Tragedy in literature can be identified as a work in which the hero or main character of the play suffers the consequences of mistakes they make due to an error in judgment, lack of moral or general emotional weakness when dealing with an overwhelming situation ( Kottman, 2018) . Aristotle defines tragedy as “the imitation of an action that is serious and as having magnitude, complete in itself” ( Belfiore, 2014). He insists on the fact that for a play to qualify as tragic, pity and fear are the most dominant feelings that should be exuded from the characters to the audience. He emphasises on these two emotions as the audience feels they can relate to the character in the story and may behave no better under such circumstances. This essay depicts that Trifles by Glaspell is indeed a tragedy.
Aristotle states that a character should be one who is an ordinary person, well known and is brought to ruin by their lapse in judgment when faced with an unprecedented situation. The reaction of the women who accompany their husbands to Mrs Wright’s house can be considered tragic (Gomes, 2018). Women are generally supposed to be more intelligent than the men in the story, decide to cover up their friend's crime hence being criminals themselves. An example of this is seen when Mrs Hales, standing over Minnie's quilt discovered that it is flawed, hunting that Mrs Wright was interrupted during her work. As she looks to try and find a piece of string, her eyes are drawn to a birdcage that seems to be damaged.
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As they probe around, they discover a dead bird with its neck snapped. The women had planned to keep this from the detectives, as they felt responsible for not visiting their friend often. Mrs Hale tried to conceal the evidence because she could relate, as she talks about how she felt when her baby died. Mrs Peter also talks about a boy who killed her kitten when she was younger, suggesting that she could identify with Minnie's pain. These characters reveal to the audience that it something that could happen to anybody. Women in this play are used as a tool to depict the reasons behind Mrs Wright's actions and the lonely conditions in which she lived with a cruel husband, as they are sympathetic and empathetic, unlike the men. The audience thus identifies with the situation, hence proving that the play is indeed a tragic work according to Aristotle.
Mrs Wright possesses a tragic flaw. This is observed by the fact that she was once a beautiful, vibrant young lady who passionately enjoyed singing. Mrs Wright enjoyed mingling with people, which became an issue when she got married to a brutal husband who stopped her from mixing with people. Her life changed and since she had no children, decided to get a companion, which was the bird that sung beautifully, however, even this her husband took from her. He got tired of its singing and killed it, strangling it to death. Minnie reached her breaking point with this final act and decided to kill her husband. This is an evident representation of Aristotle’s argument that suggests that tragedy occurs when a person reaches their breaking point and makes a lapse in judgment, therefore, sealing their fate.
The tale the audience in a series of mixed emotions, majorly pity for the depraved Mrs Wright as she is seen as one who was once full of life and ambition but is tamed by her husband who ends up shuttering her sanity. The audience identified with the conditions preceding the murder and prepared to experience fear by the way she depicts indifference about her husband’s death when questioned by the authorities.
Conclusion
The play fits into Aristotle’s description of tragedy as the audience experiences a broad scope of emotions. There is sadness and pity regarding a life once beautiful being darkened through marriage, guilt as experienced by Mrs Wright’s two friends for not caring for her during her lonely period. The anger felt towards Mr Wright is evident for his cruel behaviours and the brutal way he kills the bird and eventually, fear as Mrs Wright seems unaware of what she has done when a friend comes to inquire on Mr Wright’s whereabouts.
References
Belfiore, Elizabeth S. Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on plot and emotion . Princeton university press, 2014.
Gomes, Elisabete Pinto. "Between the theatre and the classroom: from Trifles to A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell." e-Teals: an e-journal of Teacher Education and Applied Language Studies 3 (2018): 57-75.
Kottman, Paul A. "What was Tragedy? Theory and The Early Modern Canon by Blair Hoxby." Theatre Journal 70.3 (2018): 434-435.
