We've got a lady in jail for murdering her husband in this play, so we dare anybody to say that Freedom and Confinement isn't a theme. On top of the literal imprisonment, Trifles also paints an incredibly sad picture of the murderess's years of metaphorical entrapment by her husband's neglect and emotional abuse.
As if that weren't enough, the play also makes it crystal clear just how confined by male-dominated society all women were at the time the play was written. If that's not enough Freedom and Confinement for you, we don't know what is.
Questions About Freedom and Confinement
- In what ways is the theme of Freedom and Confinement connected with the theme of Isolation in the play?
- What confines the women of Trifles? How are the men confined?
- How can the bird be seen as a symbol of both freedom and confinement?
Chew on This
Mr. Wright imprisoned his wife through years of neglect and emotional abuse, but in the end Mrs. Wright paid him back with the ultimate confinement: death.
Throughout the play, music and singing is shown as a means of escape.