The Revenge on an Unhappy Marriage - Essay Example

Her actions are the direct result of her frustration towards her husband. In order to understand the real motive of the murder, it is important to consider the aspects of Minnie’s home life as justification for the reasonable cause to commit the murder. The justification for her motive is the direct result of her psychological state heightened by her unhappy marriage and the evidences that were found at the murder scene. This heinous act make one pose a question about the status quo of the male dominance considered supreme for everything.

It also probes us further to think whether Minnie Wright, in such desperate conditions, behaved simply as a human being or not and whether or not she felt that she had no other choice but to kill her husband? Minnie Wright’s case is a direct result of oppression caused by the societal stereotypical roles, according to which males should dominate over females, which not only deprives a woman of her individuality but also brings harm to a man. Minnie’s marriage with John unveils the psychological profile of a desperate housewife who was, for the past thirty years, trying to adjust herself to a man who didn’t really seem to care about what his wife might want.

As noticed by Mrs. Hale, “I don’t think a place’d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it” (Glaspell). Mrs. . Her crave for individuality and an independent identity forced her to assume the role of a revengeful wife, whose husband had suppressed her throughout her marriage filled with domestic violence. Important pieces of evidence that assume the role of catalysts in this murder act are the ‘broken birdcage’ and the ‘dead canary’. In order to consider these pieces of evidence relevant, it is important to relate them in accordance to Mrs.

Wright’s perspective: “She was kind of like a bird herself – real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and- fluttery. How – she – did – change” (Glaspell). The bird and the birdcage for Minnie symbolized her life. Minnie translated her life into that of a bird that was caged just as Minnie was trapped in the abusive relationship with John. Her husband didn’t like the canary’s beautiful song that symbolized his wife’s desire for freedom and happiness. As a result, to keep his wife under his control, John strangled the bird; making Minnie realize that he dominates not only Minnie’s joy but also her spirit.

Minnie understood her husband’s action as a threat to her own life. She saw herself as a bird caged and strangled by her husband, who barred her from the outside world. It was her frantic emotional state that made her identify herself with the bird, whose murder was taken by Minnie as her own murder. It was that final act of cruelty that made her commit her violent act of revenge. Her killing her husband was a retribution for harming her human existence as epitomized by the bird, and for the emotional-mental breakdown that she endured during her abusive marriage with John.

The psychological perspective of Mrs. Wright illustrates the nature and motive of the crime as being an