A dead bird, a dead man, a jailed wife, and five people to investigate such things. In “A Jury of Her Peers” in order to find the guilty culprit, there was a need to find a motive. The men would spend all day searching for the reason someone would murder the Mr. Wright, and so would the women. When the women finally did find a motive, they would hide it from the men. They had the right to do so because they themselves had felt the same way Mrs. Wright did, the men were being disrespectful, and the women were dismissed from the men’s sides to look upon things with no significance. The women are easy to sympathize with because they have felt the same way that Mrs. Wright did at the time of the murder. Mrs. Peters says she …show more content…
The women searched the kitchen and the living area. As they were women, this was all they were qualified to look at. The men scoffed when the women talked about the quilt being knotted or sewn. They did not think that it held any significance, nor did they think that there was anything under the quilt. However, it was later found by the women that there was something under the quilt. That something was the motive, and the motive was Mrs. Wright’s bird. The men would not know this because they dismissed the kitchen and living area from having any significance to the case. They also mockingly asked the women what they had found without really caring about the answer. The women sensed this and therefore withheld information that would be vital in proving Mrs. Wright’s guilt in the murder of her husband. Had the men truly cared about what the women had found, perhaps the women would have shed light on their findings. The women are the rightful owners of the reader’s sympathy because they had often felt what Mrs. Wright had, the men had wrongfully acted in disrespect, and the women were written off as unhelpful before they ever had a chance to help. Because of the feelings of the women and the actions of the men, this case would grow cold and justice would not be
Wright is the murderer of her husband. The strangled bird is almost a leading replica of the murdered husband; strangled at the neck. This bird is a key piece of evidence because it shows the motive for the murder of her husband. Mr. Wright was not a man that enjoyed noise, so when Mrs. Wright got the canary he most likely became annoyed. This lead him eventually to strangle the bird by the neck.
In “The Jury of Her Peers”, the author Susan Glaspell aims to defy traditional gender dynamics to expose the societal norms that were prevalent in the early 20th century. In the story, she skillfully employs literary elements such as setting, narrative perspective, characterization, and theme to subvert inequitable notions and shed light on the profound injustices women faced at that time, allowing readers to fully comprehend the impact of such constraints on the women’s lives. The setting of “The Jury of Her Peers” plays a crucial role in enhancing the story’s themes and serves as a reflection of broader societal constraints and established traditions that were prevalent during the early 20th century. Glaspell sets the stage right from the
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here today to discuss the murder of John Wright. On November 15, Mr. Wright was found in his bed with a rope around his neck, presumably strangled to death. His body was discovered by his wife supposedly and did not bother to notify to the local authorities. At eight o'clock in the morning, Mr. Hale went to look for Mr. Wright and found Minnie, Mr. Wright’s wife, sitting in a rocking chair inside of the house. Mr. Hale asked Minnie for her husband and she stated that John Wright was dead in the bedroom.
Later on in the story, a quilt that Minnie Foster had been working on was found unfinished. Mrs. Hale had the kind idea for Mrs. Peters to take in the unfinished quilt with her when she brings in a few of Minnie’s personal belongings to take her mind off of
The men don't think anything about how the quilt might be a clue, not paying much attention to it. This leads to the men not noticing why the women were so invested in the significant piece of cloth. The use of the phrase, “they wonder” shows that he was being sarcastic and judgmental to the women and their thoughts. The use of the sheriff saying, “quilt it or knot it!” also shows that the men don't understand the women's views and perspectives. This all relates to the claim of “Jury”examines how the men glace over the women’s perspective and thoughts” because it shows key proof of this.
Throughout the story, many symbolic pieces and examples were portrayed to fully reveal and develop the intense oppression women faced. Through the strong conveyance of gender inequality, a dead songbird, and hidden evidence, “A Jury of Her Peers” proves that women suffered from oppressive men. Glaspell wrote this short story to make readers aware of the negative situation, as well as change it. After “A Jury of Her Peers” was published, many states began to change their political laws by deeming women legal to serve on a jury. Not only did Glaspell help change the oppressiveness of women, but she aided in the change of women’s political
one of the town girls singing in the choir.” The author is also using an indirect symbolism between the bird and Mrs. Wright. The bird has pretty feathers, was lively and sang. In this snippet, we see the comparison between Mrs. Wright and the bird. Mrs. Hale points out at the onset how Mrs.
The dead canary and its cage was a pivotal piece of evidence that the women discovered. The dead bird represents the old Mrs. Wright— Minnie Foster and its cage represents how she was
Mrs. Wright’s quilt is evidence that she is angry or nervous. The quilt has a “‘log-cabin pattern’” and is quilted nicely, but the last few stitches are not. It “‘Looks as if she didn’t know what she was about.’” This difference in sewing shows a sudden change in mood or thought process. When nervous or angry people tend not to care as much about what they are doing and can even be aggressive.
However, this condition starts to change the moment the women challenge the power. They, as the dominated group, resist the inequality by doing something that brings justice. For Mrs. Wright, her definition of justice is when she kills her husband the way he kills her bird. For Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, justice has been prevailed when they lie about the evidence for the case that becomes the symbols of their equality and the mockery of the men’s initial
Wright was in the process of stitching. They noticed the beauty of the quilt and how neat the stitching was… up to a certain point. The last piece that had been added to the quilt was poorly stitched. Mrs. Hale points to the bad stitching and says to Mrs. Peters, “Why, it looks as if she didn’t know what she was about,” and continues to tell how she believes Mrs. Wright did the piece while nervous about something (1085). Mrs. Peters then tries to fix the stitching so that no one else notices.
The men of the group, much like John in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” consider themselves more capable than the women and refuse to consider Mrs. Wright as anything other than irrational. The men leave the women to their “trifles” on the first floor, where they discover a broken bird cage, and the bird’s body, broken, carefully wrapped in a small, decorative box. They realize that Mr. Wright had wrung the neck of his wife’s beloved bird and broken its cage. Mrs. Wright, once known for her cheerfulness and beautiful singing, she stopped singing when she encountered Mr. Wright. Just like he did with the bird, Mr. Wright choked the life out of his wife until, finally, Mrs. Wright literally choked the life out of her husband.
The women began to pity Mrs. Wright as they knew her before she married to Mr. Wright. The females felt pity, where the men just accessed the situation at hand. After the women examine the empty bird cage they remember the way that Mrs. Wright use to sing and compared her to her former self as Minnie Foster. “Trifles,” introduced the masculinity here from the Sheriff’s side instantly putting his instinct into saying that there was a murder that happened at the farmhouse, was caused by Mrs. Wright without any hesitation. He didn’t look into the sadness, or let the depressing home get to him as much as what his intentions and his well-being come into play before his
One of the conflicts in this story takes place between Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale. “Do you think she did it” (Glaspell). Once the men are out of the room the women begin to discuss their own thoughts on whether Mr. Wright is guilty or not. Mrs. Hale offers some reasoning of why she feels Mrs. Wright may be innocent. “I don’t think she did.
The reason for the murder is what the men are trying to find, she speculates that Mr. Wright killed the bird they had found as soon as they started to investigate. Then Mrs. Peters becomes defensive repeating “we don’t know” in different lines. This is a major confusion to the audience as these two characters hare having very different moral struggles throughout the show and it should have been clear the character Glaspell