2. What clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie
Wright killed her husband?
Minnie Wright used to be a very happy girl that sang
in the choir, but after her marriage with John Wright, she became unhappy and
lonely. The bird she used to have was found dead by Mrs.Hale and Mrs. Peter in
a box inside Mrs.Wright sewing basket. The way the bird being killed was same
as the way John Wright being murdered. This evidence led the women to conclude
that Minnie Wright was the murdered.
3. How do the men differ from the women? from each
other?
The men were less attentive and sensitive compared to
the women. They just investigated the murder scene which was the room, and went
in and out the house but avoided the kitchen where the women found out the
evidence. Unlike the women, the men got no any evidence through the
investigation they carried on, but the women who just kept staying in the
kitchen could concluded that the murderer was Minnie Wright. The men often
rejected women’s opinion as the sheriff said that “Women are used to worrying
about trifles”.
4. What do the men discover? Why do they conclude “Nothing
here but kitchen things”? What do the women discover?
The men discover nothing through the investigation as
they walked in and out the house and the upstairs room where John Wright being
killed and avoided to step in women’s in charge area like the kitchen which
contain the important clues that are merely trifles for the men. This statement
can be proved through the line “Nothing here but kitchen things” which
obviously minimize women’s in the society. Through the kitchen that the men
avoided and refused to enter, the women found out the most important evidence,
the dead bird that led them to realize the murderer was Minnie Wright.
Susan
Keating Glaspell was an American famous playwright and writer with the winning
of Pulitzer Prize. She was born on 1th July 1876 at Davenport, Iowa.
She enrolled and graduated from Drake University. She then worked as a
journalist in a newspaper before her works started to appear in magazines. Glaspell’s
major works especially plays were focused on feminism, which dealt with the
role of the women plays in society, marriage or family.
Trifles (1916)
An
early feminist play by Glaspell because of its two main women characters,
Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peter. These two women were sympathized with the suspects,
Mrs.Wright, who was accused for murdering her husband, Mr.Wright. This play was
to claim that men are not that attentive and blind during the investigation.
Unlike the women were able to sense and knew the truth that the murdered was
Mrs.Wright through the evidence in the kitchen, which the men assumed that “Nothing
here but kitchen things”. These two women ended up empathized with Mrs.Wright
and decided to hide the evidence from the men. Glaspell wrote this play to
raise the issue about the role of women in society and the solidarity of women
in society as well.
Woman’s Honour (1918)
A
satiric comedic play by Susan Glaspell during World War I. Glaspell wrote this
play for her hometown, Iowa, in which she satirically critiqued that women at
that time must maintain their reputation or honour no matter how in order to
retain their social status. This play was satiric depicted a man, Gordon
Wallace who was accused of murder reluctantly provide an alibi which he claimed
that this alibi will destroyed a woman’s honour. However, his lawyer made known
to the public about this news for he thought this was the way to save Wallace.
Surprisingly, a long line-up of women willing to save him by sacrificed their
honour in providing an alibi, in which the night Wallace spent with.
Arthur
Asher Miller was an American famous playwright in Twentieth century. He was
born at New York City to a poverty family on 17th October 1917. He
started to write plays during his study in University of Michigan. After
graduated, he continued to write plays and radio dramas. Miller tends to focus
on the consequences or corruption of morality when one’s betrayed the
conscience under the exerted pressure by family and society.
All My Sons (1947)
Miller
wrote this play based on a true story told by his mother-in-law during World
War II. This play portrayed on how the main character, Joe Keller suffered
deconstruction and suicide due to his crime on shipping in a batch of cracked
machine parts to the military that ended up caused the death of 21 pilots
during World War II. Joe betrayed his consciousness to avoid financial ruin,
however, died under his consciousness too.
A
significance play by Miller to criticize the American Dream, and the competitive
and materialistic in the American society. Willy Loman, an old salesman who
tends to hide his failure and strives for success. He was old enough to unable
to differentiate the real life and his imagination. He had had an American
Dream, imagined to make a high salary by selling things and get a good salary.
However, the real life was not like what he imagined, and because of his
American Dream, confliction emerged between him and his son, Biff. He
eventually killed himself by crashing his car after noticed that his
imagination was unreal and realized his son, Biff had forgave him. This play
was to satire that American Dream looks beautiful on the surface but ones
should undertake the consequences in order to achieve the dream.
