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A Jury Of Her Peers Symbolism

1333 Words6 Pages

The Canary and The Heart A story contains much more than just the words presented on the page. There are deeper meanings, hidden facts and underlying messages. At the heart of this idea is symbolism. Symbolism, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of giving a symbolic character to objects. In the short stories “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin symbolism is an essential component of the story. The beauty of symbolism is that items can represent much more than their literal meaning and it allows the reader to make connections between multiple texts. From these two stories the most prominent items that stand for something other than itself are the canary and the heart. It can be argued that both items symbolize love and freedom. In the story “A Jury of Her Peers”, the canary belongs to Mrs. Wright. It may seem like just a small yellow …show more content…

What if the endings were flipped? Suppose Mrs. Mallard didn’t die from heart complications but instead lived, only to murder her husband. What if Mrs. Wright, took her own life rather than her husband’s? The route taken to get to the ending was quite different, but the results were awfully similar. Based on the information in “The Story of an Hour”, Mrs. Mallard very well could have murdered her husband, to little surprise of the reader. No one would have been surprised to read that Mrs. Mallard later killed her husband had she not perished from her heart condition. After finding her freedom, and experiencing it for a short while, Mrs. Mallard may have the motivation to take back her new found independence. Then it would have been her house the neighbors, sheriff and county attorney would have been rummaging through. Conversely, had Mrs. Wright decided to relieve herself from her burdens by taking her own life, then it would be her who escaped and gained freedom through

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Two symbols that I have found in “A Jury of Her Peers” is Mrs. Wright’s canary bird and wardrobe. Canary birds are known for their singing. Minnie Wright loved to sing, she used to sing in the choir when she was younger. Mr. Wright did not like her singing, so he made her stop. “A thing that sang.

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The short story “A Jury of Her Peers” written by Susan Glaspell is based on Glaspell’s play, Trifles. While the play is quite entertaining, the short story gives the reader more detail and background into the plot. Minnie Wright, who used to be known as a joyful, colorful woman, has been put in jail for the murder of her husband, Mr. Wright. Upon further analysis of the situation by the two female leads, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, they discover that while Mrs. Wright may be her husband’s killer, in their eyes, she is justified in her actions. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale come to this conclusion of justifying Mrs. Wright after discovering her motive: Mr. Wright had killed her bird, her song, her joy, and metaphorically, killed her.

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Jury Of Her Peers Symbolism

740 Words | 3 Pages

In “Jury of Her Peers,” Susan Glaspell outlines the murder mystery of John Wright who “died of a rope around his neck” in bed (204). The spouse of the victim, Minnie Wright, keeps quiet when she is brought to jail as she is the main suspect of the case. The clues surrounding the case portray Minnie and her lonely life living with her husband. Glaspell highlights trivial, yet major, details which lead to Minnie’s motive for strangling her own husband. The rocking chair, quilt, and broken bird cage are all details that eventually lead to the women’s discovery of who murdered Mr. Wright.

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A Jury Of Her Peers Symbolism Analysis

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The dead canary and its cage was a pivotal piece of evidence that the women discovered. The dead bird represents the old Mrs. Wright— Minnie Foster and its cage represents how she was

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834 Words | 4 Pages

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592 Words | 3 Pages

Susan Glaspell spent most of her life working as a journalist, fiction writer, playwright and promoter of various artistic. “A Jury of Her Peers” wrote by Susan Glaspell is a story that has to do with confusion, murder, lies, it showed how women used to not have right, and also showed women abilities and skills. The story was about a woman's name Minnie Foster Wright was accused of the murder her husband John Wright. In the story, I think Susan wanted us to see women are smart and capable as men are to perform the duties and jobs of everyday life.

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