Trifles is a one-act play written by Susan Glaspell in 1916. The play is set in a small, rural farmhouse in the early 20th century. The setting of Trifles plays a significant role in the development of the plot and the characters.
The farmhouse is described as being "old" and "bare," with "peeling wallpaper" and "broken" furniture. The house is cluttered and disorganized, with items such as dirty dishes, a disassembled clock, and a quilt in disarray. This setting reflects the loneliness and isolation of the characters who live there, as well as the poverty and lack of attention to detail that plagues their lives.
The play takes place in the kitchen of the farmhouse, which is the center of the home and a place where the characters spend much of their time. The kitchen is described as being "dark" and "uninviting," with a "low ceiling" and "cramped" space. This setting serves to further emphasize the isolation and confinement of the characters, as well as the oppressive nature of their environment.
The setting of Trifles also serves to highlight the contrast between the male and female characters in the play. The men, who are the county attorney and the sheriff, are outsiders to the farmhouse and its inhabitants. They are depicted as being neat and orderly in appearance, with clean suits and polished shoes, in contrast to the disheveled and unkempt appearance of the female characters. This contrast reflects the societal expectations and gender roles of the time, in which men were expected to be the breadwinners and women were expected to tend to the home and domestic responsibilities.
In conclusion, the setting of Trifles plays a crucial role in the development of the plot and the characters. The old, cluttered farmhouse serves to emphasize the loneliness and isolation of the characters, as well as the contrast between the male and female characters and the societal expectations and gender roles of the time.
Trifles Setting
They have broken in the cold of the empty house now that John is dead and Minnie is in jail. While doing so, the women uncover evidence that would prove the wife is culpable but decide to hide it from the men in the last moments of the play. I dunno what it is but it's a lonesome place and always was. For example, the era in which this play takes place is one that features a male-dominated and somewhat chauvinistic society. And look at this! In the play a murderess is used to depict the role assigned to women by men, most of them being unimportant issues or trivialities as the title of the play, trifle, suggests. MRS HALE: She liked the bird.
The Symbolism of Setting in the Play childhealthpolicy.vumc.org
John Wright has been strangled to death with a rope in his Midwestern farmhouse. Mrs Hale defends her and her work. As the County Attorney, Sheriff Peters A Noiseless Patient Spider Essay Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, and A Noiseless Patient Spider, written by Walt Whitman, are two of my favorite works of literature that revolve a central theme: what is said is not always meant. The significance of the bird being strangled leads the reader to make the connection that Minnie Wright had a motive to strangle her husband. Peters finds a large basket, in which are quilting supplies: Minnie Wright was working on a quilt. The argument of the paper entails why the setting of the Trifles play is so important through getting linked to the ideals and attitudes of the characters and values, the environment showing the real traits of the characters such as loneliness which reveals the neighbors attitudes and cold and freezing environment showing the devoid and barrenness of Mrs.
What is the significance of setting in Trifles?
Finally, using the realm of domain, Glaspell takes us into the heart of the action: the kitchen, as the woman's own, personal queendom. At the rear the outer door opens and the SHERIFF comes in followed by the COUNTY ATTORNEY and HALE. Then she worries about her vegetables when it turned so cold. The SHERIFF enters followed by HALE and the COUNTY ATTORNEY. The style and the settings are also very different; however, the overall theme is very similar in both pieces. She said they was in the top drawer in this cupboard. The reader can form opinions of the characters and lives that they led just by the detailed description of the setting.