Transcript Trifles by Susan Glaspell The “Real” Murder • Early in the morning of Dec.

Trifles by Susan Glaspell
The “Real” Murder
• Early in the morning of Dec. 2, 1900, John Hossack
was killed in his bed by two blows to the head from
an axe. His wife, Margaret, claimed to have slept
through it. She was arrested for murder on the day
of the funeral, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life
in prison. However, the Iowa Supreme Court
overturned the life sentence, and a second trial
resulted in a hung jury, so she went free. Susan
Glaspell, who wrote "Trifles" was one of the only
female reporters who covered the trial, and she
used the Hossack murder as a loose inspiration for
the play.
• There is a book called Midnight Assassin that
discusses the real case, and if you are interested, it’s
a fascinating read.
The Hossack Family, 1892
John (the man who was murdered) and Margaret (his wife, accused of
the murder) are seated. The others are their children. This photograph
was taken eight years before the murder.
Susan Glaspell’s Article on
the Hossack Case
As a reporter for The Des
Moines News, our “Trifles”
author was one of the first to
report on the crime, as well as
one of the only female
journalists covering the crime.
The Hossack murder was
extremely sensationalized. It
gained national attention, and
every major newspaper in the
country was paying attention
to it. What do you think it was
about this murder that
grabbed the country’s
attention?
Context and Historical Setting
• This is one of those plays where historical
context and setting are extremely important.
What historical facts/circumstances are
especially relevant to this play?
Historical Background
• In 1900, when the murder this play is loosely based on
took place…
– Women in the United States did not have the right to vote.
(This did not change on a federal level until 1920.)
– Women were extremely unlikely to be chosen to serve on the
jury of a criminal trial. (Why might we consider this to be a
problem today, especially in a case where the defendant is a
woman?)
– Though this was beginning to change at the time of the play’s
writing, the ideal, “proper” place for a women had, for a long
time, been the “domestic sphere” – the home.
• How are these historical facts pertinent to the theme of
the play?
Thinking about “Trifles” from a
Feminist Critical Perspective
• In what ways are “women’s concerns” portrayed
in “Trifles”?
• Do the women characters in the play (Mrs. Peters
and Mrs. Hale) have agency? (This is a phrase
feminist critics often borrow from sociology. To
say someone “has agency” means that they have
the ability to act and make decisions
independently.)
• In what ways are issues related to patriarchy
and/or resistance to it present in the play?
Discussion Questions
• (From your book, p. 798) What key events
have occurred before the start of the play?
Why do you suppose these events are not
presented in the play itself?
• What are the connotations of the word
“trifles”?
• (From your book, p. 798) What are the
“trifles” to which the title refers? How do
these “trifles” advance the play’s plot?
More Discussion Questions
• What are some of the symbols in the play?
What does each of them represent?
• There is a short story version of this play,
also written by Susan Glaspell, called “A Jury
of Her Peers.” What is the significance of
that title for the play?
Justice and the Law
• What is this play doing with concepts of “law”
and “justice”? Many critics have thought that the
women’s actions in the play point to a disconnect
between the “letter of the law” and the law’s
ability to give Minnie Wright a fair trial.
• Taking into account what you know about the
historical circumstances of the play, do you think
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters did the “right thing”?
Difference between "quilting" and "knotting”
• One of the “trifles” in the play is whether or not Mrs.
Wright was going to “quilt” or “knot” the quilt she was
working on. As is the case for many of the “trifles” in this
play, the question is more significant than it seems.
• The final stage of quilting is to attach the top, batting,
and backing together. This can be done in two ways. One
way (quilting) is to sew elaborate patterns on it. The
simpler but just as effective way (knotting) is to sew a
heavy thread through the pieces using large stitches, cut
the thread, and tie knots in it.
• The symbolism of the knotting is the fact that Mrs.
Wright killed her husband by tying (and knotting) a rope
around his neck. This is a simple, not elaborate, but very
effective way to kill a man.
This is what a “knotted” or “tied” quilt looks like.