Keyword Guide · character-analysis
When diving into Susan Glaspell’s A Jury of Her Peers, the opening scene establishes every core character and sets the dark, tense tone of the story. Understanding these figures’ roles from the start is critical for analyzing the story’s themes of gender and justice. This guide breaks down who each character is and how they function in the opening moments.
The story opens with three male characters focused on solving a suspected murder: Sheriff Peters, the local law enforcement lead; Mr. Henderson, a county attorney eager to build a high-profile case; and Mr. Hale, a farmer who discovered the crime scene. Each man approaches the investigation with a formal, logic-driven mindset, dismissing small, ‘feminine’ details as irrelevant to the case.
Two female characters accompany the men: Mrs. Peters, the sheriff’s quiet, hesitant wife, and Mrs. Hale, Mr. Hale’s sharp, observant spouse. Initially sidelined by the men, the women tag along to gather personal items for the accused, Minnie Wright. Their interactions in the opening hint at their shared understanding of the unspoken pressures of rural female life, a dynamic that drives the story’s core conflict.
Though she never appears in person, Minnie Wright is the story’s emotional center. The opening scene frames her as a reclusive, abused woman accused of killing her husband. The men and women view her through starkly different lenses: the men see a cold killer, while the women already recognize signs of her long-unseen suffering in her home.
For essays or discussions, structure your analysis into three parts: 1) Compare the male characters’ dismissive tone vs. the women’s attentive observations in the opening. 2) Trace how the women’s shared gendered experiences emerge in their early dialogue. 3) Analyze how Minnie Wright’s off-stage presence shapes the group’s dynamic from the first scene. Use this framework to build clear, evidence-based points for quizzes or class presentations.
The men operate under a 1900s-era belief that women’s concerns and observations are trivial, unrelated to ‘serious’ investigative work. They see the women’s focus on small, domestic details as a distraction from solving the ‘real’ crime.
Mrs. Hale mentions a memory of Minnie as a bright, social young woman before her marriage, hinting at a shared understanding of how isolation and control can erode a person’s spirit. This connection primes her to notice clues the men miss.
Minnie Wright’s absence creates a blank slate that the men and women fill with conflicting narratives. The opening uses her off-stage status to highlight the gap between male-dominated legal logic and female empathy.
Continue in App
Download the Readi.AI iOS app (App Store id6758831794) to get instant, structured character analyses, essay outlines, and quiz prep tailored to A Jury of Her Peers. Simplify your literature studies and boost your grades today.
