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Mrs Hale's Use Of Dramatic Irony In Trifles

657 Words3 Pages

Mrs. Hale, as the protagonist in this play, is Mrs. Wright’s main defender and champion. There is a profound sadness throughout this play. With this portion, we can feel the already established theme of sadness, isolation, and long standing depravation of friendship and love experienced by Minnie Foster since she became Mrs. Wright. The author uses imagery to show how she has changed over time “She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively . . . one of the town girls singing in the choir.” The author is also using an indirect symbolism between the bird and Mrs. Wright. The bird has pretty feathers, was lively and sang. In this snippet, we see the comparison between Mrs. Wright and the bird. Mrs. Hale points out at the onset how Mrs. …show more content…

Hale as she is seeing first-hand what has become of the once vibrant Minnie Foster. It is interesting Mrs. Hale keeps referring to Mrs. Wright by her name before she married Mr. Wright. The author does this to reinforce the differences in the kind of person Minnie Foster was and the kind of person Mrs. Wright is. Mrs. Peters is also seeing and feeling how sad and lonesome life has been for Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale regrets not being a better friend and is beginning to feel some culpability for the murder of Mr. Wright. We see dramatic irony in the fact that Mrs. Hale speaks of her lack of reaching out to Mrs. Wright with friendship played a role in the actions of Mrs. Wright and if she had what that friendship would have meant to Mrs. Wright. At the same time, Mrs. Peters inadvertently adds fuel to the flames of Mrs. Hale’s guilt by pointing out that Mrs. Wright did not even have children to occupy her days like Mrs. Hale did. Feeling even worse, the author uses imagery to show how desolate this farm really is. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters both realize now that what they have learned about Mrs. Wright (by being in her home) her life and marriage have been far worse than they could have

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Kingsolver relates this to various characters in the book, particularly Taylor, Turtle’s adopted mother. In addition to that, the birds in the throughout the story are also a nature based form of symbolism used widely in the book. As Taylor’s life changes so do the sounds the birds make; each of these bird sounds representing different emotions like comfort when the mother quail and her chicks are walking in

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There are many different forms of literature out in the world. They come in forms of novels, short stories, articles, and poems. They help people by allowing them to be informed about certain topics and they even make people forget about their daily lives while they enter a totally different world. If literature never existed nobody would obtain new information, they wouldn’t escape reality, famous authors wouldn’t be famous, and publishers wouldn’t be publishing any great works of art. What makes literature, literature, is its wide use of imagery and symbolism.

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708 Words | 3 Pages

There are many in here, but I think my favorite is her name. The name “Birdie” alone can be two different types of literary devices. The first is imagery. This is a possible option because all she wants to do is fly. Birds fly, so it shows a direct comparison of Birdie to an actual bird.

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The women though unite together as one in discovering the small traces of clues that lead to Minnie’s case. Mrs. Hale questions, “She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself- real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change”(Glaspell 1916 10). Mrs. Peters supports Mrs. Hale’s observation that Minnie’s marriage changed her for the worse, and talks about her childhood trauma when she herself was put in a similar situation as Minnie, when she had to be restrained from hurting a boy who was going to kill her cat. Also the stage direction provides further evidence of how the women stand together as one when it says: “ the two women sit there not looking at one another, but as if peering into something and at the same time holding back (Glaspell 1916 11).

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515 Words | 3 Pages

Mrs. Hale describes Minnie Foster as a lively, cheerful, and beautiful woman. Minnie Foster also used to wear a white dress with a blue ribbon. The white symbolizes purity. Most importantly to the metaphor of the story, Minnie Foster used to sing in the church choir.

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1006 Words | 5 Pages

Authors, especially female authors, have long used their writing to emphasize and analyze the feminist issues that characterize society, both in the past and the present. Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell wrote narratives that best examined feminist movements through the unreliable minds of their characters. In all three stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, the authors use characterization, symbolism, and foreshadowing to describe the characters’ apparent psychosis or unreasonable behavior to shed light on the social issues that characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century. Penning many stories that demonstrate her opinions on the social issues of the era,

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670 Words | 3 Pages

There is direct characterization when Mrs. Hale defends comments from the county attorney about Mrs. Wright being a poor housekeeper by saying there is abundance of work to accomplish when you live on a farm, and sometimes things are left half-finished. The county attorney tries to convince the ladies that a women’s place is in the kitchen and from the looks of this kitchen Mrs. Wright was not a good wife, or housekeeper because of how dirty her towels looked after he wiped his hands. Mrs. Hales defends Mrs. Wrights honor once again by saying men’s hands are rarely clean especially when they work all day and night tending to farm duties, they can be quite dirty. The county attorney feels that Mrs. Hale is a feminist because she’s loyal to Mrs. Wright since they both are women and also Implies that since they were neighbors they must have been friends too. More often than not men tend to think that most women stand up for each other against anything men might say or do.

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734 Words | 3 Pages

Symbolism In “A Jury of Her Peers” Susan Glaspell’s, “A Jury of Her Peers”, took place during the early 1900s and focuses on the issues of sexism and social injustice that still exists today. In this feminist classic, Sheriff Peters and his wife, Mr. Hale and his wife, and the county attorney, Mr. Henderson go to the Wright Household to look for evidence to use against Mrs. Wright. When they arrive, the men disregard everything associated with women, whereas, the women look in debt, put themselves in Mrs. Wright's shoes, and find clues that could potentially prove that she killed her husband. While living in a male dominated society and continuously being belittled by the men, the women decide to not only break the law, but go against their husbands by hiding evidence. Throughout the story, Glaspell uses the symbols of the dead canary, the kitchen and the quilt to not only promote gender inequality roles but show what life must’ve been like for Minnie; imprisoned by her husband.

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1217 Words | 5 Pages

This description highlights the dreary and oppressive atmosphere within the household, reflecting the emotional state of Minnie Wright and her isolation. Moreover,

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796 Words | 4 Pages

They both conclude that someone was rough with the empty birdcage. Immediately afterward, Mrs. Hale comments on the men’s progress to find evidence, saying, “’I wish if they’re going to find any evidence they’d be about it’” (Glaspell 1416). Mrs. Hale’s remark is ironic because her current conversation about the birdcage’s door hinge is indirect evidence, yet she is growing impatient with the men’s attempts to discover any solid evidence. A little later on, Mrs. Hale relates the idea of a bird to Mrs. Wright by saying, “’she was kind of like a bird herself.’”

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975 Words | 4 Pages

Mrs. Wright and Nora both have different personalities. Mrs. Wrights personality in the play is innocence. She exhibits this by not allowing Mrs. Hale to see John. She acts as if she is completely shocked by his death.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

This characteristic of Grace, owner of Grace’s diner, expresses that her behavior is a fight against common perceptions on how women should behave in the 1950s because she runs her own business and is able to support her own life without relying to a man. During the 1950s, women were entitled to do domestic work, such as taking care of their children and preparing meal for their husband when they come from work. On the other hand, Grace is a divorce woman who is having an affair with the bus driver, Carl, because she feels lonely and desire that companionship from a man. During her marriage with Barton, she still felt lonely just not when making love. Overall, Grace can characterized as someone who has gotten used to doing things on her own because she didn’t have a reliable man figures.

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1014 Words | 5 Pages

The setting takes place the majority of the time in the kitchen of Mrs. Wrights home which is described as “dirty” and “gloomy”. The men see the dirty and gloomy kitchen as a sign that Mrs. Wright wq as a bad housekeeper, which in their mind translates to her being a bad woman in general. “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies? There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm…

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1588 Words | 7 Pages

Glaspell uses multiple symbols to illustrate Mrs. Minnie Wright’s state of mind as a result of her isolating marriage to Mr. Wright. Firstly, the quilt depicted in the play is observed by the

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564 Words | 3 Pages

Mr. Hale’s statement, “women are used to worrying about trifles”, downgrades the daily task of the importance of women’s housekeeping (844). The statement shows the lack of knowledge that men have towards women and believe that women agonize over insignificant things. County Attorney said “Dirty towels! Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies”, is a degrading comment towards Minnie’s lack of housekeeping (844). The image of Minnie’s messy house can be used to show her emotional position.

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