Cultural Feminism in Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again

Abstract

The play reflects the life and quest of Lejoka-Brown for political power by possible means available within his reach. Numerous works have been written on the play with little attention paid to comparing the wives of Lejoka-Brown. A critic derides Lejoka-Brown, about his military intelligence in outsmarting everybody. Observing that he has domineering and tyrannical influence over his own family, which would be counter-productive if such leadership style is transferred to the political office. Another scholar explores the idea of gender equality, which suggests that the text possesses an utopic gender framework, by proposing that men and women are equal. One other critic reveals the motive of Lejoka-Brown in joining politics, as not for patriotism but to serve as a means to an end. His campaign strategy portrays him as a man who cannot differentiate between being a politician and a soldier. The paper adopted textual analysis as method of data collection, while cultural feminism is used as the theoretical framework for analysis. Cultural feminism attributes to the distinctive and superior virtues in women. The drama is purposely selected for its content on the attributes of women. This study compares and contrasts the virtues of Liza and Mama Rashida along with Sikira. These intelligent women marry the same man, although Liza is literate, while Mama Rashida and Sikira are not. Liza  resolves to remain with her husband after being voted out of office, but in contrast, her mates choose to pursue their life ambitions in business and politics respectively.

Keywords: Politics, military, wives, virtues, intelligence