Apisit Siriwongthawan

ENGL-210
10/3/14
Reading Journal 3
While it seems as if Trifles is a murder mystery, there is definitely an
underlying theme of patriarchy and gender inequality that is emblematic of the
early twentieth century. The conflict between women and men in their marriages
and the community in general is that men were often accepted as the superior sex
and that the women were to follow the men. Any form of leadership from the
women during that time period would be considered ludicrous and disrespectful of
the norm. There are many instances in the work that depict this conflict, and it is
also the driving force for the play in the first place. The Trifles surrounded the
murder of a farmer named John Wright by his wife, the once cheerful and colorful
Minnie Wright (nee Foster.)
In the present situation, during the investigation of Mr. Wrights death, the
sheriffs wife and Mrs. Hale are quick to stand up for Mrs. Wright and the current
state of her home. Specifically, when Hale dismissively claims women are used to
worrying over trifles, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale become bonded a little closer
together. This is because the stigmatism that Hale creates which stereotypes the
entire female gender as petty and small-minded puts the women immediately on the
defense together. Also, Henderson criticizes the towels and notes how dirty they
are, Mrs. Hale defends Mrs. Wright and pushes the blame further on Mr. Wright.
This subtle exchange is symbolic of the push and pull between males and females.
Men constantly belittled women and subjected them to a position of insignificance,

and women were subtly combatant and defensive against their efforts. In the early
twentieth century, there was a constant resistance of the status quo by the women
and a constant subjugation of women by men either physically or psychologically.
The subjugation of women by the men is a prominent factor, presumably the
leading factor, as to why the murder occurred. As the play progressed, it becomes
more noticeable that Mr. Wright was guilty of subjugating and traumatizing his wife
when he was alive. An incident that was emblematic of Mrs. Wrights psychological
abuse was the death of her bird by the hands of Mr. Wright. The women discover
the dead bird in her sewing basket in a box. The bird had died due to strangulation,
as did John Wright. The women hide the bird before the men arrive in the room.
This incident is actually emblematic for two very interesting reasons. The first, as
mentioned earlier, is that it is emblematic of Fosters motive in killing her husband.
Her husband had destroyed a very precious pet of hers, since he did not like to hear
it sing. This is presumable because the bird was a canary, and as Mrs. Peters noted,
it would have sang in the manner that Foster had. Mr. Wright was not fond of
hearing her or the bird sing. She was robbed of her livelihood and her precious
hobby and pet. Continued abuse from all angles led her to kill her husband. The
second reason that the incident was emblematic was that it signified that women
stuck together against the men, because the women better understood the
justification behind her actions. Women were all similarly abused and taken
advantage of during that time period, and it was likely and common that women
stuck together in order to endure the toll that the society took on their being.