Trifles vs. A Jury of Her Peers

Compare/Contrast between the Play Trifles and the Short Story of Trifles.

In the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” written by Susan Glaspell, the author rewrites the Play “Trifles” in a narrative form. A Jury of Her Peers has the same characters as Trifles, but now the reader gets to hear what the characters were thinking and feeling. The narrative elaborates on how the characters met and even how they feel about one another. For example, on page 275 the writer explains how Mrs. Hale first met Mrs. Peters, “the year before at the county fair”. Mrs. Hale’s opinion of Mrs. Peters is brought to the surface on page 276 when the writer reveals that she felt Mrs. Peters “didn’t seem like a sheriff’s wife”. Whereas in the play Trifles, the reader is left with no insight of this nature since the dialogue is so central (all you know is what you see and hear). Feelings are left out of the play, and revealed in the short story.
We get a better feel for the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Hale in the short story. Mr. Hale rushes her (on page 275) when he yells “Martha!”, and tells her to “Don’t keep folks waiting out here in the cold”. Her annoyance towards him shows on page 277 where she gets irritated with him for “saying things he didn’t need to say”. She tries to give him a cross look, but is interrupted by the county attorney. Our suspicions of male dominance are confirmed on page 279 when the sheriff replies to the county attorney “Nothing here but kitchen things” and the writer reveals that his little laugh was for the “insignificance of kitchen things”. In the end, the two female characters Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters hide the evidence found in the kitchen that could have been used to convict the accused Minnie Wright of murder. The short story brings more of the readers’ imagination to work, whereas the play is pretty black and white, with little room for interpretation.

Trifles

Susan Gaspell’s Trifles, a drama written in 1916 depicts both flat and three-dimensional characters. The two woman characters Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are three dimensional because they have thoughts, feelings and insight. They respond both internally and externally. For example, Mrs. Hale responds to the County Attorney's criticism of Mrs. Wright having dirty towels in the kitchen by saying "There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm" and "Those towels get dirty awful quick". She empathizes with Mrs. Wright even though she's the prime suspect of the murder of Mr. Wright. She acknowledges that Mrs. Wright may have been the murderer, but she seems determined to understand her side of the story. Both Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Peters uncover evidence that points to a motive for the murder; did Mr. Wright kill her canary? Did she wring his neck like he wrung the birds? The men characters are flat and uneventful, they are shallow and arrogant.
Unlike the other “flat” characters in the story, the two female characters look deeper into the psyche of the possible murderer. Once they understand her motive, they begin to analyze her reasoning for the killing. Mrs. Peters shares her own story of a time when her kitten was killed, and another time when her first baby died. Mrs. Hale regrets not visiting the lonely woman more. Together they begin to understand why she may have killed her husband.
Mrs. Hale develops into the person who helps cover up the possible motive for the crime. Maybe it’s her own guilt for not being a better neighbor. Maybe she can relate to the subservient way woman are treated by men, and she feels this woman had put up with enough. Finally, Mrs. Hale seemed to conclude that Minnie Foster could have been somebody, had she not married a farmer. In the end, the two woman stick together, against the men who are shallow and treat them like they’re stupid.

Hangman's Daughter -One discussion question

Why did the writer choose to use last names so frequently?

Throughout the story, the writer repetitiously uses last names of every single character in the book. Perhaps she was attempting to reveal the depersonalization, and superficial side of the characters themselves. This seems to be an appropriate conclusion; since almost every character is self absorbed, self-centered, and worried about themselves. Even Laura Bruce, the wife of a preacher, is preoccupied with what others think, and she's mainly concerned about herself. On page 97 she shows resentment for "doing her husband's job" and she complains (in thought) about having to listen to his update on how things are going in the desert. On page 126 Laura even complains about having to do Christmas! Her comment reveals, that even celebrating Jesus' birthday is a huge inconvenience for her. On page 79 Laura comments on her concern of possibly delivering a handicapped child. But instead of worrying for the child, and how this might affect his/her life, she worries about how inconvenient this would be for HER.


This selfish attitude is seen throughout the book, in many other characters. Spencer, the sheriff, shows signs of the same attitude over and over, as he tries to shrug-off his responsibility to check in on the two remaining Underhill's children. He would do it, but only because it's "expected" of him (66).
Even the elderly lay preacher, filling in for Will Bruce, whines about having to give the graveside eulogy (62). Page #104 reveals Mark Underhill's thoughts of resentment towards his brother Josh. Not anger for killing his parents and younger brother, but for messing up his bedroom, and leaving him in a room tainted by blood stains.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
It's inconceivable to think people could be so self-centered, and selfish; until I hear myself complain about having to miss class tomorrow, because a good friend's son was unexpectedly killed over the weekend. His service will inconveniently interfere with my routine, and I might lose face with my teacher. I stop to reflect how I ashamedly fit in with this books characters. Maybe we all do sometime.

My Last Dutchess by Robert Browning

The rhythm of "My Last Duchess" is that of an Iambic pentameter with a dramatic monologue. The writer is expressing the inner thoughts of the individual speaker, who is believed to be Alfonso II the Duke of Ferrara ( a city in northeast Italy). It was believed that the Duke murdered his wife the Duchess, but he was never found guilty. The poem is about a painting of the Duchess as she sits smiling.
As the Duke speaks to the messenger about the painting, he reveals some hints that he himself may have been the murderer, but it appears he doesn't want this to be known. He comes accross as very jealous (line 31) "she thanked men-good, but thanked them somehow, I know not how, as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred year old name with anybody's gift". This implies he was not happy with the way she didn't honor him for the great man he was. He portrays himself in a favorable light to make himself look good, as if he's feeling guilty about something. His jealousy of her smiles to other men seems to grow (line 45) when he says she smiled at him, but then again she smiled at everyone that way. He was nothing special. He won't come out and say he murdered her, but in line 45 he writes "I gave commands;then all smiles stopped together". Now he owns the painting, or so it seems, and he covers it with a curtain, and only reveals the smile when he wants to (line 9-10); he has complete control over the smile, finally. At the end of the poem, the Duke prepares to meet his next wife's family downstairs from where the paining sits. He comments on the dowry he is perhaps about to receive, and the reader gets a chill when thinking of the life of his next wife, and hopes the truth can be revealed before she ends up another painting on the wall.

Blake's "two contrary states of the human soul"

Blake's Songs of Innocense and Songs of Experience seem to reflect on the one hand a child of optimism, and on the other a child who is broken and discouraged. Abandoned as a child he continued to dream of being set free, of being cleansed and full of God's love and joy. He felt that if he was a good boy and did his work he'd get God's approval, love and protection. This was what he felt would keep him happy.
Five years later, while his adopted parents go to church without him, he's left alone again. Dirty and still optimistic on the outside as evidenced by his statement "I am happy, and dance and sing", yet on the inside he now has a negative view of the church. He feels discouraged by the faith, or at least those who were suppose to show evidence of their Godly love and affection. They are hippocrits in his view. They go to church, but they sing of sadness and "woe", and they expect the same of him. It seems he feels God has all but abandoned him, and he's destined to live a life of misery. He's now good at hiding his pain, and he mocks the religion altogether. He's done what so many of us do, put our faith in Man, not God.

The significance of Scapegoating and "The Lottery"

In the short story "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson explores the unfortunate reality of a greedy, selfish, and self-centered society. The story was written in the 1940's when capitalism was gaining ground and the country seemed to embrace the dog-eat-dog mentality. Much like when Jesus was crucified for the atonement of man's sins, Tessie Hutchinson was selected to be stoned to death as a symbol of "the one" that must die for the sake of others. The town needed a scapegoat; someone to symbolize that a non-productive member of society has no place and therefore must be sacraficed. A kind of weeding-out process; the weak must die to make room for the strong, hard-working members. Mrs. Hutchinson was late for the event because she was "doing her dishes". Hardly an event that contributes to society as a whole, as far as the important people were concerned; not like a Postman or the Mayor, she was simply a housewife. The story exemplifies a heartless society who wants this process to "hurry up" so they can "get back to work". A society void of feelings toward one another, void of compassion and empathy. Tessie's husband did not step forward and offer himself as a sacrafice in her place, this is not how it was done. Even old man Warner who'd been coming to this annual even for 70 years did not feel the process should be changed, he was numb to the cruelty of it all.
They all accepted the stoning "lottery" as a way of life. Much like society today, they did not
want to get involved in making changes to eliminate this murderous freak show, as long as they weren't the ones picked, they were all ok with it.

Week 2 Eng 102 "Eveline"

After reading the short story "Eveline" the reader is left with a few burning questions, one being the validity of Eveline's lover Frank. Was Frank who he appeared to be? Did he really love Eveline, or was he just looking for a quick romance , a sailor's love affair to be forgotten after leaving port?

After evaluating the clues, this reader came to the conclusion that Frank did want Eveline to come with him to Buenos Aires, and his offer was sincere. The author used names and places in a well-thought-out symbolic way. The name Frank for example, according to the encyclopedia means free in giving; generous ,open, and honest in expressing what one thinks or feels; straightforward, candid, and free from reserve. The author described Frank as "very kind, manly and open-hearted".

Buenos Aires is another example of symbolism. The name literally means "Good Air". Eveline lived in a very dusty place. She was continually having to dust to try and keep the house clean in the dirty lanes of Ireland. The air had a fowl smell of dusty cretonne. She certainly deserved to get away to somewhere with clean air, "good air".

But what were Franks plans once they arrived in Argentina? Perhaps he had plans to work with the railroad or a construction site. There had been a construction boom from 1930-1980 and small towns were popping up everywhere. The railroads were booming with supplies being brought in for all the factories and the economy was growing. It seemed like a great place to start a family.

It is this readers' conclusion, based on the clues in the story, that Frank fully intended to take care of Eveline. He walked her home in the evenings, sang to her and took her to the movies. He spent time with her and he gave her no reason to disbelieve his intentions. In the end it was her fear, not his, that kept her from leaving Ireland to be his wife. She was afraid of change, and of exchanging the familiar for the unknown. She looked at Frank, but not with love, perhaps with scepticism, since she had maybe never really felt loved. Maybe she wasn't capable of loving. Perhaps she had gotten caught up in the thought of escape, but the reality proved to be too overwhelming, too scary, and too risky. Yes, Frank had kept his promise and had a ticket for her to board the boat with him; it was she who could not leave.