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Essay / Men vs. The Perception of Women: The Gender Divide in "A Jury of Her Peers"
Table of ContentsIntroductionMen versus Women in the Early 1900sConclusionIntroductionMany essays highlight the theme of men versus women in different ways. Here we will explore this theme through “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell. The short story "A Jury of Her Peers" shows the sharp divide in the perception of the roles of men versus women in the early 1900s, and how women were belittled and underestimated by men. The author, Susan Glaspell, highlights the difficulties faced by women during this time and how men did not view women as equals, as evidenced by the sexism towards women in history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayMen Against Women in the Early 1900sIt's easy to see the sexism in Susan Glaspell's "A Jury of Her Peers." In this 1917 short story, based on the real-life case of a woman who killed her husband with an axe, men demeaned both women. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters accompanied their husbands to the crime scene. The men deemed the women incapable of helping to solve the case. But it was the women, paying attention to the small details and understanding the woman's experience, who discovered that Minnie Foster, the wife, was guilty of her husband's murder. She had murdered him because he mistreated her. Upon learning this information, the two women decide to help cover up the evidence so that Minnie can be declared innocent. If the men found the evidence, they would find Minnie guilty and shame her. Men would never believe that the husband had been violent towards his wife. Author of "A Jury of Her Peers" Susan Glaspell, born in 1876 in Davenport, Iowa, grew up in a community that did not believe in women's rights to education and employment. Glaspell had rejected these ideas and attended Drake University, where she excelled among a predominantly male student body. After graduating, Glaspell accepted a reporting position at the Des Moines Daily News. Through this work, she covered the historic 1900 case of the unsolved murder of John Hossack. This affair inspired her to write a one-act play called "Bagatelles", which became the short story "A Jury of Her Peers". ( Champlin, Nikola. 'A jury of his peers.' LitCharts. )Susan Glaspell does a wonderful job of telling the story through the characters of Minnie Foster Wright, John Wright's wife, and Mrs. Hale, who describes Minnie as a lively, cheerful young woman whose voice could be heard among the choir. After marrying John Wright, a man described as a good man because he never drank and always kept his word, Minnie transformed into a completely different person. Instead of being lively and happy, she became quiet, sad and lonely and she didn't seem happy in her marriage. When her husband was discovered murdered, she became the prime suspect. She was held in a jail cell while the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, found evidence that Minnie had indeed killed her husband. Then they discovered a bird that had been strangled in the same way Mr. Wright had been killed. Both women remembered that the little bird was a pet kept by Mrs. Wright and that he was one of the only things that brought her happiness. She hadn't seemed happy in her marriage, but she was still happy with the little bird. It then became clear to both women that Mr. Wright was in fact a.