Can you argue that Martha Hale is the main character in "A Jury of Her Peers"?
You can definitely argue this, and there are certain elements of the text that you can use to help prove this argument. Firstly, it is clear that she is one of the major characters simply because of the amount of time the text focuses on her. The story starts with her as she leaves her kitchen to go and accompany Mrs. Peters, and Martha Hale is also the person whose speech closes the story. This indicates the way that the author of this tale is using Martha as a prime character in order to communicate her message.
Also, let us remember that Martha Hale is the character who encourages Mrs. Peters to defy the male patriarchy of their world in concealing the one bit of evidence that conceivably links Minnie Wright to the murder of her husband. It is she who experiences massive regret as she sees the reality of...
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the life that transformed the bright young Minnie Foster into an oppressed wife who suffered great loneliness and sadness. It is she who finally confronts Mrs. Peters with the reality of their situation and the problem that Minnie Wright faces:
There was a moment when they held each other in a steady, burning look in which there was no evasion or flinching. 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.
Martha Hale is therefore the most important character in the way that she is presented as the character the story begins and ends with, but also through her role in encouraging Mrs. Peters to defy the patriarchal authority of the world which so desperately wants to convict Minnie Wright for a crime that she committed.
Who is Martha Hale in "A Jury of Her Peers"?
Martha Hale is a farmer's wife who lives near Minnie Wright. Her husband happened to find the hanged body of Mr. John Wright the day before. Because Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, who is packing up some things for Mrs. Wright in jail, wants company, Mrs. Hale comes with her husband to the Wright farm.
We learn about Mrs. Hale from her reaction to the crime scene. While the men make fun of Minnie as a poor housekeeper for leaving everything in a disarray, Mrs. Hale thinks of how she was pulled away just now from her own kitchen and feels sympathy for Minnie. From the start she is defensive of Minnie, dreading that her old friend will be tried for murder.
Mrs. Hale grew up with Minnie and remembers her as a pretty girl who liked to sing and wear nice clothes. But although they live close to each other, Mrs. Hale hasn't visited her friend for a year, due to the grim feeling at the farmhouse. Mrs. Hale has the insight to understand that John Wright was a harsh man who made his wife's life miserable.
Mrs. Hale is a compassionate woman who identifies with Minnie and represents the perspective of a farm wife and fellow female. She and Mrs. Peters realize that Minnie murdered her husband but take her side and suppress evidence linking her to the crime.