Introduction
Mrs. Hale is the protagonist of Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, and her actions as such constitute the main driving force of the plot. She is involved in both person vs. person and person vs. society conflicts, as she opposes patriarchy on an individual level and then realizes the need for women to stand for their rights together. Still, she is not a dynamic character in the strict sense of the word, since her attitude toward patriarchy stays essentially the same. Yet while static herself, Mrs. Hale instigates a dynamic change in Mrs. Peters from her law-abiding attitude to covering for Mrs. Wright.
Main body
At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Hale is already clearly dissatisfied with men’s dismissive attitude toward women. An evident example of this is her early exchange with Mr. Henderson when the country attorney points to a dirty towel and judges Mrs. Wright’s housekeeping skills dismissively based on that. Mrs. Hale rebukes him subtly but unequivocally by noting that “Men’s hands aren’t always as clean as they might be” (Glaspell). This exchange demonstrates Mrs. Hale’s distaste for men’s dismissive attitude toward women, manifested in Mr. Henderson’s remarks.
Once Mrs. Hale finds a dead canary and understands the motive of the crime, the realization of just how harsh it was to live with Mr. Wright proves an epiphany for her. She exclaims: “Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while!” and expresses sorrow that she never went to support Mrs. Wright (Glaspell). The feelings that move her in this scene are essentially the same as those that drive her to rebuke Mr. Henderson earlier: the disdain for men’s tendency to treat women as less than persons. Therefore, while Mrs. Hale eventually understands the necessity for women to support each other in their struggles, her motivation for opposing sexism, whether on an individual or institutional level, remains the same. Considering this, one may say that Mrs. Hale is a static character, as her convictions regarding patriarchy are already firmly set in the beginning and do not change in the course of the play.
Yet Mrs. Hale’s find proves even more important for Mrs. Peters, the Sheriff’s wife. At the beginning of the play, Mrs. Peters justifies men’s dismissive attitude, when she says that they have “awful important things on their mind” (Glaspell). However, when Mrs. Hale finds the dead canary, the Sheriff’s wife relates to Mrs. Wright’s loss by remembering her own kitten and child, who are now both dead, and goes along with the cover-up. Thus, even though Mrs. Hale herself is a static character, she is instrumental in the evolution of Mrs. Peters.
As Mrs. Hale is the protagonist, Mr. Henderson would technically qualify as her antagonist, thus setting the person vs. person conflict. His mentioning of “some Dickson Country farmhouses that do not have such [dirty] towels” immediately prompts Mrs. Hale to react and refute him (Glaspell). The conflict never becomes an open one, as it would be inappropriate for the woman of her time and social standing to openly mock and criticize a man. Still, Mr. Henderson is an antagonist, both because of the verbal swordplay and the opposite goals: while he wants to convict Mrs. Wright in the most effective way, Mrs. Hale wants to prevent it.
Conclusion
Another conflict of the play is person vs. society, as Mrs. Hale ultimately finds herself not against Mr. Henderson only, but against an institutionalized system of patriarchy. She does not merely oppose the county attorney but reacts immediately when any man – be that the sheriff of Mr. Henderson – makes dismissive comments regarding women. For instance, when the sheriff mocks Mrs. Wright for worrying about her preserves in a situation like this, Mrs. Hale politely points out that women are “used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell). The sheriff and the country attorney are both men, representatives of the law enforcement system, and dismissive toward women – and by opposing them both, Mrs. Hale stands not merely against two individuals, but against institutionalized sexism.
Work Cited
Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles.” One-Act Plays, 2020.