The Importance of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in Susan Glaspells Trifles

The patented murder mystery, in all its habit-forming predictability, presents the audience with numerous cliches a stormy night, a shadowy figure, a sinister butler, and a hugger-mugger phone call. Susan Glaspells Trifles does not fit this mold. Glaspells mysterious inquiry into the murder of John Wright presents the reader with only one suspect, Mrs. Wright. level(p) though the court examiner and sheriff poopnot find evidence against Mrs. Wright, the reader can plausibly argue the case against the neglected wife. Glaspells use of descriptive terminology and subtle hints established the mood, presents the motive, and uncovers the evidence needed to solve this murder mystery. panorama the proper mood is important for any play, especially one that requires that its readers be wary of the surroundings. The first glimpse the reader gets of the setting is that of an abandoned farmhouse . . . and a gloomy kitchen (Glaspell 127). These first words give the readers a heightened state o f tautness and prepare them for darker events yet to come. Mrs. Hale repeatedly describes the cold house as not being a very cheerful place and mentions that it great power not have been any cheerfuller for John Wrights being in it (130). These comments plan of attack from a neighbor lead the reader to believe that Mrs. Wright was not laughing(prenominal) in her surroundings largely because of her husband. Even the rocking chair in which Mrs. Wright sit seems tainted with unpleasantness. Mrs. Peters ahs to shake off the mood which the empty rocking chair evokes (131) sooner she continues her conversation with Mrs. Hale. The strange feeling the house provokes prods the women to think more than deeply into the events leading to John Wrights death. This curiosity allows the women to u... ...would have much more fuss portraying the evidence to the reader. This portrayal not only makes the story more interesting, but it also increases the character development of this short drama. Works Cited Banner, Lois. Women in Modern America A Brief History. New York Harcourt Brace, 1974. Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Making lit Matter An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston Bedford / St. Martins, 2000. 127-137. Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Plays by Susan Glaspell. New York Dodd, Mead and Company,Inc., 1920. Reprinted in Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. X.J.Kennedy and Dana Gioia Eds. New York Harper Collins Publisher, 1995. Hewitt, Nancy. beyond the Search for Sisterhood American Womens History in the 1980s.Social History. Vol. 10 No. 3 (1985) 299-321