AFRICAN DRAMA
KOBINA SEKYI: The Blinkards.
To what extent is Mrs. Borofosem a blind imitator of the English ways of life?
Explanation
Mrs. Borofosem is a major character in the play. She is the wife of Mr. Borofosem who belongs to the merchant class. She is a been-to’, that is one who has been to England, albeit for only three months. She claim to be a leader of fashion and insists on speaking English, Although, her own English is, at best, sub-standard.
Mrs. Borofosem is a blind imitator of English ways of life. For her, everything African is barbaric, and that includes African dress, food, languages, customs and religion. For instance, she insists on kissing her husband openly (even though he is reluctant to do so) and demands that he call her “Duckie” as her neighbour, Mr.. Gosh in England, calls his wife. She even goes to the ridiculous length of encouraging her husband to smoke and spill the cigar ashes on the carpet in the belief that it preserves the carpet against moth.
There is no finesse in Mrs. Borofosem’s affectation of English ways. She seems more to be putting on appearances. She insists on having “European sweets” with dinner. But in her unguarded moments she is nostalgic the African dishes she condemns openly. Her fixation on English manners is complete: her husband must sing as the English do even if he insists on singing in his own natural voice. “I’ m not an ass” he says. Mrs. Borofosem’s attitude to her servants apes what she sees as the attitude of the English people to their servants. For her, “Nobody thinks of servants thinking in England.”
Perhaps the most ridiculous thing about Mrs. Borofosem is her taking pride in using English, a language she speaks poorly. For a character like her who dotes on English, her grammatical slips are as ridiculous as her other affectations. All these create a picture of her as a pretentious, ridiculous and ludicrous character. Yet it is to Mrs. Borofosem’s affection credit that towards the end of the play,. She makes an about-turn towards embracing her native language and customs.