The Key to A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell

Table of Contents

The Primary Message of the Story
Key Symbols
Enlightened Women
Womens Acts and Experiences
Kitchen Things
Works Cited

The Primary Message of the Story

Susan Glaspells story, A Jury of Her Peers, explores a mysterious murder in Dickson County. The short story illustrates gender roles and their significance in the twentieth century, with Martha Hale as the lead character in the novel. The primary message communicated in the narration involves gender empowerment and the consequences of all injustice affecting womens lives. The topic of sexism in American history formulates the major issue leading to the storys conflict of gender imbalance.

Key Symbols

The kitchen was symbolically included in the narration to objectify women as male servants. According to Glaspell (4), the kitchen was the primary symbol that victimized women in Dickson County. Mrs. Hale quoted her position about women based on her kitchen descriptions. Everyone in the kitchen looked at the rocker; the chair sagged to one side, said Hale (Glaspell 8). Women were socially isolated from male-oriented roles in A Jury of Her Peers, and the use of the kitchen symbolically indicates their societal positions.

Enlightened Women

Mrs. Peters and Hale both had enlightenment experiences in the story. First, Mrs. Peters understands her position and those of other women in law. Initially, the writer documented that Mrs. Peters did not look like Sherriffs wife; Peters made her one after their marriage (Glaspell 11). Secondly, Mrs. Hale bowed to the dominance of men in the story at its start but underwent enlightenment experiences after tasting the abusive acts of his husband. She murdered his husband to get the freedom of representation and respect.

Womens Acts and Experiences

Women in Glaspells book acted based on their experience and knowledge of their surroundings. Mrs. Hale, for example, killed his husband for revenge for the acts of his husband. Mr. Hale broke the neck of Mays bird which hurt her so much. I am declining the writers choice to eliminate Mr. Hale because it is illegal and unjust. I used the criteria of ethics, which promotes life totality and pleasurable feelings, to define morality and human behaviors throughout A Jury of Her Peers.

Kitchen Things

Kitchen things are left for women in A Jury of Her Peers to highlight the difference between men and women. The kitchen symbolizes gender inequality in Glaspells work because men provide clues for women in the kitchen while they reserve themselves from any activity linked to the room. Glaspell (9) stereotyped women through the kitchen to reveal the true identity of their characters in her text. The cruelty and negligence of men in the book prove that women are subjects to the dominant male gender.