Stepford Wives Domestic Setting

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The use of domestic settings in both The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency and the Stepford wives, are used to the advantage of the authors to create an ideological image of the characters surroundings. The novels are similar in some aspects but contrast in others, this is mainly due to gender equality and how each is represented. The Stepford wives 2004 adaptation represents a less realistic setting but is still relevant in terms of how they explore the domestic setting in a ‘perfect’ society. The term ‘domestic’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “relating to the running of a home or to family relations”, therefore, the ideal setting would be home and family related but also other settings shown within the novels and film that closely relate…show more content…
The overall setting is very rural as it is mostly surrounded by the Kalahari Desert. Mma Ramotswe describes Botswana as “no other country in Africa... can hold its head up as we can” (2003. P17), suggesting she is proud of her home and surroundings. Mma Ramotswe is exceptionally undomesticated as she is a self-governing and physically powerful woman; she lives independently and was able to open her own business, using the money she inherited with care. This contrasts to Ira Levin’s novel The Stepford Wives as the setting is described in an urban fantasy way, it is a perfect society, and the citizens are faultless. The women are not domestic optionally and are robotic domestic goddesses in the men’s eyes. This differs from the 2004 adaptation of the film because; before the women were transformed into robots they were successful business women. Mma Ramotswe and the women from Stepford are all formed in a domestic setting, but escape by rejecting the norms and values expected of…show more content…
Mma Ramotswe discusses the “Go Go Handsome man’s bar” (2003. P.139) which is a place in Botswana, men go to escape the burdens of their home lives. Settings like these cause disarray on the women in their lives as there seems to be a lack of women’s associations. This could be because women’s clubs are their own homes. Comparably, the Stepford wives has a ‘Men’s association’ which, only men can attend and women are stuck in their own homes. The men in Stepford attend this domestic setting to possibly plot against the women, and are the cause of their robotic mess. In the 2004 film adaptation, the men’s association is presented as a stereotypical gentleman’s club; mansion, red gowns and the no women rule. But, the use of horror sci-fi within the film is what indicates the inequality within the use of domestic

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