Gender Justice and Equality in a Jury of Her Peers and Lamb to Slaughter

Gender Justice and equality for women throughout the years have been devalued and overlooked by society especially those who are males. These points throughout the short stories Lamb to Slaughter by Roald Dahl are evidently made by the characters, which focuses on the intelligence of a woman, Mary Maloney of getting away with murder after being portray as a simple and guileless housewife, and A Jury of her Peers by Susan Glaspell which focuses on the understanding and knowledge of two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters towards the meaning of the evidence found for Minnie Wright’s motive for killing her husband which men were blind to. Although the stories relay on different motives for the two women killing their husbands, they both convey the fact that women are smarter and insightful from what society has devaluated and overlooked at them.

Both Mrs. Maloney and the two women of A Jury of her Peers have been devaluated of their knowledge of each situation due of the fact that they were women and were surrounded by men. Mary Maloney was never accused or thought of being the killer of her husband, and the two women were able to find the motives of the killer which the man were blind to. Mary Maloney fulfills the roles of caregiver and domestic housewife. She was portrayed as a faithful and naïve woman that loved her husband unconditionally. “She knew he didn't want to speak much until the first drink was finished. She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man”. One night her husband wanted to separate which upset her a lot and she ended up killing him. Mary Maloney was able to manipulate the situation, the detectives and policeman for the investigation which led to no trace of her killing her husband. The men underestimated her and gender stereotype by assuming that the murdered is a man. “Get the weapon you’ve got the man”. Again, this shows the underestimation that the men had over Mary Maloney of being the killer of her husband and the devaluation of her knowledge by men which she conveyed to take the situation smartly without leaving any trace behind. Similarity, the two women in A Jury of her Peers we’re being underestimated by men of their intelligence in finding meaningful motives of why Minnie Wright killed her husband. “The sheriff too looked all around, ‘Nothing here but kitchen things,’ he said, with a little laugh for the insignificance of kitchen things”. This shows how the men though of the kitchen being insignificant because of being a place for “women” when in reality the two women were able to find all the meaningful evidence of why the crime occurred which men didn’t. It is apparent that both Mrs. Maloney and the women of A Jury of her Peers were underestimated of their knowledge and not treated equally by men.

Although both Mary Maloney and the two women were devaluated by men, they were able to convey the fact that women are smarter and insightful from what the men overlook them as. For example, Mary Maloney after being portrayed as naïve and loving wife was able to manipulate the situation and acted as if she has done nothing suspicious with the men she was surrounded by. “Through her sobbing she heard a few of the whispered phrases- “acted normal very cheerful, wanted to give him a good supper, peas, cheesecake, impossible that she done it” . Also, she was smart enough to give the killing weapon (a leg of lamb) to the same men to eat it that way it wouldn’t leave a trace. She was able to outsmart all the policeman wisely. Similarity, the two women of “A Jury of her Peers” were able to outsmart the men by gathering more meaningful evidence of Minnie Wright’s motive into killing her husband. “That look of seeing into things, of seeing through a thing to something else, was in the eyes of the sheriff's wife now”. The women after being able to find the motive of why Minnie Wright killed her husband felt sympathy for her and kept all the evidence to themselves that the men were unable to find. Both women in the stories were able to surpass all the characteristics that men had of them.

In conclusion, even though Mary Maloney and the women of A Jury of her Peers were devaluated of their knowledge and overlooked by men, they were able to covey that women are smarter and insightful from the injustice of gender roles. Both women prove that a gender role doesn’t define the intelligence of a person. That it doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man both can have opinions and act a certain way without being judge and having equal rights.

Works Cited

• Glaspell, Susan. 'A Jury of Her Peers.' The Best Short Stories of 1917 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story. Ed. Edward J. O'Brien. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1918. 256. LitFinder. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
• Dahl, Roald. 'Lamb to the Slaughter.' The World's Best Short Stories: Anthology & Criticism. Vol. 5: Mystery and Detection. Great Neck, NY: Roth Publishing, Inc., 1991. 58. The World's Best Series. LitFinder. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.