A 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. Well the men are looking objectively the women use their emotions tell the story.
In Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”, a man was allegedly murdered by hanging. The inspector’s main suspect is the wife because she was supposed to be in bed with him. Like in most cases the first suspect to be looked at is the spouse. They have the most motive, they look the most guilty, and they have the best advantage. In the case of Mrs. Wright her husband Mr. Wright stripped her of all happiness that she had known before her marriage. In her younger years Mrs. Wright sang in a choir after marriage she no longer sang. To make up for the taking of her favorite pastime she found a canary to
…show more content…
In the time that “A Jury of Her Peers”, was written women did not have many rights. They also did not have many opportunities to do other things outside their home.They're expected stay home cook clean and take care of the children to their husband came home. Mr. and Mrs. Wright did not have any children nor did she take care of house very well. Her neighbor even told the sheriff this. It was one of the reason she didn't come to the house very often. She said that “time and time again it had been in her mind-- I ought to go over and see Minnie Foster she thought of her as Minnie Foster though for over 20 years she had been mrs. wright and there was always something to do and Minnie Foster would go from her mind”
Further into the trial, there was a day dedicated strictly to the forensic discoveries. During this time Dr. Dolan, the examiner, was called to the stand to testify. The skulls of Abby and Andrew Borden accompanied Dr. Dolan and his testimony. He provided evidence that criminalized Lizzie, but that was not what the jury or media cared about. Specifically, the Author of the article “Dr. Dolan on the Stand”, wrote about the atmosphere in the courtroom that morning.
Mrs. Peters actively participates in the attempt to conceal the evidence of Minnie Foster Wright’s guilt and gets away with it because the county attorney says, “’No; Mrs. Peters doesn’t need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff’s wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?’” (18). Although she tries extremely hard to fulfil her duty of wifely compliance, in the middle of the short story, she makes a figurative “U-turn” and assists Mrs. Hale in hiding evidence that could alter the investigation.
Introduction. A Jury by Her Peers authored by Susan Glaspell narrates the investigative events that occur after the death of John Wright in his house. As neighbors and the Dickson County administration, themes of sisterhood and gender roles appear through the actions and hidden motives of the characters. The book, A Jury by Her Peers, expounds on the silent suffering of women and being perceived as unintelligent while providing justifications for covering up of John Wrights death.
“A Jury of Her Peers”, written by Susan Glaspell, tells the story of the murder of Mr. Wright and its criminal investigation by Mr. Peters, the town sheriff, and the county attorney. In this short story, Glaspell illustrates how the female perspective is shackled by traditional gender roles, leaving their voices unheard and household abuse. This is depicted by Mrs. Wright, who murders her husband due to the abuse she experienced, and Mrs. Peters, who notices details that the men overlook, in turn cracking the case. In this story, Mrs. Wright has a pet canary that her husband kills. Glaspell's description of the canary symbolizes Minnie Wright’s character and role as a household woman in a male-dominated society.
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
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.
Talking about Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters “the two characters begin to reconstruct the accused woman’s life. They do so through several means; memories of her, memories of their own lives (similar to hers in many ways), and speculation about her feelings and responses to the conditions of her life” (Holstein 283.) The two women immediately placed themselves in Minnie Wrights position. And while reconstructing Mrs. Wright life based on their own memories and emotions they acknowledge the murders missing clue “Minnie’s dead pet bird” (Holstein
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.
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.’”
Especially in that time, women were not treated as equals in many circumstances. Women are also set a standard to be ladies, doing things such as wearing dresses and not playing outside like males are allowed to. A quote in To Kill a Mockingbird states, “Miss Maudie on a jury would be impressive. I thought of old Mrs. Dubose in her wheelchair- ‘Stop that rapping, John Taylor, I want to ask this man something.’ Perhaps our forefathers were wise.”
A Jury of Her Peers written by Susan Glaspel is a feminist work with the intention to show the inequality that is between men and women. The women do not intend to solve the murder of Mr. Wright, but while gathering some of Minnie Wright's belongings they find evidence to suggest that she did murder him. They hid this evidence from the investigation because they knew they had to protect her under the circumstances given. Throughout the whole piece, she showed what women had to put up with every day. The constant ridicule of Minnie's house is an eye-opener to the women standing there and they see that it was not fair for them to judge that house because the men do not know how much work has to be put into it to keep the house clean and kept
Due to the fact that this play is a murder mystery it has a twist of undercover justice. However, it seems to me that Mrs. Wright murdered Mr. Wright for revenge of taking her canary's life which was the love of her life. I can not say for a fact but maybe Mr. Wright had anger issues and was very abusive toward her and killing the one thing she showed love was a bit too much. Mrs. Wright's taking her husband life is not justifiable and it is a crime at the highest degree.
The 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.
In Susan Glaspell's play “Trifles,” there is a difference between the men and women’s way of perceiving evidence to Mr. Wright’s murder case. The men spend most of their time searching for solid evidence upstairs where Mr. Wright's murder takes place. However, the women spend most of their time in Mrs. Wright’s kitchen. Instead of seeking tangible evidence, they inspect the condition of the items and acknowledge how they have been muddled around. Different perspectives lead to a variety of discoveries such as the women’s way of perceiving evidence.
Wright it is easy to tell that she is not at all upset about her husband’s death. When being asked about the situation she “laughed and pleated her skirt” (4). Mrs. Wright is compared to a bird that is found later in the story. The bird was found in a pretty box with marks around its neck. Hale and Peters say that the death of her bird would have been her motive if she actually was her husband’s murderer, but the author utilizes the bird and its broken cage to be a comparison to Mrs. Wright’s life.