Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Mrs. Peters' Transformation
As we are nearing our final, we are going to be reflecting on some of the texts we read a while ago. I would like to revisit my favorite text, Susan Glaspell's "Trifles." Although it is easy to see how Minnie Wright changed by making the decision to get out of an oppressive marriage through the means of murder, I would argue that Mrs. Peters is the most dynamic character who we as readers have a chance to get to know. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Hale is the character who stands up to the men and defends Minnie. When the County Attorney is insulting Minnie's housekeeping abilities, Mrs. Hale tells him that "men's hands aren't always as clean as they might be" (1970). This line is full of sass. Not only is she defending Minnie's housekeeping, she is in an underhanded way defending her murder; John Wright may not have been as innocent as he seemed. However, in the beginning of the play while Mrs. Hale is defending Minnie, Mrs. Peters is defending the actions of the men. When the men leave the kitchen and Mrs. Hale states "I'd hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around and criticizing", and Mrs. Peters responds "of course it's no more than their duty" (1971). Mrs. Peters refuses to excuse Minnie's actions, or frown upon the actions of the men, stating "the has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale" (1976). However, as she and Mrs. Hale explore the kitchen and discover the dead canary, Mrs. Peters begins revisiting her own moments of oppression, recalling the time that a boy killed her beloved kitten with a hatchet (1975). When the men return to the kitchen, the County Attorney remarks to Mrs. Peters "for that matter, a sheriff's wife is married to the law" (1976). I have always thought of this snide remark from the attorney as being Mrs. Peters' breaking point. In this comment he is reducing Mrs. Peters to simply being a product of her husband, no longer her own person, and she realizes the full strength of the oppression of a patriarchal society. Mrs. Peters is ultimately an important character who goes from persecuting Minnie Wright to being able to relate to her, and protects her.
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I love this story too mainly because the women find their own power in a world where men see everything they do as "trifling". I think it is a sound victory for women's literature in a time where there just wasn't enough!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Leah! As I was researching for my essay, I found a journal written by Suzy Clarkson Holstein in which she explored the women's silence throughout "Trifles." Holstein points out that for nearly the first two pages of the play we hear only the men speaking, the women are silent. The silence of the women was expected at this time, as they were seen as less powerful than the men. However, Holstein also points out that the women use the same silence for power at the end of the play when they are protecting Minnie Wright. I found the concept of the women using the silence that once made them helpless to their advantage intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said. I also like your concept as "silence for power." The two women do not tell the men about the dead canary, and they are not suspected of anything because their silence is expected. I also agree that Mrs. Peters breaks when she is reduced to "being a product of her husband."
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