A Jury Of Her Peers Essay

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Recommended: The portrayal of women in 19th century literature

"A Jury of her Peers" was written by Susan Glaspell in 1917. This short story is entertaining but also tells the story of women in the early twentieth century. Ms Glaspell give you an idea about the hardships that women had to deal with, such as loneliness, lack of beauty, physical labor, and living in a male dominated society. The characters consist of two couples and a lawyer. The men are trying to convict Minnie Foster of murdering her husband while he was sleeping. The story takes place in Minnie's house. Throughout most of the play the men ridicule the women. This is ironic because the women are the ones that end up finding the missing link to the killing. Throughout the play the men are looking for evidence that would give Minnie …show more content…

The lack of beauty does not seem like a big deal, but when there is no one to talk to problems can occur. In "A Jury of her Peers" the lack of beauty was a major factor in the plot. It is the main reason Minnie Foster killed her husband. Mr. Foster was a hard man and was away from the house all day long. Author Glaspell gives us the impression that even when he was home there was not much conversation. Minnie on the other hand, stayed at the house all day long by herself so she went out and bought a canary. The author gives us the background information that as a young girl Minnie had a beautiful voice. The canary's songs kept her sane. The beautiful song created by the bird was the beauty in her life. When Mr. Wright killed the bird it took that beauty away from her. This prompted her to go insane and kill her husband. Not only was the bird dead, but, her clothes were no longer decent and the furniture was faded. With no other source of beauty Minnie turns to quilting. Elaine Hedges tells us how important quilting was to women. Starting out of necessity it later became a way for women to express their creative ideas. Quilting ended up as a way to express how they felt through the use of colors and stitching patterns. This is why it is so important at the end of the story when the last block is messed up. The messed up square symbolizes her messed up

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