A Jury of Her Peers - Assignment Example

Reaction Paper on the Short Story “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell Susan Glaspell was an eminent American novelist, playwright, actor and director of the twentieth century. This is a reaction paper based on one of her most noted works ‘A Jury of Her Peers,’ which was “written in 1917” (Techniques of Critical Analysis, p.1). The story being written in an era in which patriarchal society prevailed, aims at the theme of women empowerment. Through her story, Glaspell wanted to encourage the women of that time to rise up against dominance by males as well as realize their own true worth and power.

I have grown very fond of this short story and it has greatly inspired me on a lot of levels. Though the story is quite simple it has deep significance attached to every dialog and thoughts of its characters. The various symbols portrayed in the story further guide the reader to the main theme of the story. The protagonist of the story is Mrs. Wright, a lady in her mid forties probably, with no children, and allegedly the murderer of her husband, John Wright. Other main characters are Mrs. Hale and Mrs.

Peters, whereas the antagonists are seen to be the male counterparts of the three ladies- Mr. Wright, Mr. Lewis Hale and the sheriff Mr. Peters, along with the county attorney, Mr. Henderson. The setting of the story is Mr. Wright’s “lonesome” house in the “lonesome-looking place” surrounded by “lonesome-looking trees” (Glaspell p.2) The author, through the use of repetition wants to give the readers an idea about how much of a lonesome life Mrs. Wright lived. The theme of the story reflects the situation of the women during that time, the way they were suppressed and were always considered inferior to men.

Women were restricted by the chains of stereotypical thinking and found it hard to set themselves free. However, Mrs. Wright finds her freedom by killing her husband and embraces ultimate freedom as both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters deftly hide away the evidence that could prove her crime. Therefore, the conflict in the story appears to be between women and the society, or rather women and men, where females need to struggle hard in order to establish their own identity. Mrs. Wright, after her marriage loses her maiden identity, which is of, “Minnie Foster” (Glaspell p.1). The women’s intelligence in finding the evidence and hiding it from the men as well as the men’s incapability to find even a single clue that could prove Mrs.

Wright guilty, echoes irony at its best, simply because men are supposed to be more intelligent than women, whereas in the story the women plainly outsmart their opposites. The author makes comparisons between the nature of men and women and also brings in contrasts between the two. The men underestimate the women and think they would not be able to recover any clue and it is evidenced from this question that Mr. Hale raises “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (Glaspell p.5) Men think women lack judgment and logical thinking and discard whatever thoughts or independent feelings they have about something.

Women, on the other hand, win here through their nature of being “used to worrying over trifles,” as this is what makes them notice the quilts and ultimately the dead bird wrapped in silk (Glaspell p.4). Men, despite having only “important things on their minds,” fail to see the bigger picture, which in reality can be perceived only by analyzing silly things (Glaspell p.7). The males in the story are not developing characters as they never really gain insight into anything, however, the women are changed towards the end of the story. Mrs. Hale and Mrs.

Peters are different from each other both physically and emotionally. The former is a “big farmer woman,” (Glaspell p.4) whereas the latter is “small and thin” (Glaspell p.1). Another difference is the point of views both of them have that is Mrs. Peters is more supportive of men as she constantly finds justifications for the behavior of men through her dialogs such as “of course it's no more than their duty” (Glaspell p.5), “the law is the law” etc (Glaspell p.6). In the beginning Mrs.

Peters is not so much supportive of Mrs. Wright, but later on joins with Mrs. Hale to protect her from being proved convicted. Mrs. Hale keeps realizing her mistake of not meeting her neighbor even once and she tries to make up for this mistake by saving Mrs. Wright. Another difference is that Mrs. Hale is very straightforward and tells what she feels, whereas Mrs. Peters is always thinking to herself and does not always open up. However, it is their difference in perspectives that give the reader a more clear understanding of the events taking place in the story and this difference also points out to the real nature of other characters.

What I especially liked about the story was the use of symbols. The most important symbol used here is the bird’s cage, which symbolizes that Mrs. Wright’s husband has “imprisoned her” in his house, taking away her freedom to fly and sing (Techniques of Critical Analysis, p.2). Mrs. Wright can be compared to the bird as she was “real sweet and pretty” (Glaspell p.8) and she also “used to sing” (Glaspell p.9) just like the bird. Through this story, I could clearly understand what it was like to be a woman of that time and it makes me realize how lucky women today are.

References Glaspell, S. 1917. A Jury of Her Peers. Pernet, L. n.d. Techniques of Critical Analysis: A Jury of Her Peers. Retrieved from