Sunday, March 20, 2011

Who is a tragic character in "Trifles"?

A tragic character is Minnie Wright.  She is the wife of Mr. Wright, who she murdered.  However, Minnie is not what most would classify as a cold-blooded murderer.  We have to know about her life before passing judgment about her character.  She lived a very reclusive life, thanks to her husband, who was extremely controlling, more so than normal.  Minnie used to be a cheerful, outgoing young woman who enjoyed singing (before she met her husband).  After marrying Mr. Wright, she was forced to stop her singing, which crushed her spirit.  Mr. Wright controlled what she did and who she did it with. The breaking point was when she had gotten a beautiful pet canary that sang to her.  This was her pride and joy.  Mr. Wright got tired of the bird's singing, so he broke its neck.  Minnie could not take anymore of what she had endured for so many years, so she killed her husband.  She is a tragic character because she had to endure so much sorrow and sadness at the hands of her controlling husband, and this drove her to commit murder.

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