All the Little Things

In most cases, the setting of any fiction work is the breath of life to the entire plot, the one element that effects the plausibility and interpretation of a particular piece in a make or break sense. For plays, the setting of the story becomes doubly important and has to been handled more intricately, as this, coupled with the dialogue, becomes just about the only influential component that will be exposed to the audience.

With that said, it is my humble opinion that Ms. Glaspell successfully achieved the difficult feat of making a story and it’s characters come alive on stage while at the same time expressing distinctive and elaborate themes in the simplest possible way. The basic yet effective elements in the setting create suspense and intrigue on the part of the audience as an attempt is made to solve the mysterious murder of the Wright farm. The main setting of the play, the kitchen, can easily symbolize the confined life of Mrs. Wright, but the play is more so defined by the props that lay inside it. The rocking chair and the Cherry preserves, two of Minnie’s lone enjoyments in her lonely and hollow life, symbolize the last desperate attempts of happiness that she dared reach for. The fact that the bottles had been broken due to the cold weather of winter is also blatantly symbolic, as Mrs. Wright, much like the reserves which she held so dear, was shattered beyond the hopes of repair, much in part to the iciness of her life. Her husband’s frostiness nipped at her fragile core day in and day out, each time leaving barely detectable cracks and breaks along the surface, until one day, she cracked, exploding with the tiny shards of her sanity and broken life.

Both the bird and the bird cage, however, seem to have the most crucial meanings to this play, even with the air of mystery still surrounded the previous prop. In one sense, the dead canary (assuming that it was indeed Mrs. Wright who ended it’s life) could serve as the first hint that she was indeed capable of murder. If it was killed by Mr. Wright, it could indicate his disdain for anything his wife took pleasure in, and his sadistic love for snuffing such things out. As a whole, it could symbolize the end to her happiness, and consequently her sanity, altogether, as birds have long been used as symbols for freedom and contentment. The bird cage epitomizes the confinement and imprisonment, both physically and emotionally, of Mrs. Wright and the countless women she represents.

Through the simplistic setting of Trifles, Susan Glaspell captures the plights of an entire sex and the disenchantment they often face when they choose the perilous path of matrimony. She personifies the voices of millions through this play and, much like the ‘trifles’ in the story, creates something much larger than what first meets the eye.