by Fiona Mcgrath

Created on: January 19, 2009

The question of whether feminist criticism is still necessary leads me to reflect on a play called Trifles written in 1916 by Susan Glaspell. It is set in an isolated farmhouse where the murder of the farmer, John Wright has taken place. Three men, a court attorney, the sheriff and a local farmer come to the house to gather evidence in an attempt to convict the only suspect of the crime, the wife of the deceased. Two of the men in the party bring their wives to the farmhouse in order to perform the very menial role of collecting together a few items for the accused woman.

The play takes place in the kitchen, clearly the feminine space of the home. The men leave the kitchen at times to investigate the bedroom where the murder took place and it is during these times that the women quietly pick through the seemingly innocuous clues that allow them to enter the mind of the accused. The distaste felt by the women regarding the invasion and ridicule of this woman's space is evident in their physical reactions and their verbal responses. This is an attack on an individual but the women visibly consider it an attack on their gender. The title of the play succinctly encompasses the lack of understanding that the men have towards the women and the subsequent lack of communication between the sexes. However, the crime has taken place within the private sphere of the home so rather than forcing a public and masculine scrutiny of the evidence the play portrays the relevance of a thoughtful and delicate investigation.

The first significant utterance by the women is an exclamation by one to the other regarding Mrs Wright's ruined fruit. Their concern is ridiculed by the sheriff, Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves... women are used to worrying over trifles'. Glaspell's stage directions clearly indicate an increasing closeness between the women as they move together physically and psychologically against the passive oppression of the men. As the two women silently unite, their actions, thoughts and words also confirm a unity with the accused. Although the sheriff's wife continues to express reluctance when commenting on their patriarchal society however as the play progresses we witness moments of revelation within Mrs Peters' expositions. She endures an internal struggle between her role as a wife and that of her suppressed identity. This reluctance is echoed towards the end of the play by the attorney who declares Mrs Peters is

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