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Essay / Portrayal of Women as Lambs to Slaughter by Roald Dahl and a Jury of His Peers by Susan Glaspell
Since the dawn of time, there have been great differences in the roles played by men and women. women in society. How society treats women is primarily determined by the attitudes of the men who live there. This presents itself in the short stories A Jury by Her Peers by Susan Glaspell and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. These two stories show different women suspected of murdering their husbands, of which they are both guilty. Despite this, there are other factors to consider in order to understand the situations that could have led them to kill their husbands and the events that followed. By examining the stories' protagonists, Mrs. Wright/Minnie Wright and Mrs. Mary Maloney, the authors show how these women use their neglected intelligence to outwit men and show unity among women in a male-dominated society. Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Dahl's story features an excited and anxious pregnant woman, Mrs. Maloney, who is waiting for her husband to return from work. Later, she finds him speechless, which is not usual for him and, after inquiring, the husband informs her that he does not wish to stay married to her and that she should not argue with him (Dahl*). In a blind rage at the news, Mary hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb from the freezer, which kills the husband. She conceals her atrocious act by presenting it as theft. She then continues to create her alibi before informing the police of the "tragic accident" that occurred. Efforts to search for the murder weapon were unsuccessful inside the house, and they no longer suspected that she "acted quite normally... very cheerful... wanted to treat him to a nice dinner... peas... cheesecake…impossible that she.” After the search, Mary offers them whiskey and the leg of lamb that was cooking in the oven and while they eat the murder weapon, Mary laughs in the other room after having outwitted the police. Similarly, Glaspell's story tells of a woman who was imprisoned because of the murder of her difficult husband. “I don’t think there would be a nicer place for John Wright.” Before sentencing, the town sheriff needs a motive as to why the crime was committed. The sheriff, Peter, his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Hale soon descend on the Wright farm in search of additional clues. The men examine the rooms upstairs while the women pass through the kitchen where they come across a wooden crate with a dead bird inside. The two women come to the conclusion that Mr. Wright had killed the bird "a thing that sang." She sang. Pie killed that too.” Although one of the women is married to the sheriff, both men are hiding evidence that would have been used to try Ms. Wright. Both authors use characterization in their stories to show how the men in the story have the upper hand over the women due to their superiority in the social structure. Mr. Wright, as described in Glaspell's book, was the model husband because he did not smoke, did not drink and wanted to live quietly "anyway, people talked too much, and all he asked was peace and tranquility.” But he was a harsh man who oppressed his wife Minnie, as evidenced by his refusal to give her a telephone and by killing her canary. In the story, Mr. Hale is quick to dismiss the fact that there are other arguments against Minnie telling both Mrs. Peter and Hale that women are used to worrying over "trifles" , which further reduces the..