What attitudes do the Sheriff and County Attorney express toward the women in this play?

Read and respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings, as well as any follow-up instructor questions directed to you, by the end of the workshop. Identify a portion of your classmates’ response to one of the above questions which you think is unclear or with which you disagree. Include at least one of the following in relation to that response:

1. Ask a question that will help you better understand what your classmate intended to say.
2. Suggest a specific revision which you think would be clearer.
3. Or, explain why you disagree.

STUDENT 1:

1. What attitudes do the Sheriff and County Attorney express toward the women in this play? Include at least one direct quote from the story in your answer.

The men in this play treat the woman as if they are silly minded and incapable of advanced thinking. Pg.195 “Mrs. Peters ( to the other woman). Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. ( to the Lawyer) She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. Sheriff. Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves. County Attorney. I guess before we’re through she may have something more serious than preserves to worry about. ”

How do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters react to the way they are treated by the men?

Mrs. Hale speaks up for herself respectfully, Mrs. Peters is reserved and allows them to think what they will.

1. What do you learn about the married life of the Wrights as you read the play? Support your answer with specific reference to the text. That their marriage was unhappy as he was a no nonsense man she was delicate and happy when she was younger. Pg. 196. No-it’s not cheerful. I shouldn’t say she had the homemaking instinct. Mrs. Hale. Well, I don’t know as Wright had,either. County Attorney. You mean that they didn’t get on very well? Mrs. Hale. No, I don’t mean anything. But I don’t think a place ‘d be any cheerfuller for John Wright’s being in it.”
2. Why do you think Glaspell never has either of the Wrights appear on stage?
3. I think it allows the viewer to connect themselves to the plot on deeper level, by putting themselves in the Wright’s places per their gender and how they would’ve responded.
4. What can the reader infer from the wildly stitched block in Minnie’s quilt?

That she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her thoughts were scattered, her emotions were high from years of unhappiness in a marriage that squelched her individuality and the one thing that brought her joy was taken by the man she couldn’t stand but had served out of duty to her vows.

1. Which character(s) seem(s) to understand the significance of the wild stitches in the quilt, and which do not? Why is this ironic? Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters understand that when a woman is stressed it is often reflected in her work, and the Sheriff, and Attorney, just think that the women folk are shallow minded. It is Ironic as the County Attorney and Sheriff should have been trained to look at all aspects of the home for clues that showed that Mrs. Wright was the murderer of her Husband John Wright, instead they overlooked all the details that were right in front of them.
2. Why do you think Mrs. Hale rips out the crazy stitches?
3. At first, I thought it was perfectionism that caused her to do this, however after rereading the story it hits me that she is protecting her old friend from evidence that could indite her as her life lived as the wife of John Wright was punishment enough.
4. What do think the canary with the wrung neck symbolizes? Explain your answer.

I think the canary symbolizes Minne’s joy and purpose-her life song that was strangled out of her over the years. She was once filled with music and hope before she wed Mr. Wright; which is why she took his life as he did hers…

1. Glaspell also wrote a short story version of this play called “A Jury of Her Peers.” Who seems to be the “jury” in this play? What verdict does this “jury” come to? Explain your answer.

The Jury seems to be the woman who are seeking for her things while the men are seeking answers to who took Mr.Wright’s Life. The Jury comes to the verdict of not guilty based on the pain and heartache she endured from a life of suppression and isolation married to a man who didn’t know how to love.

1. Do you think the verdict the “jury” comes to is fair and just? Explain your answer.

I do believe that the verdict is fair, while their are always consequences to our choices she has endured a life of great pain as his wife. The story tells of woman who was hopeful, filled with joy and looking forward to a life of love and little by little she died and no one came to save her so she saved herself.

STUDENT 2:

1. The Sheriff and County Attorney make fun of the women for worrying about feminine things like, the cans of fruit and the quilt whether or not Mrs. Wright was going to quilt it or knot it. Towrds the beginning of the play Hale says, “Well, women are used to worrying about trifles.”
2. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters react in a defensive and passive way. After Hale said that about women, the women got closer together and seem uncomfortable with the way they are talking about women.
3. I learned that their marriage was not very healthy or happy. Mrs. Wright used to be a very happy person, but Mr. Wright was emotionally abusive to her and she lost her happiness. Mrs. Hale says, “I wonder how it would seem to never have any children around. No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird –a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.”
4. I think that she never has either of the Wright’s on the stage in order help the reader perceive Mr. Mrs. Wright in their own way.
5. The reader can infer that Mrs. Wright stitched block that she did it while she was really upset or anxious about something.
6. The women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters understand the significance in the wild stretches of the quilt and the men do not. This is ironic because according to the standards of the time, the men were the detectives and were supposed to figure out what happened, while the women were actually the ones to understand the situation more than the men.
7. I think the Mrs. Hale rips out the crazy stitches so that no one else will see them and understand what Mrs. Wright was feeling so she has a better chance of being guilty.
8. I think the canary with the wrung neck could symbolize Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright used to sing and be full of life, but when she married Mr. Wright, a part of her died inside and she was no longer singing or lively.
9. I would say Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter are in the jury in the story. They see all the evidence and understand the whole story and they base their decision about Mrs. Wright from what they feel is the right thing to do. Which is to tell the men they solved the case, or they cover up for Mrs. Wright.
10. I can empathize with the women’s decision. However, I do not think that it was moral or just. Murder is murder no matter the circumstance. Mrs. Wright could have had other options instead of killing her husband.