More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on women's rights in the 19th century
Women's lack of rights in the 1800s
The rights of women in the 19th century
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Though it is hard to imagine a society which is completely misogynistic and prejudiced against women, so unlike the one most live in today, that was the reality for women before the 20th century. It is in this reality and time period that Susan Glaspell sets her short story, “A Jury of her Peers”. Susan Glaspell, besides being an author, worked as a crime and politics journalist. This short story is loosely based on a murder case she covered in 1900. Using characterization, symbolism, and anecdotes, Susan Glaspell sets a empathetic mood to portray the theme that women must band together against the misogynistic views of society. Using the characterization of Mr. John Wright and Mrs. Minnie Wright, Glaspell sets an empathetic mood. Mrs. Minnie Wright, formerly Minnie Foster, was married to Mr. Wright for 20 years. However, Mr. Wright was not a nice man. “‘He didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him-.’ She …show more content…
“Without plotting any collaboration, the women instinctively conceal the dead bird in the sewing basket and make excuses to divert the men’s attention” (Zaidman). Both women react, and hide the canary from the men. This action was a small rebellion from their husbands, which at the time, was extremely rare. “‘No, Peters,’ said the county attorney incisively; ‘it’s all perfectly clear, except the reason for doing it… If there was some definite thing- something to show./In a covert way Mrs. Hale looked at Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Peters was looking at her. Quickly they looked away from each other” (Glaspell) The women realize here that they were holding evidence that would give Mrs. Wright motive, and make the case against her. Instead of handing over the canary to the men, they hide it, and that small action represents women fighting back from the oppressive and misogyny of that
The females begin responding “stiffly” rather than “quietly”(7) as before. This adjective usage serves to support the speech even more by allowing readers to see the progression from silence to a bold rebellion in the women regarding their husbands, for “by hiding the canary Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are also going against their husbands” (Bee2). Indeed, this act was the major act of defiance that secured the women’s strengthened devotions to each other rather than their husbands. Peters especially undergoes a drastic transformation when she eventually joins in as “support of her fellow oppressed women” (Block B 1). When, at the climax of the story, the bird is hidden from the men in the sentimental tin box, Glaspell exhibits the tension with the selection of detail. She chooses to focus on the clammy hands of Mrs. Peters as she stuffs the tin away and the quivering voice of Mrs. Hale as she denies knowing any information about the crime. The descriptions of the seemingly miniscule and weakening objects around her house match the “quiet desperation” (Schotland 3) Foster repressed until it overflowed the night before. Considering that the adjectives show how burdensome it is for the women to conceal the evidence, it truly demonstrates how strong the relationships between them has grown based
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.
The story is set in a rural community in turn-of-the century Iowa. This time-frame is one where women did not have the freedom they have today, but were instead seen as wives, cooks and housekeepers. This is the basis for Minnie’s isolation, her place in the society of the day. This is also compounded by Minnie’s husband, John Wright, who makes her more isolated than many other women of the time. We see that Minnie is isolated from love. Her husband is not an affectionate man and she has no children. In the story, we are told that after her marriage her only friend was “solitude.”
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...
In the story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell, we see how women are subjugated to stereotypical gender roles, where men are superior over women. The two main characters, Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale arrive at the Wright residence, with the men to investigate the crime scene. Minnie Foster-Wright has been arrested for allegedly strangling her husband with a rope. Mr. Hale (Martha’s husband), is a witness, who found Minnie sitting in a rocker and her husband dead upstairs. The attorney general, Mr. Henderson asks Mr. Hale and the sheriff, Mr. Peters to help him investigate the crime and explain what he had seen that day. As the men go upstairs and into the barn to investigate, Martha and Mrs. Peters are left in the kitchen to gather
... society. The murder of Mr. Wright is used to portray the anger she has with men and how they degrade the intelligence of women (Mael 2). Glaspell believes that women are just as smart if not smarter than men, but do not actively voice their opinions due to male’s dominance throughout society. The feminist theme is drawn by the characters, the title, the role women had throughout the play, and the conflict. They all worked together to show how women were oppressed by men and thought to be less important to society. The women discuss seemingly insignificant items such as the sloppy corner of the quilt, the broken bird cage door, and the dead bird. These things gave the women enough information and knowledge about the situation to come up with a motive for Mrs. Wright to kill her husband, while the men consider these things to be trivial and unimportant to the case.
Mrs. Hale remembered the lively, happy girl Minnie was twenty years ago before she married the cold hearted Mr. Wright. She, like Minnie, was also a farmer’s wife and spent her days working hard. However, she had children so she did not suffer the loneliness that Minnie had to endure. Also, she avoided visiting her because Mr. Wright did not welcome visitors. He was the typical abuser who wanted to keep his victim isolated. Because she did not visit Minnie, she felt partially responsible for Minnie murdering her husband. Unlike Mrs. Peterson, she knew Minnie and understood what drove her to the breaking point of murder.
Through Glaspell’s characters one can sense a sort of peculiar array of characters for the short drama. The main characters of the drama are; Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hales. The men are too quite important to the story, but ironically they are the ones trying to find evidence of Mr. Wright’s killer and the women are the ones figuring out the clues and everything else. But Mrs. Wright is the husband of the late Mr. Wright who was found dead with a rope around his cold neck while his wife was sitting strangely, yet calmly downstairs. Glaspell writes:
Mrs. Hale’s keen wit and patience contributes to her embodiment of The Fate sister Clotho the Spinner, which is even more evident in her correcting of Minnie Wright’s improper stitching (Russell). Mrs. Peters begins the process of investigation deeply devoted to keeping the law. She doesn’t want any disruption in the house, saying, “I don’t think we ought to touch things” (Glaspell p. 666) when Mrs. Hale began searching for clues. Upon finding the dead canary, Mrs. Peters view on the situation changes drastically, and she decides with Mrs. Hale to hide the tiny dead bird from the men. They both figure that if the dead canary was discovered, Mrs. Wright would be thought to be a mad woman, though it was likely Mr. Wright who killed it.
Notwithstanding recognized a feminist exemplary, "A Jury of Her Peers" analyzes the binds of ladies in a male-ruled social order. Faultfinders accept that Glaspell, who built this story with respect to a true homicide trial in which ladies were not permitted to serve as attendants, made a jury of those female companions in her story to allot their type of equity. A criminologist story on the surface, "A Jury of Her Peers" is to a greater extent an analysis about female persecution, equity, the restricting nature of inflexible stereotypes, and the contrasts in viewpoint between men and ladies. All around "A Jury of Her Peers," the men in the story never recognize Minnie Wright's persecution and how it headed her to an edgy gesture. The men in the story likewise see their wive...
Peters and Mrs. Hale got permission from their husbands, they proceeded to search for and collect items that Minnie would need or want while she was in custody. Any person would think, this lady just murdered her husband so why does she deserve to have her belongings while in jail. These ladies had a different opinion of the situation and what really happened. While looking for items, Mrs. Hale, who is the neighbor to the Wright’s, proceeded to talk about how different and happy Minnie used to be before she married John Wright. Mrs. Wright used to love to do many things, as in sing, before she got married and after that Mr. Wright would never allow her to do so anymore. He would not allow Minnie to do anything she enjoyed and she had to obey every order that he barked at her and she just became unhappy. None else could see it but Mrs. Hale. Females used to live to please their husbands, no matter what it was. As the two women are still searching for items to collect, they notice a quilt. They proceed to move the quilt where they discover a bird cage, but there is no bird to be found. After looking around, they eventually come across a sewing basket, where the dead bird is discovered. Ironically the same way John Wright was murdered. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale could not decide if they should turn in the evidence to their husbands or hide it. Both women knew and understood why Mrs. Wright killed her husband because they felt just like she did. They too
When America branched out from England, we continued the mindset of men being the dominant and women being lesser. Slowly over the years, women have been fighting for a higher role in societies eyes. Susan Glaspell expressed how she felt about societies mindset on women in a short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. This story is about a woman, Minnie, who is accused of murdering her husband. A group of officials, a witness and their wives went to the crime scene to find evidence. While they are trying to piece together what had happened, Glaspell shows many different ways women were looked down upon, whether it was disguised in jokes, blatant statements, or just the men’s carelessness.
Although most society today view women to be more than just housewife, however, the lack of opportunity and the existing of sexism shows that not much of the past has changed. The short story of " A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell greatly highlights the inequality between male and female in a male dominated era, isolate the women from any involvement in society other than domestic house works. Not only so, the story also indicate the consequences of abusive relationships, physical and/or psychological damage causes individuals to withdrawn and isolate themselves from the rest of the world. The variety of these indications can be found through the detail descriptions of contexts and settings.
Due to the circumstances of the time period in the early 20th century and limitation of women's rights, Susan Glaspell’s short story, “ A Jury of Her Peers,” is more a story that critiques patriarchal society rather than the portrayal of how women deal with
Wright was described as a beautiful women filled with such joy and life until she married John Wright. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale feels sorry for her because her husband treated her so bad. Due to female bonding and sympathy, the two women, becoming detectives, finds the truth and hides it from the men. The play shows you that emotions can play a part in your judgement. Mrs. Peter’s and Mrs. Hale felt sorry that Mrs. Wright had one to keep her company no kids and she was always left alone at home. “yes good; he didn’t drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debt. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters just to pass the time of day with him. Like a raw wind that goes to the bone. I should of think she would have wanted a bird. But what you suppose went with it?” Later on in the play the women find out what happens to the bird. The bird was killed the same way Mrs. Wright husband which leads to the motive of why he was killed. Mrs. Wright was just like the bird beautiful but caged no freedom not being able to live a life of her own. Always stuck in the shadows of her husband being told what to do and