Setting and Stage Directions

Setting in Trifles
Student’s Name
Institution
Setting in Trifles
The setting of a play or any other literary work is aimed at ensuring that the readers or the audience (in the event of a play) can get clues of what is happening. In Trifles, the play was aimed at providing at aiding in getting the solution to the literary problem of the play that is, getting to know the events that occurred in Minnie and John Wright’s home that led to the death of John who has been confirmed to have been murdered. The house was not Mrs. Wright’s dream house because she says that: “…stayed away because it weren’t cheerful […]. I’ve never liked this place” (Glaspell, 2013). The general setting (the place) of the play is a rural farmhouse located in the state of Iowa. The events of the play are much displayed in the kitchen and from the stage directions, the season of the play is winter in the year 1900 (Glaspell, 2013). The setting is confined in a common place that is, the house at the rural farm home. The restriction of the setting limits the potential of the characters in the process of giving out their full potential in their acting. More so space is limited to the kitchen, defines how the ideas of the characters are limited in their thoughts with no one thinking beyond the house for the murder suspect. The use of light in the stage creates the change of characters on the stage and also aids in creating a sense of importance especially when the lights are full lit. The use of props has aided in making hidden messages to be communicated better.

Regarding the place setting, there is the cold defined by the weather being winter. This leads to the understanding that Wright is lonely because the farmhouse is mostly empty. The distance between houses is very big as confirmed by Mrs. Hale who says that, “We live close together and we live far apart” (Glaspell, 2013).
Regarding time setting, the fact that play is set for 1900 brings in the thought of women being oppressed. They were supposed to be submissive to their husbands, and it is the reason presence of torn clothes for a woman who was smartly dressed displays a struggle of a woman who was a victim of a struggle which may lead to the conclusion of domestic violence (Glaspell, 2013).
References
Glaspell, S. (2013). Trifles. In X.J Kennedy and D Gioia (Eds.) The Literature Collection: An E-Text [VitalSource digital version] (pp. 844-845). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc