A Jury Of Her Peers Analysis

“A Jury Of Her Peers” is a short story about a women who is being investigated by her peers and is taken to trial regarding her husband’s death. A significant theme displayed is gender roles and how it impacts the story. The gender roles displayed throughout “A Jury Of Her Peers” are a women’s ability to express empathy, the manner in which both genders approach the investigation, and the different gender perception given on Mr. Wright’s cause of death.
In “A Jury Of Her Peers” the women convey empathy to Minnie. This effects the audience because “The story presents both viewpoints, the readers take perspective of the women and are convinced” that “ empathy is a necessary component of the pursuit of Justice” (Mary M. Bendel-Simso). Glaspell emphasizes the
Wright’s cause of death plays a key role in the story. The men “see John Wright’s death as the point of departure for their investigation, the women see his death as closure; not the beginning, but the end, and as such their role is to protect Minnie Foster, for true Justice will only be served if she is protected from the Law”(Mary M. Bendel-Simso). The men only seek justice for other men and “impose law upon women”. The men do not take the women’s feelings under consideration; they are only concerned with themselves and the law. Likewise, “The men think that slipping a rope around his neck is a ‘funny’ way to kill a man when there is a gun in the house, readers—now empathizing with Minnie and agreeing with Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters—recognize this as the logical choice of symbolic gallows by his victim/executioner”. The men assumed that the idea of how Minnie killed John was much more time consuming and tedious than it could have been. This demonstrates that men typically think of the easiest and quickest way to handle situations. The readers are more inclined to side with the women because they explain why the way Mr. Wright was killed and the symbolism displayed in the