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Melanie Goodman
Tara Brown
English 335:02
18 March 2017
Gaspell’s Very Dangerous Trifles
“Oh, I guess they’re not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out” (pg. 442). The
ladies in this quote are Susan Gaspell’s symbols of women in America in 1916. This is a time
when women were struggling for their rights as citizens of the United States. Most women did
not have the right to vote, own property, or keep her children in a divorce. Some states had just
given women the right to vote but the struggle for equality in the court system was far from over.
In Trifles, Gaspell uses symbolism, setting, and diction to convey the point that women are just
as powerful as men.
First, Gaspell uses the two main characters as symbols for the importance of women to
show that they are powerful. Mrs. Peters is the Sheriff’s wife in this play and portrays the idea
that women are needed in legal matters. The Sheriff says to the County Attorney, “I suppose
anything Mrs. Peter does’ll be all right. She was to take in some clothes for her, you know, ad a
few little things” (pg. 434). The Sheriff here is stating the idea that even though he would be
present at the house he needed someone else to help take care of the legal matter of holding a
female prisoner. He could have taken care of getting the cloths himself but instead decided his
wife was needed to handle the matter. Furthermore, the man of the judicial law the Attorney
agreed. His response to the Sheriff was, “Yes,…but keep an eye out for anything that might be of
use to us” (pg. 434). This important member of the courts has not only sanctioned anything that
Mrs. Peter does from now on but has also employed her in trying to figure out the case. There is
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not much more powerful a position is civilized society than to be needed in enforcement and
defense of the laws. To this great importance, Mrs. Peter’s adds the power of making other
women important in the working of the Law. The Sheriff’s wife states, “You coming with me,
Mrs hale? You could help me carry them [the cloths for Minnie Foster]” (pg. 435). This
necessary member of the legal team has asked for the assistance of a citizen in her work. Every
citizen that is there is now involved in the important and powerful work of determining another
citizen’s fate. Yet, the two that Gaspell choose to focus on are the two that are not considered as
important by “social community” of the time. This helps support their importance in the play and
society.
Next, the setting items of jarred fruit, a dirty towel, and a quilt are used as tool to show
how essential women are in everyday life. The kitchen which is primarily seen as women’s
domain in society is one of the few rooms in the house that is shown in the play. This suggested
import is emphasized when the company finds the time-consuming products of jarred food
ruined. The County Attorney referring to broken jars states, “Here’s a nice mess” (pg. 433). He
does not seem to think of it as important but the ladies do. At this time, people on a farm could
only eat fruit during the winter if it was preserved in jars. If a family did not have their food
preserved they would have nothing to eat. To emphasis this idea that women are powerful
because they are necessary in the home Gaspell has a dirty rag act as a foil to the preserves. The
Court Attorney had not thought it important to worry about life sustaining food but he did think
it was important to keep things clean. He states, “Dirty towels!” (pg. 433). The Attorney was
censoring a women who was in jail over a trifling dirty towel but refused to recognize the
importance of preserved food. The rag represents the large amount of work women have in their
charge. Mrs. Hale states, “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” (pg. 433). Farms
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provide food for the community and Mrs. Hale just pointed out that the Attorney is over-looking
a many things already. Finally, while looking at a piece of evidence that the Attorney will ignore
while looking right at it Mrs. Hale point out that women have great power. Mrs. Hale states that
the quilt Minnie Foster was working on was a log cabin pattern for a quilt. Log cabins are the
emblem of a homestead or farm. Minnie Foster was the one that was making the pattern for her
house how she decided to finish off the pattern shows the powerful knowledge of women. Mrs.
Hale states this in reference to how Mrs. Foster was finishing off the house pattern, “We call it—
knot it, Mr Henderson” (pg 443). Women know how to knot things which is one of the needed
steps in creating a noose. Minnie Foster was the essential part of making the social home pattern
of life work and she chose to use her knowledge to finish off the home with a knot that took her
husband’s life. Women have power because they are needed in society’s law team and because
they are needed at home.
Finally, diction is used show how the power of women. Gaspell uses Mrs. Foster’s name
as a way of showing how much women’s trifles matter. Mrs. Foster came to foster resentment for
her husband and this witty use of diction suggest that it matters how you treat women. The
Attorney had been rude to ladies the whole time but males are shown up with the power of
“Minnie.” There are “many” women who working together can protect on another, just as Mrs.
Hale has been defending Minnie the entire play. These tiny mini were able to do this without the
men becoming aware. Mrs. Hale points how stealthy women can be, “Well, I guess John Wright
didn’t wake when they was slipping the rope under his neck’ (pg. 436). Even “Mr. Peter”, with
his keys to the jail house like “Saint Peter” had keys to Heaven, did not stop the women from
doing their Saintly duty of doing what was “right” by “Mr. Wright” who was abusive. In fact,
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Mr. Peter opened the pearly gates by having their doings sanctioned. Women are powerful, with
in the law, home, and Heaven.
In summation, Susan Gaspell used diction, setting, and symbolism to prove that women
are universally powerful and important. It is dangerous to miss treat women. They will pick out
things that men miss. “Just pulling out a stich or two…” (pg. 437).
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Works Cited
Gaspell, Susan. "Trifles." American Literature: Volume 2, edited by William Cain, New York.
Penguin Academics. pgs. 430-443.