In her short story, Cacoethes Scribendi, Catherine Sedgwick uses the pen as a phallic symbol to represent their grip on men. Susan Glaspell, on the other hand, uses a bird and messy kitchen in Jury of Her Peers to symbolize Minnie and her domestic struggle. Both authors describe domestic duties as obstacles in women’s search for their identity or freedom and each text has a victim of these domestic duties. While the women of both text attempt to gain control over the men, for their identity in Cacoethes Scribendi and for Minnie’s freedom in Jury of Her Peers, they implement opposite strategies. The women of village H use writing as a form of expression whereas the Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters use their silence. While both texts describe domestic
…show more content…
In Cacoethes Scribendi, the women of village H become writes as opposed to being just housewives with domestic duties. Sedgwick writes “…there was no great diminution of happiness in consequence of the absence of the nobler sex. (p. 4 Sedgwick)” They use writing as a form of expression to illustrate their lives to readers in the village. The grip on their pens, their tool of expression, symbolizes their grip and control on their lives, having authority over what is written and how they are portrayed to the world. Being a writer is an identity especially for Mrs. Courland who wished to escape “housewifery (p. 4 Sedgwick)” but failed to do so. In Jury of Her Peers, however, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do the quite opposite and keep quiet about the evidence that proves Minnie Wright murdered her husband. Their silence is their power against the men as the women have been able to find the evidence the men could not. Using their silence, they are able to save whatever is left of Minnie’s life. Sedgwick uses expression to give the women of village H an identity that’s more than a mother or wife. Glaspell on the other hand uses silence as an advantage to the women in Jury of Her Peers as they were the only ones clever enough to understand the evidence in front of them but silence allows them to control how the evidence is
In Cacoethes Scribendi, the women of village H become writes as opposed to being just housewives with domestic duties. Sedgwick writes “…there was no great diminution of happiness in consequence of the absence of the nobler sex. (p. 4 Sedgwick)” They use writing as a form of expression to illustrate their lives to readers in the village. The grip on their pens, their tool of expression, symbolizes their grip and control on their lives, having authority over what is written and how they are portrayed to the world. Being a writer is an identity especially for Mrs. Courland who wished to escape “housewifery (p. 4 Sedgwick)” but failed to do so. In Jury of Her Peers, however, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters do the quite opposite and keep quiet about the evidence that proves Minnie Wright murdered her husband. Their silence is their power against the men as the women have been able to find the evidence the men could not. Using their silence, they are able to save whatever is left of Minnie’s life. Sedgwick uses expression to give the women of village H an identity that’s more than a mother or wife. Glaspell on the other hand uses silence as an advantage to the women in Jury of Her Peers as they were the only ones clever enough to understand the evidence in front of them but silence allows them to control how the evidence is