The Lonesome Lives of Women in Jury of Her Peers, Miss Brill and The Chrysanthemums

The three women from the short stories “Jury of Her Peers,” “Miss Brill,” and “The Chrysanthemums” are very much alike in many ways yet their stories are so different. The women all start out being distant from their communities, then events happen that change all their lives either good or bad that make them feel a part of something, and lastly those feelings get washed away and they all end up feeling lonesome again in the end. One of the first comparisons between the women, in the three short stories was they were all portrayed as being distant from society and lonely in their day to day lives. Minnie Wright was described as living in “isolation… with a fracture marriage” by critic Linda Ben-Zyi in the short story “Jury of Her Peers”. While Miss Brill spent her Sundays at the French Gardens to get out of her “little dark room, her room like a cupboard” as editor Katherine Mansfield describes the apartment of the main character in the short story “Miss Brill.” The last character Elisa Allan in the short story “The Chrysanthemums” spent her days “cutting down the spent stalks of chrysanthemums in the garden on her husband’s ranch” as editor John Ernest Steinbeck writes in his plot summary of the short story.

All three women seem to live their lives the same without any exciting events to stir in any change to what they do daily. A second comparison between the women was, there were sparks of events that happened close to the middle of each story that were either good or bad that changed their feeling of loneliness to feelings of being a part of something bigger than just working on the farm or sitting on a town bench. Minnie Wright finally had people coming to her house, even though it was because her husband was murdered. She was no longer a prisoner of her own home and the way her husband treated her on the farm. Miss Brill, on the other hand, noticed that her Sunday trips to the Garden was a play and she was an actress in the theatrical performance that happened every Sunday. This is where she felt “connected with the community,” as editor Mansfield wrote. Elisa finds a connection with the tinker because she too can sharpen her scissors and do most of what he can and longs for the lifestyle he lives as a traveler.

The three women find connections in the world outside of which they live and begin feel less lonely. The third and final comparison of the women, is at the ends of their stories there was something that took them all back to the beginning in many ways, back to their lonesome lives. Minnie was awaiting a trial that no man would understand yet the wives could not be her jury and support what evidence they found that the men looked over. Miss Brill over heard a young couple talking about her and her fur collar. Critics Clare Hanson and Andrew Gun write “the theme of false community is an integral part of Miss Brill’s epiphany, as is the theme of the discrepancy between appearance and reality.” She was imagining a play with everyone being actors when in reality everyone was strangers and were going along on their way. Elisa had given her flowers as a symbol but, “the tinker had discarded her chrysanthemums… But he has kept the pot… to discard her treasure and keep its utilitarian container.” In conclusion, the three women started out distant and lonely from their communities, then an event happened to each of them making it seem like they might be a part of more than just themselves, and lastly, they all ended up back in their lonely states either in jail waiting for trial, just enjoying a glass of wine instead of a fight, or back in a tiny dark cupboard of a house.