A Jury Of Her Peers Essay
"A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell is a short story that explores the theme of gender roles, justice, and isolation. The story revolves around a murder investigation in a rural area in which a woman, Minnie Foster, is suspected of killing her husband. While the male characters are focused on doing their jobs, the female characters uncover the truth about the abuse and neglect that Minnie suffered, leading them to discover Minnie Wright did not experience a peaceful lifestyle with her husband. Through the portrayal of the women in the story and the symbolic imagery, Glaspell highlights the oppressive nature of gender roles and the importance of empathy and understanding in seeking justice. In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Susan Glaspell outlines …show more content…
They find various clues including a dead canary inside of a box, which was the final clue behind Minnie’s motive for committing this crime. The men are initially dismissive of this information, but the women understand the emotional significance of the bird to Minnie. According to Mrs. Hale, Minnie herself resembles a bird; “‘Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and— fluttery’” (211). Through this powerful moment, Glaspell highlights Minnie’s queerness. The women are able to uncover the truth because they approach the case with empathy and emotional intelligence, rather than simply relying on evidence and logic. From Glaspell's organization of paragraphs, one can recognize an outline of details which cultivate a “symbol system because they are carefully chosen reflectors of crucial realities in the lives of 19th century and 20th century Midwestern and Western women” (Hedges …show more content…
Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale decide to hide the quilt pieces and deceased bird, thereby protecting Minnie from being convicted of the murder. This decision shows the importance of solidarity among women and the willingness to uncover the truth, even if it means breaking the law. During this time, women’s imprisonment was on the rise. Chesney-Lind observes that the surge of women’s incarceration during this time, “may have little to do with a major change in women's behavior” (150). The women understand that justice is not always found in the legal system, but in the community and in the relationships between individuals. From the beginning, Susan Glaspell highlights the clues around the murder case. The two women stumble blindly upon the truth and come to the conclusion that Minnie really did kill her husband and that she had good reason to do so. Overall, the small details in "A Jury of Her Peers" contribute to the story's powerful and insightful exploration of gender roles, justice, and the female experience. Glaspell uses these details to convey the oppressive and isolating conditions that rural women faced during the early twentieth century, as well as the ways in which loneliness and societal expectations limited women's condition of self-governing. The story's message remains relevant today and continues to inspire
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1422 Words | 6 PagesIn “A Jury of Her Peers” Glaspeel introduces the main characters Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters along with their husbands Mr.Hale and Mr.Peter. Nowhere in this story do the people involved in the murder appear, they are only mentioned. In this story, Minnie Wright is the wife of the victim Mr.Wright. The scene Glaspell sets enables the reader to uncover the motive for the murder when the women discover the birdcage and the dead bird. These small details are interpreted by the woman, noticing frustration in Mrs. Wright's most recent stitches and her dead pet bird.
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775 Words | 4 PagesPeters and Mrs. Hale are the ones who find clues to solving the murder. Glaspell foreshadows this outcome by having the county attorney say “‘…[n]o telling; you women might come upon a clue to the motive…’” (Glaspell). Once the men leave the women alone they begin putting together items to take to Mrs. Wright in jail and no one is concerned with what they are taking her because the men do not see anything from the domestic realm to be dangerous. While they are putting together items, Mrs. Peters stumbles upon a birdcage that has clearly been roughed up, and eventually they locate a deceased bird.
Jury Of Her Peers Essay
1217 Words | 5 PagesIn “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
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879 Words | 4 PagesThree women, Minnie Wright, Martha Hale, and Mrs. Peters express sisterhood by hiding of incriminating evidence such as the dead bird while the men fail to prove of her complicity. This essay focuses on themes of sisterhood and gender roles, and the passiveness that manifests in the process of gathering evidence. The theme of Sisterhood. As the plot unfolds to ascertain the murder of John Wright, Mrs. Hale says, “it looked very lonesome this cold morning, it had always been a lonesome place” (Glaspell, 1992), while referring to the house of Minnie Wright.
A Jury Of Her Peers Essay
679 Words | 3 PagesThe canary remained in a birdcage signifying the “cage” that was the house to Minnie because she was a woman whose life was in the control of a man. Being the only thing Minnie felt she had, the canary sang, reflecting Minnie Foster’s role when she sang in the choir, a freedom both her and the bird shared before being
A Jury Of Her Peers Essay
995 Words | 4 PagesAll throughout the story, Minnie Foster was described as a very lively woman with big hopes and dreams before her marriage to Mr. Wright. Glaspell states, “She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-she-did-change” (555). This description of Minnie Foster is crucial to understanding the symbol of the canary to the main theme, which is connections.
Jury Of Her Peers Essay
741 Words | 3 PagesThat 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.
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1505 Words | 7 Pagesand I understand?” (Glaspell, 17), which is why they try to hide the evidence at the end. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know why Minnie killed her husband because they too live in similar households, but the men leading the investigation will not because they are blind to what they do to the women around them. The men continue to throw jabs at the ladies not even knowing the women they are making fun of had just found everything they needed to send Minnie to jail,
A Jury Of Her Peers Symbolism Analysis
734 Words | 3 PagesThe 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
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611 Words | 3 PagesA Jury of Her Peers Gender battles have dated back to the beginning of time. Even the men have decided the women are incompetent to understand or the women have thought the men were too incompetent to understand. There was never a happy medium. In “ A Jury of Her Own Peers” a woman is accused of murdering her own husband, throughout the story two women and two men go searching around her house. The men looking for evidence and the women looking for things to take back to Mrs. Wright at the station.
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Comparing 'The Yellow Wallpaper And A Jury Of Her Peers'
1006 Words | 5 PagesThe 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.
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