Symbolism in the Play Trifles

Symbolism in the Play ‘Trifles’ by Susan Glaspell

Trifle: noun (‘an article or thing of very little value’); verb (‘to deal lightly or without due seriousness or respect’). The title of the play ‘Trifles’ by Susan Glaspell refers to both these definitions.

"The incompleted tasks in Minnie's kitchen argue that she acted very soon after provocation, John's strangling of the bird" (Smith 182). The fact that Minnie’s kitchen table is half-wiped; a chair is sticky, etc allow the reader to see into the disorganized mess that Minnie’s mind has become. The exploded jars of cherries are symbolic of the sudden release of her pent-up frustration and anger - the single remaining unbroken one, symbolizing the one thing she still held inside. "Minnie herself stayed on the shelf, alone and unbefriended on the farm, until the coldness of her marriage, her life in general, broke her apart. Her secrets kept under pressure burst from their fragile containers … The single intact jar symbolizes the one remaining secret, the motive to complete the prosecutor's case" (Smith 175). In addition, it could be said that the lack of heat which caused the preserve jars to explode symbolizes the lack of love and respect in the Wright’s relationship.

"From their entrance, the women stand apart from the men, clustered at the stove. The men talk with a rough familiarity born of working together and knowing one another. The women seem less acquainted and never call each other by their first names. But at the men's first disparaging remarks about Minnie's housekeeping and women 'worrying over trifles,' the women move closer together" (Smith 177).

SHERIFF. Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves.

COUNTY ATTORNEY. I guess before we're through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about.

HALE. Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.

(The two women move a little closer together.) (Glaspell 1113-1114)

The moving closer...