Staging feminism: strategies of resistance employed by women in Barclays Ayakoroma and J.P. Clark’s Plays

Abstract

This essay is on “Staging Feminism: Strategies of Resistance Employed by Women in Ayakoroma and Clark’s Plays” aims to expose and suggest solutions to gender relational conflicts in Africa. Drama has always served as entertainment and as a platform offering insightful aesthetics, revelations, prophecies and solutions to social problems. African dramatists craft plays to impart these values to their audience. One of the pressing problems plaguing African society and the world at large is the feminist struggle. For years, the sexes have been embroiled in a struggle for supremacy. Men often subjugate women, to assert their dominance and superior strength. To cope, women employ the politics of sex strikes and disobedience against masculine authorities. Seeking affirmation of their place in society and believing they will get social justice. However, grassroots sex politics and rebellion have dire consequences. To achieve the aim of this essay, a critical
analysis of Ayakoroma’s Dance on His Grave which portrays female dissent to subvert patriarchal authority semi-urban Nigerian village and Clark’s The Wives’ Revolt that demonstrates women’s protest against economic inequality or marginalization is done. The essay employs the socialist theory and uses an interpretative approach to content analysis within the qualitative research methodology. It concludes that society should foster respect, love and communal harmony; where unity is broken, friction ensues, leading to disaster. Therefore, it recommends recognising equality among all individuals, as everyone is equal before God.