Symbolism

In the play Trifles there is a lot of symbolism that gives the themes of the play deeper meaning. The apron symbolizes the wife and emphasizes the theme of gender roles. A wife is the homemaker. She is the one who takes care of the house, educates the children, and pleases her husband. Also being a wife is the role of the woman. The woman stays at home and play housekeeper while the husband is away at work. These gender roles are considered the norm of society. This is why Mrs. Wright wants the apron with her in jail; it is “to make her feel more natural.” Another symbol was the dirty towels which symbolizes that “men’s hands aren’t always clean as they might be.” The theme stressed in this symbol is secrecy and sexism. The dirty towel stresses secrets about the murder and the digging up of evidence. It also relates to the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Wright and the unknown dark hard side of Mr. Wright. Lastly, the dirty towels signify sexism because the men think that women just “worry over trifles,” and the men of the play are very quick to judge the woman and not the man. The last symbol is the quilt which symbolizes the disorder in the home and signifies the theme of appearances. Every stitch in the quilt was perfect except for one part where the sewing “was all over the place.” The Wright home is not as happy as it seems. Mr. Wright drinks and, at times, can be very hard. Mrs. Wright is trapped in her own home and marriage, and she “changed” drastically when she got married. She is not happy and her husband is oppressive and abusive. These were the three symbols that stood out to me in the play.