Trifles — Susan Glaspell
When we talk about Modernism, we can mention Susan Glaspell. She wrote the play Trifles in which she describes ordinary people and a murder mystery to solve. Also, her play can be considered as feminist literature since her characters are women that are living under circumstances of subordination. This story is based on a real case. Glaspell was a journalist, and she covered the Hossack murder case. In this case “a mother of nine was accused of hatcheting her husband to death while he was asleep. Susan covered the case, and it became the source of her masterpiece Trifles and its short story offshoot, “A Jury of Her Peers” (Ben-Zvi, 41).”
In Trifles, the irony is present. When we talk about irony in literature, there are three kinds of irony. Verbal, dramatic and situational irony. Verbal irony is when a “speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to say. It is an intentional product of the speaker, and is contradictory to his/her emotions and actions (“Definition of Verbal Irony,” 1).” When we talk about dramatic irony, we are referring to “incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play (“Dramatic Irony,” 1). While, situational irony is “irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected (“Situational Irony,” 1).
The irony may be in the story starting by the title story. Trifles title refers to objects of very little or no value. That makes sense if we think about the position of female characters in Glaspell’s work. Another interpretation is that male characters do not understand women and find them trivial.
As soon as we start reading the work of art, we notice how the roles of men and women are perceived in the society of the nineteenth century. Women were basically relegated to housework and men were the sole providers of the household. There was a high inequality between the roles and rights of the genders.
This story focuses on the suspicion that John Wright has been murdered while he was sleeping next to his wife, Minnie Wright. In this story, the role of women is relegated to working at home and caring for children. But if there are no children in the marriage, it is assumed that there is not much work for women, and a lonely destiny awaits to them. One of the most famous symbols in this story is the bird cage. Here, it can be seen in the same way that the bird feels imprisoned in it, we could say that women are also imprisoned by being oppressed by their husbands.
MRS PETERS: Well, you mustn’t reproach yourself, Mrs. Hale. Somehow, we just don’t see how it is with other folks until — something comes up.
MRS HALE: Not having children makes less work — but it makes a quiet house, and Wright out to work all day, and no company when he did come in. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?
MRS PETERS: Not to know him; I’ve seen him in town. They say he was a good man.
MRS HALE: Yes — good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him — Like a raw wind that gets to the bone, (pauses, her eye falling on the cage)
I should think she would ‘a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it?(Glaspell, 3)
Dramatic and situational ironies are present in moments that are unbelievable to accept. For example, when in the investigations, Hale told the Sheriff and the County Attorney that when he went to visit Mrs. Wright’s house and asked about her husband, she said “not possible to talk to him” because he was dead. The most curious thing is that her husband was strangled on her bed and according to the woman, she did not hear anything.
Then, when the Sheriff and the County Attorney were talking about the murder case, the Sheriff says there was nothing strange in the house, just the mess in the kitchen. Then Mrs. Peters enters the conversation, and she shows more concern about a fruit jar that froze and could break at high temperatures. To which Hale, a middle-aged man, who was also present replies to all the people there: “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” There is irony here because to the woman it was more important to take care of a jar of preservers than to solve the murder. At the same time, it is a rude answer that denotes the little importance that men gave to women. Apart from this, if we analyze the meaning of a broken jar, it symbolizes a broken heart. The cold fruit jar symbolizes a cold heart and if it breaks, it will signify a permanent separation from someone.
The interesting part of this story with irony elements is that despite men underestimating women’s intelligence, they solved the crime while men continued looking for an answer. Finally, if we analyze in detail the meaning of the last part of the text, the word “knot” has a double meaning. Knot can be the kind made from string, but also it meant to strangulate someone. It is a story where irony, and symbolism are fully used. Following is an excerpt of the last part of the play:
SHERIFF: Married to the law. I just want you
to come in here a minute, George. We ought to take a look at these windows.
COUNTY ATTORNEY: Oh, windows!
SHERIFF: We’ll be right out, Mr. Hale.
[Hale goes outside. The Sheriff follows the County Attorney into
The other room. Then Mrs. Hale rises, hands tight together, looking
intensely at Mrs. Peters, whose eyes make a slow turn, finally meeting
Mrs. Hale’s. A moment Mrs. Hale holds her, then her own eyes point
The way to where the box is concealed. Suddenly Mrs. Peters throws
back quilt pieces and tries to put the box in the bag she is wearing. It is too
big. She opens box, start to take bird out, cannot it, goes to pieces,
stands there helpless. Sound of a knob turning in the other room. Mrs.
Hale snatches the box and puts it in the pocket of her big coat. Enter County
Attorney and Sheriff.]
COUNTY ATTORNEY: 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?
MRS HALE: We call it — knot it, Mr. Henderson (Glaspell, 9)
Works Cited
Ben-Zvi, Linda. 2005. Susan Glaspell: Her Life and Times. Oxford University Press, EBSCOhost. search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=138137&site=eds-live&scope=site Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
Definition of Verbal Irony. 2021. Literary Devices. https://literarydevices.net/verbal-irony/ Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
Dramatic Irony. 2021. Merriam Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dramaticirony Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
Glaspell, Susan. 1916. PDF document. http://www.uobabylon.edu.iq/eprints/publication_3_10984_471.pdf Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
LIT-315 20th Century American Literature and Beyond: Module Overview Five. 2021. Southern New Hampshire University. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/le/content/855290/viewContent/14964754/View Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
Situational Irony. 2021. Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/situational-irony Accessed 29 Sep. 2021
