Scan barcode
A review by boundforinfinity
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
"The Stepford Wives" is a modern classic, encompassing the fear of control and change. A welcome attitude of strong, influential women still being helpless against the patriarchal boundaries of society greets you right from the start.
The women of Stepford become robotic in nature - creating an illusion of free will by arguing that they just "wanted to take better care" and realising that "they were being selfish", with the truly selfish of the bunch never really lifting a finger. The men have little to no impact on the story telling - they're almost never mentioned. We see glimpses of Walter's ever increasing annoyance at Joanna's need for freedom. The rest of the book brings us Joanna's perspective as it brings us along her almost crazy train of thought - are these women actually doing this for their own good?
I loved Ira Levin's work here. Within approximately a hundred pages, he has taken me to Stepford and made me feel as helpless as Joanna in a society dominated by masculine ideology.
The women of Stepford become robotic in nature - creating an illusion of free will by arguing that they just "wanted to take better care" and realising that "they were being selfish", with the truly selfish of the bunch never really lifting a finger. The men have little to no impact on the story telling - they're almost never mentioned. We see glimpses of Walter's ever increasing annoyance at Joanna's need for freedom. The rest of the book brings us Joanna's perspective as it brings us along her almost crazy train of thought - are these women actually doing this for their own good?
I loved Ira Levin's work here. Within approximately a hundred pages, he has taken me to Stepford and made me feel as helpless as Joanna in a society dominated by masculine ideology.