Customer Reviews

The Short Story Library: A Jury of Her Peers (Creative Short Stories)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I teach special education English classes to high school age teens at a drug treatment center. I find myself coming back to this short drama again and again for use in my classroom. The themes of trust, loyalty, and isolation set against a murder mystery backdrop make for a thought-provoking and engaging read.

"A Jury of Her Peers" is a good short story and a must to read along with Glaspell's play "Trifles." The character development is better along with the emotions. I recommend.

Upon reading Susan Glaspell: a Critical Biography in high school, I learned that within the era of Glaspell's most important stories and plays, it was mainly unacceptable to talk outwardly about the issue faced by woman within their homes and marriages. For any writer who chose to raise awareness of these issues, it was necessary to sneak into hard questions and uncomfortable truths through innuendo and suggestion. Jury of Her Peers deals with the investigation of a man's "mysterious" murder. While the layman can't even conceive of a motive, the layman's wives figure out the truth in a way that requires feminine understanding and sisterhood. There was surely an influential and important story during this time, and some of the dramatic elements are still poignant today. This is wonderful period piece, though literature has since provided much stronger commentary on women's issues.

In the era of Susan Glaspell's most important plays and stories, it was still largely unacceptable to talk outwardly about the issues faced by women within their homes and marriages. For any writer who wished to raise awareness of such issues, it was necessary to sneak into hard questions and uncomfortable truths through innuendo and suggestion. This classic story deals with the investigation of a rural man's "mysterious" murder. While the lawmen can't even conceive of a motive, the lawmen's wives figure out the truth in a way that requires feminine understanding and sisterhood. This was surely an influential and important story during its time, and some of the dramatic elements are still poignant today. But unfortunately, the outcome is (now) pretty predictable, with no surprises in store from the innuendo that Glaspell leaves up in the air for readers to ponder. The story also suffers from awkward dialogue and ungraceful word choice, while the characters are mostly the stereotypes that Glaspell was probably trying to avoid. This is a pretty good period piece, though literature has since provided much stronger commentary on women's issues. [~doomsdayer520~]

I think this story was well-written... I can understand and even sympathize with the author's feelings and views. I can also EMPATHIZE with what the author wrote, too... my own father was very much like the husband in this story, and his severe mistreatment has hopelessly scarred me for life. Still, I cannot condone murder to solve anything like this. It is too bad that at this time in American history, women were so oppressed and their feelings were so disregarded that they often had no legal recourse to stop abusive husbands, and so may have been forced to take such drastic measures in order to get any relief. I am so glad that things are somewhat different now (although we still have a long way to go to give women the rights and privileges they deserve).