AUTHOR: OJIESON SILVER ABHULIMHEN

AFFILLIATION: (UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE ARTS,

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AKOKA, LAGOS.)

CONTACT EMAILS: osawisdom4me@yahoo.com, silverabhulimhen@gmail.com,

MOBILE: +2348035503729.

TITLE: HEAD WITHOUT HEART, A STUDY OF DEPRIVED WOMEN IN DRAMATIC

LITERATURE: An appraisal of Altine’s Wrath and Hands that Crush Stones

ABSTRACT:

Deprived women are the victims of circumstances perpetrated by egocentric men left at the mercy of a patriarchal order. In pursuit of a phallo-centric propagation which leaves women at the receiving end, dramatic literature and the theatre postulates a stance antithetical to the woman’s wellbeing. Such ill-conceived portrayal that reiterates and berates woman as being perpetually helpless results in the damage of the female psyche and leaves them conditioned detrimentally at the man’s expense. Using the case study approach, this study asserts that portrayal of women in their helpless state makes matters worse for the coping gender as Osofisan’s Altine’s Wrath and Eze-igbo’s Hands that Crush Stones posit.

INTRODUCTIONOne thing that is notable about women and the way they are portrayed in dramatic texts is that

most of them are written by men. Scholarly records bear witness to the fact that until the 17 th

century women were not allowed to appear on stage. All female roles were played by young

male actors. According to Felner (cited in Wilson 2007) it is stated that:

In Athenian society, where women were excluded from all political roles and were not even considered citizens, it followed logically that they could not participate in the creative processes of theatre (51).

If women could not participate in the creative processes of theatre as insinuated above, it follows

that all forms of portrayal of women did not come from a woman’s perspective. As a matter of

fact, from Greek theatre era until the 20th century no notable female dramatist of the theatre can

be accounted for. Hence, the society in which the woman lives, headed by a man who often times

1

does not regard her as an equal, given the opportunity to showcase the woman’s potential will

turn out biased. However, one thing is certain and that is the fact that whatever is portrayed in

drama and theatre holds an iota of truth. When playwrights, as they often do portray women as

suffering in play texts or victims of societal laws and subject of an injurious act, it only mirrors

the obvious to the effect that women are at the receiving end. Allen summits that:

Theatre’s duality, its mirroring quality, offers direct immediate reflection. Shakespeare believed that theatre’s purpose was just this: to mirror life, throw back an image so we can ‘see ‘ourselves’. Theatre has immediacy, present vitality and is ephemeral. It is limited in size, a living art form, provocative, entertaining and truly magical with its ‘active construction of meaning in regard to human experience (63).

Theatre’s duality as said above is its ability to reproduce the tensions inherent in our world.

Therefore, Queen Jocasta finds herself in a situation orchestrated by divine and patriarchal

forces. If it weren’t the custom, made by the men of old Greek society, she would not have been

a victim of an incestuous relationship which leads to her death. It is enough that her husband the

King of Thebes is dead, but tradition compels her to marry the new king who turns out to be her

son. In several societies, such inhuman lore abound such as a situation where the woman must

drink the bath water of her husband’s corpse as evidence that she is not a culprit in his demise.

Not minding the medical consequences of such customary acts against the woman, these

manmade injunctions still exist unchallenged and many women suffer its consequences. Some

other societies would shave the widow’s hair and lock her up to mourn the late husband for 14

days, sometimes without food and water. When incidences such as these make the subject matter

of drama, it goes without mincing words that the society in which such acts of inhumanity are

perpetrated cannot be divorced from the portrait of women we see in drama.

Abuya asserts that:

Women have always constituted a larger disadvantaged group in almost all known and existing societies. The kinds of problems and experiences hitherto thought of

2

as mundane and of little interest are shared by women the world over. Despite their large population everywhere, gender difference is a common phenomenon (104).

Ogundipe (37) is of the view that women are powerless on the basis of the principles of social

stratification which operate in Nigeria. Under these principles, there are three kinds of valued

resources. They are power, the ability to impose one’s will on others, prestige (honour and

respect) and property, material good. Debunking the inequality status of women’s ration to men,

Ogundipe states that in any society that, there is hierarchy ranked status from high to low, based

on the abilities and appearances that are culturally valued. Ogundipe goes on to say that in

Nigeria that since men are culturally given the superiority, they are entitled to a greater share of

resources. Making further assertions, Ogundipe states that “inherent in the culture of most

Nigerian societies are cultural norms, attitudes and values which continue to render women

powerless” (38). Hence Ogundipe posit that:

Socialization practices condition women into accepting their future roles as cooks, beasts of burden, hewers of wood and fetchers of water, in short second class citizens, as they are raised ironically by women to accept their inferior roles and not to aspire to areas of male preserve in education or careers (38, 39).

It is in the light of the above issues, stereotyping women as mere domestic and powerless lots

that some scholars have resorted to pulling down the foundation of the male dominated society

which limits the aspiration and prospects women have to realize their potentials. Theatre and

drama have been able to expose these ills perpetrated against the female essence. The portrayal

of women in the light of their present predicament as most likely dependent on their male

counter parts calls for review.

According to Albert:

Little wonder that feminist scholars, wherever they are found around the world, find it fashionable to start their study of any problem by first making reference to the fact of women’s exclusion, distortion, misrepresentation, exploitation and neglect [by men]. The typical feminist literature therefore, starts by making reference to some unacceptable things men do [in the public and private spheres];

3

how these affect women and what needed to be done towards liberating or empowering the woman in a patriarchal world. This pattern of scholarship is not limited to Nigeria,...(59).

It cannot be disputed that most societies, whether European or African has cultures that

undermine women’s place and subject them to the whims and caprices of the male folk.

Recurrent themes in drama, of the ages past and present is full of women concerned issues,

which in great numbers portrays a state in which women are relegated to the background and

undermined. As these subjects make dramatic literature as themes, the light in which they are put

forward, biased or pro-women leaves the documentary evidence full of or devoid of the

principles of equity. Therefore, in the following analysis of plays, significant issues related to

women’s position, perception and attitude of men towards them, as permitted by the cultural and

socio-economic circumstances will form the core areas of analysis.

As we shall see in the analysis of Akachi-Ezeigbo’s Hands that Crush Stones, the pitiable

condition of widows are exposed. The theatre informs as well as educates and exposes the ills

inherent in our societies, especially the sort of injustice meted out against women. For example,

Altine’s predicament in Lawal’s household, although being his wife, He resorts to maltreating

her for reasons without substance. The functions of the feminist theatre aims to pull down the

phallo-centric strongholds which seeks to keep the woman as an object of the man’s fancy,

disposable at will and subject to his whims and caprices.

Sonpa and Kapur state that: “Women's lack of authority, autonomy and 'bargaining power' also

renders them without redress in the face of discrimination, exploitation and injustice” (69).

In most of the Greek plays, although not overtly stated, we find that female characters are

victims of the influence of patriarchal dominance and rule, a typical case is the Antigone by

Sophocles and Women of Troy by Euripides where women suffer the brunt of manmade

4

decisions. At other times, the woman really stands up against male dominance. According to

Wilson and Goldfarb:

The young Greek heroine Antigone and the Medieval religious figure Saint Joan are the epitome of the independent, courageous female, willing to stand up to male authority with strength and dignity (154).

The society of the old-Greek to the late 19 th century was built on a foundation regulated by the

power of men’s thought until in the late 18 th century when women rights activists began to

demand equal rights for all. Until the wake of conscious feminist thoughts, playmaking and

writing which came after the printing press formulates a core subject that vilifies the stance of

male dominance and the evil of oppressive headship and habitation perpetrated against the

woman. Since a lot of people are steeped in customary and traditional beliefs that leave them

indoctrinated, the role of the theatre in brainwashing an aspect of people often conditions their

mindset in receiving certain information as universal or parochial. Basing their argument on the

powerful effects of the theatre at influencing opinions, Wainscott and Fletcher posit that:

The Greek philosopher Plato found theatre disturbing and potentially dangerous. Because Plato found theatre so effective in performance, he feared that convincing acting and the powerful language of a gifted playwright could harm society if the artists decided to present subversive or morally corrupt ideas (18).

A critical examination of the above position shows that drama is capable of creating a concrete

vision on our social psyche. Some of these areas in which dramatic literature has informed and

perpetrated its anti-womanish ideals comes through its portrayal of female characters in the

playmaking process. Throughout much of theatre history, dramatic representations and the

portrayal of women have shown them as perpetually dependent on the man, weak and incapable

of making sound rational judgement except assisted by the man. It may not have changed totally

in favour of women, but the apparent thing about the lot of women in drama is that, instead of

the age long portrayal of women as subservient and weaklings, recent playwrights have jettison

the hegemonic prevalence of male dominance and the numerous injustices meted out against the

5

woman. In considering Nora’s portrayal in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Wilson and Goldfarb assert

that:

It has been said that Nora’s slamming of the door marked the beginning not only of modern drama but of the emancipation of modern women. Nora’s demand that she be treated as an equal has made her typical of all housewives who refuse to be regarded as pets (155).

Despite the rebellion against the institution of marriage, women are usually seen as those who

are not supposed to cry when beaten, dumb and nit wits. As housewives, their place it is said is

the kitchen and the bed. The relegation of women has been a heated subject but dramatic

literature gives us a wider view of how through state laws and oppressive tendencies perpetrated

against women, the authority of the man is asserted. For instance, most society, especially

African regards the woman as a subordinate and not an equal partner in a marriage relationship.

Again, Wainscott and Fletcher, referring to the socio-cultural milieu of Ibsen’s times when he

wrote A Doll’s House say that:

When you understand that married women could not own property and had no rights to their children, it makes Nora’s decision in A Doll’s House (1879) to leave her family even more frightening and poignant (138).

Re-representing women in the good light and not the weak and helpless person she has been

portrayed has become the preoccupation of a school of thought known as feminism. These critics

consider drama and its medium a viable tool for the deconstruction of patriarchal strongholds.

The ancient world to which most of the intellectual basis for which dramatic literature has been

shaped relies most times on acceptable tradition and customary formulations put forward by the

men. For every law, ancient and modern, except in very few liberal societies today, majority of

conventions and what not are the views of men of how they perceive women, not how women

should be perceived. This inverted opinion leaves the woman at the mercy of the male

counterpart who is at liberty to exploit and take advantage of the woman. At any point in time

when the man feels that the woman is getting too enlightened and may challenge his authority,

6

which too often is his might, he feels threatened. The theatrical environment engendered by

Theatre’s hegemony has been one of a patriarchal nature which has left women at the bottom of

the artistic abyss, often painting them in the negative where productions showcasing women

abound. As means of transportation and shared knowledge spread farther than what men had

envisaged, so did the maltreatment of women in the works of art which the modern era produced.

The kitchen had been their abode and until the man of the house have need of the woman which

he always have need of, mind you, women were to keep their place below the man’s shadow.

African customs and traditions, especially Nigerian cultural heritages would have been perfect if

the women folk were a complete ignoramus instead of a ‘wild duck’ the sort of ‘modern woman’

ideas which has gained more academic grounds. No matter how sweeping these statements might

appear, sociological patterns in Afro-centric thoughts show that education of the girl child is

responsible for quite a number of the rebellion against the barbaric standing orders that women

do not amount to anything; their place is the kitchen; their principal responsibility is to bear

children and make the home and to fulfil the vows of matrimonial contracts while the man lusts

himself in an aggrandized parade of his alter-ego! Looking at Henrik Ibsen’s stand at what such

patriarchal injustice amounts to, Brockett and Franklyn (2003) posits that most of Ibsen’s plays

were about women and made clear boldly, to the effect that ideology, such as the repression of

the female will-power/voice were the cause of problems and suggested the need to change it.

Therefore, in A Doll’s House (1879), Nora, upon realizing that, as a woman, she has always been

kept ignorant of the practical world and treated as a play thing, chooses to leave her husband and

children in order to learn about the world so she can make decisions for herself. According to

Ibsen in his ‘Preface’ to A DOLL’S HOUSE:

A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial

7

system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view (Cited in Brockett and Ball, 165).

Contrarily, in Ghosts (1881), Mrs Alving, conforming to traditional morality, has remained with

a depraved husband only to have her only son go mad, presumably from inherited syphilis. In the

long run, the borderline between yesterday’s theatre and the current theatre experience is that

both derives from the former’s accumulated biases, especially against the female who were not

admitted into mainstream policy and decision making circuits until the coming of age of the

modern woman. Today, women in governance (Law, Politics and Businesses) have a meeting

point where they discuss and help each other. The social consciousness, unlike before, is great.

Although not all women struggle are feminist by ideology, advancement in technological know-

how has afforded many women the opportunity to leave the dark age of customary laws and its

detrimental effects.

ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF PRIMARY DATA

HANDS THAT CRUSH STONES-Akachi-Eze-igbo

According to Marshal:A more radical feminist approach extends dependency theory's critique that Western capitalist penetration retards long-term economic growth, political democracy, and quality of life in less-developed societies, arguing that dependent development also exacerbates gender inequality. According to this radical perspective, the subsequent expansion of the cash economy frequently recruits males while leaving females to labor in subsistence production where they are denied opportunities for upward mobility and independence from patriarchal control (219).

The above position that ‘dependent development also exacerbates gender inequality’ holds true

when we examine the facts depicted in the play under study. The figure of Chief Mbu is

practically all that we see from beginning to the end until Madam Udenta’s intervention turns the

records in favour of the women. Going by Marshal’s position above, “the subsequent expansion

of the cash economy frequently recruits males while leaving females to labour in subsistence

production where they are denied opportunities for upward mobility and independence from

8

patriarchal control”. What does that mean? It simply implies that men are the ones in charge, and

that recruitment favours the male folk (For example, How come Single Bone, Seargeant and the

Police that symbolize power or instruments of power are used against the widows?). For one

thing, one notices that it is Chief Mbu-despite his title as Chief, a custodian of local tradition and

customs, who should know that women without husbands deserve a welfare package who denies

them the opportunity to rise beyond their immediate circumstances in want of a better life. Here,

we see patriarchy, a situation wherein the man, having knowledge about the traditional laws uses

it to his advantage. The women engage in subsistence production services, crushing stones for

Chief Mbu and are denied ‘opportunities for upward mobility’. What does this mean? These

widows have been crushing stones and deserve a pay rise but when they make a demand, the

Chief refuses to add any salary to their wages. He insists that they take what he’s been giving

them or leave his quarry. This is one reference to Marshal’s position that ‘dependent

development also exacerbates gender inequality’. The inequality herein spoken about is the

discrimination of widows by the Chief Mbu led administration. This is a man who is a capitalist

and head of the Izunga local government. As a leader and employer of labour, Mbu combines

instruments of power such as the police and single bone his bodyguard to molest the women.

When Hands that Crush Stones begins, we see a group of widows and two women, whose

husbands do not cater for decrying their lot. They are under-paid, they work without receiving

adequate compensation for their labour so they have embarked on strike. Using the strike as a

protest against the Chief Mbu owned quarry where they work, the women are helpless but

determined to carry on with the strike. Pointing to the Chief’s capitalist tendency, Amina, one of

the widows says: “You see, these big men do not want to part with money even when it is logical

9

to do so. We come here in the morning before eight, crush stones till five in the evening only to

go home with the starvation wage he pays us” (2).

In the two weeks period since the inception of the strike, faced with the challenge of having

resources to cater for their basic needs such as food, they learn from Ruki, a fellow widow that a

certain Madam Udenta who is contesting in the forth coming local council election with Chief

Mbu and that Udenta is sympathetic to the women’s cause. Immediately, they dispatch some

women to go while others hold it down at the quarry. When Chief Mbu arrive the quarry, he is

unwilling to add any kobo to their wage, instead he says: “...I am not adding a kobo to what i pay

you. If you do not like what you receive, then go away (28)”. In Mbu’s calculations, the women

are replaceable, therefore, since no one may employ them he assumes they will come crawling

back, begging to be employed. This is a capitalist attitude to human relations. Mbu, being the

local government chairman should be in a better position to know that these women are widows,

helpless and without other means of survival, yet he insists on handing them such wages as is

barely enough to cater for their basic needs. As this scene ends we see Mbu ordering the police

to bath the women with tear gas after his thug Single Bone had punched Kemi. This is an abuse

of women’s dignity, but who cares? The law which should have salvaged the women’s cause

works for Mbu, therefore it is a case in favouring patriarchy all the way.

In scene three, having got wind of the women’s suffering, Madam Udenta sends pressmen to the

quarry where the women, having worked without receiving salary have been abused because

they demanded for a pay rise. Interested more in the protection of his ego-image and if reported

in the bad light may not win the elections, instead of initially meeting the demands of the

women, Mbu poses for the camera, fully aware that his evil deeds have been exposed, capitalizes

on the situation to his advantage. Mbu pays the women salary for last month in front of the

10

camera and gives them the pay rise they demanded-all for show! To expose his deception,

Sergeant says: “Chief, you hear me, sah? Wetin we go do with de women. Make we no arrest

dem again?” (42). Definitely, Chief Mbu shuts the police officer up and goes ahead to make

political statements and promises that the likes of him will never fulfil; that his government has

plans to better women’s lot. Lies! If there is anything to learn from this play, it is the fact that

Chief Mbu who is a representation of a male dominated society where women hardly find their

voice, makes life difficult for the woman. The playwright may be inferring that until women

stand up and give the male folk a run for their selfish ambition, just like Madam Udenta’s action

proved fruitful, although in actual fact we did not see her in the play, that women should come to

the realization that once they agree to call men’s bluff that there will be a rethink on how women

are treated, most often to the man’s advantage.

ALTINE’S WRATH- Femi OsofisanComparing the psyche of a power-drunk husband to that of a military officer, Mama discusses

issues bordering on a man’s mental picture of the woman as weak and subservient which makes

them treat women in the inhuman manner they do. Hence, as it relates to a woman’s wellbeing, it

is believed that:

In the thinking of ordinary Nigerians, the military man exemplifies the masculine ideal. That is why the materially ambitious father has a vested interest in wedding his daughter to a groom clad in khaki. Street children and madmen can be seen acting out the roles of soldiers: they march, salute, and gesticulate frantically in a bid to convey their wholly imaginary authority (4).

Altine’s fate is equivalent to a prisoner in a military regime in that, first, she was married off to

Lawal when she was still a young girl by Her late father and grandfather as a token of

appreciation to Lawal’s family who played host to them when Altine’s family migrated from the

east. Years later, Lawal has finished his University Education and is now a permanent secretary

in a government ministry. However, Altine is more or else a prisoner in her husband’s house.

11

She does not have a wife’s status but is abused at will by Lawal. When marriage is supposed to

be about Husband and Wife, in Lawal’s case, it is between Husband and his numerous

concubines and mistress. To make matters worse, Altine does not sleep in the main house; she

has a cubicle at the backyard where she operates from. When the play opens, Lawal brings one

of his mistress home, then as Mariam the mistress protest that Lawal has yet to send Altine

packing, he tells her that: “....Altine has her own room there, at the back of the house. And i’ve

not allowed her to step into my room for over three years now. Okay? So you can stay with me.

Stop fussing!” (4). To say that Lawal is a shameful man is not enough but when we look at his

religion which is Islam, it allows him to take more wives as much as he can cater for. No matter

how right or wrong Lawal’s actions in this regard is, it is his attitude towards Altine that smacks

of irresponsibility. Lawal has turned Altine into a punch bag, abuses her and does not regard her

as a wife-equal partner in the marriage contract. For example, when Lawal tells Altine to get

Mariam food, as she makes to go, Lawal insists that Altine kneel to greet Mariam, he does this to

please another woman at his wife’s expense: “...(Altine stares, silent. Lawal angrily hits her) I

say greet her, you dumb female goat. Down on your knees! (Altine falls, and crawls as he kicks

her. She drools in the mouth (6)”. It is such inhuman treatment meted out on Altine by Lawal

over the years that led to Altine’s current state of dumbness. Altine has suffered so much as a

wife in Lawal’s hand until the coming of Mariam. Meanwhile, Altine had registered in an extra

mural class where she gets herself equipped with basic knowledge of the world and how things

are, these being the reason why initially, after his University Education, Lawal considers Altine

too crude for him. Altine says: “A slave, isn’t that all you wanted? Remember, all those years

you went to the University, and i had to slave to pay your fees, and maintain the children, as well

as your aged mother....” (31). In Lawal’s mind, Altine does not qualify for the kind of wife he

12

wants so he brings home different women. It was on one of such occasions that Altine’s

predicament began. Narrating her ordeal after she transformed from the battered house wife into

the typical sort of modern woman picture that Lawal always wanted, Altine says: “... until that

horrible day, when you brought that girl, Hauwa, to sleep on our bed. And the next day i had to

wash the bed clothes, yes, wash off your smells and muck, after you’d beaten me up! You do

remember it all, Mr Lawal Jatau? (32)”. After suffered so much, Altine takes the bull by the horn

when she truncates a business deal between her Husband and a certain Alhaji friend of Lawal.

Lawal as a Permanent Secretary engages in corrupt practises that gives him wealth. This business

transaction wherein he defrauds innocent people in the name of Government business makes

Lawal very rich in that through the identity of his dumb wife’s name, money is traded into his

account lest his identity is revealed. When Altine had studied the situation and come to the

realization that she has to pay Lawal back in his own coin, he transfers all the money, which has

been in her name into a new account, lay claims to owning the properties. This action paralyzes

Lawal who now finds himself at Altine’s mercy. Mariam’s reaction is as follows:

Mariam: I didn’t know you could be this trusting my dear! To keep everything in her name! And then to deceive me that you were sending her away.Lawal: ...illiterate and dumb! She wasn’t supposed to know a thing!

Lawal thinks that Altine will remain dumb. But he is surprised that after all the pains he puts her

through that she is able to turn it in her favour. In the end, Altine overcomes Lawal’s oppressive

regime, claims all his life’s savings and leaves Lawal wretched. Lawal is typical of a military

husband, authoritative and tyrannical. But as we see, Altine, having studied the situation, refused

to be trampled upon, she wins by cunning. Despite all her sufferings, she does not fight back,

like a dove she bears her sorrow until she perfected her act to make this bully of a husband pay

for all his eccentricity. Altine’s rise above Lawal’s expectation, the bottom of the pit where he

has put her is a victory for womanhood. Osofisan seems to be making a point here, to the effect

13

that, although women live in a man’s world, a world that is not women friendly, it would be

suicidal to stay put and allow the heavy weight of man’s injustice to overcome us. Rather, that

the woman should devise a way of liberating herself. At the end, Altine succeeds. Who would

have thought that a husband as mean and dubious as Lawal could be overcome? The strength of

every woman who suffers injustice, oppression and evils which is directed at them by manmade

laws, customs and traditional beliefs can only be transcended once those who suffer it face it

with the mindset that, despite her weakness, if she could only try, change is imminent. For men

and the society that empowers them to engage in anti-woman businesses, time to give up all

negativity against the woman is now.

CONCLUSION

The two plays in this analysis shows to a large extent that in societies where men have an upper

hand that the women always suffer. The pains of motherhood and the challenge of surviving in a

male dominated world is a burden for women who must begin to take their destiny in their hands

and chart a new course of life for themselves. Those in the Nora and Altine category who men

have largely taken advantage of whatever the law or religion or customs says to do in their

favour against the women must be resisted. The plight of widowhood on the other hand is a

condition that must be taken up by all who have had course to be born and bred by a woman,

married to a woman and feels deeply about a better life for women. In both plays, there is a

trend- a common insight runs through the pages of the play texts, and that is the fact that the

society in which these women live makes laws and have customs which are not in the woman’s

favour. The enforcement of these patriarchal orders always limits the woman’s potentials, else no

progress has been made to alleviate their plight.

WORKS CITED

14

Abuya, Pamela. “Women in need of Liberation: an African Experience” Ukhun, C.E (ed.)

Critical Gender Discourse in Africa. Ibadan: Hope Publication, 2002.

Albert, I, Olawale. “Rethinking the impact of Patriachy” Ukhun, C.E (ed.) Critical Gender

Discourse in Africa. Ibadan: Hope Publication, 2002.

Allen, Rob and Krebs, Nina. Dramatic Psychological Story Telling. New York: Palgrave, 2005.

Brockett, Oscar and Ball, Robbert. The Essential Theatre 7th ed. Texas: Harcourt Brace, 2000.

Brockett, Oscar and Franklyn, Hildy. History of the Theatre 9th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,

2003

Ezeigbo, Akachi. Hands that Crush Stones. Ibadan, UI Press, 2010.

Felner, Milo. “Women in Greek and Elizabethan Theatres” in Wilson- The Theatre

Experience 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. 1879.

Mama, Amina. “Khaki in the Family: Gender Discourses and Militarism in Nigeria” African Studies Review, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Sep., 1998),: African Studies Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/524824 .Accessed: 22/03/2012 06:40Marshall, E. Susan. “Development, Dependence, and Gender Inequality in the Third World” International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Jun., 1985): Blackwell; http://www.jstor.org/stable/2600507 .Accessed: 22/03/2012 05:51pm.Ogundipe, Ayodele. “Power in Gender Discourse” Ukhun, C.E (ed.) Critical Gender Discourse

in Africa. Ibadan: Hope Publication, 2002.

Osofisan, Femi. Altine’s Wrath. `Ibadan: New Horn Press, 1986.

Sonpar, Shobna and Kapur, Ravi. “Non-Conventional Indicators: Gender Disparities under Structural Reforms” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Jan. 6-12, 2001),: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4410144 .Accessed: 22/03/2012 06:17.Wainscott, R. and Fletcher, K. Theatre: Collaborative Acts. Boston: Pearson, 2004.

Wilson, Edwin and Goldfarb, Alvin. Theatre: The Lively Art. New York: McGraw, 2002.

Wilson, Edwin. The Theatre Experience 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

15

16