remembers that she “just went on pleatin' at her apron" while talking to him. Because she’s the only one at the house, and so unmoved by the event, everyone assumes that she killed her husband.

As the men search through the house, they do not find any evidence, but the women, who spend time paying attention to the details, find the needed proof. As they enter the house, the men mock the small messes left behind and her concerns over her preserves. As they look around, the women begin to put together the true story of Minnie Wright. They notice that all of her clothes were worn and old because John wouldn’t let her buy new ones and that he was a “hard man” to live with.

The hard evidence comes when they notice a birdcage with no bird in it. They wonder if a cat got it or if it flew away. They realize the door’s hinge is pulled apart.

Looks as if someone must have been—rough with it.

As they put away Minnie’s sewing materials, they find the bird in her box—it had been strangled. When they found the dead bird, they knew what happened in the Wright House.

And then again the eyes of the two women met—this time clung together in a look of dawning comprehension, of growing horror. Mrs. Peters looked from the dead bird to the broken door of the cage. Again their eyes met.

The men notice the empty cage, but the women lie and say the cat must have gotten to the bird. Mrs. Peters reminds Mrs. Hale, “of course we don't know who killed the bird,” but the two know John’s tendencies and believe he killed the bird, the only thing Minnie loved, and so Minnie killed John.

Mrs. Wright is a lonely woman whose marriage cut her off from the rest of the world and what she loved. Though the men investigating the case, Sheriff Peters and Mr. Hale, can't find any evidence in the house that explains why Mrs. Wright might have killed her husband, their wives, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, are able to piece together Mrs. Wright's psychological makeup.

The women recall that Mrs. Wright, formerly Minnie Foster, used to be fond of singing before she was married; however, married life has not permitted her to continue this interest. In addition, Mrs. Wright has no children and lives in a remote farmhouse that leaves her with endless work and little time to socialize. The women find a dead bird; they believe that it had been Mrs. Wright's pet and that it was killed by her husband. The women surmise that Mrs. Wright, lonely, depressed, and overworked, killed her husband in a fit of rage over the death of the bird.

Mrs. Wright was a victim of domestic violence and the play touches upon themes such as female oppression and empowerment.  Domestic violence was not a topic that was discussed in the early 1900s, so it is critical to understand the kinds of relationships between men and women in society during this period.  Women could not serve on juries, nor did they have the right to vote and were held to a traditional code of behavior. Women were to stay home and take care of the house. They were to be seen, but not heard.

Mrs. Wright was completely isolated and unable to connect with others.  Before her marriage, she was outgoing, friendly, sung in a choir and wore fancy dresses.  Years after her marriage, she became reserved, withdrawn, and did not participate in social associations (Ex. Ladies' Aid).  One can infer that her husband "sucked" the life out of her and that the dead canary symbolizes Mrs. Wright's life and state of mind. The murder of her husband was her defiance to the traditional code of behavior bestowed upon women.  She could no longer live under such horrific conditions and she believed this was the only way to break free of her dominating and abusive husband.  The women in the kitchen uncovered the clues as to what had been happening in the house, but the men did not notice the evidence.  Instead, they were too preoccupied with the fact that the house was unkempt and that Mrs. Wright did not know how to keep house.

In the short story "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, several characters go together to a remote farmhouse to look for clues concerning the murder of John Wright, the owner of the farm. His wife, Minnie, has been accused of committing the murder and is being held in jail. The characters include Lewis Hale and his wife, Sheriff Peters and his wife, and the county attorney. On a visit, Mr. Hale and his son had found Minnie Wright sitting downstairs in the kitchen while her husband was dead upstairs with a rope around his neck. Mr. Hale describes Mrs. Wright's appearance after the murder as "queer," "done up," "scared," and "as if she didn't know what she was going to do next." However, he seems puzzled by her attitude and does not offer much insight into her state of mind. He is just guessing.

While the men go around the house and grounds looking for clues, the women wait together in the kitchen. As they look around, they find evidence of Minnie Wright's motive and also what her state of mind must have been like after the murder. The character who offers the most insight into this is Mrs. Hale, because she has known Mrs. Wright for decades and lives nearby, but Mrs. Peters also ultimately empathizes with what Mrs. Wright must have gone through. Mrs. Hale regrets not going to see Minnie more often, because she knew that her husband was a hard, austere man and Minnie must have been lonely.

Near the beginning of the investigation, Mrs. Peters mentions that after her arrest, Minnie Wright was concerned that her preserve jars might burst from the cold, and most of them have. The men criticize the messiness of the kitchen, but Mrs. Hale points out that "there's a great deal of work to be done on a farm." Alone downstairs the women, especially Mrs. Hale, piece together what it must have been like for Mrs. Wright just after the murder. She "had to come away in such a hurry," so she didn't have time to put things in order. Mrs. Hale finds one fruit jar unbroken and supposes Mrs. Wright would be glad to see that all of her work preserving fruit was not in vain.

The women gather clothes for Minnie Wright, and Mrs. Peters says that she also wanted an apron, presumably so that she would "feel more natural." Mrs. Hale's first impression is that Mrs. Wright couldn't have committed the murder as she was acting so natural asking about her preserves and for her apron and shawl. Mrs. Peters comments about how Minnie Wright must have felt discouraged and lost heart.

The women then notice some sewing on a quilt that is not done right, and Mrs. Hale tries to fix it. It is as if Mrs. Hale is attempting to resolve the state of nervousness and confusion that Mrs. Wright was in after the murder. Finally, of course, the women find the bird cage and the dead bird. They then have the insight that Minnie Wright was nervous and confused because she did commit the murder in her anger at her husband for killing the bird. Mrs. Peters tells a story of a boy who killed her kitten with a hatchet and how she would have hurt him if she had been able to. Mrs. Hale realizes how Minnie Wright would have loved the bird and how she used to sing too, but her husband took that away.

We see, then, that both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters provide insight into how Minnie Wright felt both before and after the murder. Their insights are accurate because they empathize with her and because they find evidence to back them up.

The suspense in the story is largely centred around whether the men are capable of proving that Mrs Wright killed her husband using the evidence they are presented with, and whether the women will support or betray poor Minne Wright.

Mrs Wright would clearly be seen as guilty, though possibly by reason of insanity with the scant evidence that the men manage to uncover-

"No, Peters," said the county attorney incisively; "it's all perfectly clear, except the reason for doing it. But you know juries when it comes to women. If there was some definite thing--something to show. Something to make a story about. A thing that would connect up with this clumsy way of doing it."

The suspense is in whether Mrs Hale and Mrs Peters will abide by the laws of the state or the laws of femininity: whether they are 'married to the Law' or have a sense of justice beyond the law. The choices they make hold Minnie Wright's life in their hands.

Then Martha Hale's eyes pointed the way to the basket in which was hidden the thing that would make certain the conviction of the other woman--that woman who was not there and yet who had been there with them all through that hour.

The audience is surprised when the women unite to remove the key piece of evidence and revels in their ability to piece together the motives of Mrs Wright's actions which the men remain ignorant of.

It is a much changed woman from Minnie Foster who sits in the jail as the story begins. Mrs. Wright has become a rather nondescript and withdrawn woman, while Minnie Foster was vivacious and sociable and pretty.

As Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters wait on their husbands who have gone upstairs in the Wright house to search from clues to the murder of Mr. Wright, they move about in the kitchen and straighten some things that are out of place. Earlier, Mrs. Hale has looked at the rocking chair in the kitchen in which Mrs. Wright was sitting when Mr. Hale visited the Wrights. She has thought this rocker "didn't look in the least like Minnie Foster...of twenty years before." Now, after Mrs. Peters has fetched a shabby black skirt that has been mended many times to be taken to Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale remarks that perhaps Mrs. Wright kept to herself because she had no nice things to wear. 

"She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively--when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls, singing in the choir."

Later, as the women talk more, Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters,

"I wish you'd seen Minnie Foster...when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang."

This description is certainly in contrast to the taciturn and distracted woman rocking in the chair that Mr. Hale greeted the other day:

"I said "Ho' do, Mrs. Wright? It's cold, ain't it?' And she said, 'Is it?'--and went on pleatin' at her apron."

The Minnie Foster that Mrs. Wright was formerly is clearly a different woman from that who has suffered isolation and deprivation. Once a pretty and charming young woman who was active in her community, a woman who enjoyed the pleasure of being in a choir and singing before others, now Mrs. Wright is an isolated, lonely, plain woman who suffers from the lack of socialization and the enjoyment of music.

To understand Minnie Foster Wright's thoughts and feelings, readers must examine the clues left behind in her home. She has been arrested and does not appear in the story, and so her characterization comes only through what is found in her house and what is said about her, particularly by the two women who are brought to Minnie's home.

Minnie felt isolated at her farm. Though her neighbors are people she has known for years, the work of farmers and farm wives keeps them busy, with little time and extra money for socializing or other forms of entertainment. Her world is limited to the domestic duties that are her lot: cooking, cleaning, mending, and quilting. There seems to be no love in her marriage nor warmth and charm in their home. She is quite likely depressed, judging from the unkempt appearance of the kitchen with its dirty towels and dishes.

It is also possible that Minnie felt angry and/or unsafe because of her husband's behavior. The small pleasure of a songbird in a cage brutally came to an end when her husband broke the bird's neck. It is reasonable to think that Minnie choked the life from her husband as a reaction to a life filled with psychological abuse, loneliness, and despair exacerbated by rural poverty.

They miss the meaning of the preserves. When Mr. Peters says, "Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder, and worrying about her preserves!" he shows he doesn't understand the major role that household details will play.

They miss the uneven block of sewing in the quilt, about which is said: 

"The sewing," said Mrs. Peters, in a troubled way, "All the rest of them have been so nice and even--but--this one. Why, it looks as if she didn't know what she was about!"

They miss the bird cage, and the damage done to it; they miss the dead bird. They miss the changes in the women's faces and voices, which should have signaled them by themselves.

In the short story "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, a group of people go to the home of John Wright, a local farmer, to investigate his murder. His wife, Minnie, has been arrested for the crime. The group includes farmer Lewis Hale and his wife, Sheriff Peters and his wife, and Henderson, the county attorney. The three men go around the house looking for clues, leaving Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in the kitchen after belittling them for being concerned with supposedly insignificant household details. As Mr. Hale says, "Women are used to worrying over trifles."

As Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters look around the kitchen, they discover details that indicate Mrs. Wright's distraught state of mind. These include the general disheveled state of the kitchen, the unfinished task of emptying a bag of sugar, the kitchen table wiped half clean, and a quilt with some incorrect sewing in it. After finding these details, Mrs. Peters asks, "What do you suppose she was so nervous about?"

These indications show that Minnie was anxious about something, but then the two women find other clues that convince them that she did probably kill her husband. First they find a birdcage with a broken door. After that, they find a dead canary wrapped up nicely in a pretty box in Minnie's sewing kit. The two women conclude that the bird must have comforted Minnie, but her cruel, abusive husband killed it. That must have been more than she could take after decades of deprivation and abuse, and so Minnie must have killed her husband in retaliation.

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are the "peers," or equals, of Minnie Wright that the story's title refers to. Although the two women are not abused like Minnie was, they are belittled and subjugated by their husbands. They do not believe that Minnie Foster will be treated fairly in a jury trial conducted by men, and so they make the decision not to share the evidence of the cage and the dead bird. In Glaspell's viewpoint, justice is served, because the women are more competent to judge Minnie than the men are.