In "A Jury of Her Peers" Susan Glaspell shows how human bonding can override legalities that society has. This is shown by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters bonding with Minnie by understanding her daily life as they are in her home. The two women feel a connection with Minnie because their lives are very similar to that of hers. By the two women understanding and having a connection with Minnie they notice the small trifles that leads to them finding evidence and motive for Minnie murdering her husband.
Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were only in Minnie's home for a short period of time yet this revealed to them that Minnie was much like them. As Mrs. Hale was leaving her house to go with the others to Minnie's house she noticed something in her kitchen. "It was no ordinary thing that called her away -- it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in Dickson county. But what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted." (paragraph 1). Later while at Minnie's house, Mrs. Hale noticed something very similar: "She looked around the kitchen. Certainly it was not slicked up. Her eye was held by a bucket of sugar on a low shelf.
The cover was off the wooden bucket, and beside it was a paper bag --- half full. Mrs. Hale moved toward it. She was putting this in there, she said to herself -- slowly." (paragraph 108).
Mrs. Hale and Minnie ar...
She lifted the hat one more time and set it down slowly on her head. Two wings of gray hair protruded on either side of her florid face, but her eyes, sky-blue, were as innocent as they must have been when she was ten. Where it not that she was a widow who had struggled fiercely to feed and clothe and put him through school and who was supporting him still, “until he got on his feet,” she might have been a little girl that he had to take to town.
A story of murder, fear, and the temptation of betrayal is one that easily snatches up the attention of audiences. In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the author uses her southern female characters to emphasize the direct relationship between friendship and connection. Her plot circles around the disastrous discovery of their fellow housewife’s marital murder, and the events that unfolded causing their ultimate decision in prosecuting or shielding her from the men in the story. The author implements revealing dialogue with subtle detailing and glaring symbolism to display the coveted friendships among women above other relationships and that the paths they take to secure them stem from inveterate personal connections.
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.
Minnie Foster can be described as the town’s social butterfly. She was very involved in local activities. When Mrs. Winnie Foster met her future husband, Mr. Wright, he seemed to be “Mr. Right.” Minnie discovered the years of her married life changed her a lot more than just her last name. In Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” the former social butterfly, Minnie Foster Wright is shown to be a dynamic character through her surrounding, husband, and actions.
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.
In both of Glaspell’s pieces, the main character, Mrs. Wright, is accused of killing her husband. Minnie Wright was a farmer’s wife who didn’t have much contact with the outside world. The murder investigation took place inside her home. Three men are used to investigate the case and two women come with them. The women were no help to the men, but solved the case but also protected Mrs. Wright from any wrongdoing. The three men tried to find a motive, but the case remained unsolved. Susan Glaspell show’s in the two pieces how women are disregarded in investigative matters.
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
Mrs. Hale feels a natural responsibility to defend and protect Minnie Foster Wright through her connection as a fellow woman and housewife. Upon her introduction to Minnie through her home, Mrs. Hale finds an immediate connection. She understands Minnie’s life as a homemaker and a farmer’s wife and is quick to defend her when her skills as a wife and woman come into question. When the men recognize Minnie’s lackluster cleaning of kitchen towels Mrs. Hale retorts “[m]en’s hands aren’t as clean as they might be” (Glaspell 160). She asserts her loyalty to Minnie and notes that men are not always perfect or without blame, without “clean hands”. As a woman, Mrs. Hale easily sees herself in Minnie’s place and comes to her defense as if she were defending herself. It is easier to share her loyalty with a woman so much like her than it is to be loyal to men that act superior and do not understand the challenges of being a housewife. The men find a woman’s chores as petty, nothing but “trifles” (Glaspell 160).Scholar Karen Stein argues that it is these commonalities that create the responsibility of everywoman to defend one another (Ortiz 165). Mrs. Hale sees herself in every...
Throughout history, a plethora of different classes of people, cultures, and races have undergone some form of prejudice. Partiality against women has occurred, and continues to occur, in America. Susan Glaspell, author of "A Jury of her Peers," depicts a story of a close-knit community in the process of solving the mystery of a man's death, thought to be caused by his wife. In the investigation of Mr. Wright’s death, the women helping to search through the Wright farm for clues pointing to evidence of Minnie Wright’s murder of her husband were thought of as useless, when in reality, the women were solely responsible for finding and understanding Mrs. Wright's motives for murdering her husband. Glaspell uses imagery and a woman's point of view to depict how a woman may feel bound by limits set by society--- a feeling most easily understood by women who share the same perception of life.
It was silent as Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife Tessie and force the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it. Bill Hutchinson seemed as if he had no heart or compassion for Tessie as he raised up the slip of paper, that created a general sigh of relief from the crowd, But Tessie was afraid you could hear it in her voice as she screamed, ‟Please no this isn’t fair!” As they back her into a corner her. ‟ No stop please I have a family.” or so Tessie thought they were her family, but she thought to herself would family do such an inhuman thing?, but as for the rest of the village they were relieved as everyone in the village started to grab stones. Little Davy Hutchinson with no clue what was going on runs to his mother,
Glaspell spent more than forty years working as a journalist, fiction writer, playwright and promoter of various artistic. She is a woman who lived in a male dominated society. She is the author of a short story titled A Jury of Her Peers. She was inspired to write this story when she investigated in the homicide of John Hossack, a prosperous county warren who had been killed in his sleep(1).Such experience in Glaspell’s life stimulated inspiration. The fact that she was the first reporter on scene, explains that she must have found everything still in place, that makes an incredible impression. She feels what Margaret (who is Minnie Wright in the story) had gone through, that is, she has sympathy for her. What will she say about Margaret? Will she portray Margaret as the criminal or the woman who’s life has been taken away? In the short story Minnie Wright was the victim. Based on evidence at the crime scene, it is clear that Minnie has killed her husband; however, the women have several reasons for finding her “not guilty” of the murder of John Wright.
Through the imagery, we learn that Minnie’s life as John’s wife wasn’t a pleasant one. He kept her from being a part of the world outside their home. She was like a bird who was caged, and was dying to be set free. Which leads to another part in the play, Mrs. Hale finds a caged bird, who was strangled to death. Minnie did this as a way to show how she felt. Locked up, and dying to be set free, but John strangled her life and made it impossible to be let out. This explains how John controlled Minnie, she couldn’t take this feeling of being trapped any
Personal Narrative: The World The world is a messed up place and we are all stuck here until our lives are through, or until we choose to leave. It's strange that I go along with everything everyone tells me, such as that I should wear certain clothes or listen to certain songs. I often wonder why I do the things I do, but then I just realize that's who I am. People are confused about why they are here, and they don't understand what life is supposed to be about.
The times we spent at each class, discussing about what success meant to us has allowed me to take a closer look at who I really was, and has made a great impact on myself. Personally, I have never thought about who I really was, nor what I was good or weak at. I always thought it didn’t matter if I was good or bad, but that I can always get better. However, lately, I have been reminded, from the passionate classes Mr. M has spent, talking to us, of our strengths and weaknesses I had, in which made me think of who I was at school, and who I was at home. Was I different? When Mr. M discussed this in class, I knew instantly that I was a different person at home and at school. At home, I am much more lively and outgoing than I am at school. To
In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, a small number of people are at the Wright house trying to figure out why and how Mr. Wright was murdered. Mrs. Wright is already the suspect, and all that is needed for the case is evidence for a motive. The jury needs something to show anger or sudden feeling so that they can convict her for murder. The men, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Hale are there to find the evidence. The women, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, are there to pick up a select few items for Mrs. Wright. While the men are going about business and looking for evidence to build a case against Mrs. Wright, the women are looking over what Mrs. Wright left behind and intuitively trying to understand what happened. They are also trying to fathom why Mrs. Wright would be compelled to perform such an act of violence. As the story goes on, it constructs each of the characters in slightly different means. Susan Glaspell presents Mr. Wright and Mrs. Hale as having contrasting and comparable characteristics. While Mrs. Hale and Mr. Wright differ in terms of emotions, they are similar in their cleanliness and are well respected by others.