Was it a “crime” for Minnie to strangle her husband or simple justice?

We have been studying the struggle for identity and equality in America through the eyes of those who have been oppressed, mainly women and African Americans. In this module, we read a play by another feminist, Susan Glaspell. In Trifles, Susan Glaspell shows what happens when the “men of the house” consider the women’s opinions merely trifles when investigating a murder.

We are told John Wright was not a bad man, “he didn’t drink, and kept his word . . . and paid his debts.” Minnie Wright’s murder of her husband would be condoned by feminist critics . . . as a “defiance of patriarchy.”