Discussion board

Analysis of Susan Glaspell’s “ Trifles” What happens in the play? The characters investigate the alleged murder ofJohn Wright by his wife, Minnie Wright. The men proceed with their investigation using a method of their own while constantly making sarcastic remarks about Minnie Wright and women in general. In the middle of the play, however, it is actually the women who find the evidence against Minnie Wright – a bird with a broken neck. Nevertheless, they choose to hide this evidence from the men who keep believing that all women do is mere trifles.
What section of the play constitutes its rising action?
The rising action of the play begins when the women are left in the kitchen while the men begin searching the house. It is actually at this point that the women begin acting as detectives. Mrs. Peters made inferences on a loaf of bread left in there, as well as on the possibility that Minnie Wright was actually preparing a quilt and that she was actually making nervous sewing patterns on it, which was a sign of a possible mental problem or anxiety. The rising action continues until the part where both female characters find an empty birdcage and finally a bird in the sewing basket whose neck was wrung.
What section of the play constitutes its falling action?
The falling action is the part of the play where the men return from their search while the women pretend not to know anything especially about the dead bird with a broken neck. The men still make fun of the women as they overhear them talking whether Minnie Wright was going to quilt it or knot it. The men thought that the women were just discussing trifles but what they did not realize was that it was the actually the most important piece of evidence they needed.
How do characters’ actions advance the play’s plot?
Basically, it is the female characters’ actions and curiosity that advance the play’s plot. Had Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters not been curious or inquisitive enough, they would not have started looking around the kitchen among Minnie Wright’s things for anything that could satisfy their curiosity. This eventually led them to the bird with a broken neck. Moreover, the indifference of the men towards the women – by regarding them as merely interested in trifles – somehow helped advance the plot too, for, had they been different, they would have searched the kitchen first and the play could have ended there if they had found the bird first.
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Works Cited
Glaspell, Susan. “ Trifles.” 2012. Florida Gulf Coast University. 28 July 2013.