Analytical Essay – Even Wives Want a Wife

Even Wives Want a Wife In today’s society the wife is seen as the member of the household that upkeeps the house and caters to other’s needs. Who wouldn’t want one of these of their own? In “I Want a Wife” the author Judy Brady sarcastically explains why everyone would want a wife. She begins with a story of how a friend of hers is newly single and he is looking for “a wife” although in reality he wants a servant; Brady then realizes that she too wants a wife of her own (Brady 542).

The main points made in the essay are what the wife would do for the author such as household chores, taking care of children, catering to her friends and many other satirical duties. All the while several literary devices are used to enhance the article. She uses these elements to show sexist and selfish ideas of men that are prevalent in society. “I Want a Wife” efficiently reasons for how the male gender generalizes the role of a wife in a sexist way in our society by making use of ethos, logos, pathos, satire and repetition.

Ethos is used in the essay as Brady is a wife herself. Since she is she must have a certain expertise of being a wife. As she states in one of the beginning paragraphs “I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a wife. And, not altogether incidentally I am a mother” (Brady 542). This shows her credibility; that all the jobs and duties she mentioned must have been personally experienced by her. The many jobs and chores discussed make the audience feel sympathy for wives and the author herself through pathos.

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The author concludes the essay by saying “My god, who wouldn’t want a wife” (Brady 544)? This rhetorical question allows the readers to determine that this idea is wrong and treats women like a lesser being compared to men. The ending also evokes the reader to take action towards the topic. The author utilizes logos by stating many facts such as jobs women often do while speaking through experience. She lists all of these over exaggerated duties to indirectly saying that women are expected to do too much in today’s society.

Brady speaks of several seemingly unethical chores like cleaning the house, preparing dinner to serve to friends and not speaking when the husband is talking (Brady 543). This helps get her point across by exaggeration to show how the wife is expected to have a servant like persona. Brady uses satire from the beginning of the essay to the very end of it. It is mainly used to show a male viewpoint of a wife. “And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy.

I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible” (Brady 544). Here the author satirizes the man’s view of what the wife must do and what he should be able to do, which in this case is have various partners. The use of satire is very effective in this article demonstrating how a man expects to have a perfect wife further illustrating the author’s image of sexism in society. Repetition is used in several of the author’s paragraphs. “I want a wife” (Brady 543) is used in the beginning of a few paragraphs to catch your eye and to get Brady’s idea burnt into your brain.

This also helps as a smooth transition for the many duties described that the wife must do. Continually stating this phrase raises the thoughts of the audience making them want a wife as well. The author made fantastic use of literary devices throughout the essay. The effectiveness of satire to me was the most powerful using it to demonstrate how men expect so much from women and how many of the duties they perform are almost slave like. Ethos, logos and pathos were used successfully in many instances that appealed to the senses.

As Brady is a wife and mother herself this make her a credible source so she clearly knows what she is speaking of. There was emotional appeal making the audience sympathize for the wife and feel anger towards men. Logic was used to show the wife’s duties and what their husbands expect of them. In conclusion I thought this was a very well thought out and written article because it attempts to make the reader want to take action against the topic through all of these elements.

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