A Jury of Her Peers

The narrative and dramatic tension in this detective story arises from the differences between what the men see—what they allow themselves to see and what they believe is beneath their notice—and what the women see. The women, with their intimate knowledge of women’s work and domestic life, notice the details of the scene around them and solve the crime. In order to explore the thoughts and feelings of her characters, Glaspell uses a third person omniscient narrator to reveal the inner beliefs and motivations of each character, particularly Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters.

The women endure the men’s consistent put-downs and jokes at their expense. Even the kindly Mr. Hale jokes that the women wouldn’t recognize a clue if they found one. The sheriff hides his sexism behind a casual, jovial manner, but he consistently jibes at women and their concerns. For example, he laughs at his wife’s fear when he asks Mrs. Hale to come to the Wrights, and he dismisses “kitchen things” (148) as unimportant to his investigation. The county attorney also laughs at the concerns of the women, and particularly their discussion of whether Mrs. Wright meant to quilt or knot her quilt, and he is harsh in his criticisms of Minnie Wright’s housekeeping skills.

Originally brought together by the men’s dismissive comments and off-the-cuff insults, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters soon find that they see things in a similar way. Both women notice details, and Mrs. Hale is quick to discern and explain the emotional and psychological significance of the evidence in front of them. For example, the half-completed tasks in the kitchen, such as the dirty pots, show that Minnie was depressed, while the half wiped table, show she was interrupted and never had a chance to complete the task. The women experience several moments when their eyes meet and they communicate their understanding of the situation without speaking.

Other evidence includes Minnie’s shabby clothes, the damaged rocker, and the broken-down stove, which show that Mr. Wright did not care about the quality of his wife’s clothes, or how difficult it might be for her to sit comfortably and cook or bake on that decrepit stove. The kitchen speaks volumes to the women about Minnie Wright’s life.

The women find more clues directly related to the murder in the kitchen: the quilt square with deranged sewing, the damaged birdcage with the broken door, and the dead canary with a broken neck inside the pretty box. As they make these discoveries, Mrs. Hale paints a picture of the youthful Minnie Foster, singing in the choir wearing pretty clothes; she was like a bird herself. The contrast with Minnie’s current life as John Wright’s wife couldn’t be starker and as Mrs. Hale describes John Wright’s character we can imagine the silent, shabby, dark, oppressive and abusive loneliness Minnie experienced while living with him.

Though Mrs. Peters, in her role as the sheriff’s wife, holds out for the “law” to address Minnie Wright’s crime, Mrs. Hale encourages Mrs. Peters to see what she has in common with Minnie Wright in an attempt to engender compassion for Minnie. Mrs. Peters does understand the loneliness of silence and the loss of a beloved pet. Mrs. Hale solves the crime when she states that John Wright strangled the bird, so Minnie Wright strangled John Wright. The ironic symbolism of these acts are not lost on the reader: symbolically, Minnie Wright is the canary, so John Wright’s murder of the canary represents his murder of his wife’s heart and life essence; she, in turn, strangles the life out of him.

While the men move in and out of the kitchen at several points, they fail to see any value in what the women are doing, even when the quilt squares are laid out on the table with the birdcage. Only the county attorney asks about the items, but without any real interest. He dismisses the possibility that Mrs. Peters could have any agenda other than helping her husband’s investigation; he assumes that she would tell him anything that would help his investigation because she is “married to the law” (160).

Mrs. Peters decides that she is not married to the law in the way the county attorney imagines. Minnie Wright’s fate hangs upon her judgment, and she ultimately decides that justice for Minnie Wright involves a moral law different from man’s law. Mrs. Peters grabs the box containing the dead bird and Mrs. Hale conceals it in her pocket.