Literature and Composition: Reading,
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. DiYanni
From Analysis to Essay

Read the short play Trifles and consider
the literary elements we have discussed:
plot, character, setting, and symbol. Try
to formulate at least two or three
thematic statements that could become
the thesis for an interpretive essay.
Analyzing Literary Elements - Plot

In Trifles, two plots run parallel:
 the men have an off-stage story as they hunt for
clues to the murder of Mr. Wright;
 the women have an on-stage story as they
unravel the life of Mrs. Wright.

The tension in the story’s plot has to do with
the rate at which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters
come to understand what has happened.
Analyzing Literary Elements - Plot
Suspense builds as the two women, and the
audience, figure out who killed Mr. Wright and
why.
 The suspense is heightened by the moral
dilemma of whether the women should conceal
incriminating evidence – and whether they’ll get
caught doing it.
 One reason the men in the story don’t figure out
what happened is that they dismiss the things
the women say as mere trifles.

Analyzing Literary Elements characters



Trifles has two female characters - Mrs. Hale and Mrs.
Peters – and three male characters – Mrs. Hale, the
sheriff, and the county attorney. Mrs. And Mrs. Wright,
though not on stage, have a presence as well.
Over the course of the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters
change, feeling less certain about their own beliefs,
disappointed in themselves for not being better friends
to Mrs. Wright, and empathetic to her desperate
loneliness. The men don’t change.
We learn about all of the characters through their
conversation, especially in the way the conversation
changes when the men are involved.
Analyzing Literary Elements - setting



The setting helps us understand character and also moves the plot
along.
The play takes place in an empty farmhouse, but the setting is more
complicated than that. The men go to the bedroom where the murder
occurred, while the women focus on the kitchen. Both the men and the
women note the disheveled condition in which Mrs. Wright left it, yet
the women are protective of her as well, understanding that she
probably wouldn’t have left such a mess if she hadn’t been
unexpectedly taken from her home. They also come to understand that
the mess (which is a part of the setting) may be a sing of the “sudden
feeling” the sheriff and attorney are looking for.
We learn that the community is close and that Mrs. Peters is a
newcomer. Mrs. Hale has known the woman under suspicion for many
years, and it is through that familiarity that she understands what has
happened and makes the decision she does.
Analyzing Literary Elements - symbols

Certain symbols are repeated.
 The cold is brutal and unrelenting. The characters
move toward the stove whenever possible, and the
cold is a repeated subject of conversation. Mr. Wright
is depicted as being cold and unloving, making the
cold a clear symbol of a life without affection or even
company.
 Other symbols might be Mrs. Wright’s quilt pieces, the
choice between quilting and knotting, the dead bird
and the broken birdcage, the preserves (or trifles),
and even the half-done chores.

Each of these things is more fraught (loaded)
with meaning than it at first seems.
Possible Themes

So, although the subject of Trifles is the
unraveling of a mystery and the decision to
protect the murderer, some of its themes might
be:
 Sexism can make people blind to the truth.
 People may take desperate measures when they feel
entrapped in a loveless marriage, in a cold isolated
house, or in a society that doesn’t value them.
 Someone who is a criminal by one set of social
standards might be a victim according to another set
of social standards. Or, in other words, justice is not
always the same as the rule of law.
Developing a Thesis Statement
First and foremost, remember that you are
analyzing the elements of the work in order to
arrive at an interpretation; you should not be
summarizing the work.
 Simply retelling what happened or making an
observation does not amount to an
interpretation.
 If you start right off with a thesis statement that
argues for an interpretation of the play’s
meaning, you will guard against summary. .

Thesis with only Summaries
 In Trifles, the women notice evidence that the
men do not.
 Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover a birdcage
and dead canary, which provide clues to what
actually happened to Mr. Wright
The summary statements, though accurate,
simply tell what happened during the course
of the play.
 There are facts only, and it leaves no room
for development but retelling.

Thesis with Interpretations
 In Trifles, the differences in the evidence the men and
women notice suggest different worldviews and value
systems.
 When Mrs. Hales and Mrs. Peters discover a birdcage
and a dead canary wrapped in silk, they associate the
silenced songbird with the joyless and repressed life
that might have motivated Mrs. Wright to murder her
husband.
The interpretive statements take the same
points and explain why it happened.
 There are facts and opinion which give room for
development.

Remember

When formulating your thesis, you are
writing about how literary elements such
as plot, character, setting, and symbol
illuminate the meaning of the work as a
whole. Thus, you are always balancing
the two: literary elements and
interpretation.
Prompt

In a conventional mystery, the point of the
story is to figure out who the culprit is. The
mystery in Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles is
unconventional, as the culprit is
apprehended before the play even begins.
However, as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters
unravel the mystery of why the murder took
place, the play’s themes are revealed.
Discuss how Susan Glaspell uses the
mystery in Trifles to reveal a theme of her
play.
Deconstruct the Prompt
A good starting point is to figure out
exactly what is being asked.
 In this case, you are being asked to
consider the murder-mystery plot not as
an end in itself but as a means of
developing a theme. A murder mystery
is all about the law, because somebody
has to be held accountable for the
crime.

More questions than answers
Is Glaspell asking us to reflect on the
relationship between law and justice or
to link justice and punishment?
 Did Mrs. Wright do wrong in being her
husband’s judge, jury, and executioner?
 Was living with him punishment enough
for her wrongdoing?
 Did she choose a punishment that fit his
“crime”?

Initial Thesis

Try to incorporate the answers to all the
questions into a one-sentence statement:
 The murder mystery in Trifles is solved, but it is
not so easy to answer the questions that the
mystery raises about law, justice, and
punishment, and whether hard-and fast rules that
govern human relations are always appropriate or
fair.

Too long and rambling, needs more focus.
Narrowed down thesis
 In Trifles, the murder mystery is the means
Glaspell uses to explore whether the rule of law is
always the same as justice.

Since the play ends inconclusively – Mrs.
Wright is neither convicted nor exonerated
(acquitted) – which make it difficult to say
that the play takes a stand on the issues.
Then, it is better to argue that Glaspell asks
her audience/readers to explore these
issues.
Planning an Interpretive Essay
When writing an essay, your main points will
grow out of your thesis statement.
Expressing these points as topic sentences
moves the essay along and makes it more
cohesive.
 Thesis: “In Trifles, the murder mystery is the
means Glaspell uses to explore whether the
rule of law is always the same as justice.”

First Development of the thesis

This thesis indicates that you will first discuss
the murder mystery as a plot device, and then
explain how it contributes to the theme.
 Solving the murder is not really the point of the story.
Suspect is detained, and case is pretty much closed
right from the beginning.
 Seem to be different ways of investigating for men
and women. Men doing police work. Women looking
at “trifles.”
 Women suppress evidence, defy men’s justice.
Empathize with Mrs. Wright.
 Birdcage and dead bird symbolize Mrs. Wright (former
singer) and her desolate life with Mr. Wright.
Possible Topic Sentences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Although Mr. Hale retells the circumstances of finding the
body, questions arise concerning Mrs. Wright’s indifferent
behavior and the way her husband died.
During the investigation, the men follow rules to gather
evidence, supporting one another’s assumptions about
what is significant, while the women quietly observe the
surroundings, noticing important clues that the men dismiss
as “trifles.”
Identifying with Mrs. Wright, the women withhold judgment
and instead try to understand what might have motivated
her.
The birdcage and the dead canary, clues to the mystery,
also symbolize the quiet oppression of Mrs. Wright.
The play’s conclusion serves as closure to the mystery, but
it is the investigative process that proves to be more
illuminating.
Supporting Your Interpretation
Be specific.
 Active reading and rereading are essential.
 Citing examples and explicitly explaining how
they illustrate and support your interpretation
are key to a successful essay that analyzes
a literary work.
 The more you explain how rather than state
that, the stronger your essay will be.
 Avoid stating the obvious.

Avoid Summary but …

Keep a good balance by
 Assuming that your reader has read the
book but has not necessarily thought too
much about it. This way you won’t have to
recount the plot or describe the characters.
 Pretend you are writing for the person who
sits in front of you in class (Thomas Foster,
How to Read Literature Like a Professor).
Sample developing paragraph

Identifying with Mrs. Wright, the women withhold
judgment and instead try to understand what
might have motivated her. Mrs. Hale and Mrs.
Peters look around the house, especially the
kitchen, and notice the fruit Mrs. Wright has
canned and the quilt she is stitching. They talk
about the fact that the couple had no children
and that Mr. Wright was not a communicative
husband. They also discuss incidents from their
own past when they felt strong emotions that
might have made them do something
uncharacteristic or rash.
Comments on the sample developing
paragraph
Holds clear focus
 Information is drawn from the play – so what?
 But too general – seems like summary
 Need to ask:

 What can you infer from their actions?
 How do these events reveal some of the themes that
anchor the play?
 How do the remembrances of Mrs. Wright’s loneliness
and childlessness help them to understand Mrs.
Wright’s motivation, which is the focus established in
the topic sentence?
How to better support the thesis and
topic sentence
The most important part of supporting your
argument involves explaining your examples
and discussing the ways the details you
recount or quote connect to your thesis
statement and topic sentences.
 Include sentences of explanation, sometimes
called commentary or analysis, for each of
your examples – and making those
examples as concrete as possible.

Compare to the revised:

Identifying with Mrs. Wright, the
women withhold judgment and
instead try to understand what
might have motivated her. Mrs.
Hale and Mrs. Peters look
around the house, especially
the kitchen, and notice the fruit
Mrs. Wright has canned and the
quilt she is stitching. They talk
about the fact that the couple
had no children and that Mr.
Wright was not a
communicative husband. They
also discuss incidents from their
own past when they felt strong
emotions that might have made
them do something
uncharacteristic or rash.

Identifying with Mrs. Wright, the women
withhold judgment and instead try to
understand what might have motivated
her. They discuss how hard life must
have been for Minnie in a house with no
children and with John, who was cold
and distant. The Wright house is located
in a hollow, and the road cannot even be
seen, so Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters
begin to understand how the isolation
and sense of entrapment could have led
Mrs. Wright to snap. They can see how
the only means of escape might have
been to kill her captor, Mr. Wright. Mrs.
Peters furthers the link between them
and Mrs. Wright by sharing a time when
Mrs. Peters herself felt the desire to hurt
a boy who butchered her kitten with a
hatchet. The women realize that they
too might have been driven to violence
under Mrs. Wright’s circumstances.