Trifles is the second play in our Reading Rainbow!
It's a great story with a murder-mystery feel to it.
The play is about a murder in a small town. We enter the story when the investigators come to the house where the murder took place to figure out what happened. It is assumed that the husband, Mr. Wright(dead guy) was murdered by his wife.
The couple's neighbor, who first discovered the unfortunate event when he came to visit, starts explaining his side of the story as the County Attorney and Sheriff begin their investigation. The men instruct their wives who are along for the ride to gather belongings for the incarcerated Mrs. Wright, while they do the "hard work". There is a common theme of putting the women's worries and cares below the men's important tasks.
As the play progresses, the men are mainly upstairs investigating while the women are tending to the mess that is the abandoned kitchen. We soon discover that the women are the real ones uncovering the mystery just by looking through Mrs.Wrights things. The women start to identify and understand the wife's rough circumstances.
Minnie Wright is not a character in the play so she isn't able to speak for herself, but through the discoveries the women make in the "trifles" that she had lying around her house, they are able to personify and identify Minnie. They eventually discover Minnie's motive for killing her husband, and in the end hide it from the investigators to protect Minnie Wright.
The play really has a theme of the women ending up being the clever ones and the men assuming that they are the smart investigators. They dismiss the women's worries when the true clues are staring them in the face.
I totally agree with you. I think its very interesting how Minnie isn't really a character but we learn so much about her. I kind of almost wanted to sympathize with her. I mean I know she killed her husband but it was something about the way the women portrayed her like she was the victim. Minnie had a strong presence in the play.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained Trifles! I want to comment on the last little bit, how you mention the play features a theme of women being more clever than men. It shows that women can have power over some sort of authoritative men, even in that time...I mean...people shouldn't be getting away with murder, but, hey, it makes for a good play!
ReplyDeleteThis is a well done and easily understandable explanation of Trifles. One thing in particular that I really liked/ never thought of was the reoccurring theme. I never tied in that the behavior of the Sheriff and Attorney was similar to that of Mr. Wright. In terms of putting down women. I spent so much time focusing on the quilt and bird cage that I completely overlooked the significance of those two characters. I tip my hat to you sir.
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