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In this 1917 short story, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters accompany their husbands to a house where a man named John Wright has been strangled to death. The two women sympathize for the prime suspect of the murder, Minnie Wright after they find evidence in the house that Minnie might not have been treated well by her husband. In “A Jury of Her Peers,” by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Wright’s actions against her husband are justifiable as he is the reason why she lives a joyless life with no hope of relief or release. It is very hard to justify any harmful act against anyone, let alone murder; however, the botched knitting and dead canary found in Minnie’s house suggests that a history of severe abuse may have clouded the happiness and prosperity of her …show more content…
Her canary becomes the thread that she holds onto her sanity with; in fact, the two women discuss how Minnie relates to the bird in many ways, they are both “…real sweet and pretty”, but also “kind of timid and—fluttery.” One could even say that Minnie depends on the bird as a friend, her only friend; therefore, when the man that causes her all this pain destroys the only light in her life by strangling her bird, Minnie perhaps hits her breaking …show more content…
From a young age one is taught that it is never okay to take someone else’s life; however, in Minnie’s case, her husband had already taken so much of her life that it is justified for her to settle that score. Minnie’s marriage is so detrimental that it changes her; Mrs. Hale explains, “‘I think maybe that’s why she kept so much to herself. I s’pose she felt she couldn’t do her part; and then, you don’t enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively—when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls, singing in the choir. But that—oh, that was twenty years ago’” (Glaspell 287). With her isolated behavior, shattered spirit, and melancholy attitude Minnie shows symptoms of having a legitimate mental disorder called Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). An Associate Professor of Clinical Law at New York University, Holly Maguigan explains that “…there are support systems available to women who suffer from a situation of domestic violence and BWS. It’s worth noting, also, that the laws of many states account for violent outbursts by BWS victims.” Everyone has a right to defend themselves and make a joyful life for themselves, it is easier now in this day in age for a woman to take control of her own life since today women and men are supposedly treated as equals. However, back in the twentieth century, this was not the case; women were seen
In A Jury of Peers by Susan Glaspell, the story revolves around the sudden death of John Wright. There are five characters that participate in the investigation of this tragedy. Their job is to find a clue to the motive that will link Mrs. Wright, the primary suspect, to the murder. Ironically, the ladies, whose duties did not include solving the mystery, were the ones who found the clue to the motive. Even more ironic, Mrs. Hale, whose presence is solely in favor of keeping the sheriff s wife company, could be contributed the most to her secret discovery. In this short story, Mrs. Hale s character plays a significant role to Mrs. Wright s nemesis in that she has slight feelings of accountability and also her discovery of the clue to the motive.
Glaspell does not believe that the male gender could understand Minnie’s actions. She is wrong in this conclusion. Plenty of men would understand why Minnie was forced to kill her husband. While Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are right in covering up for Minnie, Glaspell is wrong in portraying all men as jerks. Now as we approach the turn of another century, we see that there are plenty of men at this day in age that would understand Minnie’s actions and cover for her, just like Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale.
Hale states “Well, women are used to worrying over trifles” (561). The same trifles he states women are worried over, are the trifles that if men paid attention to they would have plenty of evidence against Minnie Wright. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter basically decided the fate of Minnie. In “A Jury of Her Peers” Glaspell shows how there is criticism of a legal system that denied women the change of a fair trial by an all-man jury. They found evidence that the men could not find and decided “not to turn it in. All of this held a significant role in the story, but they are the ones that solved the case. In the play the sheriff mocks Mrs. Hale “They Wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it” (563). He also said something in “A Jury of Her Peers” on page 575 line 159. There are not many changes between the play and the short story. Most of the changes happen in the opening of the story when it is more detailed, as to where the play is all about action. If you are watching the play it is much better than the story because you can see all the action and
The House was like her bird’s birdcage she wasn’t allowed out unless told to come out. Mrs. Wright lived a very lonely life. Her husband Mr. Wright was emotionally distant from her. Mr. Wright made her go crazy by killing her precious bird. The reason the house symbolizes isolation was because all Mrs. Wright did was stay in the house and do Housework all day which was pretty normal for a woman to do back in that time period. The bird cage is symbolic for Minnie and her life. She’s was caged just like her pet bird. Mr. Wright caged her from the outside world and since they had no children or telephone in the home to get in touch with anyone on the outside world all she had was him. The bird was symbolic because of the way that it sang. When the bird will sing it will remind Minnie of her old life from when she was young and sang in the choir. The death of the bird was symbolic. “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird-a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too”. Mrs. Wright lost it completely when her bird was killed because that was her only source of love, life, and freedom she use to have. Her husband had killed all the joy around her and the last straw for her was when he snapped that bird’s neck, and just as symbolically, he got a taste of his own medicine when she slipped that rope around his neck. Lastly, The Quilt is symbolic because it plays a role in the play. The women notices how the quilt is sewn poorly which means to them Mrs. Wright felt real guilty of killing her husband that she couldn’t sew
Mrs. Wright kills her husband because she was tired of carrying the weight of her insipid marriage life. Mr. Wright killing her bird was the last straw that sent her over the edge. The canary symbolized Minnie. Like the bird, her personality is cheerful and lively. Unfortunately, she was trapped in her marriage similar to the bird being trapped in the cage. The act of killing the canary indicated him killing Minnie Foster. The sight of the dead strangled bird was unbearable for her. For thirty years she let her husband slowly strangle her presence.
Mrs. Hale reminisced on how cheerful Minnie was before she got married to Mr. Wright and told Mrs. Peters that he probably killed the bird. Then Mrs. Peters told Mrs. Hale about a childhood experience. Her pet was killed by a boy and if she was not being held back she confessed she would have hurt him. Both women were sympathetic towards Mrs. Wright’s plight and hid the dead canary.
Throughout the story, the author shows that Minnie lives a lonely life. She lives on a farmhouse with only her husband. They never had children and that “makes a quiet house” (511). Even with her husband there, he doesn’t make the place anymore enjoyable for Minnie. She is conflicted with who she used to be 20 years ago, a “town girl, singing in the choir” (507), but now she wore “shabby clothes” (507) and “kept to herself” (507). Her life is mostly dull. The one thing to bring her happiness is a yellow canary that sings beautifully, like she once did. Mrs. Hale exclaims that Minnie “would’ve wanted a bird” (511) after only having John for company. When the bird is killed by john, a speculation from Mrs. Hale due to the birds broken neck, Minnie couldn’t take the only source of joy being taken away from
When America branched out from England, we continued the mindset of men being the dominant and women being lesser. Slowly over the years, women have been fighting for a higher role in societies eyes. Susan Glaspell expressed how she felt about societies mindset on women in a short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. This story is about a woman, Minnie, who is accused of murdering her husband. A group of officials, a witness and their wives went to the crime scene to find evidence. While they are trying to piece together what had happened, Glaspell shows many different ways women were looked down upon, whether it was disguised in jokes, blatant statements, or just the men’s carelessness.
In “A Jury Of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, a father and son from town came in to the Wright household and found Mr. Wright dead in his bedroom. The men find his wife in the living room sewing a quilt without a care in the world, aware of her husband’s death. Although Mrs. Wright does not initially appear capable of murder because of her nonchalant demeanor, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale conclude she strangled her husband to death as evidenced by the mangled canary corpse, unhinged birdcage, and the crazily sewn quilt patch.
Minnie Foster was a happy, carefree young woman living without the burdens and constraints of marriage. While gathering items to bring to her in prison, Mrs. Hale describes to Mrs. Peters how Minnie used to be 30 years ago: “She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir” (1129). Later, Mrs. Hale expresses regret for not visiting Minnie more often, and mentions a white dress Minnie used to wear for the choir. This white dress may represent the innocence of Minnie’s earlier life, before she became the cold, lonely Minnie Wright, wife of John Wright. Any joy that Minnie Foster used to experience, she apparently no longer enjoyed as Minnie Wright. As Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters discuss the whereabouts of the canary, Mrs. Hale reminisces about Minnie Foster: “She used to sing real pretty herself”
Mrs. Hale describes Minnie as formerly singing “real pretty herself” (Glaspell p666). The connection between Minnie and the canary is established here, and in the bird’s physical death parallels Minnie’s emotional death (Russell). Mrs. Hale’s keen wit and patience contributes to her embodiment of The Fate sister named Clotho the Spinner, which even more evident in her correcting of Minnie Wright’s improper stitching (Russell). Mrs. Peters begins the process of investigation deeply devoted to keeping the law. She doesn 't want any disruption in the house saying, “I don 't think we ought to touch things” (Glaspell p 666) when Mrs. Hale began searching for clues. Upon finding the dead canary, Mrs. Peters view on the situation changes drastically, and she decides with Mrs. Hale to hide the tiny dead bird from the men. They both figure that if the dead canary was discovered, Mrs. Wright would be thought to be a mad woman, though it was likely Mr. Wright who killed it. Mrs. Peters sympathizes with Minnie remembering back to an old memory of her childhood, where a menacing boy killed her small kitten with a hatchet (Russell). Mrs. Peters then realizes that the justice to be served is to conceal evidence and find the answers for themselves. These
Hale and Mrs. Peters in this short story, as they turn to an anomalous form of community justice. As mentioned previously, Mrs. Peters is the wife of the sheriff, and she behaves as such—abiding to the law always and nervously reacting when Mrs. Hale tries to verbally justify Minnie’s behavior as they uncover evidence in the kitchen. Mrs. Peters’s demeanor changes after Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale lock eyes and “h[o]ld each other in a steady, burning look in which there [i]s not evasion or flinching. Then Martha Hale’s eyes point… the way to the basket in which [i]s hidden the thing that would make certain the conviction of the other woman” (Glaspell 299). In this instant of community and shared awareness Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters simultaneously choose to flout men and traditional law and do justice their way. By hiding the dead canary, the most damning piece of evidence that Minnie is the killer in a court of law by establishing a motive, they rewrite the definition of justice and disassociate it from law. Their new definition is one that specifies what a peer is further to include gender and situation and considers trifles when making a decision. Mrs. Hale has an effective and amusing way of communicating this idea when she says “the law is the law—and a bad stove is a bad stove” (Glaspell 293). “without saying so explicitly, she proposes and equality of values and perspectives: the patriarchal, abstract
Looking at this essay by Susan Glaspell “ Trifles”, I found this essay very unusual where we see a very strong story about a couple, where John Wright is murder in his house by Minnie Wright. This is a case where I can say it is very unfamiliar, where it reflect the crime scene of revenge from Minnie, based on the fact that John write murder her wife canary and living the bird on the kitchen. This could be the reason or the main purpose on why she murders her husband John; this is a very weird or unusual crime scene. This scene make me think why and how this could be a reason to snap and drive that person to the limits in order to kill someone, but in this case to murder a member of their own family. Later on this case I understand that Mrs.
“All oppressed people seize whatever weapons they can to fight oppression.” This statement,by John Lowe, proves to be an important aspect of the theme in the short story, A Jury of Her Peers. In this case, the weapon that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters seize is silence. By keeping their silence, they are withholding what the men want most, which is to find evidence that leads them to know that Mrs. Wright was the murderer. The motives for the murder of Mr. Wright in the short story, A Jury of her Peers, are elaborated throughout the use of flashbacks, an oppressive tone, and omniscient third-person point of view.
"A Jury of Her Peers", written in 1917, is a short story by Susan Glaspell, loosely based on the 1900 murder of John Hossack. It is seen as an example of early feminist literature because two female characters are able to solve a mystery that the male characters cannot. They are investigating the murder of farmer John Wright. The men tell the women to just busy themselves around the house while they go and do the “real work.” Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, use their deductive skills and knowledge about housework to conclude what had happened to Mr. and Mrs. Wright, also known as Minnie Foster. A skill the men couldn’t use or take into account.