"...women are used to worrying over trifles.”

                “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” This quote is very important in the drama “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell. In the drama, it can be seen how women a discriminated for the mere act of being women. Their opinions are not valued since they are not seen as smart or capable of doing anything. However, the women are the only ones in the drama that are able to solve the mystery that gathers the characters together. Because they are seen as invaluable in the men’s work, they’re able to hide what they found and the fact that they might have solved the mystery.

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                As a brief summary, “Trifles” tells the story of three men (George, the county attorney; Mr Peters, a sheriff ; and Mr. Hale, a neighbor) and two women  (Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife; and Mrs, Hale, the neighbor’s wife) who go to a house where the man, Mr. Wright, has been murdered. The man’s wife, Mrs. Wright, is distant and seems very indifferent. The men are there to investigate the crime and are not able to find any incriminating evidence throughout the whole drama. The women, however, are left alone and they find a dead canary hidden in a box. With this finding, they imply that Mrs. Wright is the killer. They decide not to tell the men of what they found and hide the evidence. The story ends with the men thinking there is no incriminating evidence.

                The irony of the story is that the women, whilst worrying over trifles, i.e. looking for some scissors so as to fix Mrs. Wright’s bad sewing, are the ones that find incriminating evidence towards who the murderer is. The women chose to hide their findings. They chose to “stick with their own.” Both women understand that Mrs. Wright was living under hard conditions and they also understand her decision to kill him, if that was the case, since women were oppressed. Mrs. Hale even feels sorry for not being there for Mrs. Wright and offering emotional support. She says “We all go through the same things… We live close together and we live far apart.” This line represents how women knew they were not alone in their problems pertinent to their husbands and female subordination. It also represents how there wasn't an organized women’s rights movement at the time. However, the two women chose to protect a fellow woman in a time when they were not valued.

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                It is this same fact (that women are not valued) that causes men to reject women’s opinions and overlook women’s actions. This allows the women to hide the dead canary without anyone noticing. George, the county attorney, even says “a sheriff’s wife is married to the law” about Mrs. Hale. This is done when Mr. Hale asked if George wanted to take a look at the objects (among which was the dead canary) that Mrs. Hale was taking with herself. Thus, the women are able to conceal the incriminating evidence thanks to the fact that the men thought that women only cared about things that where unimportant, which made them think that the objects that Mrs. Hale carried were unimportant.

                Summing up, the women were overlooked for “worrying over trifles.” Ironically, they find incriminating evidence to Mr. Wright’s murder by “worrying over trifles.” The fact that they are overlooked allows them to hide the evidence of Mrs. Wright as the possible murderer. The women thus form a pseudo-group so as to protect themselves from their oppression.

Click here a definition for the word "trifle."