“Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” are extremely similar to one another in almost every respect. Much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the play and placed into the short story. Additionally, all of the plot points are the same, with some insignificant differences. There are two main differences: the first is the difference between the titles, which is represented in the pieces themselves and the second is the difference in characterization.
The difference in the titles, “Trifles” for the play and “A Jury of Her Peers” signals the readers to two different focuses between the play and the story. The title “Trifles” seems to tell us that this play is about particular objects, and indeed the play seems to focus on the objects that judge Minnie Foster. The play progresses cleanly from one episode to the other, each episode being a particular thing that lets us know more about the events. On the other hand, the title “A Jury of Her Peers” lets us know that the story will focus more on the characters of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Since the short story allows for more description, especially of the details of the characters interaction, it allows for more insight into the minds of the characters, as opposed to insight that the audience would gain by watching actors on a stage. This shifts the judgement from the actual objects in the play and Mrs. Hale and Peters simply interpreting them for the audience to actually giving the judgement of Minnie Foster to Hale and Peters by giving us a little more insight into how they are reacting to the entire episode.