A Jury Of Her Peers Summary
That Canary Had It Coming
by
Tom Brooksher
Professor Kirchner
ENC1102 24269 TR 11:30
23 Feb. 2017 Susan Glaspell’s 1917 short story “A Jury of Her Peers” was based on a one act play she had written called ‘Trifles’, which was first performed in 1916. This story’s themes centered around the ideas of gender roles as they stood during the progressive era in the United States. The role a person’s gender played in society during the progressive era was vastly different than the way it is perceived today. This piece of work helps to illustrate what was expected of women and how condescending men were in Glaspell’s era.
In the progressive era, a woman was expected to get married and tend to the household chores while her husband worked. Women in this era generally did not get jobs and were not allowed to vote. Men had a dismissive attitude about women’s ability to apply logic and reason to serious situations and this is reflected heavily within the story. “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (Glaspell 543). This serves to demonstrate the general disregard for women’s ability to conduct a serious investigation. The men in this story blunder around the house looking for clues as to how the murder had happened and manage to completely overlook the idea of why it had …show more content…
Glaspell did a wonderful job of showing that women are not just simple and ignorant things which are less capable than men. The societal perception of gender roles has changed drastically since this piece was written, there is still a long way to go until true equality is achieved. While women today can legally vote and work and do many other things that men can do, they are often served the right to do these things at a disadvantage. For example, a woman doing the same exact job as a man often makes less money than he
by
Tom Brooksher
Professor Kirchner
ENC1102 24269 TR 11:30
23 Feb. 2017 Susan Glaspell’s 1917 short story “A Jury of Her Peers” was based on a one act play she had written called ‘Trifles’, which was first performed in 1916. This story’s themes centered around the ideas of gender roles as they stood during the progressive era in the United States. The role a person’s gender played in society during the progressive era was vastly different than the way it is perceived today. This piece of work helps to illustrate what was expected of women and how condescending men were in Glaspell’s era.
In the progressive era, a woman was expected to get married and tend to the household chores while her husband worked. Women in this era generally did not get jobs and were not allowed to vote. Men had a dismissive attitude about women’s ability to apply logic and reason to serious situations and this is reflected heavily within the story. “But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (Glaspell 543). This serves to demonstrate the general disregard for women’s ability to conduct a serious investigation. The men in this story blunder around the house looking for clues as to how the murder had happened and manage to completely overlook the idea of why it had …show more content…
Glaspell did a wonderful job of showing that women are not just simple and ignorant things which are less capable than men. The societal perception of gender roles has changed drastically since this piece was written, there is still a long way to go until true equality is achieved. While women today can legally vote and work and do many other things that men can do, they are often served the right to do these things at a disadvantage. For example, a woman doing the same exact job as a man often makes less money than he