A Jury of Her Peers

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An essay based on “A Jury of Her Peers” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” Introduction A Jury of Her Peers and The Yellow Wallpaper are both present stories that symbolize the hardships of women in a male-controlled society, a society where men are considered superior. A Jury of Her peers is a short story written by Susan Glaspell. It depicts women’s experiences and raises questions related to women’s oppression in a society that is dominated by men. It raises issues of gender variances and the need to empower women through encouraging female bonding. It has connections with the law as it speaks of a woman (Minnie Foster) who is accused with charges of murdering the spouse. Subsequently, the woman’s house is searched for the purposes of acquiring evidence related to the crime. The sheriff, the prosecutor and a male neighbor proceed to the crime scene area which is the victim’s house to investigate the crime. Along with them are two women; The sheriff’s wife (Mrs Peters) and the neighbor’s wife (Mrs Hale). Glaspell contrasts the role of women and men in the society. Men are portrayed as representatives of the law while the women have just come to offer a helping hand by collecting clothes for the accused. However, there is a sudden twist of events in which, the women uncover the evidence that shows that the wife was being mistreated by the husband. Nonetheless, they know that this evidence will be used against the wife in the courtroom to prove that she had a motive for the murder. In empathizing with her, as well as recognizing their moral failure by not coming to her assistance, they decide to hide the critical evidence from the men (Glaspell, 1992). This story depicts the differences between men and women to be more than just physical variances, but also the emotional and psychosocial reactions vary as well. Throughout the story, women and men portray different

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