An Open Mind Leads Understanding

An Open Mind Leads Understanding

They say a person is innocent until proven guilty in the United States, but sometimes the

opposite is true, as is the case in the play Trifles, by Susan Glaspell. The men speculate that the

murder suspect, Mrs. Wright, is a looney housewife before they even thoroughly investigate the

crime scene. Their chauvinistic attitude towards women drives Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters into

creating an unspoken bond with Mrs. Wright. They view the evidence from Mrs. Wright’s

perspective and examine it systematically and rationally, without bias or prejudice to uncover the

truth.

Shortly after the characters arrive at the crime scene, Mrs. Wrights’ integrity is besieged

by the county attorney, the sheriff and even the neighbor, Mr. Hale. The county attorney

speculates that Mrs. Wright will “have something more serious than preserves to worry about”

(446) prior to any real investigation taking place. This demonstrates that the county attorney is

already leaning towards Mrs. Wright being the murderer, without any evidence to support his

theory. He goes on to criticize Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping abilities and draws support from the

sheriff and Mr. Hale. When he finds “Dirty towels” in the kitchen, he proclaims that Mrs. Wright

is “Not much of a housekeeper” (446) and it is at this moment that Mrs. Hale mounts her defense

for Mrs. Wright. She insists that “There’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm” and that

“Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be” (446). The county attorney

chauvinistically declares that Mrs. Peters is “loyal to her sex” (446) and indeed he is correct.

Mrs. Peters may be “Married to the Law” (452), but ultimately is “loyal to her sex” (446)

whom she’s able to sympathize with her because she knows the plight of being a woman in the

early 20th century. She is able to recognize that the county attorney, the sheriff and Mr. Hale

have all made bigoted remarks about women. It is clear to Mrs. Peters that they are not able to

treat the murder investigation without bias towards Mrs. Wright, simply because she is a woman.

When the men proceed upstairs to investigate, Mrs. Peters admits to Mrs. Hale that her husband,

the sheriff is already saying circumstances “looks bad” (448) for Mrs. Wright, despite not having

any evidence or a motive to indicate she murdered her husband. Mrs. Peters recognizes that Mrs.

Wright doesn’t stand a chance at a fair investigation or trial due to the “sarcastic” brashness of

the county attorney who “makes fun” (448) of Mrs. Wright.

While the county attorney may draw amusement from ridiculing Mrs. Wright, he is

worthy of ridicule himself. For it is not the county attorney nor the sheriff who discover a

motive, but rather Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. They piece together the clues to the crime because

they evaluate the crime scene from a woman’s perspective without any bias or prejudice. While

the county attorney

...