A Subordination of Women in A Jury Of Her Peers the 19th and 20th Century Literature

In both The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman and A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell, the main characters, women, are considered almost second-class. “‘Martha!’ now came her husband’s impatient voice. ‘Don’t keep folks waiting out here in the cold,” (Glaspell) Martha’s husband is demanding of her and does not give her any choice in the matter of whether or not she gets to clean up the house before she is rushed out. Her husband had made the decision to leave and it was final.

During the 19m and 20‘h century women did not have nearly as many freedoms as they do today. Many times in their marriages they were restricted by their husbands and society on how to act, what they could do, and where they could go. Men were also the ones who would go out of the house and work while the women were the keepers of the house. Due to this social norm the women were kept ignorant and almost childlike as evident in The Yellow Wallpaper: “That was clever, for really I wasn’t alone a hit!

As soon as it was moonlight and that poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern, I got up and ran to help her,” (Gilman) The narrator has gotten to the point where she has gone crazy.

She has contributed being trapped by the wallpaper to the reality of being trapped by her husband and society. This story element is interesting because Gilman faced the same predicament with restrictions being placed on her ability to write and create art.

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In both The Yellow Wallpaper and A Jury afHer Peers the location of the story is a house in an isolated location away from others. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper is unable to communicate with others and is physically isolated and restricted.

This mirrors her emotional restrictions and isolation that increases over the 3 months that the story takes place. Minnie Wright from A Jury ofHer Peers was also in a physically isolated location on a farm. She never had any visitors over the years and became depressed with life. “‘Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while!’ she cried. ‘That was a crime! That was a crime! Who’s going to punish that?” (Glaspell) Martha hale realizes that Minnie’s lack of visitors took a toll on her. This physical isolation forced her to become emotionally isolated as the only person there was her husband, yet she was alone most of the day when he worked as she had no kids.

Coupled with an abusive relationship, Minnie had to take matters into her own hands. Both of the stories give a different insight on how women in the 19m and early 20m century felt and the experiences that they went through, As divorce was not a common thing women had to endure abuse and depression without others to comfort them when needed. Without any control over their lives women may have gone made as in The Yellow Wallpaper, or taken extreme measures to fix their situation as in A Jury of Her Peers.