Iiwant a Wife

Why I Want A Wife Judy Syfers originally published this article, "Why I Want A Wife," in the Spring 1972 issue of Ms. magazine. In this article, Ms. Syfers presents a witty satirical view of a women's traditional role as a servant to her husband. When first published she used her married name of Syfers, but now goes by Judy Brady. She is a free lance writer and a political activist who earned a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Iowa. Judy has been married, raised two daughters, and then returned to San Francisco where she was born. She now devotes much of her time to the politics of cancer. Judy Brady does a wonderful job of grabbing the reader's attention. She has a intriguing title that makes the reader more curious. She also has an anecdote that makes the reader wonder why a woman would want a wife. Although Judy does not have a long introduction to her article, she is effective in immediately gaining the reader's attention. Ms. Brady accomplishes her purpose by using a variety of literary devices. The one that is most prevalent is sarcasm. This is can be seen throughout the whole paper. She is constantly using sarcasm to describe a wife's role. "I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school." (303) This also is another example of one of her strategies. She uses flat and round characters to get her point across more clearly. The wife is a round character with many responsibilities and jobs. The husband, on the other hand, is a flat character who is only concerned with himself and has no depth. As one reads this, he/she can immediately tell that Judy has gone through all of the situations she describes and has put a humorous twist on them. She also uses great detail in describing why she wants a wife. "I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need the minute I need it." (303) Reoccurrence of key elements is also a literary device that Ms. Brady uses throughout her article. She is always describing what the wife does for the husband, but notice how she never describes what the husband does for the wife. She uses this as a strong building block in her paper. Without using this, she would not have accomplished her