WrightThe play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell , is an examination of the different levels of early 1900s mid-western farming societys attitudes towards women and equality. The obvious theme in this story is men discounting womens intelligence and their ability to play a mans role, as detectives, in the story. A less apparent theme is the empathy the women in the plot find for each other. Looking at the play from this perspective we see a distinct set of characters, a plot, and a final act of sacrifice.The three main characters, Mrs. Peters, the Sheriffs wife, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Wright are all products of an oppressive society which denies them their right to think and speak freely, in the case of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, and denies them their right to a happy, free life as in Mrs. Wrights case. Throughout the play Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are able to find clues to the motive for the murder from their detailed knowledge of simple housewifery of which the men are ignorant. They also are forced to find an empathy for Mrs. Wright as they compare their own experiences to the clues they discover of her life. In the end this empathy causes them to make a decision which also casts them into the underdogs lot of women fighting for their freedom in the early part of our century. At the opening of the play we find the two women not taking a very active part in the play. In fact, they seem a little disconcerted to be on the scene of a murder, their only words as they stand by cold door on a cold night is Im not cold.(1170) The women do not start to take an active role in the story until the county attorney finds the broken preserves jars in the cabinets. Then we see the ladies first defense of Mrs. Wright. After the attorney makes a jibe, Held for murder and worryin about her preserves.(1172), he tries to clean his hands but has trouble finding a clean rag. He comments on Mrs. Wright to the ladies, Not much of a housekeeper, would y...
