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Spatial Relationships in Susan Glaspell's "Trifles"
The geographical setting for Susan Glaspell's one-act play, "Trifles," is rural, as discerned from the author's use of an abandoned farmhouse for the play, but it is also centered in the kitchen, a special place for women throughout history. In fact, despite being abandoned, the kitchen still draws the actors by virtue of the warmth from the newly made fire in the stove and the room represents a natural place for gathering on a frigid day. The significant of the kitchen for Mrs. Wright is also made clear by her concern over her preserves during the cold weather, even after being charged with her husband's murder. Rather than knocking on the front door, the kitchen was also the room that Mr. Hale used on his visit the day before when he spoke with Mrs. Wright about her missing husband. Although not specifically stated, the kitchen also contained the stairway (with three stairs to the stair door) to the farmhouse's upstairs bedroom area, since this is where Mrs. Wright indicated her dead husband was after being questioned by Mr. Hale. Notwithstanding the close spatial relationship of husband and wife sleeping in the same bed, the murder took place without Mrs. Wright's knowledge. The upstairs area is clearly delineated from the downstairs kitchen where women "ruled the roost" when the men laugh at the women for their interest in quilting styles rather than the crime at hand. In addition, Glaspell also draws on the spatial relationships that exist between women in terms of their geographic proximity as well as their natural camaraderie and fellowship. Indeed, Mrs. Hale admits, "I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be -- for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things -- it's all just a different kind of the same thing."
How -- she -- did -- change."(Glaspell) the second sense of the play's title becomes obvious: there is no place in the male world of overt action for women's fragility and sensibility, symbolized by the singing bird. The two wives intuitively understand that Mrs. Wright's husband could not understand or like "a thing that sang": "No, Wright wouldn't like the bird -- a thing that sang. She used to
Susan Glaspell,(Trifles). Please ensure original wor Formal Approach There is a great deal of irony found in Susan Glaspell's work of literature entitled "Trifles." Irony, of course, is when words are used the exact opposite of their literal meaning. The concept of situation irony also exists within literature, in which characters act the exact opposite of the way that a certain situation calls for. An examination of Glaspell's work indicates that
The words on the page are powerful as Williams uses symbolism to emphasize moods. Viewing the play with the plays of light and shadows would be a delight because we could see the characters moving in and out of darkness. August Wilson's play, Fences, is titled such because of the fences people tend to build between one another. This is demonstrated with Troy and Cory, who cannot agree upon much.
Wright as well as their own lives. Putting aside the fact that Toomer's Cane is a much different piece -- it is not a play and is much lengthier than Trifles -- the language, form and mood vary significantly. For example, "Fern," one of the stories in the Cane collection, first appears to be a portrait of an exquisite woman who nobody understands. However, the reader soon realizes that she
Holmes always solves the crime, and that fact is very satisfying to the reader. Similarly, the two women are inadvertently unearthing the clues to the murder alongside the searching investigators. Glaspell endears us to the two women through the use of personal experiences and memories. Through their similarities, the two women also endear the reader to Minnie Wright. This closeness in character makes it perfectly acceptable when the women
Susan Glaspell's Trifles The title of Susan Glaspell's drama Trifles indicates that it will deal with seemingly small matters: as Mrs. Hale says of the pivotal prop in the stage-play -- "Wouldn't they just laugh? Getting all stirred up over a little thing like a -- dead canary!" (Glaspell 27-8). Yet Mrs. Hale's sense that, if a male audience could see her dialogue with Mrs. Peters in Trifles by Susan Glaspell,