Evan Rusch

Miss Weber
AP Literature

Trifles 2000
Although the play Trifles involves a mysterious murder, a search for the truth, and an
eerie secret, it is not classified as a true mystery. The literary merit of the story comes not in the
form of suspense or thrilling excitement, but the deeper meaning that is found through the
investigation. In the play, the truth is seemingly never even found. This fact goes to show that the
actual investigation is more important to the reader than finding the truth, because thoughts and
opinions of societal structure are critiqued and expressed.
The Wrights isolation is a key point in the story, not only physically, but socially. In that
time period, being a woman meant staying home and taking care of the house and the homestead,
so there was certainly a lack of excitement for any woman. Mrs. Wright has an even tougher time
because she lives far away from her friends, and hardly ever has any social interactions, so she
gets herself a bird to watch and listen to. The fact that she has had a bird is revealed through the
investigation, and initially seems to have nothing to do with the case. This bird was important to
her, but her husband saw it as a trivial matter, a trifle. This expresses the authors idea that men
lack the ability to appreciate the values that women have.
Another major aspect of the story is the findings of the two women who are not involved
in the official investigation at all. When they find what seems to be a logical path to the truth,
they choose to withhold their information from the sheriff and county attorney. This point
emphasises the authors idea that men simply see womens ideas as trifles, hence the title of the
play. The men spend time searching for physical evidence, and examining the physical aspects of

the house. In reality, we see that, contrary to what seems to be popular belief, the things that we
consider important may be the real trifles, and the seemingly trivial matters may be the most
important of all.
In conclusion, the author has written Trifles as a search for justice. Not the justice of
law that is sought in the story, but justice for women. The idea that womens thoughts and values
are simply pushed out of focus is clear. The author wishes for the reader to come to the
realization that, at the time, womens ideas may be more important than ever thought before. The
author says that, by respecting womens opinions more, and hearing them truly, our perspectives
may change, and we may benefit where we would have previously failed.