peer review

As the play unfolds, we get to learn of the resentments of the women to blaming Minnie. Mrs. Peter, Hale, and Minnie were neighbors and childhood friends. In the occasion that led to the death of Minnie's husband, they shift the blame from Minnie to the situation the husband put her. Ironically, the neighbors are in the house of the deceased to fetch some clothes for the accused. In normal occasions, murder is never easy to get away with and is always a severe issue. In fact, it consumes the community around and transforms the people concerned into mourner. The opposite is the reality in the play. Mrs. Peter and Hales show no remorse for the departure of their friend's husband.

Ironically, the two women of the play detach themselves from the deaths and play devil's advocate in the case. They are aware that their spouses are in the same house trying to collect evidence of the murder but willingly refuses to join but engages in wishful thinking. Mrs. Peter gets emotional of the death as they attempt to uncover what may turn out to be the incriminating evidence against their friend. The death of the bird as revealed by the two women is a close link between possible death and murder instincts (Itech.fgcu.edu). However, the women do not feel obliged to give their husbands the evidence. In their defense, they align Minnie's murder instincts to the situation as presented by the husband

Imagery and personification take center stage in the play. With the founding of the dead pet, a new story unfolds of the persecution of the Minnie at the hands of the husband. Mrs. Peter and Hales recall of a glorious time when Minnie lived her life to the fullest. According to them, she was a bright girl right before she met her husband. The turn of events from a bright girl to a murderer takes center stage at the half end of the play. The marriage between Minnie and her husband had gone sours somewhere in the line of their wedlock. In the event, the Minnie had been reduced to a housekeeper with limited public life subject to her husband's approval. The harsh life imposed by her husband made her lose contact with the outer world as Mrs. Peter notes. She continues to say that she sensed something amiss but gave it the benefit of time to heal. However, borrowing from the theme at the beginning of the play, we get to learn that time only made things worse.

The caged bird takes the persona of Minnie, who lives at the mercy of her husband just as a pet lives at the mercy of the owner. However, it's clear that Minnie was not to take the control lying. She struggles to come out of shadowing control of her husband as evident in the fight in the cage. Minnie's struggle may be in one way the cause of the murder. Mrs. Hales suggests that maybe a cat got the pet, insinuate an external factor was at play. However, we get to learn that there were no cats in that homestead, and any breakouts were as a result of the struggles between the two (prezi.com). In the end, the Minnie decides that killing her husband is the only way to earn her freedom.

The murder of the pet is symbolic to the end of an era. Pets in the regular life setting cannot change hands from one owner to another but remain part of the family and life till death. The death of the pet shows that the relationship of Minnie and her husband had finally come to a standstill, and the murder was the only option (Education.seattlepi.com). There was an action where Minnie would have left her husband alone but according to her, she deserved to die just as a loyal pet dies its master. In this case, the death of the pet is evidence enough to link Minnie to the death of her husband. Minnie wanted to leave no clues of her past life thus decided to do away with all that pertains her past life. By choosing prison life over freedom, Minnie shows the extent of male discrimination and subjection to utter slavery that only ends through a struggle.

As the play ends, the women confiscate the evidence that their husbands are looking for in a bid to protect their friend. Different motives lead to the turn of events one being the need to rescue their friend from the male antagonists and also to fell the sense of accomplishment over their husbands. The Men in the play specifically scorn their wives maybe in an attempt to show supremacy but also to demonstrate their insignificance in the case. Unknowingly, they prick the women who decide not the side with them thus trashing the whole case. The eventual triumph of the women over their husbands is symbolic of the struggle of the women to voice their concerns over the male dominated community. The case against Minnie gets into limbo thanks to their collaborator evidence of the two women. Even as the play ends, the men do not notice their loss a symbol of opportunity for ladies.

Works cited

Nelligan, Liza Maeve. "Trifles and The Verge." Susan Glaspell: Essays on Her Theater and Fiction (2002): 85.

prezi.com, "Trifles and The Elements of Drama". N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

Itech.fgcu.edu. "Glaspell". N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

Education.seattlepi.com. "What Is the Dramatic Irony In 'Trifles'?". N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.