A Jury of Her Peers Literary Elements

Short story, mystery, feminist literature

Dickson County, Iowa, around the turn of the 20th century.

The story is written from the third-person point of view and by an omniscient narrator.

Tone: meditative, foreboding, gloomy

Mood: gloomy, anxious, lonely, desolate, dreary

Protagonists: Women (both collectively, and the specific women characters). Antagonists: Men (both collectively, and the specific men characters).

There is a micro-conflict in whether or not the men will find a motive and the women will turn over the dead bird, but there is a macro-conflict in terms of whether Minnie is to be judged by the men or by the women, only the latter of whom constitute a legitimate "jury of her peers."

The discovery of a dead canary is the climax of the story because it reveals Minnie's motive—and, therefore, her guilt.

The scene in which Marta has to leave her unfinished task and join her husband on his way to the Wrights foreshadows the events of the story: not only do readers understand that something bad has happened, but later, the women also discover that Minnie also left several things unfinished in her kitchen.

When Hale asks if he can see John, Minnie merely replies "No." This is an understatement because the "no" suggests John is busy, or out, or perhaps in a bad mood. It does not suggest that he is actually dead.

The short story fictionalizes and thereby alludes to the murder of John Hossack in Iowa, 1901.

See separate "Imagery" section of this ClassicNote.

Mrs. Hale suggests one of the paradoxes of this situation: that she and Minnie live close and have similar lives, but that they seem to be distant and isolated from each other.

-Mrs. Hale's leaving the bread unmade and her kitchen a mess parallel the half-done things she will find in Minnie's kitchen.
-The murder of Mrs. Peters's kitten is paralleled by the murder of the canary.

-"Keep your eye out." This is metonymy used to suggest the women pay attention to what they see in the house.
-"Let me tell you. I had my hands full yesterday." Peters says this, which is metonymy to indicate that he is very busy.

-"Had a voice that seemed to be backing up the law with every word."
-"It seems kind of sneaking: locking her up and coming out here to get her own house to turn against her!"