A Jury Of Her Peers: Film Analysis

Susan Glaspell 's wrote her first play, “Trifles”, before the start of the Women 's Suffrage Movement, about a woman who allegedly murders her husband by tying a rope around his neck in reciprocation for murdering her beloved canary in a similar fashion. While the audience continues to read the play, the moral becomes much deeper and even the sheriff 's wife, Mrs. Peters, begins to notice the dark and cold house the men are investigating. After years of abuse and misery, the once attractive and joyful Mrs. Wright finally hit a breaking point and ended the misery she is living in. During the investigation the men criticize the mess left in the kitchen and seem to state that she is guilty solely based on her housekeeping abilities. Mrs. Hale …show more content…
The scene is set to be cold and drafty in the farmhouse and the stove is to provide heat, however in Essey-Stapleson’s film the house seems to be warm because Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are not wearing their scarves or coats. The audience must follow close attention to the lack of detail that the film provides, skipping over the beginning of the description of what Harry walked into the day before and his conversation with Mrs. Wright. Essey-Stapleson does not have Harry describe the state Mrs. Wright was in when he arrived at the farmhouse, pleating at her apron or staring out into space. Mrs. Peters has a dry appearance and is more adamant about how guilty she believes Mrs. Wright is on the murder of Mr. Wright. Even when she starts to believe that the real criminal was Mr. Wright, the transformation over to Mrs. Hale’s points of view are not as clear. The film seems to only focus on key elements that lead to the motive, similar to the play by Greening. Despite the disappointment, Essey-Stapleson was the only director that showed interaction between Mr. and Mrs. Wright so that the audience will feel sympathy for Mrs. Wright and portray her as the true