In criminal cases, the prosecutors desire to retrieve justice for the victim and the victim's family. However, many times the interrogators seek to answer why someone could take the life of another person. The families of the victims ponder the same question. Perhaps an eighty-five year old woman was murdered in her home. She has no money or valuables, and she never leaves her house. Therein, the question lies: why would someone want to kill an elderly woman? Sometimes the rationale provides more closure to the victim's family than does the prosecution. Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" narrates the story about a man who has been killed, and the prime suspect is his wife. Glaspell's short story examines the distinction between legal justice and social justice in correlation with opposite genders. First, legal justice focuses on "finding and convicting [the] killer" (Simso). For example, in "A Jury of Her Peers," Mr. Wright has been killed in his home, and his wife, Minnie Foster is being "held for murder" (Glaspell 205 ). Furthermore, legal justice "is based solely upon the consideration of the facts" (Simso). For instance, Mr. Henderson, the county lawyer and Mr. Peters, the sheriff, whose purpose is to defend the law, look for evidence "upon the stairs, then in the room above them" (Glaspell 206). Their version of justice is finding sufficient evidence to form a case and imprison Minnie Foster. Social justice, however, focuses on "motive--the only missing piece . .
“A Jury of Her Peers” is refers to the people who are judging Minnie Wright for her crime. In the story, Mrs. Hale and the sheriff’s wife, Mrs. Peters, are the peers whom the author is referring to and who are judging Minnie Wright. These women know Mrs. Wright and their views of her are altered by the fact that she is their neighbor and also a woman. The women feel sorry for Mrs. Wright because her husband was emotionally abusive to her. They do not pay attention to the fact that she did indeed kill someone. If Susan Glaspell had really wanted women to be treated just like men, she would have written the story so that Minnie Wright had a normal trial. Minnie Wright should have gotten a trial with a jury consisting of people who did not know her or anything about her past.
The short story “A Jury of Her Peers” written by Susan Glaspell showed many different aspects of symbolism. Millie Wright is symbolized a traditional woman that lost her way because she is consumed in her many wifely duties. Throughout the story her living situation, her red rocking chair, and her yellow canary had significant symbolic interest. Minnie Wright’s environment is a lonesome-looking place. “It was in a hollow, and the poplar trees around it were lonesome- looking trees(Glaspell 243). At the Wrights’ home there were no children running around to make noise, no telephone to talk with friends and family, no visitors, and most importantly no husband to show her affection. Mr. Wright had a cold attitude, unsociable, and careless demeanor. Mrs. Wright is consumed in her farmer’s wife duties she loses herself. The broken stove displays the lack of instability. The dirty kitchen with the
The book, “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson pleas to fix the current unfair and fragmented system of criminal justice and juvenile justice. The book’s plot focuses majority on Stevenson’s work and his clients. The main narrative tackles the story of Walter McMillan, who was accused of killing a white woman, but despite hard evidence that would prove he’s innocent, is disregarded by the court due to his race. The main issue was not even the lack of care for racial equality in this case, but the fact that he was placed on death row before his case went to trial. This is one of many unjust cases that have happened in the past and that are currently happening in the system revolving around the death penalty. The remaining excerpts from the book
Although “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” are similar in plot, Mustazza’s article, “Generic Translation and Thematic Shift in Susan Glaspell’s ‘Trifles’ and ‘A Jury of Her Peers’” highlights the differences and similarities between the two. Mustazza’s article may help aid readers to understand the differences between Glaspell’s two works and provide understanding as to why Glaspell may have changed the genre and form of the plot. “Trifles” is a dramatic play whereas “A Jury of Her Peers” is prose fiction. While some differences may be seen on the surface, other differences will need to be inspected closely. Mustazza’s article may help one to understand Glaspell’s works by providing analysis and additional perspectives on both “A Jury of her Peers” and “Trifles”.
In Susan Glaspell’s, “A Jury of her Peers”, it is the women who take center stage and captivate the reader’s emotions. Throughout the feministic short story, which was written in 1917, several repeating patterns and symbols help the audience to gain a deeper understanding of the difficulty of prairie life for women and of the bond that women share. The incredible cunning the women in the story demonstrate provides insight into the innate independence that women had even during days of deep sexual discrimination. In “A Jury of her Peers”, the hardships women of the early twentieth century must endure and the sisterhood that they can still manage to maintain are manifested as a mysterious, small-town murder unfolds.
In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is the main character, even though the reader never sees Mrs. Wright. The story begins as Mrs. Hale joins the county attorney, Mr. Henderson; the sheriff, Mr. Peters; Mrs. Peters; and her husband in a “big two-seated buggy” (188). The team men are headed the Wright house to investigate Mr. Wright’s murder. Mrs. Peters is going along to gather some belongings for Mrs. Wright, who is currently being held in jail, and Mrs. Hale has been asked to accompany Mrs. Peters. As the investigation is conducted throughout the story, the reader is given a sense of how women were treated during this time and insight into why the women ultimately keep evidence from the men.
“A Jury of Her Peers,” is a story about a farmer’s wife who is accused of murdering her husband. Referred to fundamentally as a writer, Glaspell's short fiction went to a great extent unnoticed until 1973 when her short story, "A Jury of Her Peers" was rediscovered. Despite the fact that the creator of forty-three short stories, Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers" is her most broadly anthologized bit of short fiction and is dependent upon a real court case Glaspell secured as a news person for the Des Moines Daily. The story, which she acclimates from her one-enactment play Trifles in 1917, has pulled in the consideration of feminist researchers for its medication of sexual orientation related topics. On its surface, "A
Twentieth century society places few stereotypical roles on men and women. The men are not the sole breadwinners, as they once were, and the women are no longer the sole homemakers. The roles are often reversed, or, in the case of both parents working, the old roles are totally inconsequential. Many works of literature deal with gendered roles and their effect on society as a whole or on an individual as a person. "A Jury Of Her Peers" and Trifles, both written by Susan Glaspell, are works of literature that deal with socially gendered roles during the early nineteenth century. The two works are almost exactly alike in that the dialogue from "A Jury Of Her
“A Jury of Her Peers” is a short story written by Susan Glaspell in 1917 illustrates early feminist literature. The two female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, is able to solve the mystery of who the murderer of John Wright while their male counterparts could not. This short story had been adapted from Glaspell’s one-act play Trifles written the previous year. The play consists of the same characters and plotline as the story. In both works, Glaspell depicts how the men, Sheriff Peters and Mr. Hale, disregard the most important area in the house, the kitchen, when it comes to their investigation. In the end, the women are the ones who find clues that lead to the conclusion of Minnie Wright, John Wright’s wife, is the one who murdered him. Both of Glaspell’s female characters illustrate the ability to step into a male dominated profession by taking on the role of detective. According to Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, written by Lois Tyson, a reader-response critique “focuses on readers’ response to literary texts” and it’s a diverse area (169). Through a reader-response criticism from a feminist lens, we are able to analyze how “A Jury of Her Peers” and Trifles depict how a patriarchal society oppresses women in the early twentieth century, gender stereotypes confined both men and women and the emergence of the New Woman is illustrated.
From beginning to end, Susan Glaspell’s 1917 short story “A Jury of Her Peers,” has several repetitive patterns and symbols that help the reader gain a profound understanding of how hard life is for women at the turn-of-the-century, as well as the bonds women share. In the story two women go with their husbands and county attorney to a remote house where Mr. Wright has been killed in his bed with a rope and he suspect is Minnie, his wife. Early in the story, Mrs. Hale sympathizes with Minnie and objects to the way the male investigators are “snoopin’ round and criticizin’ ” her kitchen. In contrast, Mrs. Peters, the Sheriffs wife, shows respect for the law, saying that the men are doing “no more than their duty”. However, by the end of the story Mrs. Peters unites with Mrs. Hale in a conspiracy of silence and concealing evidence. What causes this dramatic transformation?
To begin with, “A Jury of her Peers” is about the way women in 1917 were treated by men. The main women characters are Minnie Wright, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale. The women in the story are confined to their homes; rarely getting to go to town or visit with their friends. The women did not have many
In 1917, Susan Glaspell rewrote her 1916 Play, “Trifles,” into a short story called “A Jury of her Peers.” They both depict a group of townspeople investigating the murder of Mr. Wright. It is suspected that Mrs. Minnie Wright, his wife, is the murderer. As the story goes on, the women in the group figure out she committed the murder but decide to hide evidence to keep her from being convicted. Susan Glaspell wrote a short story titled “A Jury of her Peers” mirroring a previous play that she had written titled “Trifles.” There are slight changes and variations between these two that make them surprisingly different. By comparing the characters point of view, the way the story is introduced, and the plot we can point out key differences between
Susan Glaspell Works Perhaps the most notable difference between the two works is the change in title. The title of the drama, “Trifles” implies the inconsequential nature of the women, in the eyes of their male counterparts. Several times, within both works, the men regard the women as frivolous. In the drama, one of Mrs. Peters’ first lines is an explanation of Mrs. Wright’s concern over the state of her fruit preserves: “Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. She worried about that when it turned so cold.
Susan Glaspell, a writer and journalist of “Des Moines Daily” wrote many plays and novels. In 1916 Glaspell wrote the play “Trifles” which was loosely based on one of the first cases she ever reported on, the murder of John Hossac. Glaspell later adapted her play into a short story known as “A Jury of Her Peers” which was written only a year after the play in 1917. Glaspell retained as well as changed aspects of the characters, details and titles when converting her play into a short story.
However, there are several key differences between the two on a definitive level. Laws are sets of rules and guidelines set up by governing bodies that members of society must follow. They’re created by social institutions to regulate behavior, and by suppressing unfavorable behavior, fairness and equality is usually successfully maintained. Justice on the other hand, is exactly what the establishment of law-making bodies are trying to achieve- the equal and same treatment of all individuals based on righteousness, ethics, and morality.