A Jury Of Her Peers Symbolism

At its surface, a work may prove to be entertaining and playful, pulling the reader further and further into its plot. However, it is often not the depth of the plot that we must concern ourselves with, but rather the depth of its message and the means by which the author achieves a significant meaning. Symbolism and allegory, both elements of literature that convey more than what they might first suggest, are therefore commonplace in well-written pieces and their unity to the central theme is a reliable indicator of a work’s literary merit. Susan Glaspell expertly employs symbolism to a great extent in “A Jury of Her Peers” to demonstrate the complexity of determining guilt. In writing, a symbol “is something that means more than what it
One of the important symbols early in the story is how Mrs. Peterson is frequently referred to as the “sheriff’s wife” and is never given a first name. Glaspell’s careful choice here to reduce Mrs. Peterson down to simply being someone’s wife is symbolic of her lack of power and, in the broader scope of the story, how women’s opinions in the 20th century were generally disregarded. This literary move provides significant compression because it shows us the relationship between the women and men before we even see the overt ignorance of the men later in the story; it is also more impactful than the ensuing scenes in that it requires us to recognize and deliberate upon why Glaspell would be choosing to leave out certain details about Mrs. Peterson. Upon reaching our own conclusions, we are more partial to the idea of the women being ignored and will keep that idea in mind throughout the entire
In the house, there are signs of housekeeping activities left half finished like the bag of sugar, the dish-towel on the table, and the quilt, details which the men find inconsequential and lead them to incorrectly assume that Minnie is a bad housekeeper. However, the men’s ignorance should quickly become apparent from the way that the women react to the unfinished tasks, “It was as if her mind tripped on something. Her eye was caught by a dish-towel in the middle of the kitchen table” (Glaspell 560) implying that there is more significance to the towel than meets the eye. Rather than serving as evidence of inept housekeeping, these minute details indicate turmoil within the household, cuing the reader to formulate their own opinions of what happened.
Nearing the end of the narrative, Glaspell implements the coup de tête symbol of the bird. The women’s disbelief is clear, “‘But, Mrs. Peters!’ cried Mrs. Hale. ‘Look at it! Its neck—look at its neck! It’s all—other side to’” (565) and the broken neck of the bird is an allusion to how Mr. Wright was strangled. At the same time, the bird itself symbolizes Minnie’s free and joyful spirit and how it was killed off my the cruelty of Mr. Wright. By indirectly implying that Minnie strangled Mr. Wright, the reader is more likely to sympathize with Minnie’s side of the