Thursday Evening by Morley Analysis

Katie Nolan, Francie’s mother, is the main reason that Francie is able to survive her arduous childhood and succeed in life. Food, heat and protection are always available to the Nolan children even if it means that Katie has to work multiple jobs or even sacrifice some of her own needs. Katie gives all she can to provide for her children and Francie truly values her mother’s hard work. Francie appreciates her mother’s thougtful acts, but still, Francie develops

The second chapter begins with a “celebration” lunch between Barbara and Jack. During the lunch, Barbara shares a story with Jack about an experience she had with a former manager of theirs named Stan. She told Jack that Stan had been rude with her in the past and described a time when she felt she was sexually harassed by him at the office. Jack was surprised to learn this had happened, but was impressed with the way Barbara handled herself in response to the incident. Barbara sharing this story with Jack showed that she trusted him, and considered him a friend. This story brings to attention one of the problems women may encounter while in the industry and gives an example of how it was handled in this particular instance. The chapter ends with Jack returning home and discussing the pros and cons of being a partner with his wife, Libby. Jack is looking forward to many of the perks, such as private golf club memberships, but is worried that the extra hours and responsibilities may affect his family life.

The judgmental theme is introduced at the beginning by narrator with her description of Clarence Hervey. The narrator is unaware of how equal she is to Clarence Hervey, such as being educated. She seems to judge Hervey so much that that the authors comes off as jealous. The narrator is jealous of Hervey’s comfortableness to his role in society. Clarence Hervey knows what he is doing, he knows his charade, whereas the narrator portrays Hervey to be so insecure, the narrator is actually the insecure one. In the passage, each character judges each other. It begins primarily with the narrator who explains that Hervey is ignorant because of his decisions. It continues with Hervey who presents that he hates Mrs. Stanhope, because he believes that her job is to force people who don’t belong together, to be together. But what Hervey doesn’t understand is the fact that, his affection towards Belinda isn’t “true love” either. Clarence Hervey’s love for Belinda is unrealistic. Where Hervey doesn’t believe in Mrs. Stanhope’s “match-making”, but he would ooze at Belinda’s word, look, and motion. Through the use of the narration of Clarence Hervey, the narrator portrays Hervey as someone who is unrealistic and impractical. Whereas this would not only describe Hervey, but also would expose the true personality of the narrator as well. The judgmental identity that the narrator possesses, develops through Clarence Hervey’s

1. What attitude towards woman do the sherriff and the County Attorney express? How do Mrs.peters and Mrs. Hale react to these sentiments?

The county attorney does not give a second thought about how John may have treated his wife. Instead, he’s focusing on Mr. Hale’s testimony regarding the alleged “scared” look on John’s face. The men’s bias is often and openly expressed to the women verbally. In accordance to the dialog of the play, the men show they don’t consider what women say vital or pertinent. The Sheriff fires back, identifying with his partners, “Well, can you beat the woman! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves.” (Glaspell 1412). The men agree in general about the sheriff’s remark. Mr. Hale comes along and says, “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Glaspell 1412). The dialog of the play demonstrates the obliviousness and general absence of appreciation given to women’s comments. Even the sheriff addresses his wife openly as if a woman’s role in the home was insignificant. The prejudice from the men is evident and once a reader or audience starts inquiring about how the men treat women, a pattern is seen regarding the men’s standards. The court attorney kicks his foot against the pots and pans below the sink in the wake of discovering no clean towels, telling the ladies “Not

One of the many conflicts in the play that relates to the theme of the play is the conflict of gender roles. Mr. Hale and Sheriff Peters make a big deal about the roles of what the woman should do in the house. They also make sure to point out what Mrs. Wright does not do a good job of to meet the needs of Mr. Wright. This in turn creates a conflict between the men and woman in the play that brings forth separation in the investigation. Instead of following the law the ladies decide to side with Mrs. Wright in understanding why she murdered her husband. This conflict is very important because in the end it leaves the murder a mystery and leaves the men with not enough evidence to convict the murderer. Another conflict in the play that contributes to the theme of isolation is the inner conflict of Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright is very isolated from the public by not having any friends, not talking to anyone in the public, and by not having anyone to talk to when she needs it. This conflict is very important because it leaves Mrs. Wright feeling very lonely and shows her isolation from the rest of civilization. The theme of isolation is presented through some of the conflicts that are presented in the

Mr. and Mrs. Wright’s relationship is connected in both Trifles and Jury of Her Peers by relating to the overall theme of motive. Mr. Hale was the first outside witness to know about Mr. Wright’s death. He decided to make his way to their dark home thinking, “maybe if I went to the house and talked about it before his wife, though I said to Harry that I didn’t know as what his wife wanted made much difference to John” (Glaspell. pg. 980. 1916). Mr. Hale being a male in this time period is seen as one who sees women as just home caretakers. Even with this gender role he notices that something is wrong within the Wright’s relationship. Jury of Her Peers mentions what comes into Mrs. Hale’s mind as she looks at the furniture as another way to

For while the men are looking actively for the "smoking gun," the women are confronted with more subtle clues in spite of themselves and even try to hide from each other what they intuitively know. But they do not fool each other for long, as Glaspell describes, "Their eyes met - something flashed to life, passed between them; then, as if with an effort, they seemed to pull away from each other" (295). However, they cannot pull away, for they are bound by a power they do not even comprehend: "We all go through the same things -  it's all just a different kind of the same thing!...why do you and I understand? Why do we know - what we know this minute?" (303). They do not realize that it is intuition they share, that causes them to "[see] into things, [to see] through a thing to something else...." (294). Though sympathetic to Minnie Wright, the women cannot deny the damning clues that lead them to the inescapable conclusion of her guilt.

A particularly strong theme that runs through the entire novel is the unusual power that women play over the men in their lives. Rather than simply being passive to the impulses of men, Mildred takes charge of her life and decides which men she will be with and leaves those that she no longer has an affection for. Cain dives into more controversial territory by having Mildred use men for her own sexual satisfaction. Cain also moves women into the role of successful ‘breadwinners’ during a time where men generally held financial power further blurring traditional roles of gender.

Throughout the novel, she experiences different types of conflicts as she adapts to her new school environment and attemptedly fulfills her obsessive desire to fit in. The inner conflict in which she experiences throughout the

Marriage, the central part of the lives of the main characters, is viewed in opposing ways through their actions. Susan's, Edgar's wife, description of what Edgar's love did for her involves the contrasting natural elements of snow and heat, also the elements of

In comparison to, Mrs. Freeman who is the complete opposite of Mrs. Hopewell whom she has worked for, for four years. O’connor does not show her point of view in this short story only what Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga describe her to be. She is described as very outspoken on whatever he thoughts are. She is very familiar and used to the unexpected due to her daughter Carramaes early marriage and pregnancy at the age of fifteen.

In the society of the 1920s when the play was written, the confinement of women was at an all-time high, however the breakout of women’s rights was just starting. The tone of this play helps show just this view, by promoting a character such as Mrs. Peters, who is stuck on whose side be on in the mystery of the murder. As they uncover the motive of Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters character begins to understand her, although the deceased husband was murdered in such a gruesome way, and know there should be a punishment for the crime for the crime because of her background with her husband as sheriff, who said she is “married to the law”, she comprehends the “stillness” that Mrs. Wright must have felt, with the house being as gloomy as it was on a bright character such as she before she was married. Such as

In “A Jury of Her Peers,” Susan Glaspell uses the men’s belittlement and the women’s responses to show their differences. For example, when the men laugh about the women’s question of the quilt, Mrs. Hale responds with “our taking up our time with little things while we’re waiting for them to get the evidence. I don’t see as it’s anything to laugh about” (Glaspell 8). Seeing these differences bring the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, closer together. At one point in the story, “the two women moved a little closer together” in response when the men trivialize what trifles women go through (Glaspell 5). The women see things in the house that the men cannot due to the men never having to experience being in the place of a housewife. The men failed to see the little details that women could see. “Belittling the women, the condescending men exclude them from the legal investigation, doubting the women could recognize a forensic clue”, the men doing this causes their view of the crime to be incomplete, and they fail to recognize that the women were the men’s greatest investigators of this case (Kamir). Mr. Hale even completely ridicules the intelligence of the women altogether by saying “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (Glaspell 6).

residence, the reader is cautioned about the like. Their uneasiness about Blanche reflects Blanche's uneasiness about