Susan Glaspell 's A Jury Of Her Peers

I have always felt that a good piece of writing causes the reader to think about and analyze a given set of circumstances so that he expands his worldly understandings. Such writing is stimulating and often includes an element of controversy. The short story “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell is one example of this provocation in which the writer conveys her views on sexual injustice. In a way that is conceptually intriguing, Glaspell expresses her ideas about the misunderstandings between men and women during the early twentieth century. While personally disagreeing with the interpretive outcome of the story as well as the message that it is intended to present, I must admit that it did provide me with insight into the mind

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.

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

In the kitchen, the dishes are dirty, bread is sitting out on the counter, and everything is in disarray. The County Attorney is disturbed, because the kitchen is not clean. The men assume that Mrs. Wright must have not been a very tidy person. In this time era, men expected women to keep the house tidy and clean, cheerful, and decorated according to the County Attorney in Trifles; he states, “It’s not cheerful. I shouldn’t say she had the homemaking instinct” (1031). Men during this era think that women should only be in the house worrying about what the inside of a house should look. In the County Attorney’s mind, the house should have been warm, clean, organized, and presenting a happy feeling. This is a demonstration of how hard a woman’s life is when she is expected to be when a man’s views think of how a woman should be in the household, for example a slave to cooking, cleaning, and sewing. As shown in the beginning of the play, the men leave the women in the kitchen to gather some of Mrs. Wright’s items she requested as if this is where these women belong. The men go upstairs and out to the farmhouse to investigate for clues for a motive to prove that Mrs. Wright is guilty of the murder of her husband. The men never investigate the kitchen for any clues since they feel there is no significance in the kitchen. The kitchen is an area for women to do cooking and cleaning, which makes them feel there is nothing important in this area. Men

“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?

In Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of Her Peers, she writes a clue seeking story of how the sheriff will find enough evidence to charge Minnie Wright of the murder of her husband John. The story starts off with Mr. Hale telling his story of how he went over to the Wright’s only to learn Mr. Wright was dead. The story then focuses on the two women Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, as they discover more and more evidence in the kitchen while they are gathering things to take to Minnie Wright in jail. Glaspell uses character conflict, and plot to help guide the reader into a story about moral conflict.

In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Glaspell utilizes the sexist standards in society to demonstrate the harmful effects. Men in the story are presented as being the leader of the relationship and having the role of dealing with important business, while women are shown to be domestic caretakers who

In the early 1900's Susan Glaspell wrote many works, two stand out, the play "Trifles" and the short story "A Jury of Her Peers". Trifles was written in 1920, while "A Jury of Her Peers" was written the following year. Trifles was written in only ten days. The true greatness of these works were not recognized until the 1970's.

Susan Glaspell was an american playwright, novelist, journalist, and actress, alongside being a strong feminist. Her writings mainly explored contemporary social issues such as gender and ethics. The play “Trifles” is loosely based on the trial of Margaret Hossack for the murder of her husband, John Hossack, which Susan reported during her time of being a journalist of “Des Moines Daily”. Her report was based out of Warren County in Iowa. This vicious murder stunned and divided the close-knit rural community. Neighbors and family members were reluctant to talk about their ideas on what might have happened that cold night of December first, 1900. With some plot adjustments, Susan reconstructed her report into “Trifles”. The play hints to the perspective men held about women during the early 1900s. Susan Glaspell then converted her play into the story, “A Jury of Her Peers”.

Phyllis Mael provides an exceptional view of Mrs. Peters’ and Mrs. Hale’s roles as they uncover the details of John Wright’s death. Analyzing the transformations of Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, Mael claims that Minnie Wright’s circumstances stir the consciousness of both characters. As the men search for circumstantial evidence throughout the house, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale examine the trifles of Minnie’s life and become empathetic toward the accused. Mael inserts that this empathy emerges as both female characters witness the mundaneness and arduousness of Minnie’s life. Moreover, their empathy strengthens when the men ridicules Minnie’s housekeeping skills because the females understand how laborious it is to maintain a household. This

The men’s continuous dismissal of everything their wives have to say throughout the story, even when their observations seem critical to the investigation, shows the lack of respect women received for their ideas due to the domestic sphere they were placed in. Before today, women were seen as weak-minded individuals who served only as tools for reproduction. Due to this, men considered women’s opinions and ideas to be inferior and insufficient of further thought. This is quite contrary to truth however. “Trifles” begins with an inquiry into the mysterious murder of John Wright at his farm house. His wife, Mrs. Wright, is found at the delirious at the crime scene and taken in jail. She asks her friends, who are the wives of the lead investigators on the case, to gather her apron and shawl. While the men move about trying to put together the pieces of the crime, the women search through Mrs. Wrights belongings to obtain the things she asked for. Observing what appear to be simple things out of place in the home or the trifles (as the men refer to it), they unintentionally find the evidence that divulges Mrs. Wright to be the murderer. Through this clever irony, Glaspell allows the audience to discover the value of women’s ideas and seeks to destroy the sexist idea that women’s ideas are merely trifles. By bringing attention to the female problem of

Sheriff Peters, attorney Henderson, and Mr. Wright’s neighbor Mr. Hale enter a dark unorganized kitchen of the farmhouse. To find that Mr. Wright has been strangled to death with a rope around his neck. His wife is the main suspect. She told attorney Henderson that she was sleeping when someone murders her husband’s. The wives of the investigators look around the farmhouse for clues to solve his death. I learned in the play that Mrs. Wright was one time a cheerful woman. The women’s roles in society have made a major impact in the United States. Women in other countries are looked at as the housekeepers and child bearers.