Wife-Wooing, by John Updike

Résumé du document

In his short story, 'Wife-Wooing', John Updike portrays the life of what seems to be an ordinary family through which he discusses matters related to matrimony. This story centers around two people who seem to have forgotten the meaning of their marriage. Through this essay, I will discuss the narrator's use of language and the description of his environment to show that this married couple does not, unfortunately, share the same views on marriage.

Throughout the story, the narrator uses vocabulary that distances him from his environment. He is with his family physically, but is mentally far away. His stream of thought is only known to the reader and the language he uses shows that he is distant from his family. In the first page, the narrator says: "Three children, five persons, and seven years." This statement immediately depicts the picture of an abstract family. The narrator also never mentions the names of the members of his family; he calls his children "the girl" or "the boy" (p.2),he makes comments about them as though they were children he is acquainted with but does not hold a particular affection for.

Extraits

[...] This relationship between the narrator and his wife is a very strong theme through the whole short-story. We can see through the narrator's use of language that he was sort of “formatted” by his wife to be the kind of father she envisioned, but he does not think the same way he acts in this story. When the woman seems to make her children come first place in the family, the man is longing for a more present couple life, and above all, a more present sex life. [...]

[...] The next evening, she gives her husband kiss of toothpaste, ( . ) moist and girlish and quick” (p.4). This is a telltale sign of her vision of her husband. He is not a sexual partner anymore, just a life partner, and the father of her children. He is aware of that, and all he wants is a bit of gratitude. He wants his wife to thank him for having fetched the meal, and he wants to have sexual intercourses with his wife. [...]

[...] Wife-Wooing, by John Updike In his short story, Wife-Wooing, John Updike portrays what seems to be like an ordinary family, in a purpose of discussing the matters of marriage. This story is truly about two persons, who seem to have forgotten the means of their union. Through this essay I'll try, discussing the relationship between the narrator, his use of language, and his environment, to show that this married couple does not, unfortunately, share the same vision of what marriage consist of. [...]

[...] The vocabulary the narrator uses to describe his wife is not a very flattering one, except when speaking about her legs, when he desires her at the beginning of the short-story. Everything the narrator is thinking about, is how is he going to have what he is longing for at the end of the night: sex. The way he sees and describes his wife before they are going to bed consists only of physical descriptions. In page he tries to remind his wife of their honeymoon, in a purpose of arousing her. [...]