Comparing Trifles And A Jury Of Her Peers

Alkalay-Gut, Karen. "Jury of Her Peers: The Importance of Trifles." Studies in Short Fiction 21 (Winter 1984): 1-9.

The “Jury of her Peers” and Trifles by Susan Glaspell are both comparable in many ways, they also have some vast differences to consider.

“A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell are the same stories, but in different literary formats. These stories are based on the stereotype of women in society in the early 1900s. The roles of women as anything other than homemakers were downgraded. The stories showed how men, of that time, never considered just how hard women worked doing all of the household chores every day. These stories showed women who were treated like children and have no meaning in the workforce or anything else besides serving the men. “A Jury of Her Peers” and “Trifles” share the same plot; however, “Trifles” is a play and “A Jury of Her Peers” is a short story. This makes the same story be told differently because of the genres of literature. A play is represented in a theatrical performance or on film. A short story is a story with a fully developed theme but significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel. It was easier to read the play rather than read the short story. However, the short story gave more content towards the story Glaspell was telling her readers by showing the point of view of both the men and women, while “Trifles” just explains the story.

“Trifles” and “A Jury of Her Peers” are extremely similar to one another. Most of the dialogue is taken directly from the play and placed into the short story. There are two main differences: the first is the difference between the titles and the second is the difference in characterization.

In the short story, A Jury of Her Peers, Minnie Wright, the main character, is accused of murdering her husband, John Wright. The story takes place during an investigation at the Wright’s home. There are 5 people involved; the sheriff, Henry Peters, and his wife Mrs. Peters, one of Minnie’s neighbors, Lewis Hale, his wife Martha Hale, and George Henderson, a county prosecutor. The story narrated by Martha Hale, where she develops throughout the story into a strong woman. Susan Glaspell, the author, uses many techniques such as verbal and dramatic irony, characterization, and symbolism to bring the literature to life throughout the story.

Has justice ever been served outside of the courts? Two stories, “Trifles,” and “ A Jury of Her Peers,” are both written by Susan Glaspell. They both tell the same story except, they are told from two different points of view. The two points of view keep quotes from characters the same, but it changes what kinds of details the reader is given.

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”.

“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

In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Foster Wright is the prime suspect of her husband’s murder; she breaks the bond of marriage through her own efforts simply because she no longer wishes to have a life with John Wright. She becomes so weary from her plight that she sees no other way out except to kill her husband. A neighbor, Mr. Hale, finds the freshly widowed wife sitting in her rocking chair pleating her apron the morning after her husband’s murder. Without remorse, Ms. Minnie explains the situation bluntly to Mr. Hale by saying, “He died of a rope around his neck” (493). Unlike Sheriff Peters and the county attorney, Mrs. Hale has sympathy for Minnie because she knows that the Wright home has never been filled with love.

“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?

Firstly, we have the head judge who everyone knows, Danforth. Throughout the play he expresses his concern in keeping order in the court,

In the case of Mrs. Foster in Hallowell, the unequal influential power of a judge versus an ordinary citizen may have largely influenced the outcome of the trial. The judge’s words may have given greater worth, weight, and authenticity due to his position in society. As mentioned in the text, the judge was an influential person in society and unequal status was reflected in the court system (Davidson & Lytle, 2010, p.

Firstly, the play “Trifles” is a genre more focused on the items throughout the book that lend itself to continue chapter by chapter using different items to enhance the story. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Glaspell uses more or less the same dialogue from the play but intensifies it with the story focusing on characters such as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. The short story adds a more descriptive insight into the story allowing us as readers to dive deep into the emotions and minds of its characters. The play does not do this as well due to the fact that it was written so that the actors and actresses on stage can portray the emotions and help develop the story through there acting. In the play, the items are the things that judge Minnie Foster whereas the story uses Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters to interpret the objects and tell the story that way. The other main difference is that the male characters have more depth in the short story than in the play.

In the story "A Jury of Her Peers" and the play Trifles both written by Susan Glaspell the story and the play were both so correlative but had some slight differences. When comparing any book to a movie or a play the biggest problem is the lack of detail and development of characters in the play compared to the book. Furthermore one advantage that Trifles had over "A Jury of Her Peers" was the visual aspect of watching a play versus reading the book , the book can be very detailed and paint a picture but the play has total advantage on bring some of those hidden details in the book to life. Additionally one of the main difference between the two is the titles Trifles is very subtle and lets the readers know that the play is going to