Trifles {The Role of Women​}

Her Inspiration: The Margaret Hossack Trial

 

In December 1900, Medora, Iowa farmer John Hossack was killed in his bed by two blows of an ax to his head. A short four days after the incident, the prime suspect was his wife of 32 years, Margaret, and she was arrested at his funeral. Though Margaret pleaded innocent and claimed she was sleeping during the attack, the justice system saw that abuse by her husband at home was likely to have incited the murder. The event shocked this small, rural community. After five days of giving testimony before a jury of all men, Margaret was declared guilty. A year later her conviction was challenged, and she was released on bail to wait for a second trial. The second jury, unconvinced by the evidence and thinking about her age and health, released her (Ozieblo 60).

 

Glaspell reported this case for five months while working for the Des Moines Daily News, and later it became her inspiration to write Trifles. While inspecting the farmhouse, Margaret Hossack's kitchen in particular made an impression on her and became the model for the setting of her own murder mystery. She could relate this kitchen to her bare Provincetown stage, and she could picture the events of her own story unfolding (Ozieblo 60). Glaspell's reporting of the case and feminine viewpoint foreshadowed the issues she would later confront in Trifles: "A conspicuous feature so far is the large attendance of women in court. Over half of the spectators present today belong to the gentler sex" (Iowa Cold Cases). In addition, all the questions surrounding Margaret Hossack during the trial (was she abused? Was she insane? Was she a murderer?) would reappear around the character of Minnie Wright. Just as the Hossack case was left unsolved, Glaspell would also leave her mystery unsolved and allow her readers to decide for themselves. Along with Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, Glaspell's audience becomes a sort of jury for Minnie (Ozieblo 67).