Prince's Little Sweetheart And Susan Glaspell's A Jury Of Her Peers

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In this course, literature is read closely with the purpose of comprehending the scope and nature of gender and how various characters deal with the effects of gendering. Many of the characters in our readings undergo emotional, social, psychological, and intellectual effects of gendering. Race, class, culture, and sexuality also play a role in molding the ramifications of gendering. In Helen Hunt Jackson 's "Prince 's Little Sweetheart" and Susan Glaspell 's "A Jury of Her Peers", both short stories depicted clear examples of gendering. The theme of marriage that pervades in both stories helps advance our understanding of gendering by revealing that a woman did not always, or possibly even often, live happily ever after. Both authors depict
However, social stratification between the rich and the poor still persisted. Typically, marriage was the quickest way for women to pursue social ambition. A woman, such as the Sweetheart, believed that she would share in a man 's fortunes through her marriage, since she herself was not entitled to any. In fact, this manner of thought can be applied to all of the sweethearts. In “A Jury of Her Peers,” men and women occupy clearly gendered roles. The story portrays the differing opportunities available to men and women both in terms of labor and in society as a whole. Minnie Wright and Martha Hale are continuously defined as housekeepers. The responsibilities of caring for a house, and a kitchen in particular, are linked only to women. Social expectations hinder women’s ability to choose their own interests, or to exist as separate beings from their husbands. Ergo, their world is run by
Jackson makes a point of romanticizing the courtship and wedding day of the sweetheart. The Princes devotion is the most romantic facet of the tale: “the Prince never left her for more than a few minutes”. The dreamlikeness of the atmosphere is emphasized: “the Princes Little Sweetheart was so flustered [when she was waited on by the attendants] she did not know if she were really alive and on the earth, or had been transported to some fairy land”. the gorgeous ball in which she was “floating”, plenty of gifts, gardens, “some new beautiful thing to see” (295) or do. Before falling asleep, the Princes Little Sweetheart said/ “ I shall never go to sleep in the world, and l 'm sure l don 't want to! l shall just keep my eyes open all night, and see what happens next ” (296). Her words suggest that the“Cinderella” story cannot be true but a

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