Case Study: I Want a Wife

T2 English

Mr. Bates

Aram Kim

Questions to answer NOW on paper to be handed in next class:

1. What kind of speaker have we here? Style? Point(s)? Why the use of repetition?

1. You will now write either “I Want a Wife” or “I Want a Husband.” You may choose to write it in the same style of what you just read, as a response to what you just read, or straight from the heart (pardon the cliché!). It must be approximately 500 words. I am certain you could write MUCH more, but limit it to approximately that number.

1. The kind of speaker is most likely annoyed, as she looks back as her job of her being a wife. The style is repetitive, as almost all of the sentences start with a “I want a wife.” The point that she is trying to give the reader would most likely be, that being a wife can be compared to objects and that she has gone through this and is reflecting back on her experiences. I think that the use of repetition is in order to make it short and catchy so that it is easier for the reader to remember, also to make it more of a poetic piece of work.

1. I Want a Wife response:

“I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady is an essay about the unrealistic expectations of women. In “I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady constantly talks about what “men” expect from their wives, for example: “I want a wife to take care of my physical needs. I want a wife who will keep my house clean.” Although it is very simple, Brady purposely used the repetition of the words “I want a wife” to engrave it into the reader’s mind and in a way, to mock men by ironically objectifying women. She purposely tries to portray that a wife is not unique, like an object and that their purpose is to only to do tasks. Brady also wants the reader to feel like wives do these tasks without any hesitation, when she says “And of course, I want a wife who will not demand sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it… I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible.” By using words like, of course or after all she makes it seem like that there should be not argument against it. I think that the purpose of this essay is to portray that women, in this time period, did not have much independence or power and had to rely on husbands or men to take care of them, and in exchange they would do all that was “required” of them. I also think that the purpose is to show that there was inequality and that the system was very unfair, as the wives needed to do whatever the husband wanted, which often times were ridiculous tasks and that she was fed up. Judy Brady wanted to raise awareness to this situation that was a regular in every day lives, and I believe that she was successful in that she convinced women and readers that this was unfair and that there should be something to fix this. In the end of the essay, Judy writes the words “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife.” In order to further emphasize that having a wife would practically solve all of your problems, as they would clean, fix and do whatever you wanted them to, and that a wife at the time was basically like winning the lottery.