A Jury of Her Peers: Style 1 key example

Glaspell’s writing style in “A Jury of Her Peers” is direct and dialogue-heavy. She does not use a lot of metaphors, imagery, or figurative language and does not grant access to the deep inner feelings or thoughts of her characters, instead describing the actions of a scene matter-of-factly and letting characters speak for themselves through long swaths of dialogue.

The following conversation between Mrs. Hale and Mr. Henderson displays some of these different stylistic elements:

"It never seemed a very cheerful place," said [Mrs. Hale], more to herself than to [Mr. Henderson].

"No," he agreed; "I don't think anyone would call it cheerful. I shouldn't say she had the homemaking instinct."

"Well, I don't know as Wright had, either," she muttered.

"You mean they didn't get on very well?" he was quick to ask.

"No; I don't mean anything," she answered, with decision. As she turned a little away from him, she added: "But I don't think a place would be any the cheerfuler for John Wright's bein' in it."

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