“Trifles” and a “Jury of Her Peers” Essay by Charles A.

Wesemann
“Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell are a
beautiful composition of literature that has many points of view in
the subject written. We can see that the main theme here in the
literature is male dominance. Interestingly enough we aren’t going
to talk about this theme but a more interesting one. My presented
theme in this essay is the cause of matrimonial downfall in the
Wrights relationship. Within this theme I am happy to say we will
touch the topics of: Mr. Wright’s attitude towards people, the
elegant things that Mrs. Wright did that annoyed Mr. Wright, and the
other problems that can be inferred and can be found within the
literature.
Let us begin with the Mr. Wright’s attitude towards other people.
From the beginning we can see these when we view that Mrs. Hale,
that lived next door to the Wrights, said in the play “… I don’t think
a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it.” Since here
we see that the state attorney talks about how the place seemed so
damp and weary and Mrs. Hale places the topic that Mr. Wright
wasn’t a cheerful fellow but a very arid person. Even though it is not
much said in this point we start to view that Mr. Wright was never
happy nor can it be insinuated within the literature.
We see that as well as we clearly view that Mr. Wright hated
cheerful things when he kills Mrs. Wrights canary. Now entering in
the topic of the canary we know by what is stated in the literature
that Mrs. Wright loved to sing. As well as she loved to keep things
nice and preserved. In the literature we can insinuate that she
bought the canary in a sale a year before the literature’s actions
were taking place. As Mrs. Peters holds up the birdcage and asks
Mrs. Hale about it. Mrs. Hale responds by responding about the
canary sale last year but she believed that to be the case since Mrs.
Wright sang beautifully. Those were the insinuations of and words of
Mrs. Hale till they find the Canary dead and strangled within the
sewing box. Knowing that Mrs. Wright would not do such a thing we
assume that Mr. Wright must have strangled the bird, a beloved and
cherished thing that Mrs. Wright owned.
An interesting part in the play is when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale
talk about how it couldn’t have been Mrs. Wright in the beginning of
the play because there was no reason to use a rope to choke Mr.
Wright since there was a gun in the house. As we continue reading
we see that it must have been Mrs. Wright who killed Mr. Wright
because she felt choked by all the awful things she endured and to
be robbed away from her only “child”, the canary, she must have
snapped and choked him back. I say only child because we see that
in the literature Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale again state that the
Wrights had no children.
We see that there is not much that we can state on the matter
about the Wright family but we are slowly shown or insinuated
about the reasons for how the Wright relationship was the wrong
one. We see how all the factors within the literature was slowly
coiling up to a big explosion in which we can assume was second

English 3104 – 116 801-

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“Trifles” and a “Jury of Her Peers” Essay by Charles A.
Wesemann
degree murder.

English 3104 – 116 801-

08-7509