“Lamb to the Slaughter follows Mary Maloney from a normal day with her husband, but goes a different direction after Patrick Maloney basically divorces her. She then proceeds to retrieve a leg of lamb from the cellar, and kills Patrick. In Trifles, a team of investigators come to the scene of a murder with their wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. Peters and Hale are retrieving a few items for Mrs. Wright, the wife of the victim. The wives find multiple pieces of evidence that could be used to prove Mrs. Wright to be the murderer. Dahl develops her female perspective, while Glaspell develops his male perspective, while both using literary devices. There is a theme of unlikely oppression in “Lamb to the Slaughter”. The house is like
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The leg of lamb is one such example of a symbol, as it represents the woman and how a woman can take down a man, contrary to common belief during the time. The leg would be a domestic weapon, as it was accessible to Mary, being a housewife. There is actually a shared symbol between “Lamb to the Slaughter” and Trifles, which is the cage. In “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the house is the cage, which Patrick tries to escape, and Mary wants them both to stay in. Mary herself could be considered a symbol, being like a lamb. Lambs are commonly seen as innocent and kind, willing following along, like Mary in her marriage. While there is symbolism in “Lamb to the Slaughter” there is a theme of the oppression of women in …show more content…
In the story, there are multiple discussions about the quilt Mrs. Wright was working on. Mrs. Peters and Hale were wondering whether Mrs. Wright was going to quilt it or knot it. The possible knot on the quilt would be excellent practice for hanging someone, like Mr. Wright. The investigators would have no idea of this connection, dismissing quilt or knot as pointless chatter between the women. Mrs. Hale and Peters find multiple pieces of evidence in the house, such as the bird cage and the dead canary. Since Mrs. Peters is married to the sheriff, it is strange that she would hide possible evidence. While there were moments of irony, there were cases of symbolism in
The leg of lamb is one such example of a symbol, as it represents the woman and how a woman can take down a man, contrary to common belief during the time. The leg would be a domestic weapon, as it was accessible to Mary, being a housewife. There is actually a shared symbol between “Lamb to the Slaughter” and Trifles, which is the cage. In “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the house is the cage, which Patrick tries to escape, and Mary wants them both to stay in. Mary herself could be considered a symbol, being like a lamb. Lambs are commonly seen as innocent and kind, willing following along, like Mary in her marriage. While there is symbolism in “Lamb to the Slaughter” there is a theme of the oppression of women in …show more content…
In the story, there are multiple discussions about the quilt Mrs. Wright was working on. Mrs. Peters and Hale were wondering whether Mrs. Wright was going to quilt it or knot it. The possible knot on the quilt would be excellent practice for hanging someone, like Mr. Wright. The investigators would have no idea of this connection, dismissing quilt or knot as pointless chatter between the women. Mrs. Hale and Peters find multiple pieces of evidence in the house, such as the bird cage and the dead canary. Since Mrs. Peters is married to the sheriff, it is strange that she would hide possible evidence. While there were moments of irony, there were cases of symbolism in