A Jury of Her Peers (Susan Glaspell) — graded reader B1–B2

A Jury of Her Peers

A graded reader · Susan Glaspell · B1–B2

Warm-up

• Do you enjoy crime stories or detective series? Which is your favourite?

• Would you like to live on a farm, far from your nearest neighbour? Why or why not?

• When you visit someone's home for the first time, what do you notice?

• How well do you know your neighbours? Who would you call in an emergency?

The author and the book

Susan Glaspell (1876–1948)

Susan Glaspell was born in 1876 in Davenport, Iowa. After university, she became a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News.

In December 1900, an Iowa farmer called John Hossack was killed with an axe in the night. His wife, Margaret, said that a stranger had done it, but she was arrested. Glaspell wrote 26 stories about the case. At first she described Margaret as cold and hard, but after she visited the farmhouse, she wrote about her with much more sympathy. Soon afterwards, Glaspell left journalism to write fiction.

In 1915, she and her husband, George Cram Cook, started a small theatre group, the Provincetown Players. Remembering the Hossack case, she wrote a short play called Trifles. On its first night, 8 August 1916, Glaspell acted in it herself. A year later, she turned the play into this story. It appeared in the magazine Every Week on 5 March 1917.

In 1931, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. She died in 1948 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Key words

sheriff

county attorney

motive

the most important police officer in a county (an area of a US state)

the lawyer who tries to prove, in court, that a person accused of a crime is guilty

the reason why someone does something, especially a crime

trifles

quilt

small things that are not important

a warm bed cover made of small pieces of cloth; you can join its layers with lines of tiny stitches (quilt it) or with little knots of thread (knot it)

Let's talk

• Glaspell reported on a real murder before she wrote this. How might that change a writer?

• Do men and women notice different things? Or is that just a stereotype?

• Can a small everyday object tell you a lot about a person? Give an example.

• A jury decides if someone is guilty. What might "a jury of her peers" mean?

PART 1 OF 4

The rocking chair

PART 1 · THE ROCKING CHAIR

When Martha Hale opened the door and felt the north wind, she ran back for her big wool scarf. As she wound it round her head, she looked at her kitchen in horror. Her bread was ready for mixing. Half the flour was sifted, and half was not. She hated to leave things half done. But the sheriff had come running in to say that his wife wanted Mrs. Hale to come too, so she had dropped everything.

"Martha!" called her husband. "Don't keep folks waiting out here in the cold."

She climbed into the buggy beside Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife, a small, thin woman with a quiet voice. Mrs. Peters didn't look like a sheriff's wife. But Mr.

Peters, a heavy man with a big voice, looked exactly like a sheriff.

Soon they could see the Wright place. It looked very lonely this cold March morning. It was down in a hollow, and even the poplar trees around it looked lonely.

"I'm glad you came with me," Mrs. Peters said nervously at the kitchen door.

Martha Hale stopped on the doorstep. So many times she had thought, "I ought to go over and see Minnie Foster." She still thought of her as Minnie Foster, though for twenty years she had been Mrs. Wright. But there was always something to do. And now she could come.

The men went to the stove. The two women stayed close together by the door.

PART 1 · THE ROCKING CHAIR

"Now, Mr. Hale," said the sheriff, "tell Mr. Henderson just what you saw when you came here yesterday morning."

Young Henderson, the county attorney, took out a notebook and a pencil. Mrs. Hale did not like that pencil.

"I came to ask John Wright about getting a telephone," Mr. Hale began. "I knocked, and I thought I heard somebody say, 'Come in.' So I opened this door, and there, in that rocker, sat Mrs. Wright."

Everyone looked at the rocking chair. It was a dull, faded red, and it leaned to one side. It didn't look at all like the Minnie Foster of twenty years before.

"How did she look?" asked the county attorney.

"Well, queer. She was pleating her apron, folding it again and again. I said, 'How do, Mrs. Wright? It's cold, isn't it?' And she said, 'Is it?' Then I said, 'I want to see John.' And she laughed. I guess you would call it a laugh.

"'Can I see John?' I said. 'No,' says she. 'Isn't he home?' 'Yes,' says she, 'he's home.' 'Then why can't I see him?' 'Because he's dead,' says she, just as quiet and dull, and she went on pleating her apron.

"'Dead? Why, where is he?' She just pointed upstairs, like this. 'What did he die of?' I asked.

"'He died of a rope round his neck,' says she. And she just went on pleating her apron."

Book club

PART 1 · THE ROCKING CHAIR

1. Why did Mrs. Hale feel strange about going into the Wrights' house?

2. What was Mrs. Wright doing when Mr. Hale came in?

3. How did Mrs. Wright tell Mr. Hale that her husband was dead?

4. What do you think of Mrs. Wright's behaviour? How do people act after a shock?

5. Have you ever lost touch with someone you meant to visit? Why does it happen?

6. What do you think happened in this house last night?

PART 2 OF 4

Kitchen things

PART 2 · KITCHEN THINGS

For a moment, nobody spoke. Everyone seemed to see the woman who had sat in that chair the morning before.

"My son Harry and I went upstairs," Mr. Hale went on, almost in a whisper. "There he was. When we came down, Harry asked her, 'Who did this, Mrs. Wright?' 'I don't know,' she says. 'Weren't you sleeping in the bed with him?' says Harry. 'Yes,' says she, 'but I was on the inside.' 'Somebody put a rope round his neck, and you didn't wake up?' 'I didn't wake up,' she said.

"We must have looked as if we didn't believe her, because after a minute she said, 'I sleep sound.'"

The county attorney looked round the kitchen. "Nothing here that would point to a motive?"

"Nothing here but kitchen things," said the sheriff, with a little laugh.

Henderson opened the cupboard. His hand came out sticky. "Here's a nice mess."

"Oh, her fruit," said Mrs. Peters. "She was worried that the fire would go out in the cold, and her jars would break."

The sheriff laughed. "Held for murder, and worrying about her fruit!"

"Oh, well," said Mr. Hale kindly, "women are used to worrying over trifles."

The two women moved a little closer together. Neither of them spoke.

The young attorney wiped his hands on the dirty towel. "Not much of a housekeeper, would you say, ladies?"

"There's a great deal of work to be done on a farm," said Mrs. Hale stiffly.

PART 2 · KITCHEN THINGS

"I've not been in this house for more than a year. It never seemed a very cheerful place. But I don't think a place would be any more cheerful with John Wright in it."

"I'd like to talk to you about that later, Mrs. Hale," he said. At the stairs he turned. "Mrs. Peters is one of us, of course. Keep your eye out, Mrs. Peters. You women might find a clue to the motive, and that's the thing we need."

Mr. Hale smiled. "But would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?"

The women listened to the men's footsteps in the room above. Then Mrs. Hale began to tidy the dirty pans under the sink.

"I'd hate to have men coming into my kitchen," she said, "snooping round and criticising."

In jail, Minnie had asked for an apron and her little grey shawl. Mrs. Peters took the shawl from behind the door. Suddenly Mrs. Hale stepped towards her.

"Mrs. Peters! Do you think she did it?"

A frightened look came into Mrs. Peters's eyes. "Oh, I don't know."

"Well, I don't think she did. Asking for her apron and her little shawl. Worrying about her fruit."

"Mr. Peters says it looks bad for her," Mrs. Peters said quietly. "There was a gun in the house. They think it was such a — funny way to kill a man. Mr. Henderson says they need a motive. Something to show anger, or sudden feeling."

Book club

PART 2 · KITCHEN THINGS

1. What did Mrs. Wright say when Harry asked why she didn't wake up?

2. Why did the men laugh at Mrs. Wright's fruit jars?

3. What did the county attorney ask Mrs. Peters to look for?

4. "Women are used to worrying over trifles." How would you answer Mr. Hale?

5. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters see the case differently. Whose side are you on so far?

6. Do you think the women will find a motive in the kitchen? What might it be?

PART 3 OF 4

Quilt it or knot it

PART 3 · QUILT IT OR KNOT IT

"Why, she was making a quilt," said Mrs. Peters. She held up a big sewing basket full of coloured pieces.

"Pretty, isn't it?" said Mrs. Hale. "Do you suppose she was going to quilt it, or just knot it?"

The men came down the stairs. The sheriff threw up his hands.

"They wonder whether she was going to quilt it or just knot it!"

Laughing, the men went out to the barn.

"I don't see that it's anything to laugh about," said Mrs. Hale.

The women looked at the quilt pieces. The sewing was fine and even. Then Mrs. Peters said, in a strange voice, "Why, look at this one. All the rest are so nice and even. But this one! It looks as if she didn't know what she was doing!"

Their eyes met. Something passed between them. Then Mrs. Hale pulled out the bad stitches and began to sew them again, neatly.

"Oh, what are you doing, Mrs. Hale?"

"Just pulling out a stitch or two that's not sewed very good."

"I don't think we ought to touch things," said Mrs. Peters helplessly.

Later, Mrs. Peters found something in the cupboard. "Here's a birdcage. Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?"

"I don't know. There was a man round last year selling canaries cheap. She used to sing real pretty herself."

"I wonder what happened to it."

"Maybe the cat got it."

PART 3 · QUILT IT OR KNOT IT

"No, she didn't have a cat. She's afraid of cats." Mrs. Peters looked closely at the cage. "Look at this door. It's broken. One hinge has been pulled apart."

"Looks as if someone must have been — rough with it."

For a moment, neither of them moved.

"I wish I had come over sometimes," said Mrs. Hale quietly. "I stayed away because it wasn't cheerful, and that's why I ought to have come. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?"

"They say he was a good man."

"Yes, good. He didn't drink, and he paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to say good morning to him was like a raw wind that gets to the bone." She looked at the cage. "I should think she would've wanted a bird! She was kind of like a bird herself.

Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid. How — she — did — change."

"Why don't you take the quilt in to her? It might take her mind off things."

In the basket was a pretty little box. Mrs. Hale opened it. Her hand went to her nose. Something was wrapped in a piece of silk. Slowly, she lifted the silk.

"It's the bird," whispered Mrs. Peters.

"But look at it! Its neck — look at its neck! It's all — other side to."

"Somebody wrung its neck," said Mrs. Peters, slowly.

Their eyes met in growing horror. Mrs. Peters looked from the dead bird to the broken door of the cage.

And just then, there was a sound at the outside door.

Book club

PART 3 · QUILT IT OR KNOT IT

1. What was strange about one of the quilt pieces, and what did Mrs. Hale do?

2. What did Mrs. Peters notice about the birdcage?

3. How did Mrs. Hale describe John Wright, and how did she describe Minnie?

4. Why do you think Mrs. Hale fixed the bad sewing without saying why?

5. What can a home tell you about the people who live in it?

6. The men are coming in. What will the women do with the box?

PART 4 OF 4

Married to the law

PART 4 · MARRIED TO THE LAW

Mrs. Hale pushed the box under the quilt pieces and sat down. The men came in.

"Well, ladies," said the county attorney cheerfully, "have you decided whether she was going to quilt it or knot it?"

"We think," said Mrs. Peters nervously, "that she was going to — knot it."

He saw the cage. "Has the bird flown?"

"We think the cat got it," said Mrs. Hale, in a calm, even voice.

"No sign of anyone coming in from outside," he told the sheriff, as they went upstairs. "Their own rope..."

The two women sat very still.

"She liked the bird," said Mrs. Hale at last. "She was going to bury it in that pretty box."

"When I was a girl," whispered Mrs.

Peters, "a boy killed my kitten with a hatchet, in front of my eyes. If they hadn't held me back, I would have—" She looked upstairs. "Hurt him."

"Wright wouldn't like the bird," said Mrs. Hale. "A thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too."

"Of course, we don't know who killed the bird."

"I knew John Wright."

"The law has got to punish crime, Mrs. Hale."

"I wish you'd seen Minnie Foster, in a white dress with blue ribbons, singing in the choir." Her voice broke. "Oh, I wish I'd come over here once in a while! That was a crime! Who's going to punish that?"

The men came down.

"It's all perfectly clear," the attorney was saying, "except the reason. But you know juries when it comes to women.

PART 4 · MARRIED TO THE LAW

If there was some definite thing. Something to show."

He looked at the things on the table and laughed. "I guess they're not very dangerous things the ladies have picked out. No, Mrs. Peters doesn't need watching. A sheriff's wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?"

Mrs. Peters had turned away. "Not — just that way," she said.

The sheriff took the attorney into the front room to look at the windows. For one last moment, the two women were alone in the kitchen.

Martha Hale stood up and looked at the other woman. Slowly, Mrs. Peters turned her head until their eyes met. Then Martha Hale's eyes pointed to the basket.

Mrs. Peters rushed forward.

She took out the box and tried to put it in her handbag. It was too big. She opened it and started to take the bird out. But she could not touch the bird. She stood there, helpless.

A door handle turned. Martha Hale snatched the box and pushed it into the pocket of her big coat just as the men came back into the kitchen.

"Well, Henry," said the county attorney, "at least we found out that she was not going to quilt it. She was going to — what is it you call it, ladies?"

Mrs. Hale's hand was against the pocket of her coat.

"We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson."

Book club

PART 4 · MARRIED TO THE LAW

1. What did Mrs. Hale tell the county attorney about the bird?

2. What happened to Mrs. Peters's kitten when she was a girl?

3. How did the two women hide the box from the men?

4. Why did Mrs. Peters change her mind about the law, do you think?

5. Were the women right to hide the box? What would you have done?

Big questions

1

Is Minnie Wright guilty? If so, what should happen to her?

2

Mrs. Hale says, "That was a crime!" Does anyone else share the blame here?

3

The men searched for evidence, but the women found it. Why?

4

What does the title "A Jury of Her Peers" mean now that you know the story?

5

Today, how can neighbours, friends and the law help someone who is suffering at home?

6

Glaspell never shows us Minnie. Why do you think she kept her out of the story?

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

Part 1 · 1 She had often meant to visit Minnie Foster but never had, so she had not been in the house for a long time.

Part 1 · 2 She was sitting in the rocking chair, pleating (folding) her apron again and again.

Part 1 · 3 Very quietly and dully: "Because he's dead." Then she said he died "of a rope round his neck," and went on pleating her apron.

Part 2 · 1 That she was sleeping "on the inside" of the bed and did not wake up: "I sleep sound."

Part 2 · 2 Because she was in prison for murder but was still worried about her fruit. They thought it was a silly "trifle".

Part 2 · 3 A clue to the motive: something to show why she might have killed her husband.

Part 3 · 1 The sewing on one piece was bad and uneven, as if she didn't know what she was doing. Mrs. Hale pulled out the stitches and sewed them again neatly.

Part 3 · 2 The door was broken: one hinge had been pulled apart.

Part 3 · 3 John Wright was a good man in some ways but "a hard man", like a raw wind that gets to the bone. Minnie was like a bird: sweet, pretty, timid, and she used to sing.

Part 4 · 1 That they thought the cat got it.

Part 4 · 2 A boy killed it with a hatchet in front of her.

Part 4 · 3 Mrs. Peters tried to put the box in her handbag, but it was too big. Mrs. Hale snatched it and hid it in the pocket of her big coat.