Susan Glaspells Trifles
Susan Glaspell wrote two works that tell the same story, a play entitled "Trifles" in 1916 and another work in 1917 that presents the same narrative in short story form "A Jury of Her Peers" (Carpenter 92). ... This shows why Glaspell entitled her play "Trifles," as it is by "trifles," that is, womens work and concerns--things that male society disparages -- that the women are able to figure out precisely what happened. It is through "trifles" that the women are able to discern the psychological state of Minnie Wright when she killed her husband. ... The play ends with one more bit of evidence that is right under the noses of the men, but--because they do not think in terms of womens "trifles," this evidence escapes their notice. ... Therefore, implicit in Glaspells play is the message that--in this instance--only women are qualified to sit "as peers" and judge Minnie Wright.