Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Abstract
      Mr.Hale and Harry were on their way into town with a load of potatoes when they stopped by the Wright's house. Mr.Hale was stopping by to see if John Wright would want to get a party telephone with him. As he got to the house it looked as though no one was home until he saw that Mrs.Wright was sitting in the rocker pleating her apron. Mr.Hale asked where Mr.Wright was and Mrs.Wright said he was dead. Mr.Hale couldn't believe this and called Harry to come and see what had happened. They saw that Mr.Wright had been wrung by his neck.
       The county attorney and sheriff were now at the house to investigate. Mrs.Wright was taken into town into jail. Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters were also along to help investigate. They searched the house for clues, but couldn't find anything. Mrs. Peters and Mrs.Hale were noticing small things that were not normal and they figured out that Mrs.Wright killed her husband, but they weren't going to tell the guys that discovery.


Response
       Mrs. Wright was a lady that was very simple and didn't take pride in herself at all, at least that's what Mrs. Peters and Mrs.Hale saw, but before she got married that image was different. As they were waiting around the house for the guys to gather clues. They started finding clues of their own. They saw that the bread was left out on the counter and their was one loaf still to be baked. Another thing they found suspicious was the the house wasn't clean or put together. It was dirty and not kept up. They thought this must be because Mrs.Wright didn't have the energy or need to clean, she had given up.
       While Mrs.Hale was looking down she found that there was quilting basket on the floor. They started looking at it and saw that there were quilt squares and most were already sewn except for one that didn't looked very well sewn at all. It looked as though Mr.Wright was nervous about something. What would make Mrs.Wright nervous, was it her life, or her husband? John Wright was known to be a nice guy, but he was a "hard man". This probably was how he was with his wife too.
        Another thing Mrs.Peters and Mrs.Hale found was bird cage with broken door. It looked as though someone was angry with the bird and wanted it gone. The women suspected that Mr.Wright was sick of the bird singing and killed it. This idea was confirmed when they found the bird with it neck wrung, and placed inside a silk satchel in Mrs.Wright's quilting basket.
          All these clues lead to one thing, oppression. Mrs.Wright was being oppressed by her husband. She was unhappy and lonely, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She did what she was told and didn't argue with her husband. The only people that saw this were the women in the story. The men were totally oblivious to this idea because they thought that the women couldn't do anything or any investigative work because they were women.
         Throughout the story there are many different remarks and actions that show that the men looked down upon the women. They talk about when they first enter the house, how filthy it is. The women answer back that it's hard to upkeep a whole farm by themselves. As the story continues Mr. Hale states the women are always worrying about trifles, or small unnecessary things. The women take offense to this comment because if women didn't pay attention to trifles, there are things that wouldn't ever be done around the house.
       As it is shown through this story many women are oppressed by men. Although the women feel this they don't do anything about it and try to deal with it on their own. The men are oblivious to the thought that women can think on their own and figure things out quicker than they can sometimes.