Women In Susan Glaspell's A Jury Of Her Peers

Words: 1223
Pages: 5
Open Document
In the short story “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell a man, Mr John Wright has been murdered in his bed; the most likely suspect is his wife. The majority of the story is played out in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wright as two women, Mrs. Peters, who is the Sheriff’s wife, and Mrs. Hale, the wife of the farmer and neighbor of the Wrights who discovered Mr. Wright’s body, wait together as their husbands look for clues to the motive and circumstances of the murder. As they wait for their husbands, the two women begin to commune in Mrs. Wright’s kitchen and living room. The first time the reader can see more of the deeper connection that the women have as women can be seen when the county attorney opens the cupboard and Mrs. Peters sees the …show more content…
Wright’s dead pet bird neatly placed in a box and realize that it’s neck had been broken, their eyes connect again and a real connection and understanding passed between them. Mrs. Peters shares a story of when she was a child and a boy killed her kitten, her feelings of wanting to hurt the boy or even kill him an dindentifying with how Mrs. Wright most likely felt when her husband broke the bird’s neck. The act of killing the bird was an act of control, a husband attempting to retain dominance through fear and violence. The two women make a true connection when Mrs. Hale says “it would be awful – still – after the bird was still” an unseen communion cocurs between them, Mrs. Peters states “I know what stillness is,” she goes on to share that her two year old child had died years before (679). Mrs. Hale points out that all women have similar experiences in different ways that connect them, “if it weren’t – why do you and I understand? Why do we know what we know – what we know this minute?” she says to Mrs. Peters. The communion that occurs through this short story is not only a communion of the two women present but a communion of three, including the woman that isn’t present, but speaks through her …show more content…
In the story, the Das family commune with their tour guide, Mr. Kapasi, as they spend the day together. But the true commune occurs between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das after she learns Mr. Kapasi not only works as a tour guide, but also as an interpretor for a doctor. As Mr. Kapasi shares stories with Mrs. Das of working with the doctor their conversation seems to become more private as “The children were quiet, intent on spotting more monkeys in the trees, and Mr. Das was absorbed by his tour book,” (454) it went on this way for some time. At the point they arrive at a road side stand to eat Mr. Kapasi was disappointed that their conversation must end. But to his surprise, Mrs. Das invited him to eat with the family and they communed, “And so, together, they had bottled mango juice and sandwiches and plates of onions and potatoes deep fried in a graham-flour batter.” (455) After eating, the children go back to look at monkeys and Mr. Das takes a picture of Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das, who then asks for his address so she can send him a copy, this flatters Mr.
Show More

Related Documents: Women In Susan Glaspell's A Jury Of Her Peers

Insanity In The Yellow Wallpaper

Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell illustrate female characters, Mrs. Mallard, John’s wife, and Mrs. Wright, who are considered to be insane by the public. The women in all of the short stories are unfairly judged by the public for their actions, but they did have reason to act the way they did. The main female characters’ apparent insanity and madness in Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” are both justifiable…

Words 960 - Pages 4

A Comparison Of A Jury Of Her Peers And The Story Of An Hour

not heard. Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell are both prominent feminist authors who explored the effects of inequality on women’s experiences with marriage. Glaspell’s short story “A Jury of Her Peers” and Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” show that marriage can be oppressive by describing what happens when a marriage suddenly ends. In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin focuses on a middle-aged woman Louise Mallard who sits in her room for one hour to process the news that her husband has been killed in…

Words 1058 - Pages 5

Compare And Contrast Susan Glaspell And A Jury Of Her Peers

Late one December night in 1900, prominent farmer John Hossack was brutally murdered in his home. One of the first on the scene was Susan Glaspell, a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. Throughout the duration of the case, Glaspell wrote and published over two-dozen articles on the murder and the trial that followed. However, nearly seventeen years later, Glaspell was inspired to write a short story based on the events of the Hossack case. Eventually, this story would become a successful theatrical…

Words 1270 - Pages 6

Jury Of Her Peers And Trifles: An Analysis

happened. Susan Glaspell was an integral reporter for the Des Moines Daily News, especially during the December of 1900 where she reported on the Hossack Murder. She followed up her coverage of this case with the one-act play “Trifles,” later adapted to the short story “A Jury of Her Peers.” Glaspell substituted some of the reality with fictional elements, creating a mesmerizing murder mystery that feels eerily realistic. Nevertheless, between Glaspell's’ articles and “A Jury of Her Peers”, there are…

Words 1244 - Pages 5

"Behind the Scenes" of Trifles Essay

219 8 October 2014 Weekly Response #7 “I could’ve come. I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful- and that’s why I ought to have come.” (p. such and such). In Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles, different perspectives are represented based upon a highly serious situation that involves a wife murdering her husband. Both men and women are present at the scene of the crime Throughout Trifles, the audience is given many examples of the domestic issue of gender inequality during the time period. Glaspell…

Words 1091 - Pages 5