Question

What is one important theme in Trifles? How do symbols help develop that theme? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

Trifles Themes

The main themes in Trifles are gender, isolation, and justice.

Gender: the male characters only want to gather evidence of Minnie's crime, whereas the women come to understand the emotional pain that drove Minnie to murder her husband.

Isolation: Minnie Wright is isolated from her friends and family by her controlling, abusive husband. This has devastating psychological effects on Minnie.

Justice: The men and women have different conceptions of justice. The men want Minnie to be convicted of murder, whereas the women hide the evidence that would have convicted Minnie out of respect for the years of abuse Minnie suffered.

Themes and Meanings

Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 410

Though its plot focuses on a single moral choice, that of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters deciding whether or not to expose why Mrs. Wright killed her husband, Trifles is thematically complex. It addresses the abiding issue of justice and contemporary issues of gender and identity politics. Susan Glaspell’s power...

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