Monday, September 13, 2010

"A Jury of Her Peers"

In the story, "A Jury of Her Peers", by Susan Glaspell, she demonstrates a lot of historical examples that would have been proper for the time period.  In the story, Susan portrays the women for what they were, which was home-makers.  The men in the story are portrayed as what they were in this time period, which was "The Main Supplier."  The men are the important ones, while the women are supposed to sit back and watch.  It's the sheriff, the attorney, and Mr. Hale who are supposed to figure out what had happened that day with Minnie Foster.  While the men are looking at the, what they think is to be the important aspects of the murder, the women are finding the important things.  The men just look at the "big picture" and don't notice the little things like the women do.  While the men are upstairs, thinking they are finding evidence, the women are actually the ones who find what is needed.  But, while the men are sticking together, so are the women.  Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find the most important piece of evidence, and instead of telling the men, they stick together and keep it to themselves, for the sake of another woman, Minnie Foster.  "In a covert way Mrs. Hale looked at Mrs. Peters.  Mrs. Peters was looking at her.  Quickly they looked away from each other.  The outer door opened and Mr. Hale came in."(37)  By the glances that the women give each other when the men finally find their way back down the stairs, it's known that they are going to stick together.  What they have found, the men do not need to know.  If only men thought like women.
Also, the way that Susan writes is influenced by her personal background in the time period.  Susan used to write stories with happy endings.  Things were meant to be positive at the end of her stories.  Everything changed when she had started seeing a married man.  Her story endings had changed.  Now instead of happy endings, they were more like feminist endings.   

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