TITLE. The intimate relation between the one-act play and the
short-story may be seen in the fact that the narrative here told has
its dramatic counterpart in the stage production entitled “Trifles.”
The latter was presented in the season of 1916-1917 in New York City.
What is the excellence of each title?
GERMINAL IDEA. “A long time ago, when I was a reporter in Iowa, I went
to the house of a woman who was being held for murder, and while the
circumstances were not at all those of ‘Trifles,’ it was out of that
experience the play grew.”--_Susan Glaspell._
FACTS OF THE PLOT. Minnie Foster marries John Wright. Basis for
trouble lies in the fact that Minnie is a lively girl, with a love
for color and action, while John is a hard man, and “like a raw wind
that gets to the bone.” They have no children, and as the years go
by, Minnie is more and more lonely. The neighbor women leave her to
herself; her isolation is pronounced. At length, after many years,
she comforts herself with a caged bird. In a fit of rage, John wrings
the bird’s neck. Minnie, half-crazed, lays aside the body of the bird
in her sewing basket. Shortly after, while her husband is asleep, she
strangles him to death with a rope. The next morning, she explains to a
passing neighbor, who drops in on a business visit, that John has been
strangled by “somebody”; that she is a sound sleeper, and sleeps on the
“inside” of the bed. The neighbor notifies the sheriff. Minnie is taken
to prison. The next day, the sheriff, Peters, with his wife and the
district attorney go out to the Wright place to make an examination.
Hale, a neighbor, and Mrs. Hale are with them. The men seek a cause,
a motive, for the killing of Wright, but find nothing. While they
are making large and futile observations, however, Mrs. Hale and
Mrs. Peters discover the dead bird and other evidence. With awakened
understandings, the women conceal the evidence--Martha Hale takes the
bird away in her pocket.
MANAGEMENT OF THE FACTS--THE DEVELOPED PLOT. The most noteworthy
and striking management lies in corralling the whole story into one
“cold March morning,” and only part of that. Unity of setting, the
Wright home, is a less difficult achievement. Notice that the story
_introduction_ calls up a setting outside the Wright home, whereas the
play (“Trifles”) used only the kitchen at the Wrights’. Which is better
for intensification?
The chronological order of the plot is rearranged for artistic purposes
and for interest. The author begins at the point of the visit to the
empty house by the sheriff’s party.
To understand thoroughly, the difference between the order of plot
presentation and the order of chronological growth, make out a list of
the details as you gather them from the story progress. Then compare
them with the “Facts of the Plot,” set forth above.
STORY PRESENTATION. The narrative is given to the reader according to
the detective story method. Martha Hale’s point of view is used at the
start, after which the dramatic method is employed, the spot-light
shifting from one woman to another, occasionally lighting on the men,
but lingering most often on Martha Hale. Why is she the best one
through whom the reader may understand the entire situation?
Where do you first feel yourself responding to a sense of mystery? How
does the author convey this? What is the effect in the first paragraph
of these words?--“It was no ordinary thing that called her away,” etc.
Observe the little apology (bottom of page 258) by which the author has
kept the search delayed until the second day, after Minnie has been
taken away. Why is the latter accomplishment a plot necessity?
What contributory worth has the emphasis (page 259) on Mrs. Hale’s
Harry?... How is it used to effect contrast?
Pages 260 and 261 in effect convey a rehearsal; but they have dramatic
worth also. Why? (Note that Minnie’s speeches are quoted, not
summarized.) See following pages for similar dramatic accomplishment.
Study the natural way in which Hale and Peters are pushed off the stage
(page 263), leaving the women together with the attorney. Purpose of
his remaining a moment?
Observe the care with which every important detail of the plot is
_motivated_.
Study the scene wherein the women, with an eye for little things,
arrive at the truth. Is their solution stated, or is it suggested?
What do you deduce from the stove with the broken lining? From the
crazy stitches in the sewing? From the bird-cage of the broken hinge?
What double meaning lies in the concluding sentence, “We call it--knot
it, Mr. Henderson”?
SETTING. Has the actual setting an influence on the characters with
respect to the story action? How is the setting given in the finished
narrative? How is it connected with the theme?
CHARACTERS. Make a list of the characters and state the reason for the
existence of each with regard to the action, to the verisimilitude,
and to the need for contrast. It is a difficult thing to focus clearly
before the reader a character who never “comes on the stage.” Has Miss
Glaspell succeeded in evoking for you the person and the individuality
of Minnie Wright?
Does one desire in a story of this nature _types_ or _individuals_?
Which character should be most individual, here, as regards the
author’s purpose?