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Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Personification
Explanation and Analysis—Married to the Law:
Near the end of the story, George Henderson (the county attorney) uses personification when addressing Mrs. Peters, as seen in the following passage:
With another little laugh, he turned away, saying:
"No; Mrs. Peters doesn't need supervising. For that matter, a sheriff's wife is married to the law. Ever think of it that way, Mrs. Peters?" […]
When she spoke, her voice was muffled.
"Not—just that way," she said.
The personification here—in which George says that “a sheriff's wife is married to the law”—communicates that he sees police officers to be the law personified. This is notable because, as Glaspell assumed her readers in the 1910s would understand, law enforcement was a male-dominated field and the men in that field were not exempt from acting in criminal ways towards their wives.
With this context in mind, Glaspell implies via this personification that women like Mrs. Peters were trapped by the fact that their husbands were seen as the very embodiment of the law. Her “muffled” and confusing response to George’s statement—in which she seems to start to want to contradict him with the word “not,” only to ultimately agree with him by saying, “just that way”—shows how aware she is that it is safer to agree with powerful men than to try to challenge them.
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