands in trying to find out the cause of the death of Mr. Wright. The women, Mrs. Hale, the Sherriff’s wife and Mrs. Peters are disturbed when the men criticize Mrs. Wrights housekeeping skills. This forces them to divide in the house living the men to go upstairs and remaining down to check on the (trifles) which men seem to have ignored. At the end of the process, the women find the clues to the death of Mr. Wright but in way of revenge to the men’s insensitivity they decide to keep it a secret to themselves. This vengeance comes in the form of one gender against the other.

The centre stage for the vengeance in the trifles lies in the insensitivity of men to what women consider to be important. Due to lack of a child for example explains to the audience of the play just how important Mrs. Wright had valued her canary bird. It is definite that Mr. Wright would treasure the child if they could be blessed to have one.

Susan Glaspell has in the best way possible brought out the theme that is vengeance in a manner that is symbolic yet very effective in sinking driving the point home.

 

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