What are the metaphors and metonymies in Trifles?

There are plenty of metaphors in Susan Glaspell's Trifles. Arguably the most significant is the dead canary: the poor deceased creature stands as a metaphor for Mrs. Minnie Wright herself.

Just like the bird, she used to sing sweetly as a member of the local choir. But thanks to her abusive, overbearing husband, that particular avenue of pleasure was closed off to her, leaving Minnie a lonely, isolated figure. In metaphorical terms, Minnie has had the life taken out of her by her husband, just as the canary has had its life taken away literally by the same man.

An additional metaphor comes in the shape of Mrs. Wright's shattered fruit jars. They too stand as a metaphor for Minnie and the way her life has turned out. The contents of the jars, like Minnie, were once fresh and full of zest. But now, also like Minnie, they have become frozen and shattered.

Metonymy is a word or expression used as a substitute for something with which it is normally associated. For example, Westminster is used as a metonym for the United Kingdom's Parliament, which is based there.

In Trifles, we see a metonym in the shape of Mrs. Wright's kitchen. County Attorney Henderson judges Minnie on the state of her kitchen, jumping to conclusions because it's in a state of disarray. As very much a man of his time, he expects housewives like Minnie to keep their kitchens immaculately clean at all times.

By judging Minnie according to the state of her kitchen, he's effectively substituting one for the other. It's as if Minnie's identity is so intimately bound up with her kitchen that she has no real existence apart from it.

How does setting as a metaphor and metonymy shape interpretation in Trifles?

The first thing you need to do to write your essay is to carefully read through the play, marking all the places where metaphor and metonymy have been used. Let's pause for just a moment to define our terms (which you should do in your paper as well). Metaphors are comparisons between two dissimilar things, one more known and one lesser known. The point of a metaphor is to help us understand the lesser known element by means of the better known one. Metonymy is a literary device that designates a person, place, or thing by something associated with it. We sometimes call businessmen “suits,” for instance, because we associate businessmen with the clothing they wear. You might also think in terms of symbolism. Symbols stand for or represent something or someone else.

Now let's take a look at some of the metaphors, metonymy, and symbolism found in the setting of Susan Glaspell's Trifles. We can think about how cold the Wright house is before the deputy lights the fire. This is symbolic of the coldness in the Wrights' relationship and in their homelife. Mrs. Wright is sitting absently in her rocking chair when Mr. Hale enters on the morning after Mr. Wright's death. After Mr. Hale comes back downstairs, he notices that Mrs. Wright has moved to another chair, a small one in the corner. This, too, could be symbolic. She is moving from one part of her life to another, and she has the idea that perhaps her new life will be much more confined. She has been “cornered” by her situation.

As we continue moving through the play, we discover that some of Mrs. Wright's fruit jars have frozen and shattered. These jars are a metaphor for Mrs. Wright and her life. She was once the fresh, young Minnie Foster. Now she is a broken woman with little left in her life.

County Attorney Henderson is quick to judge Mrs. Wright by the state of her kitchen. A woman is supposed to have her house perfectly clean and in perfect order, he seems to think. Herein lies an element of metonymy. A woman is defined by her housework and by the condition of her home. She might well be called Mrs. Kitchen or Mrs. Homemaker, at least in Mr. Henderson's eyes.

As the play continues, metaphors and symbols multiply. Mrs. Wright's clothing and shoes are shabby, just like she now is compared to what she once was. Her apron, which she has asked Mrs. Peters to bring her, symbolizes normalcy and her attempt to hang onto it. The bird cage Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover stands for Mrs. Wright's feeling of being trapped in a loveless marriage and a life that does not satisfy her. The dead canary is a metaphor for Mrs. Wright herself. As Minnie Foster, she used to sing beautifully. Now she has not sung in a long time. She is like a bird in a cage, even like a dead bird with the life sucked out of her by her cold, hard husband. The quilt patch with the erratic sewing represents Mrs. Wright's erratic state of mind, her anxiety and fear, her scattered thoughts, probably after her husband has killed the bird.

We could continue, but you get the idea. After you've identified all your evidence, you need to come up with a thesis statement that sets forth the point you are going to argue. You might, for instance, make the claim that the play's setting is metaphoric, symbolic, and metonymic and that those literary devices drive both its plot and its characterization. In your essay, you will use the evidence you've identified to support that thesis. Be sure, though, not to just list the evidence but also to explain and interpret it. For instance, you could write a paragraph about how the broken jars give us insight into the broken psyche and broken life of Minnie Wright. Your conclusion should restate your thesis, sum up your main points, and leave readers with something interesting to think about, perhaps inviting them to examine the metaphors, symbols, and metonymy of their own environments.