A Jury Of Her Peers Analysis

In a world where showing a bit too much shoulder was forbidden, came Susan Glaspell. Glaspell was an American playwright, born in the cruel times of oppression. This influenced women’s opinions on certain subjects which caused them to be silenced by fear of rejection from society. “A Jury of Her Peers” was based on an era where women felt as though it was unreasonable to speak up if they felt it was not absolutely dire. Harboring these pent up feelings could cause a person to act antagonistic. Minnie Wright was an example of this. She killed her husband and was subjected to the judgement of her peers. As the group investigated Mr. Wright’s death, there were two stories unraveling. The in depth explanation that the women figured out and the simplistic version the men had seemed to pick up (Glaspell). People would benefit from reading this story to begin to understand the struggle of what this and other women had gone through. Penn Manor American Literature students would benefit from having Susan Glaspell’s story “A Jury of Her Peers” in their curriculum because of how she expressed feminism through her writing at a time when it was new and discouraged; her ability to emphasize the themes with her settings and characters; and her literature that follows a protagonist that navigates through a sexist world.

In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Minnie Wright grows up in Dickson county along with: Mr. Lewis Hale, Mrs. Martha Hale, Harry Hale, Mrs. Peters, Mr. Peters, Mr. John Wright, and Mr. George Henderson. Minnie Foster is known to others as a sweet and cheerful young girl. After  marrying John Wright, Minnie Wright is not seen or spoken of throughout the town, “Time and time again it had been in her mind ‘I ought to go over and see Minnie Foster’--she still thought of her as Minnie Foster, though for twenty years she had been

Marriage unites two people for better or worse, in sickness and health, until death they do part. In earlier times, some people might say wedding vows were taken more seriously; other say divorce was different back in the day. Looking at Katie Chopin and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who both exemplify martial vows in their short stories, “The Story of an Hour” and “The Birthmark.” It is clear in one instance, it was because divorce was different but then on the other hand the stories demonstrate the seriousness of the wedding vows. However, these stories express a husband-dominated relationship, in which the men possess ideals such as possession, perfection, and being all knowing.

Wright's life in their hands to do with what they will.  Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find the evidence needed to convict Minnie Wright and they suppress it.  They were women who understood the plight of loneliness and the death of a beloved pet.  Mrs. Hale understood that Mr. Wright was a hard man to live with and she knew that he had not only killed Mrs. Wright's bird but he had also killed the real Minnie Foster, the girl she had been.  The men in the story, Sheriff Peters, Mr. Hale, and the young unmarried County Attorney, see only surface things.  They believe that the motive for John's murder lies in the bedroom or in the barn.  The men flounder around ignorantly searching for something they will never find because they can not think as Minnie Wright did.  If the women had told them about the discovery of the dead bird, they would probably laugh and say that the women needed to go back to their quilting and their jellies.  The ragged and uneven sewing that suggests a misplaced state of mind in Minnie Wright would also have been laughed at.  The men wanted to find something concrete that would easily convince an all male jury but they never would.  To men, dead canaries are dead canaries, they would never read into it what Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Wright did.

The jury selection process is a significant portion of the trial process. Jury selection ensures that courts maintain proper Due Process and comply with constitutional guidelines. Furthermore, it gives lawyers the ability to evaluate the people in the jury and determine how they would feel about the case. The trial process branches out into six steps: jury selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence, closing arguments, charging of the jury and deliberation of jury. Throughout the process of jury selection, potential jury is based on a process names an voir dire; otherwise known as committing to telling the truth. During voir dire, potential jurors are included in

She knew of no way to console Minnie because she herself answered to her own husband; there was no advice to provide. She couldn’t help remove a friend from a situation she herself was in, and so she avoided the instance altogether. After her presence in the John Wright case is requested by Mrs. Peters, Martha Hale finds herself standing in the kitchen of the Wright home filled with guilt even as she opens the door. Knowing the immense amount of unhappiness that resides within the home haunts her, but now it is too late. Mrs. Minnie had completed the task that she’d been working toward for years: escaping her overbearing husband.

“She was small and thin and didn’t have a strong voice” (1) and “she didn’t seem like a sheriff’s wife” (1) according to Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peters didn’t feel that it was her place to be determining who the murderer of Mr. Wright was, but she didn’t have to do it alone because she had Mrs. Hale to accompany her. The women were a substantial part of the investigation because they could find minute details about Minnie Foster that the men wouldn’t understand.

Wright life of isolation and abuse is a factor that makes Mrs. Peters shift her judgment from supporting the course of law that would stipulate the conviction of the suspect Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale who is with Mrs. Peters speaks on how her neighbor Mrs. Wright was living every day sad and isolated by saying “Not having children makes less work—but it makes a quiet house, and Wright out to work all day, and no company when he did come in” (1079). In fact, Mrs. Hale later express her guilt for not visiting the isolated Mrs. Wright “I wish I had come over sometimes when she was here “ (1079). Mrs. Peter is so moved by the stories that Mrs. Hale tells about Minnie Foster before she married, we also see in Russell Glaspell’s “Trifles” “Mrs. Hale subtly suggests that Mrs. Wright is not the sole agent in the death of Mr. Wright “ (1) that she decides to talk closer and in hushed voices to Mrs. Hale so as to protect Minnie Wright from any chauvinistic attitudes that may justify revenge as the reason for murder. This is also stated in Russell Glaspell’s “Trifles” “foreshadows the conspiracy of the three women and their efforts to control the outcome or the fate of all characters”

The two women were left in the kitchen and they discovered clues for why Minnie was motivated to murder Mr. Wright. Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters noticed details in the kitchen that the men sought it as normal. Glaspell points out the men’s opinion of

In contrast, Mr. Wright, like every male, went to work. According to the Sheriff Peters, Mr.Hale, and County Attorney George Henderson, they only looked for evidence used against Minnie rather than the woman gathering items to bring to Minnie, and ironically finding all the evidence that proves Minnie is the killer. Throughout Minnie’s relationship with Mr. Wright, Mrs.Hale believes that Minnie’s change in appearance was caused by Mr.Wright and subjects if she didn't stop going to the Wright’s, she could have escaped Minnie from her neglecting husband. Based on the facts, I believe Mr.Wright was killed due to the mental abuse he had on Minnie by controlling her life and dignity. That bird was Minnie’s only companion and loved to sing, John takes that away from her which affects her pleasure and happiness. I also believe the men that investigated her house were oblivious to where to look at for evidence and decided that just by glancing into a room, could tell if it’s suspicious or not. Mrs.Hale and Mrs.Peters found evidence by taking every aspect of the rooms into consideration and moved things around, while the men looked for what they want to

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters both understand and get to know each other by piecing together the crime scene and also looking at Mrs. Wright’s empty house. By the women noticing details and Mrs. Wright’s living conditions, they can see how sad and what little enjoyment Mrs. Wright had in her home. Mrs. Hale says, “It never seemed a very cheerful place," and later on she says, "But I don't think a place would be any the cheerfuller for John Wright's bein' in it.", she is revealing the atmosphere that the home had (Glaspell 5). The home was certainly not cheerful, but not

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.

The textbook reading never gave any indication of where the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Wright was a happy one, or one filled with tribulations. The one signal that was apparent, was that Mrs. Wright did not show any emotion over the loss of her husband. She should have realized that she would have been a prime suspect in the murder of her husband, yet didn’t exhibit the least bit of emotion. The author did model this play using the technique of realism. Even though it appears odd that an accused would show little emotion, it does happen, and is

There are two stories left me with nothing but thought about the difference between the point of view of woman and man, and how they are treated in social life. The first one is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” which is subtitled "Selected Early Stories” offers readers the opportunity to reevaluate and celebrate Joyce Carol Oates contributions of contemporary American short story. Sometimes what an individual perceives something as can be the complete opposite of what it truly is. People create illusions or almost fantasy perceptions on what they believe something to be. The major theme in the story is the conflict between fantasy and reality. The story “A Jury of her Peers” which is based on a court case she witnessed as a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News in Iowa and adapted from her classic play Trifles. Challenging a culture in a patriarchal world during the early 20th century, Susan Glaspell wrote this dramatic short story. On its surface, “A Jury of Her Peers” appears a simple detective story, but through extensive dialogue between two women, Glaspell slowly reveals the story's true underlying conflict: the struggle of women in a male-dominated society.