An Interview with Martha Hale It has now been a few months since the tragic events that transpired at the Wright residence occurred. Due to the completion of Minnie Wright’s trial in regards to the murder of John Wright, in which she was found not guilty, much speculation has arisen about who was responsible for taking the life of a seemingly innocent man. Recently, I had the opportunity to get some insight into this case and the emotions surrounding it from the wife of key witness Lewis Hale. Not too long ago, Martha Hale’s husband had stumbled upon the dreadful scene of John Wright found dead in his home when Hale was hoping to use his telephone to aid in his potato delivery. When investigators had taken their examination further, Mrs. Hale …show more content…
A prominent piece of evidence that was found in the house was a broken bird cage and the question lies within what her personal interpretation of this object was. With a solemn tone, Martha replied, “I believe Minnie’s husband ripped the cage door open when in a rage and snapped the bird’s neck, so she did the same to him.” It is hard to believe that one’s emotions could so greatly influence their actions but in this case, it seems as if the Wright’s were involved in an unhappy, abusive marriage. To connect back to the bird queries, I also asked Mrs. Hale what she did with the deceased creature that Minnie Wright held so dearly. Martha without hesitation mentioned that she “grabbed it without a second thought” and that she wishes to bury it because Minnie would have wanted that. As Martha Hale figured out, the bird’s death was reminiscent of John Wright’s death, and if the authorities would have acquired this, Minnie Wright would have been found guilty of murdering her husband. Although Minnie Wright has been found not guilty, the interview that I had with Martha Hale provides clear evidence that she did kill her husband. But then why would she protect her? According to Martha, she and Minnie have known each other since they were little girls, and they are still bonded in that way. Mrs. Hale defended and protected Minnie because she “wanted to give her some sort of fighting chance whether everyone else thinks she deserves one or
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.
(35) This shows that Hale is so involved in his work that he could possibly end up accusing someone who was not guilty of witchcraft. Hale seems overly conscious about his own life and his duty to serve the people to find the devil in Salem; he doesn’t seem to like the idea that he himself could be wicked. This shows that Hale too, did not show himself to be truthful and courteous when it came to the
Hale went to Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s house. According to the poor investigation done by Mr. Henderson; A great deal of his “evidence” finds our client guilty when Minnie was found in a great state of shock the morning of her husband’s death. Mr. Hale found Minnie Wright looking uncomfortable, but rocking in her rocking chair. Minnie Wright revealed that John was home, but that Mr. Hale could not speak with him because he was dead. When questioned, she explained that he died of “a rope around his neck.”
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.
While admiring Mrs. Wright’s pretty sewing box, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discover Minnie’s dead bird: “There’s something wrapped in this piece of silk.” For a poor woman like Mrs. Wright, silk must have been difficult to acquire. She could barely afford new clothing, yet she used this extremely expensive silk to wrap her deceased pet. This shows the importance of the canary to Mrs. Wright and how upsetting its death would be. Similarly, how resentful Minnie would be towards the killer of her precious bird.
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.
She used to sing. He killed that too”. Minnie Wright got the canary bird because it was a symbol of her past life. The bird symbolized the love Mrs. Wright had for singing. Furthermore, Mrs. Wrights wardrobe represented the neglect and frugality she received from her husband.
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.
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
Wright killed the canary and is also motive for Mrs. Wright to seek revenge. The women conclude that Mrs. Wright’s bird was her prized possession, the bird even reminds the women of Mrs. Wright, “‘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.’”
The story opens with Mrs. Wright imprisoned for strangling her husband. A group, the mostly composed of men, travel to the Wright house in the hopes that they find incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright. Instead, the two women of the group discover evidence of Mr. Wright’s abuse of his wife. Through the women’s unique perspective, the reader glimpses the reality of the situation and realizes that, though it seemed unreasonable at the time, Mrs. Wright had carefully calculated her actions. When asked about the Wrights, one of the women, Mrs. Hale, replies “I don’t think a place would be a cheerful for John Wright’s being in it” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 7).
Wright’s belongings are incomplete and out of place, particularly in the kitchen. The women find this to be abnormal and begin speculating the significance of these items. During one point in the play, Mrs. Hale notices an uneven stitch in Mrs. Wright’s unfinished quilt. She asks Mrs. Peters, “’what do you suppose she was so nervous about?’” Because of the death of Mr. Wright, Mrs. Hale views the stitching in a suspicious manner.
“Mrs.Hale slipped the box under the quilt pieces in the basket” (Jury of her Peers page.11). In this box was a dead bird that meant something to Mrs.Wright. This bos was a problem solver to the case they are trying to solve dealing with the death of Mr.Wright. Mrs.Hale hid the box to keep Mrs.Wright out of trouble. This goes back to her sympathy she had for her.
The fact that John Wright’s cruel action in strangling Minnie’s beloved pet bird that helped her to cope with her isolation was not the only sole reason she murdered him. The action actually was the peak of the social oppression and loneliness that has eventually strangled Minnie herself. They understood Minnie’s situation as they themselves received the same prejudice and mistreatment, as seen from the line, “We all go through the same things- it’s all just a different kind of the same thing”. This theme is represented mostly through the character, Mrs Peters. Even though Mrs Peter is a sheriff’s wife and was described as “married to the law” by the County Attorney, she has sympathy for Minnie.