Justice in Trifles Essay

Essay Instructions:

As Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is drawing to a close, and the men are preparing to leave the murder scene, when the County Attorney is asked if he wants to see what Mrs. Peters is going to take in to Mrs. Wright, he responds “Oh, I guess they’re not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out.” What the men do not know is that the women have pieced together the motive for the murder, and by silent agreement have made themselves Mrs. Wright’s jury and acquitted her of wrongdoing by hiding the evidence. In your graded writing assignment, you are asked to describe whether or not justice has been served, examining closely and determining what you think is the main theme of Glaspell’s play, and illustrating your thesis with supporting evidence from the play.
Drawing upon the time and setting for Glaspell’s 1916 dramatic one-act play, Trifles, examine the social, cultural and/or political situation as presented in the play, and the actions of the men and women in the play.
Reviewing the actions and evidence provided by the play, you are asked to judge whether or not by the play’s end if justice of some kind has been served and whose justice. You can use the characters in the play as your sources, quoting the words of the women and/or the men, for example, as further evidence to illustrate your thesis, which should reflect the main theme you see emerging from Trifles.
This short writing assignment should be no fewer than 500 words in length, and should include no fewer than three (3) quotes from the play to illustrate and support your points. Do not provide plot summary unless it is necessary to make a point that supports your thesis.
Although your written assignments for these next three weeks do not require citing outside sources, you will be asked to cite the quotations that you use from the plays to which you are responding.
Please use the below link for the play.
http://xtf(dot)lib(dot)virginia(dot)edu/xtf/view?docId=modern_english/uvaGenText/tei/GlaTrif.xml&chunk.id=d3&toc.id=&brand=default

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Justice in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles
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Susan Glaspell’s Trifles looks into the tumultuous relationships between husband and wives, in a patriarchal society where the women resent being seen only and not being heard. The act begins with the death of Mr. Wright with the men asserting that the women have to role to play to unravel the mystery of Mr. Wrights’ death. For instance, towards the end, the county attorney states “Oh, I guess they’re not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out” (Glaspell, 1916.). However, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale had concluded that Minnie Wright had most likely killed her husband in a rage after he killed her caged bird that was like her companion. The notion of justice at the end of the story has been served.
The two women in the play hide evidence of Minnie’s crimes for her to escape punishment for having committed murder. Even though, this is clearly wrong it serves justice as women work together to achieve a common goal. Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters “If there'd been years and years of nothing, then a bird to sing to you, it would be awful—still, after the bird was still” (Glaspell, 1916). This shows that they empathize with the plight of Minnie. Mrs. Peters likens the death of the bird like the death of a young child since the bird was important to Minnie who was largely isolated. The exclusion of women in the justice system is unjust highlighting that the men’s approach to the investigation was wrong.
The men looking into the crime scene ignore clues since they trivialize the role of women in the society. They assert that there is nothing important that the woman can identify, but there are in no better position at the play’s end. Even though, the women’s role in the murder investigation is not sanctioned by the...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Justice in Trifles Essay

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