Suffering of Women in A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell

643 Words2 Pages

Gender inequality in the 1900’s caused many women to suffer. Men were considered to be more intelligent than women therefore; society was dominated by their decisions. Minnie Wright was married to an exceptionally dominating, cold, oppressive husband. Eventually, he provoked her to murder him by killing her only friend, a little canary that sang to her. If she were to stand trial for his murder, the all-male jury would most likely not take into account the suffering she endured under the domination of her husband. The sheriff, Mr. Peterson and Henderson were determined to find evidence for her conviction at the Write’s home. They requested Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Hale to accompany them to the home and to gather clothing and other things Minnie might need while she was in jail. Fortunately for Minnie, Mrs. Hale agreed to accompany them to the home. Mrs. Hale is more aware of the gender social inequalities and their effects on women than Mrs. Peterson because of their different social statuses.
Mrs. Hale remembered the lively, happy girl Minnie was twenty years ago before she married the cold hearted Mr. Wright. She, like Minnie, was also a farmer’s wife and spent her days working hard. However, she had children so she did not suffer the loneliness that Minnie had to endure. Also, she avoided visiting her because Mr. Wright did not welcome visitors. He was the typical abuser who wanted to keep his victim isolated. Because she did not visit Minnie, she felt partially responsible for Minnie murdering her husband. Unlike Mrs. Peterson, she knew Minnie and understood what drove her to the breaking point of murder.
Mrs. Peterson is the submissive, loyal wife of Sheriff Peterson. She believes it is important to abide...

... middle of paper ...

...icted harm on the boy. She was beginning to get a sense of how miserable Minnie’s life was with her cruel husband and how this may have provoked her to murder. As the details unfold and under the continual persuasion of Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Peterson’s is beginning to consider hiding the canary. She struggled to muster up the courage and strength that Mrs. Hale possessed.
In the end Mrs. Hale is able to persuade Mrs. Peterson that Minnie was provoked by living twenty years with an oppressive cruel husband. When the men found humor in the comment “women are used to worrying over trifles” her awareness of gender inequality and oppression increased. The plight of the women living in a male dominated society bound the two women together in their determination that Minnie should be protected from a biased all male jury so they hid the canary in Mrs. Hales coat pocket.

Open Document