User:EmmaKDarnell/sandbox

Trifles Checklist

• Find RELIABLE sources for these symbols

-canary

-quilt

-rocking chair

-jar of preserves

-Small Things Reconsidered

• Find RELIABLE sources for these themes:

-justice

-identity

• Find RELIABLE sources which address other themes
• Possibly reorganize once new material is added?

Random notes that might be useful:
Open ending
The law – masculine, “official” narrative
The “trifles;” home affairs – feminine narrative (the truth)
Knotted – “not it” – gallows, choking
Domestic roles are less important than “breadwinning” roles
Mr. Wright / “Right”
Minnie Foster – “foster” has maternal implications

Justice is a major theme of Trifles, especially as it pertains to women. The title of Glaspell's short story based on Trifles is "A Jury of Her Peers," which refers to the fact that women were not allowed to serve on a jury at this time, so a truly fair trial by a jury of one's peers, as promised by the American constitution, was impossible for a female defendant. The biggest irony of justice in Trifles is that a woman's social situation, exacerbated by patriarchal culture, may lead a woman to crime and then unjustly punish her for it. The play draws a clear line between the legal definition of justice, which would mean Mrs. Wright being convicted and sentenced for killing her husband, and the moral definition of justice, which would mean Mrs. Wright is not punished for freeing herself from her abuser.