Question

In Susan Glaspell’s 1916 play, Trifles, there seem to be many signs that Minnie Wright is guilty of murdering her husband. What are those signs? If you were building a case against her, what evidence (from the play) would you use? Be sure to think through concepts, such as circumstantial evidence, hearsay, motive, and what might or might not be admissible in court as you make your case here.

Answer 1

• Mrs. Hale suggests that Mrs. Wright kept to herself because she did not feel happy, and she contrasts Mrs. Wright's behavior with the way Mrs. Wright had been as the young, unmarried Minnie Foster, who loved to sing.
• They speculate about whether Mrs. Wright had killed her husband, with Mrs. Hale saying that only an innocent woman would ask for an apron and a shawl while worrying about fruit.
• The canary symbolizes Minnie,her marriage became a cage and in killing the canary,her husband kills a part of her as the only thing left in her life that gave her beauty and pleasure.Only Mrs Peters and Mrs Hales understood the significance of the canary and lonely life Minnie led with ther husband,this reasoning leads them to understand that Minnie killed her husband with her sewing scissors in retribution of his cruelty.
• They both also look for things Minnie might need in prison,they come across a partially completed quilt, which exhibits evidence of wildly uneven stitching in one particular block.The other squares in the log cabin patterned quilt shows completely even and neat stitching.The erratic stitching on that one lone square corner highlights the change in Minnie's mental attitude.
• The broken jars of preserves,the empty bird cage,erratic sewing on the quilt,to the dead bird wrapped in silk all represented her dysfunctional change in her psyche.They all represented Minnie's likely guilt in murdering her husband.
• Due to time limit,remaining questions can be asked as another question,they will be answered,thankyou for your cooperation