While it is interesting to note that Mrs. Hale seems fitted for her role in life, that of a farmer's wife, Mrs. Peters seems to be uneasy with being "married to the law." At first it seems she lacks the forceful character required from someone of authority, but as the plot develops we begin to realize that she is a woman of strong convictions and character, and a person who will in the end, do what she believes is right.
Finally, we are introduced to Minnie Wright, the character around which the story is centered. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright murdered her husband, we look at her sympathetically because of the seemingly absent respect and love from her husband. Mrs. Hale described her by saying "she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively . . . one of the town girls, singing in the choir. But that -- oh, that was twenty years ago." Even so, she is portrayed as a lonely and secluded woman with no children, no friends, and only a bird to keep her company. She is also portrayed as the victim of an overbearing and abusive husband, who didn't seem to care or have the patience for his wife or her needs. It is clear that over the years she had been forced into a solitary life by the man she married. And it is also clear that she was finally brought to her breaking point. But we never hear Minnie Wright speak. While she is the central character of the story, and her motive is the subject, she has no voice, as was her life with John Wright. Mr. Hale reports what she said to him the day he discovered her husband's body, and we hear singing that is recalled in Mrs. Hale's memory of her. But there is the absence of Minnie from her home, the setting of the story. Although the women are only acquainted with Minnie -- Mrs. Hale purposely hadn't called on her in over a year, and Mrs. Peters had only met her at the jail -- they were familiar and sympathetic with the difficulty of her daily routine as a housewife.
