Irony
In the opening pages, Joanna is visited by the lady from the Welcome Wagon and asked if she has any special interests. Joanna thinks to herself that getting the word out about her interest in the women’s liberation movement might “serve a signpost to women like herself.” The irony here is that the most of the wives in Stepford are women absolutely unlike herself.
Metaphor is in the Eye of the Beholder
According to his wife, Charmaine, “Ed was a sex fiend and a real weirdo.” The whole point of the Stepford wife experiment is, in effect, to create sexualized robots, so it stands to reason to that every single husband who has chosen to take the robot transformation route is a sex field and a real weirdo. So, the real question here is whether Charmaine’s observation is actually a metaphor at all since she has not yet even undergone the transformation and is fully human.
Foreshadowing
At a meeting with the members of the Men’s Association, Joanna notices a celebrated artist sketching her. In response to her modest suggestion of not being worthy, he replies “Every girl’s an Ike Mazzard girl.” The robot transformation begins for each new wife with a sketch.
Time Passages
The observation that “Pete went trick-or-treating as a front-toothless Batman” is a metaphor which helps the reader keep track of the passage of the time. This is essential since there is a four-month process to the robot transformation.
The Disney Connection
Joanna describes her feelings about the strangeness of the wives in Stepford through a visual simile: “They’re like…” she prefaces before going on to describe watching a TV show about the animatronic figures inside the Hall of Presidents attraction at Disney World.
