Free Paper Sample: Gender and Justice in "A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell"

In the story "A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell”, the gender divide has been well illustrated. The men in the story are characterized to overlook female's ideas and things. The story openly shows gender role differences in the way men are list concerned with women's domestic roles, possessions, and interest. For example, when Mrs. hales points out Mrs. wright fruit jar, the men disregard her. The sheriff's wife continued to show concern that Mrs. wright “jar might burst due to cold," but the men laughed; it was least of their problems (Glaspell, 1917, p6). The men in the story have power, while women are subjected to household chores. A good example, Martha is the wife of the police. The men are in all control areas being the judge and jury, loud, assertive, and dominating over women.

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Women in the story are dismissed, overworked, and oppressed. A good example is Martha Hales, who is oppressively overworked in her domestic tasks, and she is also subjected to her husband commanding nature. For example, when Martha goes back to the house to get a warm woolen scarf to wear for the cold, his husband impatiently calls her out, "don't keep folks waiting out here in the cold" (Glaspell, 1917, p1). When the women accompanied their husbands to Mrs. Wrights's place, they stayed together and away from their husbands, which indicated fear and intimidation. At Mrs. Wright's home, Mrs. Hale's husband displayed his superiority over women when he said, “women are used to worrying over trifles” (Glaspell, 1917, p 6). His words aimed at disregarding the women opinion making them feel inferior, which he managed according to the book, "the women cowardly moved closer together, and neither of them spoke" (Glaspell, 1917, p6). Mrs. Wright is another case showing women's oppression in the story. Before her marriage to John, Mrs. wright was known as talkative and outgoing with a happy personality; however, after marrying John, he joyful women in her become less. She was no longer seen outside, and she was not allowed to own phone by the husband. She was also lonely with no children, and no victors were permitted in their compound. She was intimated losing meaning to life. The life Mrs. wright was subjected to by the husband was cruel and evil until she could not take it anymore; she killed her abusive husband.

From the story, women are the ones pursuing justice as men focus on the law aspect. The male gender in the story is only seeking justice concerning the murder of Mr. Wright, which will eventually attract a conviction against the culprit. In the case of Mr. Wright, justice is required as to why her wife resulted in John's murder. From the story, women have full evidence regarding the murder of Mr. Wright, but they decide to hide the real facts from men since they understood the real loneliness that accompanied the loss of the lovely pet to their fellow woman, which triggered the murder to Mr. John. The “A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell” reveals that one woman found the truth concerning the murder of Mr. John in the farmer's house and decided to hide the information from men. Also, men are restricted from seeing the murdered bird because seeing it will act as evidence towards the murder of Mr. Wright. Although substantial evidence concerning the murder of Mr. Wright was associated with his wife, men suppressed any other varying opinion that justified Mrs. Wright action. There was no woman in power to speak out for Mrs. Wright, and the murderer was a woman who does not hold any capacity in the society, thus restricting justice to take its course.

Mrs. Wright is also seeking justice for the murder of her bird by her husband. She is under pain and loneliness because her bird was murdered. Mrs. Wright is reported to have found her bird's neck wrung, which greatly disheartened her. The bird was a great friend to Mrs. Wright, and it was associated with sweet and melodic songs that it is sung. As a result of her bird’s death, Minnie Wright is revenged by murdering her husband and keeping it a secret from the male gender. There is a big gap as a result of the dialogue between male and female gender. It is evident in the text that when men hear Mrs. Wright's complaints concerning her bird's death, they will laugh at her as if nothing significant has happened, which in turn will affect Minnie Wright emotionally (Glaspell, 1917). She always yearns to seek for justice concerning the circumstances under which her bird was murdered mercilessly.

Also, the female gender in “A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell” is seeking justice on how they are generally treated by their husbands, contrary to their expectations as wives. The rights of women in the story are overlooked. From the book, women are creatures that are only seen and not heard by the male gender. A dialogue between Mrs. Hale and the attorney general concerning minimal visits to her husband, Mrs. Hale reveals the reasons as to why she did not visit her husband. She describes her home as a place without happiness due to her husband's troubles when she calls him (Glaspell, 1917). Based on this scenario, women seek justice to be treated well for them to have peace of mind while in their homes instead of their current situation in which they are in. Additionally, Mrs. Wright is referred to as untidy without considering the circumstances that led to her leaving the house in a mess. In the overall view, women seek justice against men who view them as inferior creatures with limited roles to house management.

References

Glaspell, S. (1917). A jury of her peers. Images of Women in Literature, 370-85. https://americanliterature.com/author/susan-glaspell/short-story/a-jury-of-her-peers