Mael examines Glaspell's play and a recent film adaptation by Sally Heckel within the context of feminist writings; the critic notes Glaspell's prescient accuracy in charting feminist doctrines.

In 1916 Susan Glaspell wrote "Trifles," a one-act play to complete the bill at the Wharf Theatre (the other play was Bound East for Cardiff by Eugene O'Neill). One commentator on Glaspell's work believes the play was originally intended as a short story, but, according to Glaspell, "the stage took it for its own." In 1917, however, Glaspell rewrote the work as a short story, "Jury of Her Peers," which appeared in Best Short Stories of 1917. That work was adapted by Sally Heckel in 1981 for her Academy-Award nominated film.

The setting for all three works is the same: a gloomy farmhouse kitchen belonging to John Wright, recently strangled, and his wife Minnie, now being held in prison for the crime. Three...