How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
HALE: [...] I opened the door [...] and there in that rocker—(pointing to it) sat Mrs. Wright.
(They all look at the rocker.)COUNTY ATTORNEY: What—was she doing?
HALE: She was rockin' back and forth. She had her apron in her hand and was kind of—pleating it. (12-14)
Thanks for putting that creepy image in our heads, Mr. Hale. Seriously, though, here's a question for all you super-sleuth Shmoopers out there. Why didn't Mrs. Wright run away? She'd just killed the husband who had her trapped. She was finally free. What made her confine herself in the house and wait to be caught?
Quote #2
SHERIFF: Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin' about her preserves. (30)
This line is the first definite confirmation we get that Mrs. Wright is now confined in jail. It's horrible, right? She killed the husband who made her feel imprisoned for years only to end up in literal jail. What do you think this shows on a larger symbolic level?
Quote #3
MRS. PETERS: Of course it's no more than their duty. (52)
Mrs. Peters is talking about the men and their investigation when she says this. Let's flip things around a little bit. In what way might the men be confined by their duty to the law? Even if they did have the empathy to understand what drove Mrs. Wright to murder her husband, would they have the freedom to help her?