Trifles Questions PDF

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Trifles Questions 1. Expectations: Upon reading the title of the play, Trifles, I expected the plot to be concentrated on something a that a person or group of people thinks is unimportant or of little value. From reading the first sentence of dialogue, I predicted that the play was about a man trying to get attention from a group of ladies by being kind. After reading the first scene of interactions between the main characters, I realized that the story was about a murder. As the conflict is resolved when the ladies decide to hide the evidence, I expected the story to come to a conclusion soon after where the women come out successful. 2. Characterization: The following individuals are the main characters of the play: the sheriff, the county attorney, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale, and Mrs. Peters (the sheriff’s wife). There is a list of these characters printed before the dialogue of the play begins. The job titles as names show that the sheriff and the county attorney are both defined in the town by their job titles, not themselves as people. The list of names shows that Mr. and Mrs. Hale are married and so are the sheriff and Mrs. Peters. In the play, Mrs. Hale is the protagonist because she points out the sexist mindset that men have and convinces Mrs. Peters to help her in hiding evidence that out makes Mrs. Wright seem guilty for the sake of femininity. On the other hand, the county attorney is the antagonist because he is the main force who Mrs. Hale is working against. At the point in the play where the women hide the evidence, they know that Mrs. Wright is most likely guilty. The men doing the investigation expect that Mrs. Wright is guilty but do not really look into the life of a woman to where she would hide evidence because they often disregard women. The two women expect to keep Mrs. Wright safe as they hide the evidence from the investigators and the audience realizes this as the women do so. 3. Plot: John Wright has been strangled to death with a rope in his farmhouse. The main suspect of the crime is his wife. The County Attorney, Sheriff Peters, and a neighboring farmer, Mr. Hale, investigate the house for evidence. Though the men constantly make fun of the women for worrying about female things, it is the ladies' attention to just that that allows them to crack the case. When the ladies find Mrs. Wright's pet bird with its neck wrung, they immediately put the mystery together. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know that Mr. Wright snapped the canary's neck, and that, after years of emotional abuse, Mrs. Wright finally snapped and strangled him. The ladies decide to hide the bird from the men, hiding the evidence of motive. Throughout the plot, the characters do not change as the men continue to oppress the hard-working women who support one another. The situation changes as the women find the evidence but hide it from the oppressing men. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Wright only seems suspicious concerning her husband’s murder, then in the middle of the play, the women find incriminating evidence, and in the end, the women come out victorious by hiding the evidence. The play is not divided into acts and there would not be an intermission because it is a fairly short play. The plot can be summarized into a succinct story by taking out extra details. The play is recognizable as a mystery. 4. Setting: Trifles takes place in a farmhouse in rural Iowa. Action occurs throughout the whole play. The play is contemporary and it is revealed that it is winter time as the characters need a

fire to stay warm. Besides the time that Hale recalls what happened when he came to the Wright’s home, the play occurs in chronological order. The interactions between characters reflect the time period of the 1900s as women were fighting for equality in America because the men denied them importance. The stage directions describe the scene that an audience would see on stage. The main plot of the play occurs in the kitchen of the farmhouse and there are no scene changes. 5. Style: The play Trifles is written to highlight the oppression placed on women in the 1900s. In the dialogue between the men and women, the men seem to disregard what the women say as the women truly listen to one another. Most of the sentences and vocabulary in the play are simple and understandable. Characters take turn speaking, but Mr. Hale and the women speak the most. The bird represents Mrs. Wright when she was a young, joyful woman and the dead bird represents her when Mr. Wright emotionally abused her. The cage that the bird used to reside in mirrors the ways Mr. Wright held his Mrs. back. Also, the shattered preserves found in the Wright’s home that the men disregard symbolizes how the men disregard women. Lastly, the tone of Trifles is opinionated as the writer speaks of the oppression women face. The play amuses the audience as it keeps them on the edges of their seats. 6. Theme: The themes of Trifles are femininity and confinement. The play shows us that in America, women were belittled by their male counterparts. By the male investigators completely ignoring the woman’s quilt and belongings, the things that were important to her, we are shows just how little men used to pay attention to women. Also, through the example of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, readers are shown how men used to confine women and make them feel as if they were not enough. Mr. Write changed her from a happy young woman into a cold-hearted woman by treating her with hush harshness....