The Theme Of Entrapment In Trifles By Susan Glaspell

Entrapment In the play Trifles by Susan Glaspell, the theme of entrapment is expressed in various ways through gender stereotypes. The character in the play Mrs. Wright experiences entrapment from her dominating husband John, which eventually leads her to murder him for her freedom. Some ways these issues are expressed are in the dialogue, setting and metaphorically. In the play, Mr. Wright wants control over his wife and an example of this is the setting of where they lived. In the beginning of the play, the place they lived is described as a now abandoned farmhouse. A farmhouse is generally on a good amount of acreage so it can be assumed Mr. Wright specifically wanted to live somewhere away from town and civilization to keep Mrs. Wright …show more content…
Wright and Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright was being trapped by her husband. The canary itself symbolizes Mrs. Wright. In the text it was mentioned that she used to sing in a choir when she was younger. However, once she married her husband, her singing came to an end. She no longer sang and she stopped attending social gatherings in town. Her husband had her trapped and the house soon became a cage. Since she didn 't have any children, it’s apparent her only source of happiness was her bird. She must have understood how the bird felt, being trapped in a cage. Although it is never stated who killed the bird, we can make an assumption that it was Mr. Wright. Minnie would never kill anything that was a companion for her, something that sang when she no longer did and in a way, understood her. The bird was a source of happiness to her and it was wrongfully taken away by her domineering, violent husband. After she killed him, she was free from the cage he put her …show more content…
However, when go looking through the house for clues, they skip over important details. The women on the other hand notice what the men do not. An example of this is the quilt Mrs. Wright was working on. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were wondering if she was going to quilt it or knot it. When the men hear them discussing it, they interject in the conversation and mock them. The sheriff says, “They wonder if she was going to quilt it or knot it” (1043). However, while they were mocking them they noticed something peculiar about the quilt. They see that most of the stitching is very neat and precise, but when they look closer they notice that it started to become erratic and messy. Mrs. Hale says it seems like she was nervous while making it but Mrs. Peters disagrees and says she must have just been tired. It can be assumed the messy stitching was the result of something going on with her husband behind the scenes. If the men had not ridiculed them about it, they would have made the correlation that the discussion was an important detail about they way the rope was tied around Mr. Wrights neck. However, they don’t because they assume since they are women, they couldn 't possibly notice something important. Mrs. Hale and Mr.s Peters were’t going to mention anything to the men though because the women are able to empathize with