Martha Hale, an antagonist in “A jury of her peers”, is more humane to protagonist Minnie Foster. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter could understand and feel the whole situation that Mrs. Wright was going through. They even tried to hide the evidence that might lead to full conviction of Mr. Wright’s murder.  They found out that the bird was killed and wrapped in a silk inside a box, but they did not notify it to county attorney Mr. Henderson. They both were nervous when Mr. Henderson and Mr. Peter walked in from outside. ““Well that’s very interesting, I’m sure,” he said tolerantly. He caught sight of the bird-cage. “Has the bird flown?” “We think the cat got it,” said Mrs. Hale in a voice curiously even.”
Martha Hale regrets that she was not able to visit Mrs. Wright during the year and she felt that she could be of some help in preventing such incident. She was very busy and even worried about her own things at home. She was very active lady never want to leave anything unfinished. She knew that Mrs. Wright could not cope with the life as a housewife.  Mrs. Wright was gregarious and ostentatious when she was young.
Mrs. Hale asked Mrs. Peter to take a cherry bottled and let her know that everything is perfectly alright at home. Mrs. Peter even agreed to take the quilt with her in order that Mrs. Wright might keep her mind busy on this quilt while in jail.
On the other hand,  in “The story of an hour”, Mrs. Mallard died due to the surprise she got on her poor heart that was weak from the beginning. She was committing an invisible crime that no one could see. She was feeling all the freedom after she heard the news of her husband’s death.
In both the stories, “The story of an hour” and “A jury of her peers”, women endure dare situations with men under different circumstances. Both the stories share a woman’s feeling and their adaptation to different situations and they are more vulnerable.
I agree with the opinions made because the story took place in a different era when women had less freedoms and rights of expressing themselves. They usually felt more oppressed and caged much like the bird in the story. I think it is more humane and fair for Mrs. Wright to be judged by her peers first rather than a male view since they would never understand what she was going through. If it happened today and she turned herself in, she would be taken into consideration of her abusive marriage. However, in the era of the story, it wouldn’t had mattered much how her husband had treated her. So I understand why Mrs Hale and Mrs Peters keep silence about the evidence they found.
The women in both stories deal with complicated feelings. The women in “Jury of her peers” must feel guilty for what they’ve done but I think deep down they feel a sense of freedom and relief.
I do agree with you that women at that time had little or no freedom. They were some how treated like “property” that belongs to their husbands. Not withstanding that, thus not enough reason for Mrs Wright to be allowed to be judged by her fellow women. I think from what you said you believe the women understood her better than the men therefore they are the right people to make the judgement.This is the very reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to make judgement because their judgement will be biased and will not be fair to Mr Wright. The rule of law must be allowed to take place. People like the county attorney and the Sheriff who strongly believe in the law and are willing to use it in making judgement are the right people for the job. I believe the men are likely to make a fair judgement based on the facts available that the women. Because the women even when they have found evidence against the accused were not willing to show it.
Yes, I agree with the point that the rule of law must be allowed to judge the case first. However, I think the attorney would make no allowance for her marital situation and the women must know it, so they decided to hide the evidence. This big decision of them makes us imagine how wives were treated by their husbands in the story. I still don’t know if Mrs. Wright actually wants this evidence revealed or kept hidden.
I agree with you that in the story “A Jury of Her Peers” both Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale made the judgement based on their own feelings and emotions.They fully supported Mrs. Wright and showed sympathy to her.Definitely no one can understand a woman better than another woman, but this does not mean that what Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale thought or the things they looked through their eyes was the truth. Mrs. Peters compared Mrs. Wright’s feeling with herself when she explained her childhood incident to Mrs. Hale.” “When I was a girl, “said Mrs. Peters, under her breath,”my kitten……………..”hurt him.””In this paragraph Mrs. Peter recalls an incident of her childhood when a boy was trying to hurt her kitten which she loved very much. She would have hurt the boy if people wouldn’t had held her back. So, Mrs. Peter think there is something to do with the dead bird and the murder of Mr. Wright. Both of them thought that being woman they should help another woman who is in trouble. So, they didn’t disclosed anything they found. Rather than hiding the proofs and clues from the officials, they should have put the light on the murder investigation by helping out the officials.
I agree with your statements to both stories. How you see them from a woman’s perspective. It opens the eyes to the readers of a woman’s role were in the past .
It shows how they were inferior to them. By getting married they lost the freedom that they once had. In “A Jury of Her Peers” I believe that Mrs. Wright wasn’t ready to become an housewife, she wasn’t used to that responsibility.
As for “The Story of an Hour” once Mrs. Mallard received the news that her husband was dead she said sad, but then relieved. She regained back her freedom. Which was quickly taken away from her but the glance of her husband still alive her heart couldn’t take it and she died. In relation to both stories, it shows the struggles women go through and how they only want their freedom.
I like the part Yoshiko pointed out about whether Mrs.Wright want to leave the evidence reveal or hidden. Theres possibility that Mrs.Wright want to be punish and she already known what to do after she killed her husband. I watched alot of crime series, when the wife kill the husband, she either call 911 or leave the evidence there. Its pretty obvious, if someone doesnt wanna get punish or go to jail after the murder, they will clean up the place and pretend nothing happen. But i said this is just one possibility that Mrs.Wright didnt hide the evidence. Another one will be Mrs.Wright killed her husband by accident and after that she is totally shocked and stunned doesnt know what to do next.