Flashcards for Trifles

George Henderson (County Attorney)

George Henderson, the County Attorney in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, embodies the patriarchal legal authority and acts as the main dramatic contrast to the two women who manage to solve the case he overlooks.

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Henry Peters (Sheriff)

Henry Peters is the county sheriff in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, arriving at the isolated Wright farmhouse the morning after John Wright's murder to lead the official investigation.

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John Wright

John Wright is the murder victim in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, though he never appears onstage.

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Lewis Hale

Lewis Hale is a neighboring farmer and the play's main eyewitness, acting as the catalyst for the entire investigation.

character

Minnie Wright

Minnie Wright is the absent yet ever-present protagonist of Susan Glaspell's Trifles.

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Mrs. Hale

Mrs. Hale is the moral and dramatic heart of Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

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Mrs. Peters

Mrs. Peters is the Sheriff's wife and one of the two main characters in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

character

“A sheriff's wife is married to the law.”

This line is delivered by County Attorney George Henderson in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

George Henderson (County Attorney)

“Not having children makes less work—but it makes a quiet house.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Hale to Mrs. Peters in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

Mrs. Hale

“I know how things can be—for women.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Hale to Mrs. Peters in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

Mrs. Hale

“I don't think we ought to touch things.”

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), Mrs. Hale says this line to Mrs. Peters as they look through the kitchen of Minnie Wright's farmhouse while the county attorney and sheriff investigate the murder of John Wright.

Mrs. Hale

“I wish you'd seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang.”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Hale to Mrs. Peters during their time alone in the Wright farmhouse kitchen in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

Mrs. Hale

“She was going to—what is it we call it, ladies? Knot it or quilt it?”

This line is delivered by County Attorney George Henderson during the key investigation scene in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

County Attorney (George Henderson)

“It was a crime! Who's going to punish that?”

This line is spoken by Mrs. Hale in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916) as she addresses Mrs. Peters.

Mrs. Hale

“We live close together and we live far apart.”

This line is delivered by Mrs. Hale in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916) as she speaks to Mrs. Peters.

Mrs. Hale

“No, Peters, it's all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it.”

This line is delivered by County Attorney George Henderson as he speaks to Sheriff Peters during the investigation of John Wright's murder in Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

George Henderson (County Attorney)

“We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson.”

This line is delivered by Mrs. Hale to the county attorney, Mr. Henderson, near the climax of Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916).

Mrs. Hale

Minnie's Preserves (Jars)

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, the shattered jars of preserved fruit belonging to Minnie Wright symbolize the destruction of her inner life after years spent in isolation and emotional abuse.

The Birdcage

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), the empty birdcage symbolizes Minnie Foster Wright's trapped and ultimately shattered spirit.

The Cold, Cheerless Kitchen

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), the cold, cheerless kitchen captures the grim emotional and social reality of Minnie Wright's lonely life at home.

The Dead Canary

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), the dead canary symbolizes Minnie Wright herself — a once-vibrant woman diminished by isolation and an abusive marriage.

The Quilt / Sewing

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), the quilt and the act of sewing reflect the inner lives, hidden labor, and suppressed agency of women.

Imagery

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, imagery relies heavily on physical objects rather than poetic language, allowing the audience to visualize the farmhouse kitchen as the women uncover details of a crime.

Symbolism

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, symbolism carries the full weight of the murder investigation and the play's feminist argument without directly stating either.

Juxtaposition

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles (1916), the central irony drives the drama through juxtaposition: the men and women share the same farmhouse kitchen but see it through completely different investigative lenses.

Dramatic Irony

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, dramatic irony drives the entire plot: the audience grasps what the male investigators cannot.

Foreshadowing

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, foreshadowing unfolds through a series of domestic clues that subtly hint at the murder of John Wright before it's explicitly revealed.

Motif

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, the motif of small domestic objects gradually builds the play’s main argument: the details of women’s everyday lives serve as evidence that male authority routinely overlooks.

Irony

In Susan Glaspell's one-act play Trifles, irony serves as the backbone of the entire drama.

Tone

In Susan Glaspell's Trifles, tone serves as the main tool for dramatic irony, shifting from the men's dismissive condescension to the women's growing unease.

trifles

Small, seemingly unimportant things or matters; here used ironically, as the men dismiss the women's domestic observations as trivial while those very details solve the crime.

noun · Chapter 1

wright

A maker or builder of something; in the play's context, a surname meaning craftsman, though the word historically denotes one who constructs things by hand.

noun · Chapter 1

coil

A length of rope, wire, or cord wound into rings or loops; in this play it refers to the knotted rope used to strangle the victim.

noun · Chapter 1

rocker

A rocking chair; a chair mounted on curved runners so it can swing back and forth, common in rural farmhouse settings of the early 1900s.

noun · Chapter 1

hallow

To make holy or sacred; used in the play in the sense of treating something with reverence or solemn respect.

verb · Chapter 1

county attorney

A lawyer elected or appointed to represent the county government in legal proceedings; here he leads the investigation into the suspected murder.

noun · Chapter 1

sheriff

The chief law-enforcement officer of a county, responsible for keeping order and investigating crimes within that jurisdiction.

noun · Chapter 1

coroner

A public official whose job is to investigate the cause of a person's death, especially when it is sudden, violent, or suspicious.

noun · Chapter 1

inquest

A formal legal inquiry, usually held by a coroner or jury, to determine the cause and circumstances of a death.

noun · Chapter 1

queer

Strange, odd, or difficult to explain; used here in its early-twentieth-century sense of something that feels unsettling or out of the ordinary, not its modern sense.

adjective · Chapter 1

loaf of bread

A single baked unit of bread; referenced in the play as a domestic detail the women notice and the men dismiss as irrelevant to the investigation.

phrase · Chapter 1

knot it

A quilting term meaning to finish a quilt by tying knots rather than stitching; used ironically in the play as a double reference to the rope used in the murder.

phrase · Chapter 1

quilt

A thick bed covering made by stitching together layers of fabric, often in decorative patterns; the women's examination of the quilt becomes a key clue in the play.

noun · Chapter 1

log

A large piece of cut wood used as fuel; here it refers to firewood brought in for the farmhouse stove, part of the domestic chores under discussion.

noun · Chapter 1

stove

A wood- or coal-burning iron appliance used for cooking and heating in a farmhouse; the state of the stove is one of the domestic details the women scrutinize.

noun · Chapter 1

preserves

Fruit cooked with sugar and sealed in jars for long-term storage; in the play, Mrs. Wright's worry about her jars of preserves freezing is treated as a trivial concern by the men.

noun · Chapter 1

dirty towels

Used kitchen towels left unclean; the county attorney points to them as evidence of poor housekeeping, while the women defend Mrs. Wright's domestic circumstances.

phrase · Chapter 1

canary

A small yellow songbird often kept as a pet; in the play the dead canary is a crucial piece of evidence suggesting motive, as it was the one source of joy in Mrs. Wright's isolated life.

noun · Chapter 1