The mood of “A Jury of Her Peers” shifts back and forth between tense and lively, depending on if the women are alone or not. When all three men are with Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in the Wrights’ house, the mood is solemn and uneasy—not only are they all discussing a murder, but the men are also constantly belittling the two women, who must act unbothered by such mockery.
The moment when the men go to search the upstairs of the house, leaving the two women alone together in the kitchen, the mood immediately shifts, as seen in the following passage:
The women stood motionless and silent, listening to the footsteps, first upon the stairs, then in the room above them.
Then, as if releasing herself from something strange, Mrs. Hale began to arrange the dirty pans under the sink, which the county attorney's disdainful push of the foot had deranged.
"I'd hate to have men coming into my kitchen," she said testily—"snoopin' round and criticizing."
This moment is significant—after “releasing herself from something strange,” Mrs. Hale shifts from being “motionless and silent” to openly criticizing the men she was, moments before, acting as if she respected. From here on, the mood is lively (if not still somewhat somber) when the women are alone together, and then returns to tense and uncomfortable whenever the men join them. This is Glaspell’s way of showing the ways in which women are subjugated by men and only feel (somewhat) free around each other.
