Use evidence from "A Jury of Her Peers" and the Spoon River Anthology epitaphs to explain how literature of the time reflected some women's feelings of being trapped and oppressed by their husbands.

Women were angry, resentful, and sometimes frightened of their husbands due to societal attitudes about a woman's place in marriage, however, most were understanding. In both these stories, women actually felt relieved and free after their husbands died, while they felt lifeless and oppressed while they were still married.