Trifles: The Obliviousness of Men

“COUNTY ATTORNEY: And how did [Minnie]—look?

HALE: Well, she looked queer. . . . as if she didn’t know what she was going to do next. And kind of done up.”

This exchange comes early in the play, during the County Attorney’s interrogation of Mr. Hale, who had stopped by the Wright’s house the previous day and discovered John Wright’s body. Throughout the interrogation, Hale struggles mightily to describe Minnie’s “queer” behavior, which he finds difficult to read. He recalls her words and behavior well enough, but he seems hesitant to draw any conclusions about her emotions, her state of mind, or her culpability for the murder. He seems unable to process the rather likely possibility that Minnie killed her husband, and he finds her strange behavior inexplicable. Hale’s inability to comprehend Minnie’s behavior foreshadows the general inability of the other men to discern the clues that point to Minnie’s motive.

“Mr. Henderson said coming out that what was needed for the case was a motive; something to show anger, or—sudden feeling.”

Mrs. Peters speaks this line to Mrs. Hale early in the play as the two women discuss whether Minnie could possibly have committed the murder. On one level, this line simply repeats what we already know: that the lawmen have returned to the scene to search for a motive. But the kind of motive for which they are looking seems comically inappropriate for the crime. The manner of John Wright’s murder—having a rope tied around his neck in his sleep—suggests that the crime was pre-meditated and carefully planned. Yet the County Attorney and the Sheriff are looking for signs of “anger” or “sudden feeling,” more befitting a crime of passion. For all of their self-importance, the County Attorney and Sheriff seem to be utterly incompetent detectives.

“COUNTY ATTORNEY: (facetiously) Well, Henry, at least we found out she was not going to quilt it. She was going to—what is it you call it, ladies?

MRS HALE: (her hand against her pocket) “We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson.”

This exchange, which occurs in the play’s final lines, captures the irony of the men’s feckless investigation. Throughout the play, the men have ridiculed the women for concerning themselves with trifles, but the women have found (and concealed) the evidence against Minnie, unbeknownst to the men. Having searched the property and found no clues, the County Attorney facetiously jests that at least they have solved the mystery of how Minnie planned to finish her quilt, which has been a running joke throughout the play. The County Attorney seems almost proud of his ignorance of quilting, asking the “ladies” to remind him of the correct term. Of course, the joke is on him, since he has already given them permission to take the quilt, and along with it the evidence against Minnie

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