Instruction
Discussion Post #1: Describe Margaret Hossack. What is she like physically and what is her personality? How do you think this will affect the eventual outcome of the trial? List those who have power to influence her trial thus far. How are they similar to and different from Margaret?
Discussion Post #2: Do you believe that Margaret Hossack killed her husband? If so, what motivated her to commit the murder?
Discussion Post #3: Glaspell serves as a kind of interpreter of events in MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN--first as a journalist; then later as a playwright and fiction writer. How does Glaspell's view of Mrs. Hossack change between December 1900 and April 1901?
Discussion Post #4: The men selected to judge Mrs. Hossack in the first trials are described as "a jury of her husband's peers" (page 120). Do you think the verdict at either trial would have been different if women were allowed to serve on juries? Is it truly possible to have an unbiased jury in a small, tightly-knit community where people have already formed impressions and opinions about their neighbors and fellow citizens?
Discussion Post #5: One of the most often quoted passages in Trifles appears on page 233: "I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be--for women. I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things--it's just a different kind of the same thing." These words are spoken by Mrs. Hale, the character played by Glaspell in the first performance of the play. What does Mrs. Hale mean? And how do these words reflect Glaspell's perception of the women in Margaret