The Unexpected Power of Women in Susan Glaspell’s a Jury of Her Peers

In the short story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” Susan Glaspell illustrates the unexpected power within the domestic sphere that women experience that men cannot understand. Early in the story, the sheriff invites his wife, Mrs.Peters and a friend, Mrs.Hale, to John Wright’s house to gather personal items for Minnie, who is the suspect of murdering her husband, John Wright. While the women are there, they discover evidence the men seek among the domestic sphere.The men are unable to see the importance of the domestic sphere because they are unable to see the importance and intelligence of the women and their lives. The women have a power that’s unexpected and overlooked by the potential of the “trifles” that concern the women.

Beginning in the 1920’s, gender roles were not equal in society. Men and women were not treated the same. A woman and a man's life were very stereotypical. Women were expected to live a proper life. Women were defined as housewives. They were expected to go to church, maintain a clean house, and behave a certain way. Women had great influence at home. They prepared the next generation to carry on the way of life. It was common that women followed traditional values. This was the idea that society should continue following values and rules that were more conservative. Women had to inhabit the domestic sphere, they were defined as a lesser value and were considered physically weaker; they couldn’t do labor work or work at all. Women at this time had no personal rights, they did not have the right to vote. Men on the other hand, lived in a different sphere than women. Men were seen as intellectual and looked at as the head of the house. Men took care of their wives and provided income for their families and typically built the foundation of a family. Men had more rights than women, they were able to vote and work. In contrast of both genders, they had to live in two different spheres with different expectations, women inhabited the domestic sphere and had to avoid the public sphere. Women did not have the ability to give an opinion, men looked at women as if they were weaker and had to inhabit their roles. Gender roles and the living in two different spheres shaped the everyday life of both genders.

In the story, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters go to Minnie Foster’s house to help the sheriff and investigator find clues and to gather things for Mrs. Foster. When the sheriff walks into the kitchen, he criticizes how dirty it is. The sheriff’s hands become sticky from the canned fruit and he then washes his hands. After he washes his hands, he notices dirty pans and a dirty hand towel. He starts to think that Mrs. Foster isn’t a good housekeeper. In addition to, the hand towel symbolizes drudgery. The women notice that the dirty hand towel is a piece of evidence. However, they do not tell the sheriff and the investigator because they overlooked the hand towel as a trifle. Later in the story, the women find a quilt. They tell the sheriff that Mrs. Foster will need her quilt while she is being investigated, the sheriff responds, “At least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to — what is it you call it, ladies?” “We call it — knot it, Mr. Henderson.” This quote symbolizes irony. The men do not notice that this isn't only about the quilt, it's the solution that solves the mystery. The last piece of evidence the women find is the dead bird. Minnie Foster had a bright personality and would sing to her bird. The women notice that the bird’s neck is snapped and that John Wright did this to her bird. It’s believed that Minnie Foster killed her husband. Before Mrs. Foster was married, she was a bright person. When she married her husband, her life became isolated, cold, and sad. The bird symbolizes the way John Wright treated Minnie throughout their marriage. Throughout the story, the men overlook the situations as trifles. The men are oblivious to the importance of women and how intelligent they are. Looking back, two women have common female knowledge and discover the truth about what happened on the night of John Wright’s death.

To summarize, two women find significant clues that they easily found by simple observation of living in a domestic sphere. The male detectives dismiss the women’s efforts as a 'trifle,' because a woman could not be smart enough to assemble the elements of a crime. The women are viewed as weak and cannot do a man’s job. However, throughout the story, the women are useful and are intelligent. Evidently, they are equally superior and intelligent as men. As a result, the two women solve the case, ultimately becoming the true investigators, the judge, and the jury on Minnie's case.