These words are spoken by Mrs. Hale, the neighbor on "Trifles" by Susan Glaspel. To what "crime" is she referring? What is the nature of it? Explain your answer. "I wish you'd seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. Oh, I wish I'd come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who's going to punish that?"  

Answer:

Trifles is a 1916 one act play by Susan Glaspell which was first performed by the Provincetown Players at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Given that the play was written during a time when feminism was at its subtle arousal, the play focuses on feminism as its main theme (Atlas, 2019). In her play, Susan offers insights on the relationship between women and men in a male dominated society (Atlas, 2019). She constrasts how women act in public versus how they act in private. She also examines how women perform in front of their fellow women as well as how they perform in front of other men.

In the words spoken by Mrs. Hale, she refers to her own crime of feministic negligence. This crime revolves around the nature of guilt and is characterized by betrayal of her own gender. In her words, it seems like Mrs. Hale is screaming that Mr. Wright should be punished for a lifetime for treating his wife like dirt (Shmoop University, 2020). However, Mrs. Hale states that she is the one who should be punished for ignoring another woman who was in need of her help in getting away from a detrimental marriage (Shmoop University, 2020). She feels guilty that she fails to strengthen womanhood and promoting feminism by helping another woman get away from an abusive husband.  

References

Atlas, N. (2019). Trifles by Susan Glaspell (full text of the 1916 one-act play). Literary Ladies Guide, 3(1), 1-5.

Shmoop University. (2020). Mrs. Hale in Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Shmoop University Inc. , 3(1), 1-10.