Vol. 16, No.

2, 2021
DOI: 10.2478/jgp-2021-0017

Akaenyi Nkiruka Jacinta

Representation of the Empowered Woman

in Bode Ojoniyi’s Our Wife Has Gone Mad:
An Issue in National Development

ABSTRACT. Bode Ojoniyi is one of the few male playwrights who have shown great interest in the
female question in contemporary Nigerian society. The female protagonist in Bode Ojoniyi’s play
is an assertive, strong, educationally empowered woman who has transcended the private life to
the fore of public life, where she contributes to the socio-economic and human development of
the nation. This study examines the image of an educationally empowered female protagonist in
the drama of Bode Ojoniyi and the methods used by Ojoniyi in representing her to determine the
implication of the playwright’s style and technique on both the audience’s response as well as
human and national development. To achieve the above objectives, Bode Ojoniyi’s play, Our Wife
Has Gone Mad, which emphasizes a professional female character, is critically analyzed to reveal
the intricate relationship of character, subject matter and style in determining the overall message
of the play.

KEYWORDS: patriarchy, gender, equality, oppression, farce

Introduction

The biggest challenge facing women in the world today is patriarchy.

This is especially obvious in the family where gender roles are clearly
spelt out. Therefore, both men and women are expected to live up to their
culturally assigned roles. Any attempt by women to break out from the
chrysalis of patriarchy is usually frowned upon. Regardless of a woman’s
education, experience or abilities, the patriarchal nature of Nigerian so-
-
petent than men. This is because, according to Nnonyelum Chibuzo Mba
(2015, p. 96): “Africa, precisely Nigeria has cultural roles assigned to both
men and women”. The social roles in traditional African society seem to
position men at the centre of life where they wield unrestricted power in
both public and private life. From the traditional point of view, according
JGP 16(2), 2021: 141–150 © The Author(s), Adam Mickiewicz University Press, 2021.
Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the CC licence (BY-NC-ND, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
142

widow which are supposedly subordinate and inferior to the man’s and
they entail carrying out of all the daily burdens of life”.
The status of women too, all over the world, but particularly in Nigeria,
has been undergoing rapid changes in the recent decades. This phenom-
enon, therefore, has drawn the attention of literary artists, theorists and
sociologists. According to Ruby Davaseeli (2011, p. 30):

the change in the position of women in any society is a reliable pointer to

social change in general. The modern woman has awakened into a new re-
alization of her place and position in family and society, is conscious of her
individuality. She has been trying to assert and ascertain her right as a human
being and is determined to fight for equal treatment with men.

Irrespective of the changing status of women, studies have shown that

although some Nigerian drama by men has strong female characters as
agents of moral, socio-cultural and even economic reformers, it has re-
mained silent or at best suspicious of the activities aimed at changing their
subservient position in gender relation. According to Osita Ezenwanebe
(2009, p. 190):

African plays on women in social relationship locate women within family

circles. Yerima is the most outstanding male playwrights in Nigerian theater
that concerns his plays with the female question in contemporary Nigerian
society. The plays under study are on women, marriage and family life. Pro-
minent among these plays are The Wives, The Sisters, The Portraits, and The
Mirror Cracks. The female protagonists of these plays are economically sel-
f-reliant. Yerima’s drama on gender issues interrogates the role of educated
women within the family. The Wives and The Sisters are exclusively of female
characters with only references to male. The Mirror Cracks and The Portraits
portray male and female in a battle of position and supremacy and its con-
sequent effect on themselves and the children.

Most of these male authored plays ranging from Ola Rotimi’s Our
Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Ahmed Yerima’s Mirror Cracks, The Por-
traits and Bode Ojoniyi’s Our Wife Has Gone Mad presents a farcical
representation of women issues. The farcical-cum-comic style of these

means of vigorous entertainment instead of being catalyst for a rigorous

 Our Wife Has Gone Mad 143

post performance discussion that can bring about revolutionary change

as in the theatre of Shaw, Ibsen, or Chekov. Ezenwanebe (2009, p. 192)
observes that:

Nigerian male playwrights are ambivalent about woman liberation, and

they express their fears in their style., Though many plays by Nigerian male
playwrights support the education of the girl child and denounce women
oppression, for example, the oppression of widows as properties in Yerima’s
Aetu, yet the playwrights are ambivalent in supporting the programmes or
activities that can liberate these women from their slavish and subdued po-
sition in the society.

In light of the above, this study is concerned with Bode Ojoniyi’s Our
Wife has Gone Mad. The play sounds like warnings to the reader on the
dangers inherent in women empowerment through education that can
change the traditional gender power structure. However, the female pro-
-
nity and privileges.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on Radical feminist theory. Radical Feminism

is a movement that takes its root from Western ideology. It is a perspec-
tive within feminism that singles out patriarchy as a system of power that
oppresses women. It aims to challenge and overthrow patriarchy by op-
posing societal gender roles and oppression of women. This group argues
that women’s subordination is not rooted in relation of production but in

to Godiya Makama (2013, p. 119), “they point to the effectiveness of the

capacity of language to shape our thoughts and desires…”. This movement,
therefore, calls for a radical reordering of society.
Radical feminists lay emphasis only on women’s experiences and do
not see anything virtuous in men. They advocate the need for women to
unite in a common sisterhood that transcends class or race for a successful
revolt against male dominance. They feel that the control of women by
men extends from the public world to private life in homes, so man be-
comes the target. Ann Oakley (1975, p. 129) maintains that radical steps
must be taken to liberate women:
144

First, the housewife role must be abolished. Oakley rejects less radical solu-
tions such as payments for housework, which, she argues, will simply reinfor-
ce the woman equals housewife equation. Second, the family as it now stands
must be abolished. This proposal follows from the first since the housewife
and mother roles are part and parcel of the same thing. Abolishing the family
will also to serve to break the circle of daughter learning her role from mother,
son learning his role from his father. Third, the sexual division of labour must
be eradicated in all areas of social life.

Perhaps, this extreme stance explains why many scholars often mis-
understand feminism and regard feminists as aggressive men-haters. This
also explains why some African women do not want to associate them-
selves with feminist ideology. Accordingly, in condemnation of Western
brands of feminism, they come up with many other concepts to advocate
the emancipation of women from the African perspective.
Concerned with the issue of women’s rights and freedom, dramatists
and theatre scholars have employed several means of tackling the oppres-
sion and subjugation of women. Against this backdrop, the study examines
the style adopted by Bode Ojoniyi, a Nigerian male playwright, in address-
ing social ideals and equality of men and women.

The Image of the Educationally Empowered Woman

in Bode Ojoniyi’s Our Wife Has Gone Mad

The play, Our Wife Has Gone Mad by Bode Ojoniyi won the SONTA-Olu
Obafemi award for unpublished play. Our Wife Has Gone Mad by Bode
Ojoniyi captures the plight of women as wives in the family. The story re-

Alhaji and a Petro chemical engineer whose money Alhaji uses to marry
and maintain his other wives without her knowledge. When she discovers
that she is being deceived, manipulated and exploited by her husband, Al-
haji, she resolves to marry a second and a third husband—all three spread
across Lagos, Port Harcourt and Beijing, China. She keeps secret affairs
with them and bore each of them a son as well. The truth, however, is re-
vealed when Daniela is involved in a ghastly road accident and is in a coma
for sometimes. On her recovery from a coma, she confronts the three men
whom she has also been the breadwinner for years. In Our Wife Has Gone
Mad, Bode Ojoniyi takes the struggle for gender equality to the realm of
the ludicrous. This is because, according to Ameh Dennis Akoh, “while it
 Our Wife Has Gone Mad 145

is common to hear of women who are married to more than one man in
a lifetime, it is normally after a divorce or death of the husband” (Ojoniyi,
2021, p. 6).
Among the wives of Alhaji, Dr Daniela’s economic empowerment
through formal education is clearly emphasized. She is a Petrochemical
engineer and has a doctorate degree. She has married two other men be-
cause of Alhaji’s insincerity. It is revealed in the play that Alhaji kept her
in the dark about his marriage to the other women since she was away on
an assignment on the rig in Port-Harcourt. This is reminiscent of Lejoka
Brown, the protagonist in Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again,
who withholds the information concerning his marriage with other wom-
en from Liza, the American trained medical doctor, whom he met while
was in Congo. In both plays, the men are represented as he-devils: vicious,
reckless and deceptive while the two empowered women are represented
as victims, but the styles of representation undermine the audience’s sym-
pathy for them. Beneath their pitiable experiences at the hand of the men
is a gentle satire, which evokes not pity but derision. When Daniela learns
of Alhaji’s deceit, she sees their relationship as being washed up and gives
him the push without delay. Daniela condemns Alhaji’s deceptive tactics
to force her into polygamy, and makes known her rejection of polygamy in
clear terms when she addresses Alhaji in strong terms, saying:

Daniela: Just three months into our marriage, Alhaji! You did not even give me
any breathing space. If I was not already carrying our baby, I would quit the
marriage right then. I held on. And, to safe myself from mental degeneration
because of the love you betrayed, I went to start my PhD immediately. I sub-
stituted your love for my studies, for books! Immediately I finished my PhD,
I requested to be taken back to Port-Harcourt. I made up my mind to mar-
ry a second husband, this time around, not as playing any second fiddle role
to any man! So, I went for this distrust Akpan. I brought him out of poverty.
I spent money on him… (Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 50).

The truth, however, is revealed when Daniela is involved in a ghastly

road accident and is in a coma for sometimes. The comatose state of Dan-
iela brings together all the men in her life: her three husbands, who all
gathered to know the condition of her health. Initially, the matron thought
it was wise to keep her secret by preventing the men from meeting each
other during hospital visits. Surprisingly enough, Daniela turns down the
matron’s suggestion and insists that she wants the men to meet each other.
Whatever mistakes she has made, she believes that no one will blame her.
146

Alhaji is astonished at Daniela’s confession about other men in her life and
even meeting them. He tries to know where he has gone wrong:

Alhaji: Wait, I am already coming out. I hope it will all just be a strange night-
mare and nothing more [He steps out of the toilet] … just a strange nightmare
with no concrete meaning…
Daniela: Unfortunately, Alhaji, this is not a drama! This is a reality. I can
agree with the fact that it could be illusionary somehow because you are
just being confronted with its facts, but it is real, my dear Alhaji! It is real
(Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 49).

The reality of the situation hits Alhaji like a thunderbolt as he probes

-
ing three husbands. Daniela says:

Daniela: No! Not really because of him. I did it because of myself. I did it becau-
se of our culture. I did it to rewrite the traditions. I did it to make significant
contribution to our way of life. I did it to deconstruct and reconstruct reality.
In any case, what really is a reality out of what you see or perceive? (Ojoniyi,
2021, p. 52).

The above may look like a eulogy of women empowerment to an un-

critical mind, but it embodies the playwright’s style of gentle satire, a re-
-
ceitful nature in the name of setting women free from their oppressive
condition is undoubted, inconsistent with the ideological underpinning
of African feminism, which aims at extolling the virtues of womanhood.
An African audience is skeptical about this kind of freedom. Would deceit
or revenge put an end to women oppression in the African context? She
is guilty of committing the same atrocity men are being accused of. Her
action suggests a lack of patience, heartlessness and intolerance. The Af-
rican audience will never like to identify with her character. Osita Ezen-
wanebe (2008, p. 91) says that “Feminist theatre critics insist that creat-
ing strong female characters with whom the audience can identify with is
one of the most important functions feminist theatre can perform in the
hands of a feminist writer”. Sadly, feminism is seen as a derogatory term
in Africa. Numerous women and men who are sympathetic with the plight
of women in Africa are too careful in using their dramatic works to pro-
 Our Wife Has Gone Mad 147

mote gender equality. This ambivalence gives rise to all kinds of distortion
in works that deal with the female question. It is gathered from Ojoniyi’s
Our Wife Has Gone Mad that patriarchy has done to convince people that
a strong and intelligent woman represents a problem; a disruption to the
social order rather than an integral part of it. The case of Daniela seems

woman of high learning, the playwright blames her for the breakdown of
her marriage and its devastating effects on her family. However, the pre-
sentation of Daniela by the playwright situates her as a representation of
the woman more concerned with subverting the male character instead
of being a solution to the leadership problem within the family nucleus
and the society at large. Daniela undertakes a revenge mission on Alhaji,
-
lenges in the family and society than bring a solution to the already exist-
ing problems. Alhaji laments “Daniela, you have ruined my life. You have
ruined my home. See how I am losing everything” (Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 53).
Osita Ezenwanebe (2009, p. 199) says that “the art of repudiating learned
or high educated women even when they are victims … implies that eco-
nomic powers through education is the bane behind marriage failures”. In
Stella Oyedepo’s On his Demise, Pa Timo, Salli’s father states this unequiv-
ocally while protesting how his son, Salli, is minding his baby. He laments:
“See, this is the type of havoc education has done to this society. Women no
longer know their responsibility just because they are educated” (p. 10).
According to Ezenwanebe (2008, p. 200–201):

It is the style of the playwright that conditions audience response whether

approvingly or otherwise one thing stands out in Balogun’s apt observation;
that is, the need to imbue the heroes or heroines of literary works with tho-
se qualities that attest to our aesthetic preferences. The 20th century saw an
outburst of the reconstruction of African women, and it is important that it
should be done in line with the womanist propositions. African women carved
out of western feminism, principles that guide the reconstruction of African
women so that the “new eve” is not alienated from the African context.

Surely, Daniela is not a good example of the “new eve” envisaged by the
womanists. However, an artist is free to adopt any approach in recreating

the other. It is important that writers should note the argument of Abiodun
Balogun (1999, p. 51) when he says that:
148

The heroes of the literary works of any group of people are a reliable source
of ascertaining the aesthetic preferences of such people… In the second place,
the society reveals its biases by the way it reacts either approvingly or disap-
provingly of the characters and materials contained in a work of literature.

Drama, as Gurr and Calden (1974, p. 6), observe has “a double function
in … society. It records the present holding a mirror up to society and it
paints a picture of the future, it offers a possible vision of how the present
can be improved”. Hence, drama not only interprets the past and the pres-
ent but also charts a way forward for the people. In her inaugural lecture,
Ezeigbo (2008, p. 16) boldly asserts that “literature (a many the Human-

education this country needs to make progress…”. Hence an artist is vision-

ary, charting the course for future development and equipping people with
the right morals, knowledge, and aspiration.
Just like Daniela, Alhaji’s other two wives condemns in bolder terms,
-
ion in decision-making even in matters affecting their lives. Alhaji deceives
his other wives. He denies them the knowledge that Daniela is the sole
breadwinner of the family. As soon as Alhaja and Segi realizes their un-
equal position in the house, they resolve to desert their matrimonial home.
Alhaja says “Alhaji, it is a disaster to be married to a man who is not a man.
We are going. If we are still at home when you return, we will hear how it
is resolved” (Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 53). In Ojoniyi’s Our Wife Has Gone Mad, El-
der D, one of Daniela’s husbands, exclaims that “Indeed, our wife has gone
mad” (Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 51). Daniela is called a mad woman simply because
she refuses to play along with the cultural dictates of society and accept
a subordinate position within the family.
The play is set in a patriarchal society, with cultural expectations of
what a man and woman’s role is. In this society represented in the play,
we witness the unquestioning acceptance of male superiority as it is im-
plied in Daniela’s statement when she says that “He is not a whore since
his actions are sanctioned by Allah. I am a whore because I carried out my
own decisions and desires… and invented my own culture. Matron than
you for restraining the animal” (Ojoniyi, 2021, p. 54). Here, it is obvious

According to Osita Ezenwanebe (2011, p. 284): “The man believes he has

the right to sexual freedom. He can sleep around with as many women as
-
 Our Wife Has Gone Mad

a lot of news”. In the case of Daniela, she appropriates the same liberty or
privileges given to men and marries the men. She does not cheat on the

keeps them in their different cities.

Conclusion
Bode Ojoniyi in Our Wife Has Gone Mad is concerned with the cultural
oppression of women. In using the comic-farcical approach to feminism,
Bode Ojoniyi trivializes its ideals. He achieves the ridiculing of feminist ide-
als by misrepresentation. He makes the ideals too confusingly ambiguous
as to be objectionable. The technique of using an educationally empow-
ered woman, Daniela to teach the ideals of freedom to African women in
African society is wholly unacceptable to African feminists or “womanists”.
Daniela is a typical representative of all that is repulsive in women—she
is deceitful, immodest and represents all that is abominable in the African
mother and wife. Given the ideological underpinning of womanism, Danie-
la became a kind of liability in the course of strenuous efforts to objectify
women as good, amicable creatures. Even when Daniela is portrayed in
the play as a loving, caring and understanding wife and mother, since she

since she tries to lure Elder D and Chin Chung into marriage. This is surely
beyond the limits of postulations of womanism which aims to extol the
virtues of womanhood.
For the interest of human and national development, African drama
should veer away from the farcical representation of women issues and
see it as a serious subject matter for theatre recreated in line with woman-
ist principles in order to portray educationally empowered women which
the audience can identify with.

REFERENCES

BALOGUN, A. (1999) Gender Crisis in Yoruba thought: An Aftermath of Western Expe-

rience. Journal of Cultural Studies. No. 1. Pp. 97–106.
DAVASEELI, R. (2011) Woman and Family in Recent Indian Feminist Fiction in English:
A Select Study. Puducherry: Pondicherry University.
EZEIGBO, A. (2008) Artistic Creativity: Literature in the Service of Society. Lagos: Uni-
versity of Lagos Press.
150

EZENWANEBE, O. (2008) Women, Economic Empowerment and Nigerian Drama: Im-

plication for Economic and Human Development. In: Nwankwo, I., Ezeajugh, T. &
Tunca, D. (eds.) Relevant Arts for Sustainable Global Development: Proceedings of
Awka: Valid Pub-
lishing CO. Pp. 184–194.
EZENWANEBE, O. (2009) The Empowered Women in Ahmed Yerima’s Drama. [Online]
Available at:
EZENWANEBE, O. (2011) Male Ego and the Crisis of Gender in Modern African Drama.
In: Oni, D. & Ododo, S. E. (eds.) Technical Theatre and the Performing Arts in Nige-
ria: Celebration of Otateju Wasee Kareem. Lagos: NANTAP & CBAAC. Pp. 273–298.
GURR, A. & CALDEN, A. (1974) Writers in East Africa. Nairobi: East African Literature
Bureau.
HASSAN, H. (1992) Nigerian Womanhood. Kaduna: JEL Publications.
MAKAMA, G. (2013) Patriarchal and Gender Inequality in Nigeria: The Way Forward.
Vol. 9, No.17. Pp. 115–144.
MBA, C. N. (2015) Womanhood and Gender Politics in Mabel Evwierhoma’s Out of
Hiding: Poems and A Song as I am and Other Poems. In: Utoh-Ezeajugh, T. C. &
Ayakoroma, B. (eds.) Gender Discourse in African Theatre, Literature and Visual
Arts: A Festchrift in honour of Mabel Evwierhoma. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited.
Pp. 94–116.
MILLET, K. (1977) Sexual Politics: Women in society. London: Methuen.
OAKLEY, A. (1975) The Sociology of Housework. London: Sage.
OJONIYI, B. (2021) Our Wife Hs Gone Mad. Lagos: Malthouse Press.
OYEDEPO, S. (2002) The Rebellion of the Bumpy Chested: A Feminist Manifesto. Ilorin:
Delstar Publisher.