The Truth Is Not Always Seen by the Trained Eye

The truth is not always seen by the trained eye.

The play Trifles was written in 1916 by a woman named Susan Glaspell. This is a story about murder, basically an old "who done it" kind of mystery. The story takes place in an old, messy, kitchen located somewhere close to the Dakotas and Omaha. It begins with a brief description of the problem at hand, someone (Mr. Wright) has been murdered and the authorities need some evidence in order to solve the mystery. This is the basis of the entire play, the main focus is not actually the mystery itself, but more about the different ways people tend to see things. The Trifles that these women are talking about in the play are insignificant to the men who are actually trying to solve the case, but clear as day, to the women who are merely standing by. Being that this play was written in the early 1900s, it was clearly a bold statement for women everywhere in the nation.

This play was impressive in many ways. First the detail to all of the settings and movements of characters are extremely precise and truly draw a picture for the reader, or in this case the audience. Next, the dialogues of the characters really specify what and why all of these actions are taking place. Without a narrator telling the audience what has happened before hand, it is often difficult to explain everything through pure dialogue. The author of this play has done an especially good job on developing all the right conversations at the right times. Another impressive part of the play was the plot, it was definitely exclusive and ahead of it's time. For a woman to murder her own husband in the early 1900s is an idea that probably revolutionized the way people thought about women homemakers. What makes this play truly unique is the way the entire story unfolds. According to the men in the story (professional authorities) there is no evidence to be found and no clear motive. But to the women (innocent by standers) there are a whole group of things that stand out, the sewing, the preserves, the apron etc. These pieces of evidence are irrelevant and merely Trifles according to the men, but in actuality they are the basis and main clues that the men simply overlook.

I enjoyed this play because of the cleverness in the writing. At first it seems like ordinary dialogue and no true interest is introduced. Then after the first page or so, when Lewis Hale says "Can't I see