A Jury of Her Peers By Susan Glaspell

“A Jury of Her Peers” is told in third person limited point of view. The setting is in the Wright house in Dickson (possibly Dixon) County Nebraska, near Omaha, during the cold, snowy month of March. The mood is cautious and lonesome. The protagonist and antagonist roles were unclear to me, because there were numerous conflicts. My best guess is the investigation party (the three men and two women) being the protagonists, and Mrs. Wright being the antagonist. The men are static and the two women are round characters and change views on how they think about the case. The context is essential to the plot, creating the life of a farm wife and troubles of being in a lonesome place with really no social contact. The way the women take every little thing, like the stitching in the quilt, and evaluate it, to come to some conclusion, is very important. The conflict of this story has many layers. First, is the Wright couple having problems (man vs man). Mrs. Peters wanted to tell what the women had figured out because she is “married to the law” (man vs circumstance). Mrs. Hale wishing she had visited Mrs. Wright more often (man vs self). Mrs. Wright not keeping the house tidy and clean, like women should, according to the men (man vs society). The theme is to not dismiss people or seem as if you don’t care about someone. Mr. Wright didn’t care about the bird, or what it meant to Mrs. Wright, he didn’t seem to really care about her. Mrs. Hale felt bad for dismissing the opportunities to visit Mrs. Wright. And the Men dismiss how intelligent the women really are. Symbolism is shown with the canary loving to sing, and Mrs. Wright loving to sing.
This story is really interesting. It’s the whole murder mystery thing that makes it fun to read. But it shows how women were so easily dismissed years ago, before people realized we’re just as smart. It shows how many conflicts can be going on, visibly, silently, with only hints. And it shows how people wish they had done things that it is too late to do.