All About Triffles Essay Example For Students

All About Triffles Essay All about trifflesTriffes of fateOn the surface, Susan Glaspells play Trifles focuses on a wife murdering her oppressive husband.The husband is abusing his wife emotionally out on a lonely secluded farm isolated from society in the Midwest.Under the surface, the behaviors of Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Wright in Glaspells play to those of Clotho the Spinner, Lachesis the Disposer of Lots, and Atropos the Cutter of the Thread in Fate from Greek mythology(Meak86).Although Glaspell brings new meaning to the myth, the attention given to Mrs. Hales resowing the quilt, the change in Mrs. Peters perspective on law and justice, and the rope placed by Mrs. Wright around her husbands neck are part of the story of the Three Sisters who control the fate of men. Mrs. Hales behavior is similar to Clotho the Spinner, the sister who spins the thread of life.Mrs. Hale subtly suggests that Mrs. Wright is not the sole agent in the death of Mr. Wright (Meak86). Mrs. Hales reference to that event, when they was slipping the rope under his neck, (Glaspell568) showing a plural pronoun and a singular verbsuggests the involvement of more than one in a single outcome, and it suggests that the three women will be in conspiracy in the case controlling the outcome or the fate of all characters(Meak88). The information about the living condition of Wrights on the farm is supplied mainly by Mrs. Hale describes Mr. Wright as a hard man, and she describes how she remembersMrs. Wright when she was younger.She describes heras kind of like a bird.(Glaspell571)She establishes the connection of Mr. Wrightss Involvement in the physical death of the canary and spiritual death of his wife.The way the men joke about the womens concern about Mrs. Wrights intention to qui lt or just knot the quilt evokes a defensive remark from Mrs. Hale in which she hints that it is unwise to tempt fate; she asserts, I dont see as its anything to laugh about (Glaspell571).Finally, by just pulling out a stitch or two thats not sewed very good and replacing it with her own stitching (Glaspell571), Mrs., Hale symbolically claims her position as the person who spins the thread of life. The second member of the Three Sisters, Lachesis the Disposer of Lots, is personified by Mrs. Peters(Meak87).The importance of the thread spun by Mrs. Hale depends on the actions and reactions of Mrs. Peters.To claim her position as the member of the Fates responsible for assigning destiny, she must look at things further.Her objectivity is displayed in her assertion that the law is the law and her view on physical evidence as she tells Mrs. Hale not touch anything (Ben-Zvi158).The sight of the dead canary and the recognition that somebodywrungits neck marks Mrs. Peterss waking up to realize that Mrs. Wright is guilty. The discovery of the dead bird makes Mrs. Peters think about her childhood memories of rage toward the boy who took a hatchet and brutally killed her kitten.In her mind, the kitten, Mrs. Wright, and the bird become enmeshed.Mrs. Peters realizes that the dead bird will be used to ..stereotype Mrs. Wright as a mad woman who over reacts to her husbands behavior.At this po int, Mrs. Peters emerges from the shadow of her role as the sheriffs wife and becomes married to the law.Her new concept of law subjectively favors justice over procedure(Ben-Zvi161).She claims her position as the sister who dispenses that lots in life when she moves to hide the bird and denies the men something to make a story about (Glaspell573). .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .postImageUrl , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:hover , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:visited , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:active { border:0!important; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:active , .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2 .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u08866a172109965993679f017d8b0ab2:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Dialectical Journals- Things Fall Apart EssayMrs. Wright is representing Atropos the Cutter of the Thread.Symbolically, Mrs. Wright is first linked to Atropos in Mr. Hales description of her rocking back and forth is similar to the motion made by cutting with scissors(Ben-Zvi160).The connection to Atropos is further established when Mrs. Peters discovers the dead bird in Mrs. Wrights sewing box and exclaims, Why, this isnt her scissors (Glaspell571). Ironically, the dead canary takes the place of the scissors: The death of the bird is directly tied to the fate of Mr. Wright.Mr. Hale relates that in his questioning of Mrs. Wright, she admits that her husband died of a rope round his neck, but doesnt know how it happened because she didnt wake up; she is a sound sleeper (Glaspell565).Mrs. Wright denies personal involvement in the death of her husband, yet she acknowledges that he died while she slept beside him in the bed.Mrs. Wright says, I was on the inside (Glaspell565).Although she may be referring to her routine inside position of sleep behind her husband in the bed placed along the wall, Mrs. Wrights statement suggests a movement from the outside being her individual consciousness to the inside being the collective consciousness of the Fates.Her involvement with the rope of death is the equivalent of severing the thread of life.She did not spin the thread, nor did she assign the lot: she merely contributed a part to the whole, and that collective whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.For this reason, Mrs. Wright is correct in denying individual knowledge or responsibility in the death of her husband(Ben-Zvi161). In Trifles, Mrs. Hale weaves the story or describes the circumstances, Mrs. Petersweighs the evidence and determines the direction of justice, and Mrs. Wright carries out the verdict; although the procedure is somewhat reversed, the stories are still the same.Susan Glaspells use of the Fates, or the Three Sisters, does not weaken her dramatization of women who are oppressed by men(Mustazza492).Although some believe that the power of the Three Sisters rivals that of Zeus, Glaspell reminds her audience that, regardless of myth or twentieth-century law, it still takes three women to equal one man(Mustazza495). Works CitedBen-Zvi, Linda: Murder, she wrote the genesis of Susan Glaspells Trifle:Theatre Journal May 92 44: 141-162Glaspell, Susan: Trifles Literature and Society 563-574 Meak, Phyllis: Trifles in Greek mythology: The Explicator Winter97 52: 88-90Mustazza, Leonard: Generich translation and thematic shift in Susan Glaspells Trifles and A jury of her peers.: Studies in Short Ficti on Fall89 26: 489-96