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.