Study Notes on Classical and Modern Drama

Climax and Resignation: Maurya accepts the death of her last surviving son, Bartley, recognizing that no living man can endure forever.
Funeral Rites: Michael receives an ideal burial in the far north, while Bartley is provided a fine coffin made of white boards and a deep grave.
Grief and Acceptance: Continuous keening subsides into quiet acceptance as Maurya asks Almighty God for mercy on the souls of Michael, Bartley, Cathleen, Nora, Patch, Stephen, Shawn, herself, and everyone left living.

Setting: The abandoned, gloomy kitchen of John Wright's farmhouse features faded wallpaper, an unpainted wooden table, unwashed pans under an iron sink, an uncurtained window, and cold temperatures that dropped below zero the previous night.
Key Characters:
- Sheriff Peters: Official conducting the investigation, who sent Frank earlier to make a fire and previously dispatched him to Morris Center.
- County Attorney Henderson: Young prosecutor who recently returned from Omaha.
- Hale: Neighboring farmer who discovered the body after stopping by with his son Harry while taking a load of potatoes to town.
- Mrs. Peters: Wife of the sheriff, described as a slight, wiry woman with a thin, nervous face.
- Mrs. Hale: Neighboring farm wife who knew Minnie Foster thirty years ago when she sang in the choir.

Circumstances of the Crime: John Wright was found strangled in bed with a rope around his neck; Mrs. Wright sat in a rocker pleating her apron, claiming she slept soundly on the inside of the bed.
Crucial Clues Discovered:
- Frozen Preserves: Mrs. Wright's canned cherries froze and burst, a concern dismissed by the men as a trivial feminine worry.
- Erratic Stitching: A log cabin pattern quilt block displays irregular sewing, pointing to intense agitation.
- Damaged Cage: A birdcage with a broken door hinge indicates physical force.
- Concealed Evidence: A dead canary with its neck wrung wrapped in silk inside a fancy box reveals that John Wright strangled the singing bird.
Resolution: Understanding John Wright's harsh nature—described as like a raw wind to the bone—Mrs. Hale conceals the box in her coat pocket, keeping the motive hidden from County Attorney Henderson.

Modern Tragedy: Arthur Miller fuses 19th-century realistic drama with classical Greek and Shakespearean tragedy to create a tragedy of the common man.
Rejection of Aristotelian Norms: Miller sets aside Aristotle's rule that tragic heroes must be elevated figures; Willy Loman is deeply flawed and fears truth.
Fear of Truth: Unlike Oedipus and Hamlet, who seek truth, Willy hides from failure as a husband, father, and salesman—viewing failure as a crime equivalent to incest.
Tragic Dignity: Tragic emotion arises when a character is ready to lay down life to secure personal dignity, even if that dignity is based on false values as identified by his son Biff.

Riders to the Sea Questions:
- In tragedy the protagonist generally suffers, acts, and learns. Does the protagonist act? What are the effects of her actions?
- What does she learn? How is her understanding different at the end than at the beginning?
- What is the effect of a tragedy in which the protagonist is essentially "acted upon" rather than active?
- How does the language support both realistic and tragic aspects of the drama?
Trifles Questions:
- What does the play say about men, women, and the ways in which they act toward each other, and in how many ways is this theme touched upon?
- What is the use and significance of "trifles" throughout the drama?
- How are Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters contrasted early in the play, and what transformation occurs?
- With which characters do sympathies lie, and to what extent are their actions approved?