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Deadly Silence in Susan Glaspell's Trifles Essay

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The Deadly Silence in Trifles While reading Susan Glaspell's play Trifles, the use of characters, descriptive language, and symbolism teaches the audience that one person's home and one person's way of living can also be an introduction to one person's private hell. Throughout the play, discoveries are made to teach the audience that maybe things are not what they seem and that sometimes people must take a deeper look into what is around them. Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, the county attorney, and the sheriff are the four main characters of the play that introduce the audience to the crime that has just been committed. The sheriff and Mrs. Peters are married so the audience also learns from these …show more content…

Her statement expresses to the audience that sometimes we need to take a deeper look at what is around us and see if help is needed. In the play, descriptive language teaches the audience more about the surroundings than what the characters are actually saying to one another. "I've not been in this house--it's more than a year" (6), Mrs. Hale tells the county attorney. It is a very run down house, and the audience discovers there are no signs of anyone really ever being happy. The kitchen is dirty, and the women begin to feel uneasy about being in a house where there is nothing but darkness and coldness. The darkness is to signify how alone and empty Mrs. Wright was feeling while living with her husband. Mrs. Wright did not feel wanted, and she felt like all hope was lost which the audience recognizes with the help of Mrs. Hale's saying, "...he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that gets to the bone" (11). Mrs. Hale conveys these important details to Mrs. Peters, which proves that the environment in the Wright house was dark and dreary. The audience can imagine living in house where there is nothing but solitude and misery. The solemn atmosphere makes the readers start to understand how lonely and depressing living in the house actually was. The coldness also helps convince to the audience that Mrs.

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