American Literature Final Project

The following is a newspaper article based on the play "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell. The article was created after a close reading analysis of the original text.

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Ashlyn Spitz

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American Literature Final Project

The following is a newspaper article based on the play "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell. The article was created after a close reading analysis of the original text.

Uploaded by

Ashlyn Spitz

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 3

Provincetown Advocate

2 pages
Provincetown, Massachusetts Wednesday, February 17, 1897
six cents
______________________________________________________________________________________

New Suspect To Be Convicted In The Wright Murder Trial

By Meagan Kizer and Ashlyn Spitz

Sunday, January 10, 1897 was a

day that rattled the quaint town

of Provincetown, Massachusetts.
On this day, police were called to
the home of Mr. and Mrs. John
Wright because a neighboring
farmer, Lewis Hale, found Mr.
Wright dead in his bed. Due to Mr.
Hales initial statement, police
had reason to believe that Mrs.
Wright was guilty of murdering
her husband, so she was taken
into custody.

(Pictured above from left to right: Mrs.

Minnie Wright, Mr. John Wright)

Due to lack of motive and new,

convincing evidence, Mrs. Wright
was released from jail on Monday,
February 15, and Lewis Hale was
arrested for the murder of his
neighbor, John Wright.

John Wright and Lewis Hale

were neighbors for many years.
Mr. Hale had been trying to get
Mr. Wright to go in with him on a
party telephone. Mr. Hale claimed
in his initial statement, I spoke to
Wright about it once before and
he put me off, saying folks talk too
much anyway, and all he asked
was peace and quiet - I guess you
know about how much he talked
himself (Glaspell 744). While the
hostility between the two men
was always seen as harmless
competition between farmers,
investigators concluded that their
relationship was anything but
harmless. When investigators
began to explore Lewis Hales
initial statement, they found
many inconsistencies in his story,
causing them to throw out his
statement that implied Mrs.
Wright was guilty of murder. In
addition, it only gave his
perspective on the events that
occurred the day of the murder,
making it unreliable evidence that
would not hold up in court.

In addition, Hale explained that

he knocked on the door, and [he]
thought [he] heard somebody say,
Come in. [He] wasnt sure...but
[he] opened the door (Glaspell
744). Investigators found this
part of Hales story odd, since
Hale seemed to be unclear on
what he heard, but entered the
house anyway. When he walked
in the house, he found Mrs.
Wright sitting in a rocking chair.
Hale claimed that he asked to see
Mr. Wright, and when he did, Mrs.
Wright
laughed
and said,
NoCause hes dead...He
died of a rope round his neck...
(Glaspell 745). Investigators
found Mr. Hales initial statement
to be false, due to its illogical
nature. It would have been
extremely difficult for Mrs.
Wright to strangle her husband
with a rope, given that she was
neither as strong nor as big as her
husband.

In his statement, Hale claimed

that he was headed to town with
a load of potatoes and was
accompanied by a man named
Harry. However, when Hale gave
his statement to the police the
next day, Harry was conveniently
not there to back up his story.

Day of Murder A.M.:

- John Wright is asleep in
his bed. Minnie Wright is
cooking in the kitchen.
- Minnie goes to the store to
pick up an ingredient and
leaves the kitchen a mess
and the house unlocked.

Listed below are the events that

investigators believe took place:

Lewis Hale and Harry

come to the Wright house.
Minnie is still at the store.
The men enter the house
without permission and
kill John, who is still
sleeping in his bed.
Hale sends Harry to call
the police, in an attempt to
create an alibi.
Hale hides outside until
the police come. Minnie
returns home, unaware of
what has happened.
The police show up, and
Hale meets them outside.
Minnie is arrested for the
murder of her husband.

Day of Murder P.M.:

- The temperature drops.
Day After Murder A.M.:
- Frank (the deputy sheriff)
goes to the Wright house
to turn the stove on.
Day After Murder A.M./Noon:
- Henry Peters (the sheriff),
Mrs.
Peters,
George
Henderson (the county
attorney), Lewis Hale, and
Mrs. Hale arrive at the
Wright house. Lewis Hale
gives his statement to
Peters and Henderson.
The events are reviewed.
Mrs. Peters gathers items
to take to Minnie in jail,
and Mrs. Hale keeps her
company.
While at the Wright house, Mrs.
Peters and Mrs. Hale came across
several items that proved Minnie
Wrights innocence. The women
later turned over all of the
evidence to the authorities. When

Mrs. Hale reflected on Minnie

Wrights past, she said, She used
to wear pretty clothes and be
lively, when she was Minnie
Foster, one of the town girls
singing in the choir. But that
was thirty years ago (Glaspell
747). When the women came
across a birdcage in the house,
Mrs. Hale told investigators that
purchasing a bird could have
been Mrs. Wrights attempt to
bring cheer into the house and
remind her of the woman she
used to be. Mrs. Hale stated, She
was kind of like a bird herself real sweet and pretty, but kind of
timid and - fluttery (Glaspell
750). Finding the dead bird in a
box seemed very symbolic to Mrs.
Hale. She described the box as
pretty and like something
somebody would give you
(Glaspell 750). Mrs. Hale told
investigators that she suspected
Mr. Wright had killed the bird and
wrapped it up as a gift for his
wife. To Minnie Wright, this
action signified her husband
killing her soul and being proud
of it. This could explain the
peculiar sewing of the quilt the
women found. Mrs. Hale claimed,
All the rest of it has been so nice
and even. And look at this!... Why,
it looks as if she didnt know what
she was about (Glaspell 748).
Mrs. Wright was most likely so
distraught about her husband's
recent actions that she found it
difficult to complete her basic
daily tasks.
When Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale
found the dead bird, Mrs. Peters
exclaimed, Somebody-wrung-itsneck (Glaspell 750). Wringing
the birds neck was likely the
easiest way to kill it. Similarly,

strangling Mr. Wright was also

the easiest method for murder.
While a gun seems like the
obvious choice, a rope was much
quieter, cleaner, and easily
accessible, since the men were
both farmers. Therefore, the fact
that both the birds and Mr.
Wrights necks were wrung is
purely coincidental.
Based on all of this evidence,
and Mrs. Hales statement: I
might have known she needed
help! I know how things can be for women (Glaspell 751),
investigators concluded that Mrs.
Wright was a victim of domestic
abuse and lacked both the
physical and mental strength to
stand up for herself, let alone kill
her husband. On the other hand,
Mr. Hale had both the physical
and mental strength to resolve
the ongoing conflict with his
neighbor,
which
ultimately
resulted in the death of John
Wright.