AFRICAN DRAMA
FEMI OSOFISAN: Women of Owu
Discuss the plight of women in the play.
Explanation
A distinction has to be made between two sets of women in the play. On the one hand there are the two women of Owu and those of allied forces who are devastated by the wars, and on the other, the goddess Lawumi who, by losing her shrine, loses her status. lyunloye, also suffers disgrace and ridicule. The play emphasizes the plight of Owu women during and after the destruction of the Owu kingdom. They are subjected to disgrace, humiliation, grief and sorrow. They lose their husbands, sons and properties to the war. Their various prestigious positions as wives and mothers change to those of slaves and concubines sent to unknown destinations.
Erelu, the queen of Owu, in particular, witnesses the death of her husband, sons, and daughter and eventually buries her grandson. She suffers degradation and disgrace, torture and displacement by the invasion of the allied forces. She is to be sent to Balogun Derin to serve as maid to his wife. While leading the rite which is performed for the transition of the spirits of the dead, Erelu is possessed by the god, Anlugbua, pronounces the doom of Owu kingdom and dies.
Now the women of Owu must be marched off into exile and slavery. It is this terrible fate which befalls them as they suffer in agony the consequences of their collective misdeeds: Our women were sized/And shared out to the blood-splattered/ troops /To spend the night.” As for the goddess Lawumi, the allied forces plunder and desecrate her shrine, while lyunloye looks to an uncertain future as the price she pays for her infidelity.