Characters
George Henderson: The county attorney (originally played by Michael Hulgan)[13]
Henry Peters: Local sheriff and husband of Mrs. Peters (originally played by Robert Conville).[13]
Lewis Hale: Neighbor of the Wrights and husband to Mrs. Hale (originally played by George Cram Cook).[13]
Mrs. Peters: Wife of the sheriff (originally played by Alice Hall).[13]
Mrs. Hale: Neighbor of the Wrights and wife of Lewis Hale (originally played by Susan Glaspell, and later by Kim Base).[13]
John Wright: The murder victim and owner of the house.
Mrs. Minnie Wright: John Wright's wife and his suspected murderer.
Summary
The play begins "in the now-abandoned farmhouse of John and Minnie Wright".[11] On command from the county attorney, Mr. Hale recounts his visit to the house the previous day. He found Mrs. Wright behaving strangely and her husband upstairs dead, with a rope around his neck. Mr. Hale notes that when he questioned her, Mrs. Wright claimed that she was asleep when someone strangled her husband. While the three men are searching the house for evidence, "the women begin to explore the domestic space on their own. As they interact with the stage environment, the two women discover clues to the couple's personalities as well as potential evidence in the case".[11] Although Minnie and John Wright are not physically present they "become vivid figures for us via the dialogue and actions of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters".[11] Through evidence, the wives soon realize that Mr. Wright killed his wife's pet bird, and that led to Mrs. Wright killing her husband. Although the men find no evidence upstairs in the Wright house that would prove Mrs. Wright guilty, the wives piece together that Mrs. Wright was a victim of abuse by her husband. They understand how it feels to be oppressed by men. After the women discover the truth, they hide the dead bird, knowing that it would otherwise be used to make the case against Mrs. Wright. Whether Mrs. Wright is convicted is neither confirmed nor denied at the end of the play.
