Trifle

Running head: Trifle 1
Trifle
Institution
Course
Date

Trifle 2
A critical response essay to “Trifle” by Susan Glaspell
In the present day society, most of the women around the world are searching for equality in
their different social settings. Most of them are seen clearly accusing men of restraining them by
controlling all aspects of their lives, and thinking that they are normally given less significance
(Covington, 2008). So many literature works have concentrated on such related issues and one of
the prominent ones is the play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. This play was composed in 1916 and
it is based on the murder of John Wright and the main suspect happens to be Minnie Foster, his
wife. This essay will pay emphasize on some of the critical points of this essay which include
how marriage is explored and how gender differences are expressed. Even though in a marriage
setting in 1900s, women were portrayed as inferior to men, this essay in close references to
Susan Glaspell’s play proves otherwise by exploration of the aforementioned points and the role
of women in uncovering the mystery surrounding Mr Wright’s demise.
In 1900s, the woman was seen as the inferior member to her partner in marriage wedlock
(Abbott, Tyler, & Wallace, 2006). However, the title of this play is ironic, thus sending a vital
message to the audience that this was not the case. The plot of this play revolves around the
murder of Mr. Wright by his wife and it is ironic that males consider females’ roles as Trifle, yet
the victim of the occurrence is one of their own. What is more, a respectable group of men from
the town are given the responsibility of investigating this crime but they are all unable to resolve
the mysterious demise of John Wright. Due to their failure, a group of uneducated women are
able to assemble evidence found at the crime scene to uncover the occurrences which contributed
to the death of Wright. Therefore, from the title of the play to some of the sentiments made my
some characters show the chauvinistic views of males towards females especially in a marriage.
Mr. Hale, for example remarks that “women are used to worrying over Trifles” (Glaspell, Trifles,