Susan Glaspell A Jury Of Her Peers

For centuries, women were often looked at as housekeepers of the household. It was rare to see women managing businesses or working for the government. Usually, men were the "power holders" of the society and tend to ignore many brilliant ideas from women. Overlooked and overworked, women are yet fighting for their rights to achieve the liberty they have today. Susan Glaspell wrote "A Jury of Her Peers" to secretly embed the unnecessary practiced culture of social structure and subjugation against women, females' forced labor, and the oppression on women in order to explain that society should stop overlooking powerful women and their extraordinary minds. Furthermore, Glaspell was a member of a group of intellectuals who questioned marriage

The overworked women were obligated to complete their chores on a daily basis, routinely without a rest. The setting in the short story "A Jury of Her Peers" was in a rural town with numerous farms from east to west, therefore, many families work in farms from dawn to dusk and each member has certain tasks throughout the day. The wives, however, usually work alone to maintain indoors in a proper manner. For men, a woman's job was not considered real work, but in reality, a wife is a backbone inside a home. A variety of tasks, such as preparing food, cleaning house, laundering, sewing, ironing, harvesting fruits, and feeding chickens, was a responsibility in a women's uncalculated hours. George Henderson, the male attorney inside "A Jury of Her Peers", washes his hands inside the Wright's unorganized kitchen and notices filthy towels and cookware. After discriminating the work of Minnie Wright, both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters defend the poor housewife by explaining that "there's a great deal of work to be done on a farm" (Glaspell 4). These women share similar roles, experiences, and situations, hence they were determined to defend each other from the biased and ignorant

Unfortunately, it was an accepted trend and women fought with determination for their rights and equality, which was later called the feminist movement. Glaspell placed such actions in her short story, performed by Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters. During their search, the wives looked for clues and discovered useful evidence. At one point, the attorney acknowledges the possibility of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters finding a clue. However, Mr. Hale doubts by saying "would the women know a clue if they did come upon it" (Glaspell 5). Afterward, the men were not relying on the women's knowledge and abilities to help them in the professional business. This degradable action oppresses the women's mentality by stating that they are worthless and unneeded. However, despite their impolite comments, the women looked for the clues themselves by evaluating the domestic items and 'trifles', which the men were not experienced with. In conclusion, the women were able to solve the mystery and the author "empowers the women with the very information the men unsuccessfully seek" (Champlin). Actions were performed by powerful women to exclaim that they, too, were able to perform such important tasks as