Student Question

What were your reactions to Trifles?

Quick answer:

Reactions to "Trifles" can vary, but the play is often seen as both logically and emotionally persuasive. It highlights how gender roles and social locations influence perspectives, with women noticing details men overlook, illustrating the importance of diverse viewpoints. The story evokes sympathy for Minnie Wright, trapped in an oppressive environment, and emphasizes the need for women's freedom and outlets. Glaspell's accurate depiction of farm life enhances the story's credibility and emotional impact.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Everyone will react differently to a work of literature, so I can only give you my informed opinion. In thinking about "Trifles," you might want to consider it in light of your own social location: your gender, your age, your time period, your ethnicity, your religion, and whether you live in an urban or a rural area. How relatable is it to you from where you stand, and why?

I find the story both logically and emotionally persuasive, and from a literary viewpoint, I appreciate its clear focus. Logically, it makes sense that the women would see details that the men missed. In that time, with a strict division of labor, men simply wouldn't be aware of what a woman's experience—say, working in a kitchen canning, sewing, or cleaning—would be like. They would inevitably miss details, because the details wouldn't matter to them. The story is, therefore, effective...

Unlock
This Answer Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

in showing that different perspectives and areas of expertise need to be put together to arrive at truth. The men make a mistake in dismissing the women's experience—but that mistake helps Minnie.

On an emotional level, too, the story makes a convincing case for why Minnie Wright would snap and kill her husband. We feel sympathy for her plight: she was crushed by an angry and unhappy man and isolated on a farm with a heavy work burden and only a canary for companionship. We can feel, through the empathy of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the kind of pain Minnie must have experienced when her husband killed her helpless canary in a fit of rage.

Glaspell also shows a knowledge and understanding of farm life in her period that builds credibility and helps us to believe in this story. And by staying focused on the women and what it feels like to be a woman in that culture, she makes an effective implicit argument that women need more freedom and outlets if they are to survive and thrive.

Approved by eNotes Editorial