A Jury of Her Peers free essay sample

â€Å"A Jury of Her Peers† by Susan Glaspell is a short story that examines how women who have similar backgrounds and common experiences enable them to identify with each other and piece together a murder without the help of men. The author wrote this story in the early 1900s when roles were still very divided between men and women. New inventions were emerging like the telephone and automobile however in rural areas of the United States these modern inventions along with the modern ideas of equality between men and women were still very much dismissed. Men were in charge of working the land and being the breadwinners and women remained in the home cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Women who were farmer wives were isolated as their work took up most of their day. There was no time for socializing and meeting for tea. This shared oppression of women helped women to sympathize with each other and clearly understand each other’s challenges, even if the women had never met. This short story illustrates just that as the two main characters Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, who by working together find and destroy the clues in order to protect one of their own, Minnie Foster Wright and allow the men to never learn of the reasons behind the murder of John Wright. Susan Glaspell writes this story in third person omniscient. Through the use of this point of view, the narrator is able to illustrate a central point of view by showing each character’s thoughts, feelings and actions. In the first part of the story we learn about Mrs. Hale. She is an older women who has know Minnie for several years, however hasn’t seen her or kept in touch with her for years. Martha Hale has some guilt about not visiting Minnie ever, especially now that Minnie is accused of murdering her husband. We learn through the narrator that Martha â€Å"had a moment of feeling that she couldn’t cross it† in regards to the threshold to the Wright home because she hadn’t come before, but only now after this tragedy occurred. The reader understands through this literary point of view more about the character and her feelings. We also learn through Martha’s thoughts that Minnie was once a vibrant, well-dressed woman who sang in the church choir. â€Å"She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively—when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls, singing in the choir. † We also learn a lot about Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s wife. Mrs. Peters is younger and never has met Minnie. We also get the idea through the narrator that Mrs. Peters is still very loyal to her husband and obedient. The county attorney states, â€Å"Of course, Mrs. Peters is one of us† in order to remind her of her obligation to the law and her husband. Martha and Mrs. Peters are the two main characters of the story, different ages and slightly different points of view however throughout the story they each individually begin to identify with aspects in Minnie’s life and they both agree to support Minnie and destroy the condemning evidence. Using third person omniscient is that the narrator is also able to focus the reader on specific scenes throughout the story so that the reader is able to understand what is important to the author. The Wright’s family house is located in a deep hollow. It is isolated from the town. It is cold and unwelcoming. The majority of the story happens mainly in the Wright’s kitchen, the main area for the homemaker, the women of the house. It is this part of the house that the all women spend the majority of their days, where all their hard work and toil occurs. The sheriff looks around the kitchen and states, â€Å"Nothing here but kitchen things,† when asked by the country attorney if they should focus their search in that room. The women in this story take offense quietly to such a comment, for they understand just how hard it is to be a wife of a farmer and maintain the home. Minnie’s kitchen is untidy with evidence of a job interrupted. The women notice and understand that no women would leave their kitchen in such disarray unless something interrupted their work. The women also are offended by the county attorney’s comment, â€Å"Dirty towels, not much of a housekeeper, would you say ladies? † Both Martha and Mrs. Peters understand that both the man and the women are responsible for making the house dirty. Mrs. Hale responds, â€Å"There is a great deal of work to be done on a farm,† which shows her growing empathy for Minnie. The women remain in the kitchen, the main setting of this short story as the men go off upstairs to the scene of the murder and out to the barn in search of clues to a motive for this crime. The author never takes the reader to these locations. The reader is never informed of what happens with the men on their search, instead we are focused on the women and the kitchen, as this is how the author illustrates the main theme of this story. Symbolism is also used effectively throughout this story in order for the reader to clearly understand Minnie’s life and motive of her crime. The torn clothing the women collect to bring Minnie in jail give us an understanding of why Minnie remained so isolated these last 20 years. The torn and repaired clothing symbolize Minnie’s esteem throughout the years. She was broken down over and over again by her husband and time and time again able to pick herself up and repair the damage although never completely. Just like the skirt she had endured abuse and although repaired, she would never be the same person she once was. Mrs. Hale comments that Minnie â€Å"most likely didn’t enjoy much feeling so shabby. † The reader starts to learn that Minnie was a sad and lonely woman and we see again how Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale feel a strong bond with Minnie and the sad life she led. The quilt the women discover in the kitchen is another very strong symbol. The majority of the quilt was neatly stitched, as a quilt should be, however Mrs. Peter’s notice one square that is sewed chaotically and out of order. It is a stark contrast to the other neatly sewn blocks. The perfectly stitched squares represent Minnie being a dutiful wife. She is doing as she is supposed to do as a woman in the early 1900s, maintaining the home, putting up with an unkind husband and keeping quiet. The crazy stitches however show us that she has had enough of putting up with her horrible life. She is stitching erratically and angrily displaying her frustrations and clearly deciding to take matters into her own hands. To support the theme of the story, Mrs.  Hale quickly removes the erratic stitching and begins to fix it so none one else may pick up on its meaning. The men return to the kitchen and comment that the women are worried about a quilt while they search for real clues. Again through these symbols readers see how the two women deeply empathize with Minnie and are determined to not let the overly objective men become aware of Minnie’s motivation for killing her husband. The most important symbol in this story is the canary, found dead, tucked neatly and delicately away wrapped in silk in Minnie’s sewing box. The canary represents Minnie. Minnie once sang in the church choir. She flitted about town in her younger years. She wore brightly colored clothing and was quite attractive. Mrs. Hale comments, â€Å"She, come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery. How she did change. † Twenty years later Minnie was a much different woman. She was lonely and married to a cold and uncaring man. They had no children and the canary was Minnie’s only companion on her long days in the kitchen. The canary provided a brightness and warmth to her life. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find the canary with its wrung neck their eyes meet and immediately the two women form a shared understanding of the horrible act that must of happened. It is now clear to the reader that the two women believe that John Wright has killed the canary, just like he has killed Minnie’s spirit. It is that moment when both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decide to conceal all their evidence against Minnie, for they truly identify and understand her actions. Symbolism, setting and the literary point of view all help Susan Glaspell tell her story of Minnie and John Wright. Through the various elements of literature used the reader is able to clearly identify with the author’s point of view. We are able to understand the main theme of the story, that due to men’s overt objectivity and ability to only look at things from a set of assumptions of what most people constitute as a crime along with their blatant disregard for women and their point of view they miss all the clues to a motive that they are searching for. The women are able to deeply identify with each other through shared life experiences. They understand how hard it is to be a women and wife in society. It is within this emotional connection that they are able to put themselves in Minnie’s shoes and understand her motivations. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters put aside their differing opinions and even jealousy to protect one of their own and the decide together to withhold the evidence they have dis