Triffles By Susan Glaspell

Questions

• What clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband?

The clues that have led the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband are broken furnitures, the rundown kitchen, preserved fruits, ragged clothing, "unfinished quilt" that has messy stitches, "the empty bird cage" and the box which contains the "canary with a wrung neck".

• How do the men differ from the women? From each other?

The differences between men and women in Susan Glaspell's "The Trifles" are the men is emotionally less sensitive and particular than women. Based on the play, we can see the "Sheriff", "County Attorney" and Mr. Hale didn't seem to investigate further for the clues in the kitchen. Most of their conversation has clearly shown how much they have belittled the women at that time and assumed women only worried of small particular things in the household, for instance, how they criticized women for worrying trifles and fruit preservatives. The only thing the sheriff in the beginning of the investigation was "Nothing here but kitchen things." and "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves." Meanwhile Hale agreed that "women are used to worrying over trifles." On the other hand, County Attorney only wanted the answer to the murder scene instead of the reason why Minnie Wright has killed her husband: "I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about." Even though he said might show he was a rational person, however, he wanted things to be done without hearing any further elaborations. He said "I'd like to talk more about that a little later. I want to get the lay of things upstairs now." This has clearly seen men are very dominant person, and seldom bring themselves to a particular thought which usually made by the women. At the end of the story, the men look upon the importance of law instead of the importance of the relationship between an individual , for instance, the sheriff said "Married to the law." We can implied that there is no wa  has already displayed that men do not take account of a personal relationship when there is a violation towards the law.( "The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell (1916), Portable Legacy, 2009: 709-712, 720)

Whereas the women, Mrs Hale and Mrs Peter, are rather different from these male characters in terms of emotions and sensitivity in further investigating the situation. Mrs Hale is rather a very sensitive and emotional as she easily felt guilty of not visiting Minnie Wright. She even reminiscent of the days she was with Minnie during her younger time as a very beautiful woman who sang in a choir in town. She mentioned in the conversation that:

"Mrs. Hale: Wright was close. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you didn't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that- oh, that was thirty years ago. This all you was to take in?" ("The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, Portable Legacy, 2009:714)

"Mrs Hale: I could've come. I stayed away because it weren't cheerful-and that's why I ought to have come. I-I've never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow and you don't see the road. I dunno what it is but it's a lonesome place and always was. I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. I can see now. ("The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, Portable Legacy, 2009:717)

 Based on this quotation, we can see that Mrs. Hale as a woman usually would put herself under Minnie Wright's shoes as a way to understand her situation. She would feel that it was right to protect her friend's crime evidence (the box contained a dead canary) in her coat pocket as a way to help her as a friend.

"Mrs. Hale: I might have known she needed help! I know things can be-for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peter. We live close together and we live apart. We all go through the same thing-it's all just a different kind of the same thing." ("The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell (1916), Portable Legacies, 2009:719)

Meanwhile, Mrs. Peter is a very rational person in analyzing the situation as well as the person who tried to stop Mrs Hale from being too emotional, quoting that  "But Mrs. Hale, the law is the law." ("The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell (1916), Portable Legacies, 2009:715). Even though she agreed what has Mrs. Hale thought, however she still insisted that "the law has got to punish crime." which Minnie couldn't avoid at the end. Because she remembered of her first son's death, she emphasizes Minnie's overwhelming loneliness and being mistreated by her husband after he killed Minnie's canary.

What do the men discover? Why do they conclude "Nothing here but kitchen things"
The men only realize that the kitchen is very messy, based on the scene given in the extract of the "The Trifles" where the kitchen has  "unwashed pans under the sink", "a loaf of bread", "a dish of incompleted work", "a dish-towel on the table"-other signs of incompleted work. They conclude "Nothing here but kitchen things" is because they couldn't find the leading clue that lead the criminal, Minnie, that made her kill her husband. And all the things that were available in the kitchen were plainly being assumed that Minnie is a full-time house wife which is hardly impossible for her to use any specific weapon to kill her husband. Therefore, the quotation shows that how insignificant and unimportant Minnie's actions that made her kill her husband, which is continued by "Women are used to worrying trifles."


References:

"The Trifles" by Susan Glaspell (1916), Jan Zlotnik Schmidt & Lynne Crockett, Portable Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, First Edition: Drama, Micheal Rosemberg, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning