A Jury of Her Peers "It is the fate of a woman, long to be patient and silent, to wait like a ghost
that is speechless, till some questioning voice dissolves the spell of its silence." (Henry Wadswort
h Longfellow). Longfellow's quote is a wonderful interpretation Susan Glaspell's short story, "A Ju
ry of Her Peers". The story was written long before the modern women's movement began, and illustra
tes the role that women are expected to play in society. Therefore, it demonstrates how this highly
stereotypical role can create tyranny for women and also bring harm to men through its use of symbo
lism. Character names are very important in "A Jury of her Peers." The two characters, John and Min
nie Wright, are the focus of the story. The name Minnie has significant symbolism. Minnie is derive
d from mini or minimized, which was very descriptive of her demoralized relationship with John and a
lso the male insensitivity toward most women in society. Women taking their husband's last names ar
e also important in the story. The women in the story are not given first names, and are referred t
o only as Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. The role that society has placed upon them is defined by their
husbands. Mrs. Peters, who is married to the sheriff, is viewed in those terms. Mr. Peters, the c
ounty attorney, says "for that matter a sheriff's wife is married to the law" (281). Mrs. Peters re
inforces that identity until she is faced with the cruelty of what John Wright did to Minnie. She s
ays "I know what stillness is. The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale" (257). The difference is
she is talking about the crime committed against Minnie, not the murder of John by Minnie. The rock
ing chair is another important symbol in the story. Consequently, the chair symbolizes the absent M
innie Wright. The rocking chair "was dingy red, with wooden rungs up the back, and the middle rung
was gone, and the chair sagged to one side" (30), which was not anything like Mrs. Hale used to reme
mber it being. Mrs. Hale also speaks of Minnie Foster, Foster being her maiden name, "I wish you'd
seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir an
d sang" (258). The rocking chair has depreciated over the years just like Minnie Foster, but Minnie
Foster's change was due to John's abuse which denies her individuality and cages her in a stereotyp
e that is mentally unbearable. This eventually leads Minnie to kill John and escape the abuse. Othe
r significant symbols in the story are the bird and the birdcage. Mrs. Hale describes Minnie, befor
e her marriage, as "kind of like a bird herself-real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and flutter
y" (207). The bird is caged just as Minnie is trapped in the terrible relationship with John. John
symbolically strangles the life out of Minnie as he literally strangles the bird. When he kills the
bird, he kills the last bit of Minnie and her spirit. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find Minnie's bird
cage in the cupboard, but they don't realize the importance of it until they find the dead bird wit
h its neck twisted to one side. Unfortunately, the birdcage symbolizes Minnie's life. The bird and
the birdcage is a private symbol which is also representative of the role women are forced into in
society, the bird being women and the cage being men. Minnie then strangles the life out of John ju
st as he has strangled the life out of her bird. Another major symbol, which the educated lawmen con
sidered a "trifle," is the quilt which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters stumble across. Minnie has taken t
he scraps and put them into a nice neat quilt, but one square is irregularly sewn. This puzzles the
women for "It looks like she didn't know what she was about" (165). This represents her life, for
her life was neat on the outside, but inside was truly made of scraps. When John kills the bird, he
destroys the last bit of personality that Minnie held for herself. She was angry, confused, and li
terally "didn't know what she was about" (165). The question that is asked is whether Minnie was goi
ng to "quilt or just knot it" (155). This is the decision Minnie had to make. She either has to qu
ilt it, meaning she has to endure the abuse, or she would knot it or decides that her life as it exi
sts was 'not it' and she would do something to change it. The referral to the quilt as a trifle is v
ery symbolic in the story. Mr. Hale says "Women are used to worrying over trifles" (76). This is v
ery symbolic and ironic. A trifle is something that is small and of no consequence. This is a refl
ection of how the men in the story, and society in general viewed and treated the women. This is ve
ry ironic because while the men are looking for clues, the women discover the key to the mystery amo
ng what the men consider as only silly women's work, or trifles. The women rebel against their husb
ands, as they plan to cover up the incriminating evidence that points to Minnie. The short story, "A
Jury of Her Peers", effectively uses symbolism to help express the feminist theme. Through the use
of symbols, the story illustrates just how the self-destructive ways of John had slowly overwhelmed
the youthful liveliness of his wife. The symbolism paints not only a picture of Minnie's life, bu
t also the lives of all women who live demoralized under male domination. The story is a warning to
men that a system where men dominate and repress women cannot and will not be tolerated.
Work
s Cited Roberts, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.
"A Jury of Her Peers." 154-168. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.
jury peers fate woman long pati
ent silent wait like ghost that speechless till some questioning voice dissolves spell silence henry
wadsworth longfellow longfellow quote wonderful interpretation susan glaspell short story jury peer
s story written long before modern women movement began illustrates role that women expected play so
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