Bill Qureshi
Ms. Buvinger
English
1/18/2015
Jury of Her Peers Essay The discussion of women's rights was prominent during the early 20th century, as women demanded change to how society viewed women. In Susan Glaspell’s, Jury of her peers, she uses symbols in her story to represent the problems women face in society and tries to show women, that they have the capabilities to extend further than societal restrictions. Glaspell tries to bring more awareness to the problems women faced like being neglected by society, how hard it was for a woman to secede from a man and become independent, and unfair gender gaps. Glaspell also tries to show readers that women had the potential to surpass those problems by shining light on their capabilities.
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With the use of these symbols, the author showed how the unfair treatment of women at the time, made it difficult for women to secede and break free from their husbands in the 20th century. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters found Mrs. Wright’s cage and pondered about whether or not she had a bird. Mrs. Hale said, “Maybe she did. She used to sing really pretty well herself.” The singing bird resembles Minnie Foster, caught in Mrs. Wrights cage, surrounded by an atmosphere that represents her miserable life, caged up by her husband, the one who has leverage over her joy, restricting her from blooming. Moreover, Glaspell may have tried to utilize the damaged cage door and the dead bird, to represent how hard it would have been for a woman like Ms.Wright to break free, from their husbands and start their own lives without societal norms pushing them down. Mrs. Hale found the bird, lying dead in the box, and Mrs. Peters said "Somebody wrung its neck." The damaged cage door represents how Mr. Wright forcefully abused the remaining piece of Mrs. Wright’s former self. The dead bird shows how if she or any woman in the same situation tries to leave during this time, adapting to the outside world becomes difficult due to the unfair treatment of women in society, and their cries for freedom or equality share the same fate as the dead bird. Using the cage, damaged cage door, and the dead bird, Glaspell’s message may be that the unfair treatment of women in terms of equality, in comparison to men, leads to an extensive consequence, that diminishes their ability to go ahead in society and remain
The author, a 19th century women’ rights leader, intends to justify her voting act was not a crime but rather an act based on her constitutional rights and further claims that since all women are also people, all women should not be discriminated because of their gender: just like how negroes should not be segregated because of their skin color. In order to effectively and strongly build her argument, the writer, Susan Anthony uses various writing techniques: use of emotional and deep-seated terminologies to describe the unfair intolerance; analogies with the ‘negroes’ engage the readers; repetition of phrases to emphasize her statement. First of all, the use of the narrator’s sentimental words and phrases enhances her argument’s verity and
In the context of the late 1800s, it was very unusual for a female of that time to be as courageous and rebellious as Edna Pontellier portrayed. Edna Pontellier lived in a world where the free will of a woman was considered a fantasy. Thus, the dreamer Edna Pontellier began to uncover the possibilities of women after constant self-assessments initiating a spark to her awakening. A flying motif also conveys Edna Pontellier, as the feeling of being stripped of her freedom by society continues to broaden. " A GREEN AND YELLOW parrot, which hung in a cage outside the door," (Pg.1)
All traditions are challenging to abolish, especially traditions that have been in place for thousands of years. While visiting Mademoiselle Reisz, Edna acquires a piece of advice that at first is confusing but becomes more clear as time passes. “ The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings” (86). To become an independent woman in a society based upon the tradition of submissive housewives means to obtain massive amounts of judgement from the surrounding community.
A lot of things happened in Britain during the pre-Victorian era. While the Napoleon-wars were raging, the industrial revolution slowly made an uprising. It was a great time for politics, economics and society. The era is perhaps most known for it’s fine architecture and elegance, which both helped shaping the Britain we know today. But despite this, there were also dark sides to the beauty: the classes, lack of women’s rights and working children.
“A Jury of Her Peers” is a valuable resource for anyone curious to what life was like for women in the twentieth century for which it demonstrates women struggling to publish and define
Under the Rice Moon In the short story “Under the Rice Moon” by Rhiannon Puck a swallow is trapped in it’s cage wants nothing more than to be free and fly under the rice moon. The encaged bird gets promised they would take good care of it by multiple people, but instead was traded for other items the people wanted. Every time she is given a new owner it begs to fly under the rice moon, but nobody understands her.
When thinking about the role of women in the community, what comes to mind? Are their jobs and rights, are they the same as men’s? The mere idea that women didn’t have as many rights as they do now is astounding to modern thoughts towards women’s rights. In Trifles Susan Glaspell uses the women and literary elements such as diction, syntax, and tone of the story to show the sexism of the times.
A plea for the end of the discrimination of women--the Declaration of Sentiments—was signed in 1848. The Girl Scouts formed in 1912, and by 1920 women’s suffrage was redefined. For centuries women have been uniting to eliminate their gender’s subjectivity to prejudice; however, the battle against misogyny is even now unfinished. Incompleteness and sisterhood are two themes reiterated throughout Susan Glaspell’s short story, “A Jury of Her Peers.” Glaspell personifies and emphasizes said central ideas through the characterization of the protagonist, Martha Hale.
Sisterhood Susan Glaspell captures in one act, the restricted breath of women in a society where men are the lawmakers, judges, and of course breadwinners. They are the Country Attorneys and Sheriffs. She is showcasing a classic example of the Separate Sphere’s Ideology and proving how deficient it is in theory. During this time prior to the suffrage movement, a woman’s intellectual capacity is restricted by the dominant male ego, in this case the professional and capable skills of a couple of the characters. The men convinces themselves since they are the law, and that women’s ability to understand and decipher complex issues, such as the murder of Mr. Wright was not possible.
The women gather Mrs. Wright’s quilt to work on while incarcerated when they find something that frightens them. They find the bird, and its neck is broken. Mrs. Peters, obviously startled, says “Somebody – wrung – its – neck” (1087). The women are unsure what to do with the bird, but know they need to hide it from the men. This clue is more important than the others; it shows Mrs. Wright's breaking point.
Authors, especially female authors, have long used their writing to emphasize and analyze the feminist issues that characterize society, both in the past and the present. Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell wrote narratives that best examined feminist movements through the unreliable minds of their characters. In all three stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, the authors use characterization, symbolism, and foreshadowing to describe the characters’ apparent psychosis or unreasonable behavior to shed light on the social issues that characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century. Penning many stories that demonstrate her opinions on the social issues of the era,
She sees it as vital information; something that could present them with Mrs. Wright’s state of mind around the time of her death. Mrs. Hale is currently mending the quilt when Mrs. Peters asks where she might “’find a piece of paper, and string.’” This leads Mrs. Peters to discover the empty birdcage inside of the cupboard. Instantly, they both start asking one another questions regarding the cage; they are unable to recall Mrs. Wright ever owning a bird. While talking back and forth, they notice that one of the door’s hinges is broken.
Somebody wrung its neck” (Glaspell 987). This explains that Someone had done something to the bird. In the beginning of the story it mentions that Mr. Wright loves peace and quiet. This shows that he hurts Mrs. Wright’s bird and her motive was to hurt him because of what he did. If the men would have noticed the broken bird cage, they would realize she had a motive.
A once happy and singing bird, kept in a cage, no longer allowed to fly. They say the door broke, representing Minnie’s freedom that she had to take forcefully; she broke free from her marriage. “But, Mrs. Peters—look at it…Look at its neck! It’s all—other side to… Somebody—wrung—its neck.
”John Wright has used to control Minnie Foster’s daily activities. She has no choice but keeping herself alone in the kitchen. Her decision to buy a canary to sing for her has made mad of the husband, John Wright. He killed the bird and the killing of bird oppressed Minnie Foster to murder her husband. The main cause of the tragedy is prominent through the theme of oppression of women.