Psychological Critical Perspective
From the play, Trifles, I would like to discuss the psychological aspect of Mrs. Wright who murdered her husband. She is not a heartless, cold blooded killer but in actuality, a victim. Mrs. Wright is a woman whose husband has taken away every joy that she had in life. It is indicated that her husband was abusive and had changed her entire demeanor. Trifles tells the story of a woman who retaliated after thirty years of emotional and possibly physical abuse. The turning point came when Mr. Wright killed her pet canary which triggered an emotion inside of her so great that she took his life.
Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, is set during a time when women were not considered equal to men. A woman’s primary responsibility was to take care of the house, children, and husband. Women are noted to be much weaker than men and subordinate in nature. Much of the conversations between the female characters are done when the men are not around to hear. Mrs. Glaspell based her characters on her observations of male and female interactions surrounding her. The irony in the title of this play is that men considered everything that pertained to women as trifles, as if what they cared about had little value or importance. Mr. Hale even states (p1866), “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” It is ironic that “trifles” is what caused the major conflict in this play.
Mrs. Wright is described as (p1865) “sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery.” Her life changed drastically when she got married. She no longer socialized with friends, she didn’t dress the same, and she stopped singing. These were all the things she did that brought happiness and her husband was the cause of her misery. Year after year, she endured the abuse and loneliness. She wanted children but never was able to have any. Depression took over and she became very withdrawn. “How she- did change”, states Mrs. Hale (p1865). Being her closest...