Question

trifles
by susan glaspell
scene: the kitchen in the now abandoned farmhouse of john wright, a gloomy kitchen, and left without having been put in order—unwashed pans under the sink, a loaf of bread outside the breadbox, a dish towel on the table—other signs of incompleted work. at the rear the outer door opens, and the sheriff comes in, followed by the county attorney and hale. the sheriff and hale are men in middle life, the county attorney is a young man; all are much bundled up and go at once to the stove. they are followed by the two women--the sheriff’s wife first; she is a slight wiry woman, a thin nervous face. mrs. hale is larger and would ordinarily be called more comfortable looking, but she is disturbed now and looks fearfully about as she enters. the women have come in slowly and stand close together near the door.
county attorney (rubbing his hands): this feels good. come up to the fire, ladies.
mrs. peters (after taking a step forward): i’m not—cold.
sheriff (unbuttoning his overcoat and stepping away from the stove as if to the
county attorney (with the gallantry of a young politician): and yet, for all their worries, what would we do without the ladies? (the women do not unbend. he goes to the sink, takes dipperful of water from the pail and, pouring it into a basin, washes his hands. starts to wipe them on the roller towel, turns it for a cleaner place.) dirty towels! (kicks his foot against the pans under the sink.) not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?
mrs. hale (stiffly): there’s a great deal of work to be done on a farm.
what is one possible disadvantage of hearing the characters voices in the theater as opposed to silently reading the scene?
option 1: readers are unable to make inferences for themselves about the emotions and motivations of the county attorney and mrs. hale.
option 2: readers are unable to create their own voices for how the county attorney and mrs. hale might sound live.

Explanation:

When silently reading a scene, readers can imagine the characters' voices (tone, pitch, etc.) on their own. But in a theater, the characters' voices are presented as given. So one disadvantage of hearing the voices in theater is that readers can't create their own voices for how the county attorney and Mrs. Hale might sound. The first option is incorrect because hearing voices can actually help with inferences about emotions/motivations (e.g., tone of voice gives clues), while the second option accurately describes the loss of the reader's ability to imagine the voices themselves.

Answer:

The option "Readers are unable to create their own voices for how the county attorney and Mrs. Hale might sound live." (the second option in the provided choices)