Trifles (One-Act Play by Susan Gaspell) Summary

 

“Trifles”

Susan Gaspell

Susan Gaspell’s one-act play “Trifles” was written in 1916. This psychological play is loosely based on true events. The play begins with the murder of a farmer named Mr John Wright, for which his wife Minnie Foster Wright is suspected. The theme of the play deals with the psychological state of men and women along with their social roles. The word “trifles” typically refers to objects of little to no value. The interpretation may also be that men do not understand the value of women, and consider them trifles.

 

The sheriff, his wife Mrs Peters, the county attorney, and the neighbours (Mr. and Mrs. Hale) enter the kitchen of the Wright household. Mr. Hale explains how he paid a visit to the house on the previous day. Once there, Mrs. Wright greeted him but behaved strangely. She eventually stated in a dull voice that her husband was upstairs, dead. Mrs. Wright claimed that she was sound asleep while someone strangled her husband. It seems obvious to the male characters that she killed her husband, and she is taken into custody as the prime suspect.

 

Unlike the men, who are looking for forensic evidence to solve the crime, Mrs Peters and Mrs Hale observe clues that reveal the bleakness of Mrs. Wright’s emotional life. They theorise that Mr. Wright’s cold, oppressive nature must have been dreary to live with. The couple, Mr and Mrs Wright, has been married for thirty years and do not have children. Mr Wright is very strict and restricts his wife from indulging in social activities. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters’ conversation unveil the psychological profile of a desperate housewife.

 

When gathering up the quilting material, the two women discover a fancy little box. Inside, wrapped in silk, is a dead bird. Its neck has been wrung. The implication is that Minnie’s husband did not like the bird’s beautiful song (a symbol of his wife’s desire for freedom and happiness). So, Mr. Wright busted the cage door and strangled the bird. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do not tell the men about their discovery. Instead, Mrs. Hale puts the box with the deceased bird into her coat pocket, resolving not to tell the men about this little “trifle” they have uncovered.

 

The play ends with the characters exiting the kitchen and the women announcing that they have determined Mrs. Wright’s quilt making style. She “knots it” instead of “quilts it”—a play on words denoting the way in which she killed her husband, Mr Wright.