Research paper overview and methodology

¶ … Jury of Her Peers, "The Plea," and "The Last Sixty Minutes" by Susan Glaspell. Specifically it will discuss and compare the themes and the way the characters react to their circumstances. Each of these stories highlights Glaspell's feelings about men, women, and society. Glaspell writes of the "underdog," the character who has been downtrodden and subjugated throughout their lives. She writes of real men and women and real situations, and makes them stand out in the reader's mind to effect change in a society that often mistreats the people who are the least able to fight back for themselves.

In "The Plea," the main characters are the boy Alfred Williams and Senator Harrison. The reader only knows the boy from his description, but the reader comes to know the Senator quite well. He is a man who wants to serve his constituents, but wants to serve his own conscience as well. He knows the right thing to do is to give the boy his "chance," and he finally does it in a courageous manner. Throughout the story, Glaspell sprinkles her own ideas about society and human nature. For example, she writes, "Then he was wondering why it was the philosophers had not more to say about the incongruity of people who had never had any trouble of their own sitting in judgment upon people who had known nothing but trouble" ("The Plea"). Clearly, she feels people judge each other far too much and too harshly. She shows the depth of Harrison's personality with these thoughts, and indicates he is a man with a conscience and a sense of right and wrong.

Glaspell continues, "He wondered how high the percentage of children's crimes would go were it not for countermanding influences. It seemed the great difference between Alfred Williams and a number of other children of eleven had been the absence of the countermanding influence" ("The Plea"). He desperately wants to serve his constituents, but he wants to be able to live with himself at the same time. In his heart, he knows the right thing to do, and he does it, even though it may affect his political career. He is essentially a decent man who answers to his own conscience, and he knows right from wrong. Most all of Glaspell's characters know right from wrong, and have a moral and just sense about them. In fact, their moral choice at the end of each story is the recurring theme in all these stories. Each main character makes a moral choice to change something they know is wrong. The author seems to be saying with her stories that people know right from wrong, and that there is always someone who is just and good in the world, even if there are many who are not.

In "The Last Sixty Minutes," the governor of a state is facing his last hour in office, and he reflects on the job he has done for the people of his state, and he is not happy about the results. He thinks to himself, "It did not make for placidity of spirit to be told at the end of things that he had, as a matter of fact, never been anybody at all" ("The Last Sixty Minutes"). In fact, the governor is the leader of the same state Glaspell wrote about in "The Plea," she even mentions Senator Dorman, the impassioned speaker who pleads for Alfred William's "second chance" at life. She ties her stories together like this to give them more meaning and depth to the reader, and to make them seem as if they fit together like parts of a novel, rather than simple, unconnected short stories.

Unlike Senator Harrison, who is strong enough to stand up to his constituents, the governor is weak, and he knows it. He has allowed himself to become a puppet to Harvey Francis, a slick supporter who really stands behind the scenes and runs the state the way he wants it to be run. Again, he thinks to himself, "Never once had his personality made itself felt. He had signed the documents; Harvey Francis had always 'suggested' -- the term was that man's own -- the course to be pursued" ("The Last Sixty Minutes"). As the story progresses, it is quite clear that Francis is devious and conniving, and is already setting "traps" for the new governor so he will not be popular with the people. Francis wants someone elected that he can manipulate, and it is clear the new governor will not fall under his control.

Ultimately, this story is a cynical look at politics behind the scenes, and the manipulation and devious tactics some people use to influence the government. When Glaspell introduces the new governor she makes it clear he is a good man who is against corruption and has principles he lives by. It is clear Francis and his cronies will not be able to use him to their advantage, and the old governor is happy they will not. In the end, he does the right thing, and signs the contracts so the new governor does not begin his career with a difficult situation. He knows it is the right thing to do, and it is the only good thing he has done throughout his term in office. Glaspell writes, "And when he had carefully blotted the papers, affixed the seal and put them away, there was in his heart the clean, sweet joy of a child because he had been able to do this for a man in whom he believed" ("The Last Sixty Minutes"). Like the senator, the governor knows right from wrong, and does the right thing in the end, even though it may cost him public opinion and the support of Francis and his cronies. Even though he has been led by Francis, he is a moral man and he knows that what he has done is wrong. The recurring theme here is that even though people are not perfect and do not act perfectly, they can redeem themselves by doing the right thing when it really matters.

In "A Jury of Her Peers," the two women stand up for Mrs. Wright as they clean up her home and look for some clothing to take to her in jail. While the pompous men stomp around and look self-importantly for "evidence," the women quietly uncover the motive for murder and decide to hide it to save the woman from discovery. Mrs. Wright, like many of the other characters in Glaspell's work, has led a life of quiet desperation. Her husband is cruel and a bully, and he has abused her mentally (and perhaps physically), as long as they have been married. His murder of the bird is the last straw. It is clear Mrs. Wright murdered him, and Glaspell makes him so repugnant it seems as though he had it coming. In fact, all the men in this story are full of themselves and belittle the women. Glaspell writes, "Oh, well,' said Mrs. Hale's husband, with good-natured superiority, 'women are used to worrying over trifles'" ("A Jury of Her Peers"). Throughout the story, the men are condescending to the women, and Glaspell seems to be saying that Mr. Wright was even more so, and that is why his wife ended up killing him. The two women in the story allow their husbands to bully them and subjugate them, because that is how it is "supposed" to be. The men are strong and the women are weak, or at least that is what the men think.

These women do not complain, but they are clearly wiser than the men are. They find the evidence the men overlook, and they know exactly what to do with it - hide it to save Mrs. Wright. Without the evidence, they have no motive for the murder, but with it, it would be clear she killed him and why. Glaspell makes it clear when she writes, "And then again the eyes of the two women met -- this time clung together in a look of dawning comprehension, of growing horror. Mrs. Peters looked from the dead bird to the broken door of the cage. Again their eyes met" ("A Jury of Her Peers"). Like the other characters, the two women have a conscience and know when there is a wrong. They too, want to make it right. They are moral, which is important to the story, but they are also fair, even if it means doing something that might seem wrong in the eyes of the law. They are decent, simple women, but they are much more complicated and aware than their husbands are. They are wiser than the men are, and moral at the same time.

If there is one theme that ties these three stories together, it is the sense of right and wrong and characters living up to their potential in the end, even if they have not lived up to it before. The women recognize they have let Mrs. Wright down by not visiting her or supporting her, and so, they do the right thing by hiding the evidence and "saving" Mrs. Wright. The governor recognizes he will be remembered only as the puppet of Francis, and so signs the contracts in his final act as governor to do the right thing and allow the new governor an equal chance to prove himself. The senator does the right thing and calls for another vote because he knows Alfred deserves a chance to live a real life and gain trust in the goodness of people. Each of these characters understands what they need to do, and do it, even though it may have ongoing ramifications for them. Therefore, the common theme is goodness in the hearts of people, even if there is evil all around them.

Glaspell's work seems to connect this theme and make it real in a different way in each story. In each story, there is an "evil" character or situation that challenges the moral character to do the right thing. Each story also has the character reflect on their lives and how they could have done things differently. They all react to the moral dilemmas facing them. Each character makes the right choice, which means they understand the morality and implications of their actions, and are consciously choosing the right thing.