Preview

Brandon Esssay Life

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
836 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Brandon Esssay Life
Brandon Czubak`
English 111 – BXM
11/3/13
Essay #2
Question 2

Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” dwelled on the investigation of the murder scene of Mr. Wright. In the beginning of the play, Mr. Wright was found dead in the upstairs bedroom with a rope hung around his neck. Lewis Hale recalled how he discovered Mrs. Wright acting bizarrely, and that she told him that her husband was murdered while he was sleeping. Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior and body language caused Mr. Hale and the Sherriff to believe that Mrs. Wright was the main suspect in her husband’s murder. There are three significant reasons for Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior. Mrs. Wright’s relationship, lifestyle, and the patriarchal dominance during that era caused Mrs. Wright to act inappropriately. One significant reason for Mrs. Wright’s behavior was her relationship with Mr. Wright. Their relationship wasn’t good at all. Mr. Wright was seen as a good man, but he was known to neglect his wife. Mr. Wright showed no interest in anything that pleased Mrs. Wright, and he wouldn’t allow her to sing in the choir. Mr. Wright oppressed Mrs. Wright by not allowing her to leave the house or have any interaction with the outside world. The dead canary was also symbolic of how Mr. Wright wanted to kill anything that gave Mrs. Wright pleasure. The bird represented Mrs. Wright’s personality, and how sweet she was as an individual before she was married to Mr. Wright. The dead canary is the motive for why Mrs. Wright killed her husband. When Mr. Wright killed the bird, he killed her along with it. Mr. Wright’s cruel attitude and control over Minnie Foster caused her to change as a person. Her lively attitude had eventually decreased tremendously due to the ways she was treated by her husband. Clearly, Mrs. Wright’s relationship with Mr. Wright had caused her to behave abnormally. Another significant reason for Mrs. Wright’s strange behavior was her lifestyle. One significant symbol that plays an important

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “Trifles” was a very mysterious play. This play was written by Susan Glaspell. It does not explain why the two women helped Mrs. Wright. It does not mention any information about them being friends with her, so why would they help her? Mrs. Wright basically was tired of her husband’s ways and abuse and retaliated by murdering him. He was said to have killed her kitten years ago and in more recent terms, he killed her bird.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the 1900’s, women have struggled with gender roles in society that leaned more in favor of men. Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, reflects on this struggle by blatantly separating the ideas, opinions and actions of the men and women in the play. As the title Trifles suggests, the men in the play view the two women’s concerns as unimportant and frivolous in comparison to the “real” work the men have to do. Glaspell’s characterization of the sheriff, Henry Peters, the attorney, George Henderson, and the neighboring farmer, Mr. Hale, portrays them as typical men of the time who decide to take charge because, as men, that is their duty and only they know what can be done and how to go about discovering the truth. They only take along Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to collect some things for Mrs. Wright, never taking a moment to think that from a woman’s perspective, the answer to the murder could be found.…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wright’s death. The antagonists throughout the play are the five characters searching the Wright home, until the ending when the two women hide possible evidence from the men. Once the women choose this secrecy they join in thinking that Minnie may be innocent, or at least begin understanding why she did it and thinking that it was alright to kill the husband in order to get out of this…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Susan Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actress, novelist, and journalist. Glaspell wrote the play Trifles which tells the story two investigations being conducted over murder of John Wright. While the male characters of the play conduct an “official” investigation the female characters find themselves inadvertently conducting their own “unofficial” investigation. However this is not a run-of-the-mill murder mystery play, in which the focus lies solely on discovering the culprit and the culprit’s motive. Glaspell uses her story to also present a unique perspective of a controversial issue during her time, including the theme of female identity, primarily between women. During the time period in which Glaspell lived, the idea of fighting for women’s…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The significance of the title of the play, “A Jury of Her Peers” is fitting because it is about a woman that is going to be judged for the murder of her husband by her peers. How her life was with him was going to give her motive for her actions. The play, titled “Trifles”, written by Glaspell is also significant to the story because it explains how a small thing like the bird being killed relates to Mrs. Wrights life. The bird was a literary metaphor. The bird singing brought happiness to Minnie’s house and life. When her husband strangled the bird he had also strangled Minnie by not allowing her to make friends outside the house. “Trifles”, is a better title for when the story was written, but not so much for today’s times, because this…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    trifles bird symbolism

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When the women are looking around downstairs they come across a bird cage in the cupboard. Mrs Hale observes the door is broken off and someone must have been "rough with it," suggesting the motive for the crime. When Mrs. Hale looks inside Mrs. Wrights sewing box hoping to find scissors she finds a box and inside is the dead bird wrapped in silk. The birds neck looked as if it had been strangled. The women recall that when Minne Foster was younger she was lively, wore pretty clothes and sung in the choir, they said "I heard she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir." The bird represented Minnie before she was married to Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale says, "She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How- she- did- change." Minne and the bird were both caged, the bird was in stuck in an actual cage and Minne was stuck in the house all the time. Mr. Wright changed Mrs. Wright, he took all those good things away, he was controlling he didn’t allow her to see her friends or leave the house, he even stopped her from singing. The bird was her motive…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    (Glaspell 4) Hesitantly explaining the seeings of the crime scene, Mrs.Hale joins Mrs.Peters, Mr.Peters, Mr.Hale, and Minnie to investigate the crime. The people that Mrs.Hale joined criticizes the Wrights’ home and sees it as dirty and unkempt, but with Mrs.Hale being a farm wife as well, she understands why the house looks the way it does. “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm,” says Mrs.Hale defensively. (Glaspell 6) With Mrs.Peters, the sheriff’s wife, not being familiar with Minnie Foster, Martha repeatedly points out how uncheerful the home is. “But i dont think a place would be any the cheerfuller for John Wright’s bein’ in it,” says Mrs.Hale. This quote emphasizes that Martha knows Mr.Wright and recognizes it is impossible for an individual to be happy if living with him. Outside that home people see him as a good man, but personally he is the opposite of well-behaved. As the others observe the house critically, Martha does so sympathetically. Trying to help Mrs.Peters create a connection with Minnie Foster, Mrs.Hale gives a brief description of the young Minnie Foster…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wright, formerly Minnie Foster, used to sing before she married. After her marriage, she got a bird that sings. Mr. Wright, having already “killed” one form of singing, proceeds to do so with yet another form, the bird (paragraph 244). The bird is a reflection of Mrs. Wright’s pre-marriage personality, and when killed, it is essentially killing Minnie Foster again. The two women become sympathetic toward Mrs. Wright, backing up the desire to withhold the evidence of the dead bird. Meanwhile, the men are searching for evidence of motive, in order to convict Mrs. Wright. While the women are gathering belongings to take to Mrs. Wright, they discover an unfinished quilt that has some stitching that is out of place; Mrs. Hale decides that it would make Mrs. Wright happy if she fixed the stitching for her. The women also discover that Mr. Wright was murdered in the same fashion that the bird was killed. Mrs. Petersrecalls when her kitten was killed right in front of her, and remembers that she had wanted to “hurt” the person responsible, however, she was being held back. At that, she understands the emotions controlling Mrs. Wright and becomes more sympathetic to…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wright’s abusive behavior. When she married, Mrs. Wright led a quiet life as a Farmers’ wife and had no children. On the other hand, Mrs. Hale recounts Mrs. Wright as “Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang” (1394). The only joy and companionship Mrs. Wright experienced were that of her pet bird. As the women collected Mrs. Wright’s sewing things, they stumbled across a box with her dead bird wrapped in a silk cloth. After looking at each other in horror, Mrs. Peters confirms “Somebody-wrung-its-neck.” (1393). Before Minnie Foster became Mrs. Wright, her life was vibrant and full of life, now the only joy she possessed was killed by her husband and Mrs. Hale insists, “She used to sing. He killed that, too.” (1393). Though Mr. Wright appears to be an upstanding citizen, his heartless killing of Mrs. Wright’s bird intensified her reasoning’s for murdering…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trifles Gender Roles

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page

    The play “Trifles” written by Susan Glaspell is based in the early 1900’s when it was typical for the masculine gender role to dominate the feminine role. The theme is of the play is power and domination over females during this time era. Upon analyzing this play, Mr. Hale and Mr. Peter’s are investigating the murder and they portray themselves as strong and determined, but in reality they are not as alert as the women are. In conclusion, the women figured out that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband by simply observing the house and finding the dead bird; the men were upstairs at the scene of the crime and could not figure it out. Men to this day still do not understand that sometimes the woman’s way of thinking is better!…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trifles Feminist Analysis

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In the play, “Trifles,” Susan Glaspell demonstrates the inequality that occurs between men and women during the 20th century. From the opening scene, the two women are not given much attention unlike the men, until they are separated from them and become the main characters. Although the women are seen as inferior to men, they prove that they are much more capable as they are the ones who solve the case by thinking outside the box. They find the real motive behind Mrs. Wright’s action and are able to understand her doing because of the way women were treated back then. Even though both women decide to defend Mrs. Wright by hiding the evidence, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters sympathize with her, but for different reasons.…

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Jury Of Her Peers Essay

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mr. Peters describes her disposition as “unconcerned”, reverting the reader to seeing Mrs. Wright as the antagonist and her late husband as the protagonist. This idea that Mrs. Wright is a villain, establishes boundaries between who is the hero and villain. This places the reader on the side of the woman. This shifts considerably as the plot thickens. While in the home, the men begin to comment on the display of the kitchen- complaining of its filth, and labeling Mrs. Wright as a bad housewife. The women quickly come to her defensive, but are shut down as worrying about trivial things. Mr. Peters even exclaims, “well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worrying about her preserves!” (4). At this point in the plot, I got the sense that the men hold a great deal of power over the affairs of the women, and that they have little respect for their duties. Although it bothered me that the men made a mockery of the women, I still saw Mrs. Wright as the villain of the story. Flashing forward a couple scenes: the men now have exited the kitchen, leaving Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale alone to gather some supplies for an incarcerated Minnie. They discuss her as a child as well as who she is currently, both having positive remarks for who she is.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The bird represent the joyful life Mrs. Wright wants and use to have, and for Mr. Wright it represents his cruelty and abuse. The bird sings and provides warmth and joy for Mrs. Wright. The bird is a sign of cheerfulness in a bleary home. Mrs Hale states, "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--." She stopped, shivered a little. "Like a raw wind that gets to the bone." Mr. Wright strangles the bird, once again neglecting his wife, trapping his wife in a bleary place, and being cruel and abusive.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs. Hale remembers Mrs. Wright as a girl; Minnie Foster. Mrs. Hale described the young girls, as "kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and – fluttery." (Glaspell) If you notice, even the name Minnie belittles her. There are several indicators that Mr. Wright is abusive to his wife, but the people of their town see John Wright as a "good man." (Glaspell) Mrs.…

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Short Story Evaluation

    • 504 Words
    • 1 Page

    that Mrs. Wright did it because Mr. Wright was holding her back taking away anything joyful in…

    • 504 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays

Related Topics