Trifles

Trifles

Susan Glasspell

CHARACTERS

COUNTY A

TTORNEY

, George Henderson

SHERIFF, Henry Peters

LEWIS HALE, a neighboring farmer

MRS. PETERS

MRS. HALE

THE

SETTING:

The

kitchen

in

the

now

abandoned

farmhouse

of

John

Wright

SCENE:

The

kitchen

in

the

now

abandoned

farmhouse

of

John

Wright,

a

gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order - unwashed pans

under

the

sink,

a

loaf

of

bread

outside

the

breadbox,

a

dish

towel

on

the

table-other signs of incompleted work. At the rear the outer door opens and

the Sheri# comes in followed by the COUNTY ATTORNEY and HALE. The

SHERIFF and HALE are men in middle life, the COUNTY ATTORNEY is a

young man; all are much bundled up and go at once to the stove. They are

followed

by

two

women

—

the

SHERIFFs

wife

first;

she

is

a

slight

wiry

woman, a thin nervous face. MRS. HALE is larger and would ordinarily be

called more comfortable looking, but she is disturbed now and looks fearfully

about

as

she

enters.

The

women

have

come

in

slowly,

and

stand

close

together near the door.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY:

(Rubbing his hands.)

This feels good. Come up to

the fire, ladies.

MRS. PETERS:

(After taking a step forward.)

I'm not cold

.

SHERIFF: (

Unbuttoning his overcoat and stepping away from the stove as if

to mark the

beginning of official business

.) Now, Mr. Hale, before we

move

things

about,

you

explain

to

Mr.

Henderson

just

what

you

saw

when you came here yesterday morning.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: By the way, has anything been moved? Are things

just as you left them yesterday?

SHERIFF: (

Looking about

.) It's just the same. When it dropped below zero

last night I thought I'd better send Frank out this morning to make a fire

for us

—

no use getting pneumonia with a big case on, but I told him not

to touch any thing except the stove

—

and you know Frank.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Somebody should have been left here yesterday.

SHERIFF:

Oh

—

yesterday. When I had

to send Frank to Morris

Center for

that

man

who

went

crazy

—

I

want

you

to

know

I

had

my

hands

full

yesterday, I knew you could get back from Omaha by today and as long

as I went over every thing here myself

—

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Well, Mr. HALE, tell just what happened when you

came here yesterday morning.

HALE:

Harry

and

I

had

started

to town

with

a

load of

potatoes. We

came

along the road from my place and as I got here I said,

if I can't get John Wright to go in with me on a party telephone.

to Wright about it once before and he put me off, saying folks talked too

much anyway, and all he asked was peace and quiet

—

I guess you know

about how much he talked himself; but I thought maybe if I went to the

house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I

didn't know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Let's talk about that later, Mr. HALE. I do want to

talk

about

that,

but

tell

now

just

what

happened

when

you

got

to

the

house.

HALE: I didn't hear or see anything; I knocked at the door, and still it was all

quiet

inside.

I

knew

they

must

be

up,

it

was

past

eight

o'clock.

So

I

knocked again, and I thought I heard somebody say,

sure, I'm not sure yet, but I opened the door

—

this door (

Indicating the

door

by

which

the

two

women

are

still

standing

)

and

there

in

that

rocker

—

Pointing to it

) sat Mrs. Wright.

(

They all look at the rocker

.)

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: What

—

was she doing?

HALE: She was rockin' back and forth. She had her apron in her hand and

was kind of

—

pleating it.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: And how did she

—

look?

HALE: Well, she looked queer.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: How do you mean

—

queer?

HALE: Well, as ff she didn't know what she was going to do next. And kind

of done up.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: How did she seem to feel about your coming?

HALE:

Why,

I

don't

think

she

minded

—

one

way

or

other.

She

didn't

pay

much attention. I said,

said,

it?

—

and

went

on

kind

of

pleating

at

her apron. Well,

I

was

surprised; she

didn't ask me to come up to the stove, or to set down,

but just sat there, not even looking at me, so I said,

And then she

—

laughed, I guess you would call it a laugh. I thought of

Harry and the team outside, so I said a little sharp.

she,

home.

why

can't

I

see

him?

I

asked

her,

out

of

patience.

her

head,

not

getting

a

bit

excited,

but

rockin'

back

and

forth.

—

where is he?

upstairs

—

like that (

Himself pointing to the room above.

) I got up, with

the

idea

of

going

up

there.

I

walked

from

there

to

here

—

then

I

says,

and just went on pleatin' at her apron. Well, I went out and called Harry.

I thought I might need

—

help. We went upstairs and there he was lyin'

—

COUNTY

A

TTORNEY:

I

think

I'd

rather

have

you

go

into

that

upstairs,

where you can point it all out. Just go on now with the rest of the story.

HALE: Well, my first thought was to get that rope off. It looked . . . (

Stops,

his face twitches

) . . . but Harry, he went up to him, and he said,

he's dead all right, and we'd better not touch anything.

down

stairs.

She

was

still

sitting

that

same

way.

anybody

been

notified?

I

asked.

says

she,

unconcerned.

did

this,

Mrs.

Wright?

—

and she stopped pleatin'

of

her

apron.

don't

know,'

she

says.

know?

says

Harry.

says

she,

I

was

on

the

inside.

slipped

a

rope

round his neck and strangled him and you didn't wake up?

see how that could be, for after a minute she said,

was going to ask her more questions but I said maybe we ought to let

her tell her story first to the coroner, or the SHERIFF, so Harry went fast

as he could to Rivers' place, where there's a telephone.

COUNTY ATTORNEY: And what did Mrs. Wright do when she knew that

you had gone for the coroner?

HALE: She moved from that chair to this one over here (

Pointing to a small

chair in the corner

) and just sat there with her hands held together and

looking down. I got a feeling that I ought to make some conversation, so

I said I had come in to see if John wanted to put in a telephone, and at

that she started to laugh, and then she stopped and looked at me- scared.

(

The

COUNTY

ATTORNEY,

who

has

had

his

notebook

out,

makes

a

note

.)

I

dunno,

maybe

it

wasn't

scared.

I

wouldn't

like

to

say

it

was.

Soon Harry got back, and then Dr. Lloyd came, and you, Mr. Peters, and

so I guess that's all I know that you don't.

COUNTY

A

TTORNEY:

(

Looking

around

.)

I

guess

we'll

go

upstairs

first

—

and

then

out

to

the

barn

and

around

there.

(

To

the

SHERIFF

.

)

You're

convinced

that

there

was

nothing

important

here

—

nothing

that

would point to any motive.

SHERIFF: Nothing here but kitchen things.

(

The

COUNTY

A

TTORNEY

,

after

again

looking

around

the

kitchen,

opens the door of a cupboard closet. He gets up on a chair and looks on

a shelf. Pulls his hand away, sickly.

)

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Here's a nice mess.

(The women draw nearer.

)

MRS.

PETERS: (

To the

other

woman

.)

Oh,

her fruit;

it did freeze.

(

To the

County

Attorney.

)

She

worried about

that

when

it

turned

so

cold.

She

said the fire'd go out and her jars would break.

SHERIFF:

Well,

can

you

beat

the

women!

Held

for

murder

and

worryin'

about her preserves.

COUNTY

A

TTORNEY:

I

guess

before

we're

through

she

may

have

something more serious than preserves to worry about.

HALE: Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.

(

The two women move a little closer together

.)

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: (

With the gallantry of a young politician.

) And yet,

for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies?

(The women

do not unbend. He goes to the sink, takes a dipperful of water from the

pail and pouring it into a basin, washes his hands. Starts to wipe them

on the roller towel, turns it for a cleaner place.

)

Dirty towels! (

Kicks his

foot

against

the

pans

under

the

sink

.)

Not

much

of

a

housekeeper,

would you say, ladies?

MRS. HALE (

Stiffly.

): There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm.

COUNTY

ATTORNEY

.

To

be

sure.

And

yet

(

With

a

little

bow

to

her

.)

I

know

there

are

some

Dickson

county

farmhouses

which

do

not

have

such roller towels.

(

He gives it a pull to expose its full length again

.)

MRS. HALE: Those towels get dirty awful quick. Men's hands aren't always

as clean as they might be.

COUNTY

A

TTORNEY:

Ah,

loyal

to

your

sex,

I

see.

But

you

and

Mrs.

Wright were neighbors. I suppose you were friends, too.

MRS.

HALE:

(

Shaking

her

head

.)

I've

not

seen

much

of

her of

late

years.

I've not been in this house

—

it's more than a year.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: And why was that? You didn't like her?

MRS. HALE: I liked

her all well enough. Farmers' wives have

their hands

full, Mr. Henderson. And then

—

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Yes

—

?

MRS. HALE: (

Looking about

.) It never seemed a very cheerful place.

COUNTY

ATTORNEY:

No

—

it's

not

cheerful.

I

shouldn't

say

she

had

the

homemaking instinct.

MRS. HALE: Well, I don't know as Wright had, either.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: You mean that they didn't get on very well?

MRS. HALE: No, I don't mean anything. But I don't think a place'd be any

cheerfuller for John Wright's being in it.

COUNTY ATTORNEY: I'd like to talk more of that a little later. I want to get

the lay of things upstairs now.

(

He goes to the left, where three steps lead to a stair door.

)

SHERIFF: I suppose anything MRS. PETERS does'll be all right. She was to

take in some clothes for her, you know, and a few little things. We left in

such a hurry yesterday.

COUNTY A

TTORNEY: Yes, but I would like to see what you take,

MRS.

PETERS, and keep an eye out for anything that might be of use to us.

MRS. PETERS: Yes, Mr. Henderson.

(

The women listen to the men's steps on the stairs, then look about the

kitchen.

)

MRS. HALE: I'd hate to have men coming into my kitchen, snooping around

and criticizing.

(

She arranges the pans under sink which the COUNTY ATTORNEY had

shoved out of place.

)

MRS. PETERS: Of course it's no more than their duty.

MRS. HALE: Duty's

all right, but I guess

that deputy SHERIFF that came

out to make the fire might have got a little of this on. (

Gives the roller

towel a pull

.) Wish I'd thought of that sooner. Seems mean to talk about

her for not having things slicked up when she had to come away in such

a hurry.

MRS. PETERS: (

Who has gone to a small table in the left rear corner of the

room, and lifted one end of a towel that covers a pan

.) She had bread

set.

(

Stands still

.)

MRS. HALE: (

Eyes fixed on a loaf of bread beside the breadbox, which is on

a low shelf at the other side of the room. Moves slowly toward it.

) She

was going to put this in there. (

Picks up loaf, then abruptly drops it. In a

manner of returning to familiar

things

.) It's

a shame about her fruit. I

wonder if it's all gone. (

Gets up on the chair and looks.)

I think there's

some

here

that's

all

right,

MRS.

PETERS.

Yes

—

here;

(

Holding

it

toward

the

window

.)

this

is

cherries,

too.

(

Looking

again

.)

I

declare

I

believe that's the only one. (

Gets down, bottle in her hand. Goes to the

sink and wipes it off on the outside

.) She'll feel awful bad after all her

hard

work

in

the

hot

weather.

I

remember

the

afternoon

I

put

up

my

cherries last summer.

(

She puts the bottle on the big kitchen table, center of the room. With a

sigh,

is

about

to

sit

down

in

the

rocking,

chair.

Before

she

is

seated

realizes

what

chair

it

is; with

a

slow

look

at

it,

steps

back.

The

chair

which she has touched rocks back and forth

.)

MRS.

PETERS:

Well,

I

must

get

those

things

from

the

front

room

closet.

(

She goes to the door at the right, but after looking into the other room,

steps

back

.)

You

coming

with

me,

MRS.

HALE?

You

could

help

me

carry them.

(

They go in the other room; reappear, MRS. PETERS carrying a dress

and skin, MRS. HALE following with a pair of shoes.

)

MRS. PETERS: My, it's cold in there.

(

She puts the clothes on the big table, and hurries to the stove

.)

MRS. HALE: (

Examining her skirt

.) Wright was close. I think maybe that's

why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies

Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy

things

when

you

feel

shabby.

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-oh, that was thirty years ago. This all you was to take in?

MRS. PETERS: She said she wanted an apron. Funny thing to want, for there

isn't much to get you dirty in jail, goodness knows. But I suppose just to

make her feel more natural. She said they was in the top drawer in this

cupboard. Yes, here. And then her little shawl that always hung behind

the door. (

Opens stair door and looks

.) Yes, here it is.

(

Quickly shuts door leading upstairs.

)

MRS. HALE: (

Abruptly moving toward her.

) MRS. PETERS?

MRS. PETERS: Yes, MRS. HALE?

MRS. HALE: Do you think she did it?

MRS. PETERS: (

In a frightened voice

.) Oh, I don't know.

MRS. HALE: Well, I don't think she did. Asking for an apron and her little

shawl. Worrying about her fruit.

MRS. PETERS. (

Starts to speak, glances up, where footsteps are heard in the

room above. In a low voice

.) Mr. Peters says it looks bad for her. Mr.

Henderson is awful sarcastic in a speech and he'll make fun of her sayin'

she didn't wake up.

MRS. HALE: Well, I guess John Wright didn't wake when they was slipping

that rope under his neck.

MRS. PETERS: No, it's strange. It must have been done awful crafty and still.

They say it was such a-funny way to kill a man, rigging it all up like

that.

MRS. HALE: That's just what Mr. HALE said. There was a gun in the house.

He says that's what he can't understand.

MRS.

PETERS:

Mr.

Henderson

said

coming

out

that

what

was

needed

for

the case was a motive; something to show anger, or- sudden feeling.

MRS. HALE: (

Who is standing by the table

.) Well, I don't see any signs of

anger around here. (

She puts her hand on the dish towel which lies on