A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell involves an investigation of the murder of Mr.
Wright after he was strangled to death in his bed by a rope. His wife, Minnie Wright, is the leading suspect since she was in the bed with him when the murder occurred. Mr. Peters, the sheriff, Mr. Hale, the farmer who found Mr. Wright dead, and Mr. Henderson, the county attorney, all return to Minnie’s house to try to find the reason why she killed her husband. Mrs.
Peters, the sheriff's wife, and Martha Hale, the farmer’s wife join the men, but to bring Minnie a few things from her house up to the prison where she is staying. From the very beginning of the story, the men are all very sure of themselves and belittle the two women who had tagged along.
Mrs.
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Mrs. Peters being the one to say that was intentional because up to this point of the story she had tried to stick by her husband’s side to an extent when talking about Minnie, but now as she and Mrs. Hale realize what led to the murder she is understanding Minnie more.
The women make the final decision to hide all of the new information they found from the other men, knowing that they will not understand what Minnie had gone through all those years of psychological abuse (Sara D. Scotland, 53). The women understand Minnie, “We all go through the same things--it's all just a different kind of the same thing! If it weren't--why do you
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and 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,
In “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.
In my opinion Minnie McCloskey is innocent as can be. There was no proof that Minnie committed the murder of Miss. Pickswinger’s death. There are several reasons why Minnie is innocent. Minnie had no reason to commit this crime, there was no excuse for her to do it. Mjnnie was the only one against the prank and the only one standing up for Miss. Pickswinger.
Hale and Mrs. Peters feel bad for Minnie and sympathize with her so they decide that they will hide the evidence of the murder of her husband. When Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters are getting ready to leave the house, they decided to take the evidence that would out Minnie in jail, “With a rush forward, she threw back the quilt pieces, got the box tried to put it in her handbag. It broke she could not touch the bird. She stood helpless, foolish” (Glaspell 299). When it was time to leave the house, Mrs. Hale and Mrs.Peters were taking the evidence that would put Minnie in jail because they saw the emotional abuse that Mr. Wright put her through.
Peters 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.
In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster is taken to jail for killing her quarrelsome husband. In order to convict her, the sheriff needs to find a reason for the murder. Sheriff Wright, his wife and another couple survey Minnie’s home and farm in search of evidence. While the men search the farm and upstairs room, the wives go through the kitchen and living room (the areas thought to be of little use to the men).
Three 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.
Wright’s dominance and the chokehold of male superiority over women in society, described by Mrs. Hales, “Look at it! Its neck—look at its neck! It’s all—other side to” (Glaspell 607). His intrusion into the cage and killing of the bird symbolizes the control of Minnie’s character and the destruction of who she truly once was; “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird,” she said after that— “a thing that sang. She used to sing.
Mr. Hale and his son, Harry, went upstairs and found the body in the bed with a rope around his neck. Alarmed, Mr. Hale told Harry to go to call the police through a telephone across the road while he stayed behind at the Wright's’ residence. The police then arrived to the scene of the crime and took Minnie into custody. We are here today to prove that Minnie Wright is guilty of the premeditated murder of her husband, John Wright. We have evidence that proves that Minnie Wright had motivation to kill her
However, the women see past his looks and come to the conclusion that Mr. “wright” was actually a very abusive man towards his wife and practically took away her spark, which could’ve possibly been a motive to kill her husband. For example, when the women found the dead bird, with its neck wrung. After knowing that Mr. Wright killed Mrs. Wright's bird it shows us that he indeed was a harsh, cruel man. Also, Mrs. Hale points out how Mrs. Wright used to sing, used to be happy until she was with Mr. Wright, which shows us he took a piece of her away as time went on. Mrs. Peters being “married to the law,” could've told the men about the evidence, but she chose
Minnie’s quilt, the dead bird and its cage, and the kitchen show that living in a man’s world is not easy. In the end, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale recognize that they too have experienced the same loneliness and mistreatment that led Mrs. Wright to murder her husband. The men don't value the women in this story and they don't see them as being very intelligent either. It is for this reason “A jury of her peers” is created. Peers being the women themselves as they stand up, united against the subjugation they have all experienced.
Hence for Minnie her home never seemed to be very cheerful place. Mrs. Hales even goes to mention “I never liked the place. Maybe cause it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road. It’s a lonesome place and always was.” (Glaspell 482).
(Ayan) "'Nothing here but kitchen things'" The men are insulting what women do on an everyday basis and saying it is unimportant. They think these little trivial items are of no importance to the investigation but the women who are willing to look deeper into why the crime took place know that everything is significant when trying to look inside Minnie Wright's mind. What men see as trivial women understand the importance of it.
The audience is constantly trying to figure out if Minnie actually killed John, more than if John abused Minnie. Because of this, “Trifles” is distracting and thinking about the murder takes attention away from the theme of abuse, while “POOF!” is directed on the abuse and what to do with her husband’s ashes the whole time. By staying on the topic of abuse and clearly laying it out, the audience can learn about domestic abuse and genuinely understand the meaning behind the
She went to the cellar and got a leg of lamb and hit the husband in the back if the head killing him. In the story written by Glaspell the Minnie Foster killed her husband after years of abusive behavior. She snapped because the husband had killed her canary. Both stories have a murderous wife. Another similarity is that neither of the criminals
He caused her to be lonely and that caused her to go a little crazy. This madness is what made her feel no sympathy when she realized John was dead. These actions are what led Hale and Peters to come to the result of she killed her own husband. However, the attorney didn’t realize the radical alteration in her personality like Mrs. Hale did, only because he did not know Minnie Foster when she was beautifully happy and full of life. This is evident in the short story when the attorney refers to her as Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Hale