What sort of relationship forms between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters? What impact does the never-glimpsed Mrs. Wright have on this relationship? Explain the use of narrative structure in “Trifles,” focusing particularly on the notion of “resolution.” How does the plot resolve itself? How does this resolution differ from the expected outcome of the story expressed by the townsmen looking for evidence of the crime?
The question of ethics arises in regards to the way the men and the women approach the crime. Compare the approach of the townsmen to Minnie Wright to that of the townswomen who accompany the men on their search for evidence of the crime. What drives the women to make the choice they make?
Minnie Wright never appears in the story, but we learn much about her motives and traits from the other characters. What are the motives that possibly compelled Minnie Write to kill her husband? How do we come to know them during the course of the story?
What causes the men to overlook the evidence found by the women in the play? Why would Glaspell set up the story in this way? In other words, what is her point for having the men fail in their task where the women succeed? What is the relationship of the characters involved in the action of the play to the Wright family? What do they reveal to us about the Wrights?
Although “Trifles” was written almost one hundred years ago, it possesses contemporary attitudes about women that has led many people to refer to it as a feminist or pro-woman story. What elements or occurrences in the play would produce this response in a reader?