A Jury of Her Peers Analysis

"A Jury of Her Peers" is a 1917 short story by American author Susan Glaspell. It was adapted from her play Trifles, one of the earliest examples of feminist drama. Glaspell loosely based the events of the story on a murder case she had investigated during her career as a journalist. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on A Jury of Her Peers Analysis that follows your guidelines.

A Jury of Her Peers Plot

The main part of the story involves the investigation regarding the murder of John Wright. His wife is the main suspect, and four people show up at the scene:

• Mr. Hale
• Mr. Hale's wife Martha
• Sheriff Peters
• Sheriff Peter's wife

The men dismiss the attempts by the women to place importance on what they consider to be trifles. When the women find evidence that proves Mrs. Wright's guilt, they conceal it out of solidarity and understanding.

Characters of A Jury of Her Peers

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are the central characters in the story. Because of the way the men in the story treat their wives, the women are defensive and become bound to the suspect. The sociological implications of this early feminist drama display the importance of women and their work during a time period when men were still very dismissive of the potential contributions that women make in society. Men and women, Glaspell points out, communicate differently. One is not better than the other, but women have profound and important power. Glaspell's work was ground breaking at the time and shows that a battered woman had a sympathetic jury of her peers.