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Trifles is a play about the fundamental injustice of a patriarchal society in which men have all the power. At first, the focus of the play seems simple enough. A pair of lawmen and a witness arrive at a murder scene to seek out evidence that might point to a motive. But for reasons that are not entirely clear, they have asked their wives to tag along. Mrs. Peters has presumably come to collect a change of clothes and a few of the suspect’s belongings to take to her in jail. But we soon learn that Mrs. Peters had not met the suspect, Minnie, until after her arrest, suggesting that she has only been invited because she is a woman, and the Sheriff and County Attorney are unwilling or uninterested in collecting Minnie’s things themselves. Perhaps they do not know enough about women’s clothing to know what a woman might need.  

The reason for Mrs. Hale’s presence at the investigation is even less clear. Unlike her husband, she was not at the Wright house the previous day when the murder was discovered, so she is not a witness. She has not previously met Mrs. Peters and has nothing to add to her husband’s story, so her presence at the crime scene seems unnecessary, and her long acquaintance with the main suspect would seem to make her a liability for the County Attorney, who has an interest in ensuring the integrity of the evidence is not compromised. Yet she is allowed to enter the house and remain with Mrs. Peters, otherwise unattended for long periods of time at a crime scene.  

Regardless of why they are there, the women soon prove to be much better detectives than their self-important but hapless male counterparts. While the County Attorney leads the investigation with an air of bravado, his line of questioning steers Mr. Hale, and later Mrs. Hale, away from any discussion of John Wright’s treatment of Minnie, as if their marital relationship could not possibly have anything to do with the murder. Likewise, the Sheriff steers the investigation away from the kitchen, dismissing “kitchen things” as insignificant even though the primary suspect is a housewife. The lawmen seem altogether incapable of viewing the world from a woman’s perspective, dismissing all things related to housekeeping as feminine “trifles” not worth investigating. Indeed, they prefer to remain ignorant of such trifles, as illustrated by the running joke about whether Minnie planned to “quilt it or just knot it.” Through their persistent mockery of the women, the three men seem to form a certain camaraderie based on their willful ignorance of feminine concerns.  

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters quickly piece together the clues without even trying. Because they too are housewives, they understand and value the work of a housewife and can easily read the signs of Minnie’s marital distress in her housework. They recognize the “nervous” stitching in Minnie’s unfinished quilt, which leads them to find the mangled birdcage and the strangled canary. Mrs. Hale, having known Minnie before she was married, immediately understands that John Wright has stifled Minnie in much the same way he strangled the canary. Whereas Minnie had once been a vibrant young woman who loved to sing, she withered away after marrying John Wright, a cold, hard man who didn’t speak much, didn’t care what she wanted, and never gave her any children. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters empathize with Minnie, having themselves suffered periods of profound loss and isolation. Whereas the men bond with each other over their mockery of women, the women bond over their shared sense of oppression by men.  

Yet the play’s conclusion suggests that even in a male-dominated society, women wield more power than men suspect. Although Mrs. Peters feels a certain duty to “the law,” personified by her husband the Sheriff, her empathy for Minnie ultimately compels her to conspire with Mrs. Hale to conceal the evidence that could convict her. The men’s arrogance makes this easy. Although the County Attorney has previously promised to inspect the things that Mrs. Peters decides to take to Minnie, the sight of the apron and quilt disarm him. With a laugh, he declares these feminine trifles “not very dangerous” and jokes that Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising because a sheriff’s wife is “married to the law.” In a world where marriage is a form of oppression, this phrase has an ominous ring to it. Even so, the two women easily outwit the County Attorney and their husbands, just as Minnie outwitted John Wright. The women’s quiet rebellion may not bring an end to male oppression, but it exposes masculine arrogance and ignorance as a major vulnerability.    

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