Essay on Trifles

Submitted By StaceyGeyer1

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Stacey Geyer
1/17/13
Mailbox #205

In Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, the question that incessantly ran through my head was ‘why are these women really here?’ In reading the text solely as it appears on the page, these women are here to collect some items for the ‘Widow-in-Question’ and to wait quietly and uncomplainingly in the kitchen while the men find an answer to the murder-mystery. Being the wives of two of the three men in attendance, I without a doubt assume that the women originally thought that their presence at this crime scene was conceivably based on their usual reasons for accompanying their husbands: to complete any task deemed too womanly for the men to bother themselves with (i.e. collecting the clothing items), and to help the men with anything they may need assistance with. Although this literal reasoning is very prevalent in the beginning dialogue, I found it hard to get past that initial question. When the men finally took their leave from the kitchen in search of clues, the women finally had a chance to discuss some real feelings. Their initial opinions seemed to be of a more piteous nature. The women made polite small talk over how they could have helped the poor accused woman before she seemingly lost her mind. Through this small talk, they express typical womanly concerns about the cleanliness of the house, and generic quilting inquiries. Through the development of the dialogue, the wives, Mrs. Hale especially, are particularly uneasy about what the motive could have been for this crime. It is at this point when I believe the women stop being ‘wives’ and start really thinking and making conclusions for themselves. The ladies realize how much more they could have helped Mrs. Wright,

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