Analysis of Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of Her Peers (A staple in feminist literary studies today)

Literariness ^ | 5/27/2021 | Nasrullah Mambrol

[Faith Presses On]

Originally written and performed in 1916 as a play called Trifles, “A Jury of Her Peers” appeared in Everyweek on March 5, 1917, and became Susan Glaspell’s best-known story...

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Martha and Mrs. Peters, the female sleuths in this story (which actually may be viewed as a form of detective fiction), examine the kitchen and, through such evidence as jam jars, quilts, an empty bird cage, and, finally, a dead bird, deduce the loneliness, poverty, and emotional devastation of Minnie Foster’s marriage. The loud, heavy footsteps of the men punctuate the two women’s gradual understanding that Minnie Foster murdered her husband in the same way that he had cruelly killed her canary. Although Martha Hale has been sympathetic all along, the little bird corpse is the deciding factor for Mrs. Peters, who recalls a similar incident in her youth: She easily could have killed the boy who destroyed her cat. More important, however, is Mrs. Peter’s awakening to the similarities between Minnie’s husband and her own. She joins Martha in conspiring to hide the dead bird, thus destroying the only physical evidence of Minnie’s motivation to murder. Minnie has been judged by a jury of her peers, and they have found her innocent.

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[Faith Presses On]

Text of the play the story was based on (both were inspired by a true case the author Glaspell covered as a female news reporter, a rarity probably at that time):

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10623/10623-h/10623-h.htm