Final answer:
Feminist criticism works best to describe the play Trifles, focusing on the exploration of gender roles, power relations, and the marginalization of women.
Step-by-step explanation:
The best school of literary criticism to describe the play Trifles is Feminist Criticism. Feminist criticism focuses on how literature portrays and challenges gender roles and inequalities. Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, explores the oppression and marginalization of women in society through its portrayal of the female characters and their experiences.
One key element of feminist criticism that applies to Trifles is the analysis of gender dynamics and power relations. The play highlights the theme of patriarchal dominance and the confinement of women in traditional gender roles. For example, the female characters are not given first names and are referred to by their husbands' names, demonstrating how women are subjugated and lose their identities within marriage.
Feminist criticism also looks at the silencing of women's voices and the importance of women's perspectives. In Trifles, the women's attention to detail and their ability to empathize with Minnie Wright's experiences enable them to uncover the truth about the murder, which the male characters overlook. This highlights the importance of valuing women's knowledge and perspectives in understanding and interpreting literary works.