I Want a Wife Analysis

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In “I Want a Wife” Judy Brady, talks about what an ideal wife really is. One day while she’s ironing, Judy Brady thinks about a conversation she had with her recently divorced male friend who is already looking for a new wife (340). In the essay, she doesn’t define a wife by gender, but what one spouse does for the other. She effectively explains how sexist marriage can be by saying if she had a wife, her life would be easier because she would have someone doing everything for her. Since a wife is typically a woman, you can tell that Brady’s essay aims to show how women are treated, especially after they get married. I feel like she did portray this very well. Judy Brady’s essay was written in 1972, during the time of the feminist movement (340). This essay was especially important during this time because it gives more reasons that society’s treatment of woman needed to change. Brady uses irony in her essay by saying she wants a wife when she already has a husband. This is ironic because women usually want a husband and men are the one’s asking for a wife. She was also being ironic by saying she wanted a wife when she could have just asked for a maid. Of course if she used maid instead of wife it would have defeated the purpose of the essay, but it is still ironic. Brady’s tone seems to be sarcastic. She seems annoyed by the fact that she can’t have a person to take care of her like she takes care of her husband but she writes about it in a playful way. She is being ironic and very serious. Judy Brady used pathos in her essay by emotionally reaching out to her audience. The feminist movement was an emotional time because women were angry about having less rights then men and for being treated like they were just there to help. “I Want a Wife” could make women realize they

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