“—I guess you know about how much [John Wright] talked himself; but I thought maybe if I went to the house and talked about it in front of his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John—"

Mr. Hale speaks these words near the beginning of the play to explain why he went to visit the Wrights’ house the previous day. According to Mr. Hale, John Wright had previously declined to go in with him on a party-line telephone because he thought people talked too much already, and he didn’t talk much himself. Mr. Hale hoped that John Wright would be convinced if he asked him again in front of Minnie Wright, though he admits that it probably wouldn’t have worked because John Wright never cared what Minnie wanted. These lines provide the first clue that John Wright neglects his wife and denies her the means to communicate with others outside the home. Interestingly, the County Attorney cuts off Mr. Hale before he can say any more about how John Wright treated Minnie, suggesting that he does not think a murder victim’s treatment of his wife could be cause for motive.  

“She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that—Oh, that was thirty years ago.”

These words spoken by Mrs. Hale present a stark contrast between middle-aged Minnie Wright and the young, vibrant choir girl who was known as Minnie Foster before she got married. Throughout the play, Minnie’s singing and the singing of her canary come to symbolize the freedom that John Wright has snuffed out. Mrs. Hale speculates that John Wright killed the canary because he couldn’t stand “a thing that sang.” She continues on to say that Wright didn’t like Minnie’s singing either, claiming that he “killed that too.” In a metaphorical sense, marrying John Wright was the death of the young, vibrant Minnie Foster. The lonely, withdrawn Mrs. Wright is a different person than “when she was Minnie Foster.”

“No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird—a thing that sang. [Minnie] used to sing. He killed that, too.”

Mrs. Hale speaks these lines after the discovery of the strangled canary. Having known John Wright to be a hard, cruel man who only asked for peace and quiet, Mrs. Hale surmises that Wright likely killed Minnie’s bird simply because it sang. She then equates Wright’s murder of the canary to his “killing” of Minnie’s singing, which also would have irritated him. In the larger context of the play, singing represents yet another feminine trifle that men like John Wright despise. Unlike Mrs. Hale, John Wright perceives no beauty or value in Minnie’s singing, a feminine pursuit that brings her joy and opportunities for social interaction. Rather than allowing Minnie to be who she is, he suffocates her in an oppressive marriage