Trifles Research Paper

Trifles Essay

1. Minnie Wright killed her husband for a number of reasons. The accumulation of the stress from her environment and marriage drove her to commit the crime.

She lived in a cold and isolated world. She worked hard but was not respected by her husband. The environment in which she lived was extreme. In the beginning the sheriff states it drops below zero at night in the house if the fire is not kept going at night. It’s so cold; someone could get pneumonia (968). She lives in these harsh conditions. Even at night someone must tediously keep the fire going. The Sheriff also mentions that yesterday a man went crazy (968). This again points to the extreme isolation and harsh environment that these people are living in. Mr.

Hale finds Mr. Wrights body he went as fast as he could to the Rivers place, where there’s a telephone (970). This implies that the nearest place with a telephone is very far away. Later as the women Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale inspect the house. Mrs. Wright’s preserves are found and they say she was worried about them because sometimes when the fire goes out at night they break (970). This is another reference to the extreme cold and necessity of the fire. Mrs. Hale also states later that there is a great deal of work to be done on a farm (971). This is speaking of how hard her life is. Mrs. Hale also later implies that making preserves is hard work and this is why she cares about them so much (972). When it comes to the Wrights bad marriage the women imply that John was to blame. Mrs. Hale implies that Mrs. Wright hardly had visitors, although she was nice, but John wasn’t very cheery, but rather depressing and that’s why people avoided the Wrights place because it wasn’t cheerful (971). This would be another reason for Minnie’s lack of morale. The women discover how few clothes Minnie has. This is because John Wright was cheap. That’s why they believe she kept to herself, because she felt