Critical Article Analysis In her article “Small Things Rendered: Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” Elaine Hedges make several arguments regarding the roles of women in a masculine society, particularly in Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”. The article takes the feministic approach and brings to light the superior frame of mind versus the inferior frame of mind. The author’s argument is validated and strongly supported by how a superior mind frame of a man can adversely affect an even change the motives and actions of an inferior mind frame of women when oppression, isolation, insensitivity, and living without the presence of say and a range of possibilities are introduced. First, Hedges use of symbolism supports her feministic arguments. Women were considered not as equal to men. Their rights were near nonexistent. She uses Minnie’s home to represent the prison that Minnie herself has become accustomed to, or as Hedges says, “In Glaspell's story the cult of domesticity has become the trap”() The feeling of not being able to do or achieve something greater eats away at Minnie. Although, Hedges reveals that two of the characters Mrs. Hale …show more content…
Women have strived for years and have meant and surpassed many obstacles and hindrances. From this point, Minnie represents women who have traveled alongside their husbands in support to a world unbeknown to them that seems promising and fulfilling to only find nothing but oppression, isolation, hardships, tragedy, and misery. Hedges noted that the only way that Mr. Wright’s death, was discovered because Mr. Hale and his son were passing through on their way to town. Maybe if Minnie’s husband had a different mindset about how she lived, well-being, and her living conditions such tragedy would not have existed. We can all learn a valuable lesson from Susan Glaspell's “A jury of Her
In A Jury of Peers by Susan Glaspell, the story revolves around the sudden death of John Wright. There are five characters that participate in the investigation of this tragedy. Their job is to find a clue to the motive that will link Mrs. Wright, the primary suspect, to the murder. Ironically, the ladies, whose duties did not include solving the mystery, were the ones who found the clue to the motive. Even more ironic, Mrs. Hale, whose presence is solely in favor of keeping the sheriff s wife company, could be contributed the most to her secret discovery. In this short story, Mrs. Hale s character plays a significant role to Mrs. Wright s nemesis in that she has slight feelings of accountability and also her discovery of the clue to the motive.
Bendel-Sismo argues that “A Jury of Her Peers” redefines America’s definition of justice through the use of empathy; an appeal to the reader’s emotional and symbolic senses. The men in the story, all representing a form of the law, take a more traditional approach to justice by hunting for clues that pinpoint the murder on Minnie Wright. The women in the story become Minnie Wright’s peers and empathize with Minnie by realizing they all live a similar life. In the end, the women in the story justify Minnie’s actions as vengeance due to John Wright’s symbolic murder of Minnie and hide the evidence discovered, which proves that justice cannot be seen without
Susan Glaspell Trifles Susan Glaspell wrote many literary pieces in the early 1900s. Two, in particular, are very similar in theme, which is the play Trifles and the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. The Trifles was written in 1920 and “A Jury of Her Peers” was written in 1921, a short story, adapted from the play. Susan Glaspell was born in Davenport, IA July 1, 1876 as a middle child and the only daughter. In college, she wrote for her school paper, The Drake, and after Glaspell graduated, she started working for the Des Moines News.
Sexism was evident in society during the time era of “Trifles” and is challenged by Susan Glaspell’s female characters through structure, setting, and symbolism. It was very much frowned upon that the women were superior to the men then and even today men don’t want women to be equal to them let alone superior to them. So in order for a woman to get the greatest victory, as displayed through Mrs. Hale and Peters, they must
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structure. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society. Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men.
Hale states “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (561). The same trifles he states women are worried over, are the trifles that if men paid attention to they would have plenty of evidence against Minnie Wright. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter basically decided the fate of Minnie. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Glaspell shows how there is criticism of a legal system that denied women the change of a fair trial by an all-man jury. They found evidence that the men could not find and decided “not to turn it in. All of this held a significant role in the story, but they are the ones that solved the case. In the play the sheriff mocks Mrs. Hale “They Wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it” (563). He also said something in “A Jury of Her Peers” on page 575 line 159. There are not many changes between the play and the short story. Most of the changes happen in the opening of the story when it is more detailed, as to where the play is all about action. If you are watching the play it is much better than the story because you can see all the action and
Until the last hundred years or so in the United States, married women had to rely on their husbands for money, shelter, and food because they were not allowed to work. Though there were probably many men who believed their wives could “stand up to the challenge”, some men would not let their wives be independent, believing them to be of the “inferior” sex, which made them too incompetent to work “un-feminine” jobs. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, feminist writers began to vent their frustration at men’s condescension and sexist beliefs. Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” and Zora Neale Hurson’s “Sweat” both use dialogue to express how women are capable of and used to working hard, thinking originally, being independent
Social gender separations are displayed in the manner that men the view Wright house, where Mr. Wright has been found strangled, as a crime scene, while the women who accompany them clearly view the house as Mrs. Wright’s home. From the beginning the men and the women have are there for two separate reasons —the men, to fulfill their duties as law officials, the women, to prepare some personal items to take to the imprisoned Mrs. Wright. Glaspell exposes the men’s superior attitudes, in that they cannot fathom women to making a contribution to the investigation. They leave them unattended in a crime scene. One must question if this would be the same action if they were men. The county attorney dismisses Mrs. Hale’s defenses of Minnie as “l...
During this time period, women were not seen as people. They were property of men and meant to serve their spouse. Taking a close look at Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”, readers will immediately take notice to the way the men speak about women and “women’s
Through the crime committed by Minnie Wright, three women grow together and establish that justice for all is deeper than finding the culprit. Justice occurs in all things, in hiding the clues by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, in the quiet dignity they both have by helping their friend, and by proving that women are capable of anything they are determined to accomplish.
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
The central theme in “A Jury of Her Peers” is the place of women in society and especially the isolation this results in. We see this through the character, Minnie Foster and her isolation from love, happiness, companionship and from society as a whole. Not only does the story describe this isolation but it allows the reader to feel the impact of this isolation and recognize the tragedy of the situation.
On a cold northern morning the body of a man lay still in his bed. His blood did not flow, his heart did not beat, and his chest didn’t fall with breath. His wife sits still downstairs in the gloomy house that she views as a cage. Her stare is blank and her hands move slowly as if she is in some trance that shows absolutely no remorse. Minne Foster is guilty of murdering her husband which becomes apparent through the evidence and details given by Susan Glaspell in “A Jury of Her Peers”. Glaspell gives evidence and shows the realization that both women in the story also know that Mrs. Foster is guilty. Minnie Foster is guilty of murdering her husband, but a defense could be made to protect her.
In Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”, female characters face inequality in a society dominated by the opinions of their husbands. The women struggle to decide where their loyalty rests and the fate of a fellow woman. Aided by memories and their own lifestyles the women realize their ties to a woman held for murder, Minnie Foster Wright. Through a sympathetic connection these women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters have greater loyalty to a fellow woman than to their husbands and even the law; this greater loyalty ultimately shows the inequality between genders.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are called into an investigation with their spouses for the murder of their neighbor, Mr. Wright. The men go upstairs to find a motive to convict Mrs. Wright, and ask the two women to stay in the kitchen. The women are seen to be inadequate and are unable to find clues, therefore they stay where they belong; ironically, the women find the only clue that could convict Mrs. Wright for the murder. This paper examines the significance of women’s role, and the relationship between women and men in a patriarchal society. Glaspell wrote her story in 1917, and women were looked at differently than they are today.