Trifles flips typical ideas of Justice and Judgment totally on their head. Typically, when somebody murders another person, we think they ought to be punished, right? Trifles says, "Meh, not so much."
When the super sleuth farmwives of this play decide to help a murdering woman go free, we're guessing a good part of the audience roots for them to succeed. Showing a world where law is created entirely by men, this play dares to ask the question of whether women should be expected to follow rules they weren't allowed to help create.
Questions About Justice and Judgment
- Which characters represent the law in the play?
- In what way does the play connect the world of law with the world of men?
- What is the difference between the feminine concept of justice and the male concept of justice in the play?
- Is Mrs. Wright guilty of a crime? Are Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Peters? Why, or why not?
Chew on This
If people followed the philosophy of this play, society would completely fall apart. No matter how bad we feel for Mrs. Wright the law has to be the law.
The take on Justice and Judgment in Trifles is very similar to one the found in Antigone by Sophocles. In both plays, females commit acts that seem emotionally just but break the laws of male dominated society.