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Susan Glaspell A Jury Of Her Peers Analysis

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“A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell is a narrative about a murder that happened in a rural county. Mrs. Martha Hale is asked to accompany her husband, the county attorney, the sheriff, and the sheriff’s wife, to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. Once the five of them arrive at the crime scene, the Wright house, they settle inside the house and Mr. Hale begins to tell how he discovered Mr. John Wright was dead. After Mr. Hale tells his story, the men head upstairs and leave the women alone to gather clothes for Minnie Wright. In this time, the women discover the telling clues for Minnie’s motive in killing John but decide to not reveal this information to the men. Glaspell illuminates the way gender roles can connect women to the plights of another woman. …show more content…

Martha is directly characterized as someone who cannot leave things “half done”, and through this she is able to understand the unkempt nature of the house, and other subtle clues that show Minnie’s state of mind. She is indirectly characterized through her compassion for her fellow woman when she arranges the pans and fixes some stitches on her quilting. This is highlighted even further when she convinces Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife, to also conceal the evidence they discover that would surely prove Minnie’s part in her husband’s death. Mrs. Peters is indirectly characterized as timid and acquiescent. Both Martha and Mrs. Peters could be considered dynamic characters in that they both defied what is expected of them in suppressing the evidence to convict

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