Reading

Trifles

Understanding the Text

a. Do you believe that Mrs. Wright killed her husband? Explain.
Ans: Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale discover a number of clues which point to Mr. Wright’s cruelty. They examine her untidy kitchen, take note of Minnie’s irregular stitching, discover a broken birdcage, and find a dead canary in Minnie’s sewing box. They come to the conclusion that Mr. Wright killed her beloved pet, in her rage, she killed him in his sleep. She murdered her husband to escape her abusive and oppressive marriage.

b. Do you think Mr. Wright’s death would have been uncovered if Mr. Hale hadn’t stopped by the Wright’s home?
Ans: No, I don’t think Mr, Wright’s death would have been uncovered if Mr. Hale hadn’t stopped by the Wright’s home. If Mr. Hale hadn’t stopped by the Wrights’ home, nobody would ever know about Mr. Wright’s death. The location of the house was quite far from the road. Nobody had visited this lonesome house for a long time. If Mr. Hale hadn’t stopped there to ask for a telephone line, Mr. Wright’s dead body would have been decayed in that gloomy house.

c. Why does Mrs. Hale think that Mrs. Wright’s worries about her preserves indicate her innocence?
Ans: Mrs. Hale thinks that Mrs. Wright’s concern for her preservatives shows her innocence and her guilt cannot be proven because a simple woman who always had concerns over the small things like fruit jars can never commit such a big crime.

d. How does Mrs. Peters’ homesteading experience connect her to Mrs. Wright?
Ans: In many ways, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Wright are linked by their shared experience of homesteading. Mrs. Peters doesn’t know much about Mrs. Wright’s condition. She sees herself and Mrs. Wright as both being victims of a patriarchal culture that oppresses women. She recalls a time in her past when she felt helpless in the face of male aggression.

From childhood, she had been the prey of male dominance. When she was a child, she has a kitten. A hatchet-wielding kid slashes it to pieces right in front of her. She was so furious, willing to kill him back but she was helpless. She is drawn to this encounter by her desire to avenge the death of her canary. In addition, she also lost her first kid so she went through a tough time. As a result of this, she has a better understanding of Mrs. Wright’s distress over the loss of her pet canary.

e. How do the women’s perspectives on men differ?
Ans: The women believe that each of them has suffered a similar circumstance in a male dominated society. It lets them understand the plight of Mrs. Wright easily. They consider that Mrs. Wright is worthy of their protection. While men are looking for evidence, women worry about the trifles. They find the motive behind the murder. They become sympathetic to Mrs. Wright and hide the evidence. They unify with Mrs. Wright against the law.

Reference to the Context

a. “MRS. PETERS:(glancing sound). Seems funny to think of a bird here. But she must have had one, or why would she have a cage? I wonder what happened to it? MRS. HALE: I s’pose maybe the cat got it.”

i. Who does ‘she’ refer to?
Ans: Mrs. Wright is referred to as ‘she’ in the sentence.

ii. What does the word ‘one’ stand for?
Ans: A bird is represented by the word ‘one’.

iii. What is the full form of ‘s’pose’?
Ans: The full form of ‘s’pose’ is ‘suppose’.

iv. What do you mean when Mrs. Hale says, “the cat got it”?
Ans: Mrs. Hale means “the cat killed the bird” when she says “the cat got it”.

b. “MRS. HALE: Wright was close. …… she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that-oh, that was thirty years ago.”

i. Why does Mrs. Hale refer too Mrs. Wright as “Minnie Foster”?
Ans: Mrs. Hale refers to Mrs. Wright as ‘Minnie Foster’ because Mrs. Wright was a very beautiful singer before her marriage. She was known as Minnie Foster who used to wear pretty clothes and sing in the chair.

ii. What does her description tell you about Mrs. Wright?
Ans: Her description tells me that Mrs. Wright was a quite beautiful singer before her marriage. She was known as Minnie Foster who used to sing very beautifully and wear pretty clothes thirty years before.

iii. What does Mrs. Hale mean by “that was thirty years ago”?
Ans: By ‘that was thirty years ago’ Mrs. Hale means the past time while Mrs. Wright was an unmarried and quite famous singer known as Minnie Foster.

c. What is the main theme of the play?
Ans: The major theme of the play is gender differences. The play suggests that the men are aggressive, rough and self-centered. On the contrary, the women to find the clues needed to solve the crime, while the men miss the same clues. The men only want to gather evidence of Mrs. Wright’s crime, whereas the women come to understand the mental pain that drove Mrs. Wright to kill her husband.

d. Discuss the symbolism used in the text.
Ans: The text makes use of a variety of symbols. To give you an idea of the play’s emblems, some are given below:

• • Preservation of fruits = Femininity
  • Rope = vengeance / revenge
  • Quilt = psychological instability
  • Bird Cage = limitation on Freedom
  • Knotting the quilt = murdering her spouse

e. Discuss the setting of the play. Does it have an impact on the theme of the play?
Ans: The play is set in John Wright’s abandoned farmhouse during the winter months in 1916. The house is a lonesome, gloomy place down in the hollow where the road cannot be seen. The setting of the play contributes to our understanding of Mr. Wright’s position because it implies that she was depressed or unhappy just by judging from the way her house looks. The setting of Trifles also helps us understand the characters and also moves the plot.

Reference beyond the text

a. The credibility of a character is determined not only by the character’s thoughts and actions but also by what other characters say and think about him or her. Discuss in relation to the characters of Trifles.
Ans: Here in this play, we all readers are directed towards off-stage main character Mrs. Wright through on stage characters like Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Here, these two on-stage characters keep on discussing and informing us about various aspects of Mrs. Wright’s life. Their discussion related to Mrs. Wright while investigating has provided us with various hidden aspects of Mrs. Wright’s life. Through women’s information, we are able to know about Mrs. Wright’s life and sufferings. The readers get emotionally attached to find out about her life’s story. Both women and their efforts in describing Mrs. Wright are incredible. Their efforts in the ply have helped all the readers to feel good about Mrs. Wright. With the help of these two characters, Mrs. Wright has been presented positively in front of all the readers. Mrs. Wright has got the sympathy of all the readers.

b. Dramatic irony occurs when the reader or audience has information that is unknown to the characters in a play; it creates tension and suspense. Analyse the play discussing the author’s use of dramatic irony based on these questions:

i. What information is crucial to the play Trifles?
Ans: Irony is used in literature when the audience or readers learns something that has been kept secret before. The title of the play is ironic. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters’ conversations are considered trifles. The irony is that the women discover the true motive of the murder.

The readers know the facts behind the killer of John Wright which had previously been dismissed as “trifles-useless” by males. Though the men think women are nothing but trifles play has shown themselves to be just as competent as males when it comes to accomplishing their goals and objectives.

ii. How does the playwright use this information to create dramatic irony?
Ans: This information is used skillfully by the writer to create dramatic irony. As a consequence, the story takes several unexpected turns, creating suspense for the reader and leading to some surprising disclosures. The writer delivers information about murder via the actions of his characters as they go about trying to figure out true culprit.

iii. What effect does the dramatic irony have on the audience and on the play?
Ans: The audience was kept on the edge of their seats by the use of dramatic irony, which peaked their interest and kept them wondering what would happen next. For the better understanding to the audience, all of the male characters in the play have been extensively detailed. It has been taken to a new level of appeal and interest thanks to the use of dramatic irony, which has resulted in numerous unexpected twists and disclosures.