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Review of A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell

A great book should immerse the reader in the events and experiences of the characters

allowing the individual to understand their worldviews and consciousness. Literature dramatizes

an imagined world, which a reader can reasonably relate to and sympathize with the various

characters in the story. Susan Glaspell’s short story “A Jury of Her Peers” immerses a reader in

the world of rural Dickinson County, Iowa, where Martha Hale accompanies Lewis Hale, Sheriff

Peters, and Mrs. Peters to the home of Mrs. Wright to investigate the mysterious death of her

husband, John Wright. The story allows the reader to understand the position of women in the

patriarchal Iowa society, particularly their low position in the family and the community in

general. “A Jury of Her Peers” is an excellent example of literature work because it highlights

female oppression, dismissal, and lack of justice and equality in patriarchal societies through its

plot, symbolism, and characterization.

Mrs. Wright is characterized as an oppressed woman whose rights and freedoms have

been oppressed by her husband. Unfortunately, Iowa’s conservative society makes Mrs. Wright

to have a limited say in her family in the guise of being submissive. Largely, Mr. Wright abuses

the privileges accorded to him by his society. It is because of this oppression that Mrs. Wright

transforms from her once cheerful self as a child to a pale and gloomy wife. Throughout the

story, Glaspell uses various elements of symbolism and plot to illustrate Mrs. Wright’s

oppression. Mr. Hale narrates how he had visited Wright’s home the day before and asked Mr.
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Wright to share the expenses of a party-line telephone. However, Hale notes that John Wright

was not interested (Glaspell 6). Failing to share the cost of the party line implied that Mrs.

Wright would miss the opportunity to interact with her family and other women as they

communicated on the public telephone. Effectively, this action shows that Mr. Wright did not

consider the importance of Mrs. Wright socializing with other women. Mrs. Wright also appears

to lack adequate financial support. Mrs. Hale’s search of garments that Mrs. Wright is to wear in

the evening reveals that she had old and torn garments. Further, Mrs. Hale remarks that she had

not seen Mrs. Wright join activities of other women recently, probably because of her poor statue

(Glaspell 15). The new character of Mrs. Wright significantly contrasts that of her childhood,

where she was cheerful and jovial. Mrs. Wright is isolated and financially deprived, an indication

of high levels of oppression in her home.

Glaspell creatively shows the tendency of patriarchal societies to dismiss women’s views

and place them in an inferior position. Throughout the investigation, women are considered less

competent by their male counterparts. Interestingly, however, women are quick to uncover that

Mr. Wright was likely killed by Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale correctly asserts that Mrs. Wright was

financially oppressed by the late John Wright (Glaspell 15). Besides, Mrs. Hale unearths a fancy

red box that contains a wrapped body of a dead bird. The women notice that the bird was killed

and that it was one of Mrs. Wright’s prized possessions (Glaspell 23). Mrs. Peters recalls how a

boy killed her pet kitten, making her overwhelmed with anger that she almost hurt the boy

(Glaspell 25). Mrs. Hale ponders over how the sense of loss and quietness may have

overwhelmed Mrs. Wright. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peter recalls the deep feeling of loneliness she felt

after the death of her first baby (Glaspell 26). These thoughts inform the women that Mrs.

Wright had a motive to murder her husband, to revenge for his selfish actions of killing her
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songbird. When the men return to the room, they are not interested in establishing if the women

may have collected any evidence. The attorney dismisses the need to check the items the women

have collected saying, “a sheriff’s wife is married to the law” (Glaspell 28). Impliedly, the

attorney dismisses the women’s ability to collect or conceal evidence. The failure to consult the

women during the entire investigation and their dismissal as insignificant participants in the

entire process indicates their undermined role in society.

Although there is a lack of evidence to prosecute Mrs. Wright, there is a general feeling

that justice and equality have been served. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale empathize with Mrs.

Wright after realizing that her actions were largely driven by John Wright’s mistreatments. Mrs.

Peters recalls the rage she had when a boy killed her kitten (Glaspell 25). She is further

overwhelmed by the deep loneliness she felt when she lost her first baby (Glaspell 26). The

women understand that Mr. Wright had denied his wife the opportunity to socialize, did not

adequately provide for his wife, and had killed her songbird. Mrs. Hale understood that Mrs.

Wright was not a naturally evil person when she considered her cheerful childhood. The women

decide to conceal evidence. Mrs. Peters tries to put the dead bird in her handbag, and when it

refuses to fit Mrs. Hale puts it in her pocket (Glaspell 29). While the murder is an evil act, there

is justice in not prosecuting Mrs. Wright because her actions were driven by Mr. Wright’s

mistreatment, and there is a sense of equity in women defending and protecting one of them.

Characterizing Mrs. Wright as a depressed woman entangled in a loveless, lifeless, and

torturous marriage, Glaspell paints a picture of women’s oppression and injustice that can exist

in patriarchal societies. The book is presented as a feminist protest against the oppression and

exclusion of women in society. Mr. Wright condemns his wife to live in isolation in a loveless

relationship, he kills her only source of company and joy- the songbird- provoking Mrs. Wright.
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Unfortunately, the men’s dismissive nature towards women makes them miss crucial

prosecutorial evidence. Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” highlights the importance of protecting

and loving women.

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Works Cited

Glaspell, Susan. A Jury of Her Peers. Crowell Publishing Co., 1918.