The Trifles of Women

Nothing is more satisfying than marginalized people capitalizing upon their oppressors' oversights. I felt like I was in on the cover-up with Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in Susan Glaspell's Trifles. The insignificant womanly matters turning out to be precisely what the male detectives should have paid attention to is exactly the kind of irony I live for. The solidarity of women is nothing to mess with.

Let's look into some of Mrs. Wright's trifles. From dead birds, to the kitchen, to quilting, her goings on are all discussed as things in the way of the "real" investigation, when this was actually all of the evidence.

The best (and worst) part of the irony is that the two men are following Mr. Wright's footsteps during their investigation. It's set up that the motive behind the murder is Mr. Wright's distaste and neglect of the things important to his wife. He most likely killed her pet bird, and he isolated her to the house without appreciation of her domestic work. When the investigators ignore those same things that were important to her, they miss what would be damning evidence.

Since the women empathize with Minnie and are willing to conceal evidence on her behalf, it is worrisome that their husbands are guilty of the same as Mr. Wright. Perhaps they will be inspired by Minnie's bid for freedom from her cage, and maybe even be willing to risk getting their necks wrung for trying the same.