The play is loosely based on the murder of John Hossack, which Glaspell reported on while working as a journalist for the Des Moines Daily News.
[1] On December 2, 1900, Hossack's wife, Margaret, reported to the police that an unknown person broke into their house and murdered John with an axe while she slept next to him.
[3] Initially, Glaspell's reporting painted a rich portrait of Hossack as a formidable, cold-blooded woman, thoroughly capable of "having beaten [her husband's] brains out with an axe".
[4] However, after Glaspell visited the Hossack family farmhouse to gather materials for her next column, her tone shifted considerably.
Subsequent reports from Glaspell showed Hossack under a much more sympathetic light as a meek woman who missed her children.
[9] A year after Trifles' success, Glaspell turned the play into a short story, retitling it "A Jury of Her Peers".
[11] Furthermore, Glaspell "capitalized on the growing interest in this form of narrative, a genre that was first popularized in the United States by Edgar Allan Poe".
[12] Her dedication to the mystery genre "advances her feminist agenda: all members of the audience, regardless of sex, come to understand each piece of the puzzle through the perspectives of the women sleuths as they grapple the evidence".
As they interact with the stage environment, the two women discover clues to the couple's personalities as well as potential evidence in the case".
[11] Although Minnie and John Wright are not physically present they "become vivid figures for us via the dialogue and actions of Mrs. Hale and Mrs.
The varying perspectives of the group in the farmhouse afford the audience a well-rounded view of Mrs. Wright and how her identity is fluid and changes depending on the prejudices of the other characters.
[16] Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are both shown to stay inside the house of Minnie Foster while the men go outside to do their "real work" of investigating this crime.
Because they stay inside while the men investigate, the two women find the dead canary and figure out the real meaning behind this murder.
Because of this aspect, a truly fair trial by a jury of one's peers, as promised by the American Constitution, was impossible for a female defendant.
With Trifles, Glaspell paints a picture of the life of Minnie Wright, Margaret Hossack, and the countless women whose experiences were not represented in court because their lives were not deemed relevant to the adjudication of their cases.
[4] Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale "try Minnie Wright in an alternative venue, using a process that reveals details of her experience and possible motives—aspects of the case that the men's investigation will never discover.
Glaspell, "like many other writers of mysteries...uses amateur detectives—the two women—who turn out to be more perceptive than the male experts investigating the case.
"[12] Overall, Glaspell "made important contributions to the development of American Modernism, and her writing reflects a forceful commitment to the country's foundational principles of democracy and personal liberty.
The "log cabin" quilt pattern that Mrs. Wright was following traditionally includes a red square in the middle, symbolizing a hearth, the center of a warm and inviting home built against a harsh landscape.
In addition, having the words "knot it" as the last spoken lines hints at this meaning, and gives a firm finality to the women's decision to protect Mrs. Wright and keep their found evidence hidden.
This echoes the lack of warmth in Mrs. Wright's life, whose isolation and abuse caused her to "explode" and murder her husband.
[34] "Feminism as a theme should not be understood as simply a call for women's rights on the part of the playwright or her characters.
[35] The two female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are able to sympathize with Mrs. Wright and understand her possible motive leading them to hide the evidence against her.
[15] The two women, having pieced together the murder, face the moral dilemma of telling the men about the motive or protecting Mrs. Wright, whom they see as a victim.
[32] Taking an analytical approach based on developmental psychology, Phyllis Mael writes that the moral development of women differs from those of men.
[38] This play was adapted by James P. Cavanagh for an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which first aired on December 26, 1961, with the alternate title "A Jury of Her Peers" which was directed by Robert Florey.
Its cast included Ann Harding, Philip Bourneuf, Frances Reid, Robert Bray, June Walker, and Ray Teal.
[39] Hitchcock added his usual disclaimer at the end, stating that the killer and her "accomplices" were caught and convicted.
The chamber opera is scored for five singers and six instruments, including a piano, and it requires some basic stage props.