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A Jury Of Her Peers Essay

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“A Jury of Her Peers”, written by Susan Glaspell, tells the story of the murder of Mr. Wright and its criminal investigation by Mr. Peters, the town sheriff, and the county attorney. In this short story, Glaspell illustrates how the female perspective is shackled by traditional gender roles, leaving their voices unheard and household abuse. This is depicted by Mrs. Wright, who murders her husband due to the abuse she experienced, and Mrs. Peters, who notices details that the men overlook, in turn cracking the case. In this story, Mrs. Wright has a pet canary that her husband kills. Glaspell's description of the canary symbolizes Minnie Wright’s character and role as a household woman in a male-dominated society.

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Hale, “she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery” (Glaspell 607). Minnie is full of life; however, just as the bird is small, she is frail compared to her husband. Mr. Wright takes advantage of this size, a parallel to how he feels towards Minnie and her liveliness. The canary remained in a birdcage signifying the “cage” that was the house to Minnie because she was a woman whose life was in the control of a man. Being the only thing Minnie felt she had, the canary sang, reflecting Minnie Foster’s role when she sang in the choir, a freedom both her and the bird shared before being …show more content…

Wright’s dominance and the chokehold of male superiority over women in society, described by Mrs. Hales, “Look at it! Its neck—look at its neck! It’s all—other side to” (Glaspell 607). His intrusion into the cage and killing of the bird symbolizes the control of Minnie’s character and the destruction of who she truly once was; “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird,” she said after that— “a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too” (Glaspell 608). This marks a turning point in the plot as the reader discovers that Minnie Foster “died” once the canary is killed by Mr. Wright, drastically affecting how the story's outcome is

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