VCCS
Litonline Introduction to LiteratureEnglish 112 (English Composition II)
VCCS
Litonline Introduction to Literature
English 112 (English Composition II)
The following commentaries by Fall, 2003, student Rebecca Search are preserved here with her permission.
Mr. and Mrs. Wright, who are the focal point of the play Trifles, have such differing personalities. They do not appear to have any similarities between their two characteristics. One would wonder why they even married each other. However, one similarity that does seem to exist is their industriousness. John Wright provides what appear adequate for Mrs. Wright and himself: a farmhouse, clothing, and food – an orchard to provide cherries for preserves. Mrs. Hale describes him as one who “paid his debts.” Mr. Wright was not slothful, but kept up on his financial responsibilities. Mrs. Wright herself is industrious, making preserves and homemade bread, and even sewing (the quilt). Mrs. Hale states in Mrs. Wright’s defense, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm. Farmers’ wives have their hands full.”
Other than being industrious, the two seem to be very different. Mrs. Wright (while Minnie Foster) is described as having been “sweet, pretty and wearing pretty clothes – a white dress with blue ribbons.” This is in direct contrast to Mr. Wright. He is characterized as being a “hard man” and “close” (tight with his money). John Wright is not a man who would spend money on such unnecessary fancy items as blue ribbons. Mrs. Wright also sang in the choir, “But that was 30 years ago.” Her husband obviously did away with that since he didn’t like “a thing that sang.”
This hardened character of Mr. Wright contributed to the gloomy atmosphere of their home. Minnie Wright probably longed for companionship and joy in her house, which most likely leads her to obtain the bird. Surely the presence of the canary and its singing
brought much joy to her life. Since Mr. Wright asked for “peace and quiet,” he did not like a singing bird. Certainly with time he would grow to hate this “musical” intruder. Undoubtedly, John Wright’s hatred gave way to anger and eventually the killing of the bird. Now that the bird “was still,” Mrs. Wright’s life was still as well. She was now internally dead. She was to kill the one (Mr. Wright) who had caused the canary’s death and now her “death” as well. By killing her husband, Minnie Wright frees herself from this “death.”| I read Phyllis Mael’s article “Trifles: The Path to Sisterhood” (Literature/Film Quarterly 17.4 1989: 281-84). The article opened several new avenues of thought for me about Trifles. One of these appears so simple and obvious, yet so profound. That is the fact that Trifles is a play – not a short story. | Now the facts become less important and the characters and props become more important to the thrust of the plot. |
 |
Mael states that Trifles is a “one-act play” written by Susan Glaspell to “complete the bill at the Wharf Theatre.” In my original reading I mentally treated the drama as a short story - resulting with just that, mental facts with some visual pictures. Upon reading Mael’s article I realized, “Hey, this is a play – complete with stage, props, and characters.” Now the facts become less important and the characters and props become more important to the thrust of the plot. I see and hear more involvement on the part of the characters as they convey feeling and “thread” to the play. For example, when the county attorney announces, “Here’s a nice mess,” the women “draw nearer” to the cupboard. This draws attention to the broken preserve jars and their importance to the events of the play. |
|
(left to right)
Bob McCoog, Melanie Loveday, Ed Elder, Erin Gaynor, and Brian Nocella
(photo by Beth Wodnick) |
Rethinking the events of the play, I also became aware that neither Mr. nor Mrs. Wright appears in person. How ingenious of Glaspell to weave the characters into the plot in such a way as to make their presence felt, but not seen! The conversations between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters convey the character of John and Minnie Wright.
A story is put into print once and left to be as is, but a play has the advantage of flexibility in the hands of the director. He can give different emphasis and interpretation based on use of props, fluctuations in speech, and lighting. This allows each director the opportunity to approach the work in his own style and interpretation.
Another new insight from the article is the fact that Susan Glaspell rewrote Trifles as a short story, "A Jury of Her Peers." She wrote this a year after the play in 1917. In 1981 Sally Hechel adapted the short story into an Academy – Award nominated film by the same title. The article by Mael points out several techniques the film uses to highlight, create, and reinforce various aspects of the story. By using close-up shots of the insignificant (a jar of preserves), they take on larger-than-life proportions. This results in magnifying the emphasis placed on these objects. Another technique that film uses is of a combination of off-screen dialogue and close-up photography. One example that Hechel uses in the film of this technique is when the district attorney states, “We need a motive,” and a close-up shot of split sugar is shown. This is an evidence of interrupted work.
Phyllis Mael’s article has initiated my thinking on different mediums used to convey literature. This is an area I never gave thought to before, but find very fascinating. I would like to obtain a copy of Hechel’s film. I’m curious to see how it compares to the mental image I have from my original reading of Trifles.