FEMINIST AETHESTIC IN OLA ROTIMI’S OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN AND FEMI OSOFISAN’S MOROUNTODUN

FEMINIST AESTHETIC IN OLA ROTIMI’S OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN AND FEMI OSOFISAN’S MOROUNTODUN

Background to the Study

Feminism as literary theory is an ideology which tends towards female liberation in society. According to Joseph, Feminism as an ideology of social commitment to the struggle for female liberation in the society through conscious and collective effort (199)

Feminist criticism proceeds from the assumption that “the history of all the societies, is the history patriarch of male domination and exploitation of women” a situation which has hindered the actualization of women’s possibilities aid potentials in all fields of human Endeavour. (19)

Women all over the world are crying for the liberation of their identity, women are only seen but not to be heard, due to the belief that they are weaker set, men take over every aspect of life thereby subjecting women to the domestic slave, Feminism  like a maximum is concerned about societal inequalities. It is also a literary ideology founded on the need to develop a female tradition of creative to cause awareness on the high of women as the oppressed, deprived subjected and unfulfilled gender according to Obioma.

Women should not be seen as objects to decorate the homes but they should be regarded as major contributors to the destiny of the nation without really affecting the role as matters and wolves at home. (49)

Thus, it insists that the only way to send the oppression of women is for men to stop seeing women as a subject and inferior being Alchonel asserted that;

Women should no longer be decorative accessories, objects to be  moved about, and companions to be flatted or claimed with promises, they should see themselves as the nation’s primary fundamental roots, from which all else grows and blossom, women encourage to take a keen interest in the destiny of the country (77)

It is on this background that several African Feminist writers like Flora Nwapa, Zaynab Alkalie etc advocate equal rights for women. The writers are a gradient in their approaches to women emancipation as they portray the ability of their rural woman to be part of men in farming

          African male writers have presented better myths and images of women in their play. Writing, such writers include Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wathiong and Olu Obafem have recognized the potentials of the women to complement the efforts of the men to transform the society in his play The trial of Dedan Kimath, the women are seen as they champion the oppressed Kenyans. She mobilizes the youths mainly girls to free Kimath. The imprisoned leader of man, man freedom fighters, therefore, with the use of Rotimi’s work Our Husband has gone mad again, mainly act by men to enslave women will be analyzed. Also, through the work of Osifisan’s morountodun, some cultural practices that forfeit women rights, personality shall be analyzed and needs to stop.

 1.2 Statement of the problem

          The injustice and negative portrayal of Female in the Africa society and African literary works by most African male writer have led to clashes between male and female writers. The problem has made writers to disagree in their perception and ideas about Feminism in African Fiction.

          In some African literary works, there has been the problem of maltreatment of women by men in African fiction. The female characters are mostly maltreated and portrayed as negatively as men extremity to male characters. Therefore, this research is set to investigate the manners in which female children are deprived of their right in African society

1.3 Purpose of the study

          The purpose of this study is to examine Feminist aesthetic, using two carefully, selected play as primary data, Ola Rotimi’s Our husband has gone mad again and Femi Osifisan’s Morountodun. Using radical feminism to show that women should be treated equally as men and that gender difference is no excuse for maltreatment. This work aims at bringing out how cultural practices affect women, the pain it brings and the overall survival of female gender, the roles they could play in their community to make the society a better place it also focuses on how women have struggled side by side with their male counterparts against the general injustice and oppression that the few privileged.