English 102 outline

Autry 1

Kendra Autry

Mark Freeman Price

English 102

October 12, 2021

Gender Roles

A Jury of Her Peers is a detective story written by Susan Glaspell. The author explores how gender roles in the early nineteenth century led to female oppression, isolation creating a fundamental difference in discourse and perspective about social life. Gender roles are thus a central theme of this story. Glaspell outlines the women's marginalization and role in society most clearly through the distinct role of men and women in the story. Men's work includes investigating and solving the crime while women are stuck in the kitchen and at home taking care of their families. The men characters Mr. Hale and Mr. Peters constantly insult their wives and directly dismiss women's importance and abilities. Thesis statement: The distinct gender role among the male and female characters in Susan Glaspell's story "A Jury of Her Peers" helps readers empathize with the female oppression, loneliness, and gender disproportion in the story.

  Throughout the story, both society and individual men oppress women. Men have control over the world as they are in charge of making and controlling laws. At the same time, the societal rules confine women's capability to move around, make their choices, and live their own lives as separate, distinct individuals without the control of their husbands. Martha Hale and Minnie Wright are unceasingly designated as housekeepers whose primary responsibilities are taking care of their house and performing the kitchen roles. The suppression of women is confined to the social rules and prospects with a modified type of oppression, demeaning specific women based on their interests and weaknesses. For instance, Mr. Peters ridicules his wife due to her fear of going back to her home, which is the scene of a killing. Men continually referred to kitchen items or the item requested by Mrs. Wright in prison beneath their recognition. In this manner, the men diminish women by degrading the only things women had control over. Women's commitment to the law is due to their position as citizens, though without the right to vote and due to their status, wives are imperiled to their spouse's wishes. For instance, Mrs. Peters is said to have been married to the law indicating her commitment to her husband and the direction are similar. 

Women's isolation is another aspect of social oppression imposed by the distinct gender roles. The central women's responsibilities are confined within the home environment, making most women stuck there, resulting in loneliness. Men often enjoy the company of their friends at their workplace, leaving their wives at home alone. For instance, loneliness was more intense to those women such as Minnie Wright. However, throughout the story's development, women admit their condition, are unified by Minnie's dilemma, and begin viewing each other as a product of loneliness and mistreatment. They describe this as what transpired Minnie to kill her spouse. Therefore, the women in the story identify their collective experience through Minnie's heartbreaking predicament, begin viewing themselves as a group and are reluctant to judge women due to their similar experience of being oppressed (Jawad 29). In covering the proof of Minnie's reason, the dead bird, the women stand up against the domination they've knowledgeable by creating a diverse scope in which Minnie's actions are arbitrated and exonerated: a jury of integrated women.

In "A Jury of Her Peers," the distinct gender roles illustrate the different opportunities available in society for both men and women based on the diverse interests, anxieties, and priorities as they inspect the crime. Both the male and female characters are divided into two distinct groups. Their turn of insight is sex-coded mainly because of their diverse physical, emotional, and expressive responses to the murder. In Wright's farmhouse, men are seen to have immediately take charge of initiating their exploration of solving the crime (Herrera 344). In contrast, women seem to be powerfully expressing their sadness through their worried eyes and nervousness. Men move around the house to discuss what had happened while women silently stare around, noticing a lonesome-looking place and the house's untidiness. Equally, the male characters are strongly responsible for maintaining and defending the law as they are charged with controlling and designing it. The law gives men the power to prevent the world around them. Men control organizations such as the legal system, indicating that Minnie Wright lacks the opportunity to be judged in a lawful court. Women only exist in the domestic sphere, as portrayed by where both Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale hide the proof of her crime. In the allowed legal system, Minnie is supposed to be judged by men who would later assign her punishment without considering or caring about her situation (Glaspell 31). Towards the end of the story, women realize how the male-dominated society and law have failed Minnie and themselves included. Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters actively choose to hide the dead bird; they are limiting this indication from seeming in the lawful court well-ordered and arbitrated by men. Thus, this action is an insurgence against the influence of the male-dominated organization.

 In conclusion, the different gender role amongst the male and female characters in Susan Glaspell's story "A Jury of Her Peers" helps readers have more empathy for the female oppression, isolation, and gender bias in the story. Both society and individual men oppress women. Men have control over the world as they make and control laws that govern women. At the same time, the societal rules limit women's freedom of moving around, making their own decision, and living their own lives as separate individuals without the control of their husbands. The leading women's responsibilities are confined within the home environment, making most women stuck there, resulting in isolation, while Men often enjoy the company of their friends. Society provides different opportunities for men and women, founded on distinct interests, concerns, and priorities.

Work cited

Glaspell, Susan. "A jury of her peers." Images of Women in Literature (1917): 1-33.

Herrera Medalle, Rovie. "On Susan Glaspell’s Trifles and A Jury of Her Peers: Centennial Essays, Interviews and Adaptations [Reseña]." Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, 22, 343-347. (2018).

Jawad, Enas Jaafar. "The Dilemma of Domestic Violence in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles." Journal of the College of Education for Women 31.1 (2020): 25-36.