Pathos can play a major role towards appealing to the audience. Brady uses a variety of pathos examples in “Why I Want a Wife”. Brady uses the past experience of one of her friends to relate
to the audience:“Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce”(229). This connects her to the audience by showing she knows what is going on in their everyday lives and can correspond to what they are going through in life. Brady in the conclusion of her essay states “My God, who wouldn’t want a wife”(230), appealing to her audience with sarcasm showing the duties the wife’s do showing there should be no reason for someone to not have a wife.
Brady throughout the entire body of her essay laces the evidence with pathos. This is done so that Brady and her audience,mostly females, could relate to one another. Brady relates to the audience about going back to school and getting the diploma they want: “I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if needed be, support those dependent on me”(229). Then in paragraph eight, Brady relates to the audience with the newness that comes off of a divorce:” If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one”(230). Brady replays the harsh reminder of being considered old and being compared to a younger woman.
Judy Brady, in “Why I Want a Wife”, connects with the woman dominant audience to show the disregard men were showing towards their rights. “Why I Want a Wife” contained an abundance of emotional appeal in which Brady uses to relate to her audience. This gives Brady Brady’s essay influenced many feminists later on in the feminist movement.