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Trifles by Susan Glaspell
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Compulsory English Class 11
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Trifles by Susan Glaspell
MAIN SUMMARY
Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The play begins at Mr. John Wright's farmhouse. In the beginning of the play, we find all the characters entering Mr. Right's kitchen. First, County Attorneys Mr. George Henderson, Mr. Henry Peters, and Mr. Lewis Hale enter the kitchen. After all, these three men are Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. The condition of the kitchen is dilapidated. When they get there, they find everything dilapidated and abandoned. There were utensils scattered in the kitchen: a loaf of bread from a box of bread, a pot towel on the table, unwashed dishes under the sink, etc. It seems like it's a sign of unfinished business.
All the male characters move closer to the fireplace, whereas the women stand at the door. The county attorney, Mr. Henderson, examines the things around the kitchen, confirming whether they are touched or untouched.
He begins his investigation by asking Mr. Hale a question about the events of the previous day. Mr. Hale is the man who first saw Mr. Wright's dead body. Mr. Hale explains that he went to Mr. Wright's house to ask about getting a telephone line. He met Mrs. Wright sitting on a rocker, moving back and forth. She looked quite awkward and nervous as she was pleating her apron. She behaved quite strangely with Mr. Hale. She informed Mr. Hale of her husband's death with a rope around his neck. She said that someone strangled her husband while she was in deep sleep. She said that she did not hear anything from her husband during the night. Mr. Hale then reported Mr. John Wright's death to Mr. Henry Peters and brought the body to the scene for viewing. He even went to fetch the coroner, an officer involved in investigating the suspicious deaths. When Mr. Hale spoke to Mrs. Wright about the telephone, she laughed and was scared.
County Attorney Mr. George Henderson begins his investigation from the kitchen. He inspects a broken glass jar containing some fruit preserves in the cupboard. Broken jar glasses have made the cupboard so messy. Both Mr. Henderson and Mr. Peters criticise the trifles' concerns regarding Mrs. Wright's Preservative Jars, who has been accused of murdering her husband and arrested.
Mr. Henderson continues to criticise Mrs. Wright's housekeeping skills and dirty towel. However, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters support Mrs. Wright being female. Both the ladies don't like Mr. Hale's dialogue. Mr. Hale says women worry about trifles, or the smallest things. Hearing his dialogue, both women come close to each other. The men move upstairs in search of evidence. Mr. Henderson allows both women to collect items for Mrs. Wright. When Mrs. Hale arranges a pan in the kitchen, Mr. Henderson disturbs her act. Mrs. Hale does not like Mr. Henderson's act of criticising women. Both women take a few clothes for Mrs. Wright from her closet.
Later, the two women start talking about Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters about Mrs. Wright. According to her, Mrs. Wright was a very famous singer thirty years ago and was known as Minnie Foster. At that time, she was very beautiful and happy. She wore a beautiful dress and sang quite beautifully. But her happiness ended after marriage. Her husband was a very strict person. He did not allow her to join the women's aid. After marriage, she mostly wore an apron with a shawl that was hung behind the door. Mrs. Hale thinks Mrs. Wright to be an innocent woman who is concerned about the preservation of fruit jars. Both women do not believe that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband.
According to Mrs. Peters, her husband is suspicious of Mrs. Wright. He did not believe in the act of Mrs. Wright not waking up in the night when her husband was murdered. Mrs. Hale also mentions that her husband found a gun in the house. For him, using a rope for murder instead of a gun is highly suspicious. Mrs. Hale is concerned about Mrs. Wright, who is in the town's jail.
After a while, Mrs. Hale finds a large sewing basket with a quilt. When they examine the quilt, they find that the stitches are not stitched well. They speculate about Mrs. Wright's nervousness while sewing the quilt. When men hear the discussion of women relating to quilts and knots, they laugh and ridicule the trifling actions of women. Next, the men go to the barn in search of evidence.
Both women want to complete the unfinished quilt by Mrs. Wright. While searching for paper and wire, Mrs. Peters finds a birdcage in a cupboard. There is no bird, and the cage door is broken. Mrs. Hale remembers a person selling singing bird canaries around the previous year. They speculate that Mr. Wright may have bought a canary from the person. Mrs. Hale guesses that the cat must have caught the bird in the cage. But Mrs. Peters informs Mrs. Hale that Mrs. Wright does not have a cat. She says that her cat once went into Mrs. Wright's room and disturbed her. Mrs. Hale is concerned about Mrs. Wright's absence from her house these days. According to her, he never liked this secluded and gloomy place, which is quite hollow and far from the road. Mrs. Hale says Mr. Wright was a very difficult person to live with. There were no children in Wright's house. Mrs. Wright had to spend her time alone while Mr. Wright was at work. Mrs. Hale speculates that Mrs. Wright may have purchased a canary for her company. Mrs. Hale says she was like a bird—really sweet and beautiful—singing beautifully in a choir before the wedding. She wonders how she changed.
Later, Mrs. Hale finds a beautiful red box in the sewing basket while searching for scissors to fix the stitches made by Mrs. Wright. Both are quite surprised to find a dead canary wrapped in silk cloth. They get scared seeing the wrung neck of the bird. When they hear the men coming back from the barn, they hide the red box between the pieces of the quilt. Mr. Henderson then scoffs at the women, asking about the blanket and whether it was knotted or quilted. Mrs. Peters replies quite decisively, saying that Mrs. Wright wanted to knot it up. Later, the men discuss finding no evidence in the barn.
Next, the men discuss the rope that was the rope of the house and was used to murder Mr. Wright. They again move upstairs to analyse the rope, inch by inch.
Now, both women have received a new piece of information about Mrs. Wright's condition. Mrs. Hale says Mrs. Wright was trying to bury her beloved bird in a beautiful red box. Mrs. Peters recalls an incident from her past and becomes depressed. According to her, she had a beautiful kitten when she was a small girl. But a boy brutally killed her kitten in front of his eyes with a hatchet. Quite interestingly, she says that if she were bold enough, she would hurt the boy. Here, Mrs. Peters' opinion reveals the concept of vengeance. The two women try to link the murder of a bird to the murder of Mr. Wright. Mrs. Hale concludes that Mr. Wright was a strict man who did not like his wife's singing or even the singing of bird-like canaries. After many years of silence in the house, a bird started singing. She is sure that Mr. Wright must have killed the bird in anger.
Mrs. Peters recounts her own experience of emptiness. In the past, she lost her first two-year-old child. After the child's death, she spent a hard time without her child. But she says the law has to punish the crime. Mrs. Hale also remembers Mrs. Wright when she was a singer. She feels guilty these days for not meeting Mrs. Wright and supporting her in her needs.
Mrs. Hale sympathises with Mrs. Wright and decides not to tell her about the broken jar of preservatives. Mrs. Peters wraps a nice jar of preservatives in a petticoat for Mrs. Wright. They don't want to make her upset. Mrs. Peters knows that men will laugh at her, upset by the dead canary.
The men come down and say that they need definitive proof for the culprit. Mr. Henderson does not seem satisfied with his investigation. He wants to stay there for any other clues to take the case forward. Mrs. Peters asked Mr. Henderson to verify Mrs. Wright's belongings that she had taken. Mr. Henderson at random verified them by saying that she, too, is bound by the law by being the wife of a sheriff. In search of evidence, the sheriff and the coroner go to the window of another room. Mr. Hale goes out too.
Both women hide evidence related to Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Peters tries to hide the red box in her bag, but the box is too big. She tries to catch the canary, but is unable to touch it. Mrs. Hale snatches the box from Mrs. Peters and, upon hearing the sound of the door in another room, puts it in the pocket of her large coat.
The play ends with a conversation between Mr. Henderson and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Henderson asks the women sarcastically about Mrs. Wright, saying that she was not going to quilt it. But Mrs. Hale defends Mrs. Wright, saying she was about to tie the knot.
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