The Role Of Guilt In Susan Glaspell's A Jury Of Her Peers

Do you know that most women who are in prison for murder are there because they killed their husband or boyfriend? In Susan Glaspell’s story “A Jury of Her Peers,” two women follow their husbands and an attorney to the home of the Wright’s where the farmer, John Wright, who was hanged to death by a rope in the bedroom. It is to believe that Minnie Foster Wright was the one to cause the murder of her husband as the men try to find clues to the cause of the crime, but what if Mrs. Wright was the victim that caused her to commit the murder? Although Mrs. Wright did kill Mr. Wright, she is not entirely responsible for it by the fact she is “merely the arm of justice ( Bendel-Simso).” The isolation and loneliness in her home, the domestic violence from her husband, and the loss of her pet canary

Wright can be the victim that made her commit the murder is because of the loss of her pet canary. Getting back to the birdcage, Mrs. Wright could relate to the bird trapped in the cage because it was similar her living conduction of being stuck inside the house. “One can say that Mrs. Wright is like a bird herself, “sweet and pretty, but kind and timid and fluttery.” Being caged up and defenseless like the canary, Mrs. Wright becomes enraged enough to kill Mr. Wright (Zaidman).” Mr. Wright probably strangled the bird to death for the fact that Mrs. Wright was singing with the bird keeping her from working and making too much noise. In one reported study, abused women stated that their male partner had threatened to hurt and kill one or more of their pets, about 57% was reported that the man did harm or killed the animal(s) (Forell 56). The death of the canary shows a significant motive for why Mrs. Wright committed the killing of her husband because she can see herself in the bird and when Mr. Wright took the bird's life, a part of Mrs. Wright life was also taken away. The canary was the only thing that helped through her