Trifles is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell. The play covers the aftermath of the murder-by-strangulation of a farmer named John Wright. During the play’s first run in 1916 at the Wharf Theater in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Glaspell appeared as the character Mrs. Hale. The play was loosely inspired by the real-life, 1900 murder of John Hossack, an Iowa farmer who died due to axe wounds he sustained while sleeping in bed. His wife, Margaret Hossack, was subsequently tried and convicted—although the verdict was eventually overturned due to a technicality. Glaspell reported on the Hossack murder and the ensuing trial while employed at the Des Moines Daily News. Her journalistic work with the case inspired both Trifles and a short story titled “A Jury of Her Peers.”
The play, Trifles opens in the somber and empty Wright farmhouse. The County Attorney—George Henderson—and Sheriff Henry Peters converse with Mr. Hale, a neighboring farmer. They repeatedly direct Mr. Hale away from speaking about Mr. Wright’s roughness and non-consideration of his wife, and toward recounting the details of his interaction with Mrs. Wright on the day that the murder was discovered.
In the story, the investigating officer explains how the wife of the murdered farmer was acting in a bizarre manner when she was told about the death of her husband. A gun was discovered in the farmhouse where Mr. Wright was living with his wife. It is strange that despite the fact that there was a gun in the house, the killer decided to use a rope to kill Mr. Wright. It could have been easier to use the gun. The investigating officer, Henry Peters, arrives in the farmhouse with the witnesses. The individuals include Mrs. Peters and Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Mr. Hale explains how he visited the family the previous night and discovered the strange behavior of Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright explains the death of her husband to the witnesses in a dull and impassionate voice.
Mrs. Wright is described as the central character in the play. However, this lady does not appear on stage. All her activities are described by other actors on the scene. The death of Mr. Wright is a shock to Mr. Hale, who discovers the body after Mrs. Wright. Mr. and Mrs. Hale describe the life of Mr. Wright before marriage as full of happiness. It seems that the sadness characterizing Mr. Wright’s life was provoked by his wife. Mrs. Wright described her activities when her husband was strangled to death. The woman insists that she was asleep when the crime took place.
The other characters seem not to agree with her statement. She is the main suspect in the murder of his husband. She is later taken into custody for further questioning. Men in the room start chatting after Mrs. Wright is taken to custody. The men start by criticizing the role of women in society, based on the poor kitchen arrangement in the farmhouse. The men later exit the crime scene and leave the women in the kitchen, chatting.
The women continued talking to kill time. They pick some details in the kitchen, which the men were unable to detect when they were at the scene. The development shows the different perceptions that men and women have towards things and life in general. The evidence taken by women is not ‘forensic’ in nature. However, it provides clues on how Mrs. Wright used to live with her husband. The women bring out the desperate life of a housewife who did not have children but who found it hard to take care of her home. The cage is empty as a result of the escape or death of the birds. It is said that the bird was strangled by Mr. Wright.
The play shows how men fail to appreciate women. It ends as the women exit the kitchen chatting in low voices and nodding their heads to show how they feel sorry for the death of Mr. Wright.