Blog # 5

I admire the essay, "I Want a Wife" because of its feminist and sarcastic nature. It is clearly expressing a woman's point of view on how men see their wives. I admire the extreme that the author goes to, to make wives seem like simple servants who cater to their husband and children's every need whether they like it or not. I enjoy the fact that it implies that women want to possess the role of men too, and have "wives" that take care of them while they go off and live their life. I like the very sarcastic, mocking, and obvious tone of the essay.

I don't particularly admire the fact that the essay is so one-sided. Sure, the point of view the author expresses is not uncommon, but we all know that men see wives as more than what is written in the essay. It seems more like the author was going on a rant about her personal life that writing an organized and realistic essay. The essay is pretty repetitive, too. On many occasions the author notes that the "wife" should take care of the children, should take care of the husband, etc, only giving various examples to back it all up. After the initial support and agreement with the essay, it seems to put all women in a very pessimistic and angry light and all men in a very shallow and uncaring light.

I think the essay is effective initially, because of the tone and the harsh examples. But after reading the entire essay and pondering it, it seems to lose its power. I don't quite understand the author's point, except that all men only want wives to be their assistants. I'm not convinced that that is her only point. The constant repetition made the essay seem really harsh to both men and women and its ultimate effect was to make me angry and disappointed. It doesn't seem like the author intended that, but whatever she did intend certainly did not come across. As for being persuasive, the essay is not persuading me to do anything. Is it supposed to persuade me to want a wife, too? In modern day, there are less issues with feminism than there were in the 1970s, when the essay was written, so the effect of the essay is not as strong.

This essay relates to Medea because it expresses similar feelings that Medea has toward Jason. He only married her because it would be convenient for him, and thought her more useful than lovely. Medea claimed he did not care about the children and therefore left them with her. Medea can relate to many specific parts in this essay. One of which is the fact that the man reserves the right to replace his wife if he finds someone better, as Jason did when he replaced Medea with the Princess. Jason expected Medea to take care of him and the children while he has almost no part in their personal lives. He only cared about the children when they died. Jason was tired of Medea complaining and whining about how much she loved him yet hated him, as the "man" in the essay does to his wife. Overall, the essay portrays Medea's feeling toward Jason being an irresponsible father and a cruel husband.