SYNOPSIS OF OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN

 

 

SYNOPSIS OF "OUR HUSBAND HAS GONE MAD AGAIN"

BY: ABDULLAHI INUWA ENGINEER

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IMPORTANT DETAILS

Full Title: Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again

Author: Ola Rotimi

Type of Work: Play

Genre: Satire

Language: English

Time and Place Written: 1966, Ibadan

Date of First Publication: 1977

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Setting: Place—Nigeria Time—1970s

Protagonist: Lejoka-Brown

Major Conflict: Conflict in literature is very necessary, no conflict no action. There are different levels of conflicts in the play. There are conflicts between Sikira and Liza and between Lejoka-Brown and his wives.

Rising Action: Lejoka-Brown’s electioneering campaigns

Climax: Lejoka-Brown’s defeat in the election.

Themes: Politics, Gender Inequality, Deceit, Polygamy, Inter-Cultural Marriage.

INTRODUCTION

    Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, published in 1977, is a satirical comedy play set in the post independence era in Nigeria against post independence disillusionment. Writers generally wrote to protest the unsatisfactory situation of the post independence. The subject matter in this play revolves round the politics after independence. The post independence period was corrupt with looting of treasury. 

After independence, writers became disillusioned (dissatisfied) and this brought about post independent disillusionment. As an aftermath of the independence, many writers wrote to ridicule the political abuse of that period in Nigeria. It was this very corrupt political era when politicians were preoccupied with embezzling national funds that gave birth to Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. As a satire, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again laughs at the political excesses of Nigerian politicians. This two-act play also mocks polygamy with its attendant consequences.

AUTHOR'S BACKGROUND

Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, popularly known as Ola Rotimi (1938-2000), was born in Sapele in the State of Delta, South-south Nigeria to Samuel Gladstone Enitan Rotimi, a Yoruba steam-launch engineer and a successful director and producer of amateur theatricals and Dorcas Adolae Oruene Addo, an Ijaw woman from South-south Nigeria.

Ola Rotimi attended St. Cyprian’s School in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-south Nigeria from 1945 to 1949, St Jude’s School, Lagos, from 1951 to 1952 and the Methodist Boys High School in Lagos, before travelling to the United States in 1959 to study at Boston University, where he obtained a BA in Fine Arts. In 1965, he married Hazel Mae Guadreau, originally from Gloucester who also studied at Boston University, where she majored in Opera, Voice and Music Education. In 1966 he obtained an MA from Yale School of Drama, where he earned the distinction of being a Rockefeller Foundation scholar in playwriting and dramatic literature.

Academician, playwright, writer, an author, a scholar, a director and an actor, Ola Rotimi was Head of Department of Creative arts at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-south Nigeria and Lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria. He also served as visiting professor, playwright, and director in Germany and Italy, as well as at DePauw University and Wabash College. Ola Rotimi was veracious as he explored cultural diversity of which he was a product in his works. His works are read abroad in United States of America, Europe and the Middle East.

Before his demise in 2000, Ola Rotimi had written many plays among which are Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (1966) which is a comedy and a political satire. His other plays include To Stir the God of Iron (1963), The Gods Are Not To Blame (1968), Kurunmi (1969), Holding Talks (1970), Ovonramven Nogbaisi (1971), Grip Am (1973), Invitation into Madness (1973), Akassa Youmi (1977), If: A Tragedy of the Ruled (1979) and Hopes of The Living Dead (1985).

LANGUAGE

Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is written in a simple and accessible language. Every reader will enjoy his/her kind of language, full of images that are very relevant to our society. The manner characters use language in this play reflects their societal status. For example, the way Polycarp speaks is very typical of an unschooled servant and Madam Ajanaku’s language is typical of a market woman. It is this realistic use of language that makes the work very interesting, authentic and realistic.

PLOT
(Plot is the major action in a text.)

Major Rahman Taslim Lejoka-Brown is a retired army officer who leaves his successful cocoa business to join partisan politics. He does not do this because he loves to serve the people but because of what he is going to gain: money and fame. While serving in the Congo, Lejoka-Brown had been married to his eldest brother’s wife, Mama Rashida by his father without his consent. This happened two days before his marriage to Liza, an American Catholic nurse. As Liza goes to the USA to study Medicine, Lejoka-Brown leaves for Nigeria to join partisan politics.

In order to win more votes, especially from the women, Lejoka-Brown has to marry Sikira, the daughter of the President of the market women union. After the election, Liza returns to discover that she is not the only woman in the life of Lejoka-Brown. As would be expected from a typical Western Catholic woman who cannot tolerate polygamy, she begins to foment trouble. This later leads to comical cultural conflicts. These conflicts later take a different dramatic turn as Liza begins to give Sikira provoking ideas about what she calls ‘women’s lib’ or women liberation. The rather too many conflicts of the play finally come to a resolution as Sikira finally joins politics after much persuasion by Liza and Mama Rashida leaves Lagos to seek better conditions in the villages. This resolution comes as result of Liza’s tact in handling those women. Lejoka-Brown on the other hand is booted out of the National Liberation Party because of high-handedness and he regrets leaving his lucrative cocoa business to join politics.

CHARACTERS 

(Characters are people who interact in a text.)

Alhaji Mustafa: He is an elderly neighbour of Lejoka-Brown. Although not much is heard from him, he is no doubt a good neighbour. We only see him in action when he returns the gun he borrowed from Lejoka-Brown to quell the madness of the soldiers who had come to burn down his house. This shows that he too must have been trained in the martial art.

Etim Bassey: He is a local reporter for Sunday Spectator who also takes part in the press conference.

Gideon Abednego Okonkwo: He is Lejoka-Brown’s friend who came to know each other while serving in the Congo. Unlike is Lejoka-Brown, he left Congo early enough to pursue his career in Law. He is used as a foil character to Lejoka-Brown in the play. He behaves in more humane and mature way than Lejoka-Brown. His approach to issues shows that he is more intelligent than his friend, Lejoka-Brown. As a civilian, perhaps Rotimi carefully cast him to draw a contrast between the character of a military officer and the so-called ‘bloody’ civilians. Like his friend, Okonkwo belongs to the bourgeoisie or elitist class.

Liza: Liza, a qualified medical doctor from United States, married to Lejoka-Brown in Congo, is no doubt the architect of the family conflict in the play. After her studies in the USA, she returns to Nigeria unannounced and discovers that she is not the only woman in the life of Lejoka-Brown. As she cannot tolerate polygamy, she begins to foment trouble. In order to attack polygamy and make room for herself, she begins to give Sikira provoking ideas about what she calls ‘women’s lib’ or women liberation while she advises Mama Rashida to expand and focus more on her business. Not quite long, she is able to sweet talk Liza into joining partisan politics and Mama Rashida leaves for the village to expand her chicken business. She now has Lejoka-Brown only for herself.

Liza is a prominent woman character. She is complex and very intelligent. She actually loves Lejoka-Brown but she is not contented with his political obsessions. She is crafty in manner. As a typical Western woman, she is not ready to play the second fiddle in the life of Lejoka-Brown. Her education gives her an edge over her rivals. Her marriage to Lejoka-Brown in the first place shows that she has gone past the infantile attitude of racial and cultural segregation. Liza is the catalyst for women political emancipation in the play. Unlike her rival wives who can barely read and write, Liza is well educated and exposed.

Madam Bambina Uchenna Ajanaku: She is the President of the National Union of Nigerian Market Women and the mother of Sikira. Although not well educated, she is no doubt an intelligent and fearless woman who will not hide her feelings when it comes to issues concerning her party. She is an Igbo woman but marries to a Yoruba in order to promote national unity. Like other less-educated characters in the play, Madam Ajanaku uses Pidgin English to express herself. Her emotion-charged speech at the emergency meeting of the party executives of the National Liberation Party brings about the dramatic resolution in the play in favour of the women folk. Although she has risen to the pinnacle of heading her fellow market women, Madam Ajanaku, by virtue of her very little or no education belongs to the exploited or proletariat class.

Mallam Gaskiya: He is the Deputy Leader of National Liberation Party. Like Osagie, he is not happy at Lejoka-Brown’s gross misconduct in the party and for this reason; he takes sides with his fellow party members to make sure that Lejoka-Brown is booted out from office as the leader of the party.

Mallam Rothman Zamberiberi: He is a local reporter for Daily Brigade. He is another reporter who takes part in the press conference.

Mama Rashida: Mama Rashida is the first and senior wife of Lejoka-Brown whom he inherited from his late elder brother. She plays the role of a very traditional African wife who is submissive, patient and humble. Because of her very little or no education, she does not aspire to change her status. For this reason, she remains a flat character throughout the play. As a senior wife, she acts as the mother or patron of the younger wives. She sees nothing wrong with polygamy and for this reason; she does not seem to complain in any way. She even goes a step further to receive Liza with open arms despite the fact that she is her rival wife. Mama Rashida could be said to be a contradiction to the aspiration of modern women activists who attempt to ‘liberate’ women from what they see as exploitative grips of patriarchy.

Musa Osagie: He is a member of National Liberation Party. Although not very much is heard from him throughout the play, he is no doubt a faithful member of his party. His bold denouncement of Lejoka-Brown wins him applause from his party members.

Philip Macdonald: He is a BBC correspondent. We only come across him at the press conference and as an inquisitive foreign reporter, he wants to know the views of other executive members of the National Liberation Party but they are either too timid or sulk to share their views.

Polycarp: Polycarp is a domestic help in the household of Lejoka-Brown. Although an illiterate, he is very faithful to his status and his master. As a servant, he is not well-developed throughout the play. Compare to other characters like Lejoka-Brown and Liza, Polycarp is a foolish imbecile illiterate who is not intelligent enough to discern things. For this reason, he is associated with poor communication skills. He represents the common people in the society with very low level of intelligence who cannot in any way contribute to nation building. On the other side of the scale, Polycarp represents the exploited and oppressed proletariat in Marxist ideology.

Rahman Taslim Lejoka-Brown: Arguably, characters mirror a period in the history. Lejoka-Brown, a retired army Major, is a good picture of political disillusionment. He is the comic hero of the play invested with greed, strictness, rigidity, etc which pictures the political landscape of Nigeria and Africa since independence. He is a very autocratic and chauvinistic protagonist in the play, so very convincing as a military man. Rahman Lejoka-Brown represents those politicians of then who can still be found now in the Nigeria’s political terrain. He is gruff, grotesque, and corrupt and has all the negative attributes of politicians of a corrupt political regime. He is very indiscrete, arrogant and has no regard for women. No wonder the women unanimously boot him out of the office as their party leader.

Lejoka-Brown is not an intellectual but a military man with antagonistic mentality who sees politics as a do-or-die affair or a venture one should engage in as a means of making money. There is no doubt that he has no programme or manifesto for the people but only engages in politics for his selfish reasons. All he does is for material and personal gains. He does not marry Sikira because he loves her but because he hopes to gain more votes from the women.

It is a shame that Lejoka-Brown, a man with very poor communication skills, is lording over other people including Liza, a qualified Medical Doctor. This is a sheer bastardization of democracy. Over the years, I have seen retired and tired military officers whose educational qualification is questionable aspiring to lead Nigerian and African nations. Like many other military officers meddling into African politics, all Lejoka-Brown can boast of is his experience in the war in Congo. Arguably, it takes more than a college degree to be a person of education but college degree or its equivalent is a good starting point. I don’t think that Lejoka-Brown has any academic qualification. By blatant act coercion and the money he has made from the cocoa business he inherited from his father, he is now a bourgeois who exploits other people to feed his ignorant ego.

Sikira: She is a young amiable daughter of Madam Ajanaku, the leader of the Market Women Union, and the second wife to Lejoka-Brown. Lejoka-Brown married her to woo the votes of the market women. Because of her age, Brown could successfully make Liza believe that she is a maid. As a character, Sikira is a symbol of impressionism. Unlike Mama Rashida, Sikira is an inquisitive and dynamic character who is ready to learn. Although she must have thought that the presence of her rival, Liza, would make her subservient to her, she soon begins to develop a liking for her when she begins to learn from her. Liza finally becomes a tool for her social consciousness and political socialization. As the plays ends, she outshines he gruff husband by becoming the sole candidate of the National Liberation Party for the upcoming elections.

THEMES

(Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.)

POLITICS

The major theme in this play is politics. Arguably, politics is one of the prominent themes in Nigerian literature, then and presently. Ola Rotimi uses the work to satirize politics as practised in Nigeria. For instance, the politics of Sikira, an illiterate woman and the market women who assist her and the pomposity of Major Rahman Lejoka-Brown are very typical of Nigeria. All that governed politics at this period and even now is selfishness.

Politics of selfishness is the bane of progress not only in Nigerian society but also in the entire African continent. Regrettably, politics has become our backdrops and a waterloo. The theme of politics is invested in the character of Lejoka-Brown, a retired military officer who possesses every negative attribute of selfish military politicians—very arrogant and I-know-it-all attitude. He does not join politics because he loves to serve the people but because of what he is going to gain ¾ money and fame. This is very true of Nigerian society where politics is governed by self-interest.

Ola Rotimi is visionary in this play. He foresees ex military officers coming back to power as civilians. He presents a satire on military politics, or what I may call militocracy, and the insincerity of the military. He subtly cautions that the type of democracy these military officers will introduce will be close to dictatorship. Lejoka-Brown is the symbol of this dictatorship. This play, which was a caricature of the political landscape of Nigeria in 1979, is a reality in Nigerian politics in recent times.

GENDER INEQUALITY

There is also a theme of gender inequality in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. Lejoka-Brown thinks women have no intelligence until he meets his foreign wife. In between the humour in the play, there is a subtle gender conflict. As a Western woman who believes that women are not in any way subservient to men, Liza mobilizes her fellow wives to organize their own faction to stop the madness of their husband. What Ola Rotimi seems to be saying is that politics is not only the preserve of the men. Using the mouth of Sikira, he makes this point clear: “MEN AND WOMEN ARE CREATED EQUAL!” (Act 2 Scene VI). As a medical doctor and an experienced educated lady, Liza can compete favourably with any man. There is no doubt that sometimes women are used as puppets in order to fulfil men’s ambitions. This is exactly what Liza does not want to see or hear. The play can also said to be revolutionary in the sense that a national issue is looked at from the women’s angle.

POLYGAMY

Another theme explored in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is polygamy and wife inheritance. This theme is seen in Mama Rashida’s marriage to Lejoka-Brown. Mama Rashida is the first wife whom Lejoka-Brown has inherited from his dead elder brother. This practice of wife fragmentation or wife inheritance is the major cause of polygamy in Africa. The irony of polygamy and perhaps what makes it continue to strive in Africa is that even the women in some cases acquiesce to this patriarchal practice. Mama Rashida is a good example. Rather than resist being given as a wife to a man she does not know or love, Mama Rashida does not only feel comfortable with the relationship but also works tirelessly to maintain her rival wives. My opinion is that polygamy will continue to strive as long as a woman agrees to be a second wife.

INTER-CULTURAL MARRIAGES

The theme of cross cultural relationship and marriage is portrayed in Lejoka-Brown’s marriage to Liza who is a foreigner and is educated. Their marriage shows that the duo has gone past the mentality of racial and cultural segregation. Arguably, one of the ways of uniting the world is through inter-racial or inter-cultural marriages and this is what Ola Rotimi preaches in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.

DECEIT AND BETRAYAL

The theme of deceit can be seen in Lejoka-Brown’s marriage to Sikira whom she calls a maid. It is not only Lejoka-Brown who seems to be deceitful here; in fact, many men and women can testify of the deceit of both partners when it comes to relationship. Sometimes it could be the man that is lying to the woman and at another time, it is the woman. Arguably, it is an act of deception for Lejoka-Brown to take another wife without informing his foreign wife, Liza. The relationship between Lejoka-Brown and Liza could also be said to be betrayal of trust. Lejoka-Brown does not only betray the trust of his wives but also the trust his party, the National Liberation Party, repose in him.

SUPERSTITION

The belief in the magical power of the snake which Lejoka-Brown keeps under his bed expresses the theme of superstition in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. Many critics have argued that any work which does not explore the issue of superstition may not be regarded as a true African or Nigerian work. This is because the issue of superstition and taboo are very rampant in Africa despite the advent of science and technology. It has become a popular rumour that African politicians are fond of using some supernatural means to gain and maintain power. This is exactly the reason why Lejoka-Brown keeps the snake. However, Lejoka-Brown’s political crash before he reaches the pinnacle of his political dream puts a question mark on the assertion in the potency of some supernatural powers in wining an election or achieving success generally.

MARXISM

Ola Rotimi also subtly introduces Marxist ideology into the play. What makes Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again pass for a Marxist work is that there is a class disparity in the play and at the end of the play; there is a revolt by the women folk which leads to the emergence of Sikira as the flag bearer of the National Liberation Party. Lejoka-Brown, Okonkwo and Liza can be said to represent the propertied capitalist bourgeoisies while Mama Rashida, Sikira, Polycarp, Madam Ajanaku and other market women are the proletariats who are at the mercy of Lejoka-Brown.

MOTIFS

(Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.)

FREEDOM: The need for freedom for the women folks is reverberated throughout the play. In fact, freedom is the campaign slogan of the National Liberation Party. It is not an exaggeration or an indictment to say that Lejoka-Brown does not give his wives freedom to express themselves. As a typical African chauvinistic man, he believes that women are only to be seen but not heard. Lejoka-Brown censors not only what his wives say but also what they wear using religion as a cover-up. A typical example is when he holds the pressmen at gunpoint when Liza broaches into their midst scantily dressed.

Ironically, Lejoka-Brown preaches freedom but he does not take corresponding steps to practise what he preaches. At home he does not give his wives freedom to express themselves and at the party meetings, he does not allow other party members to air their views. This is a vivid portrayal of the insincerity and hypocrisy of politicians. Rather than being an agent of freedom, Lejoka-Brown is an impediment to freedom. He uses gun and religion to coerce his wives and party members into submission.

SYMBOLS

(Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.)

GUN: One may be surprised or 

alarmed by the careless deployment of a gun by Lejoka-Brown throughout the play. Although the play is on democracy, Ola Rotimi deliberately uses gun to depict the militarization of Nigerian democracy. In other words, gun, as used in the play, symbolises the deployment of force to gain political power even in a democracy. While Lejoka-Brown uses gun to gain submission, Alhaji Mustafa uses gun to debar the soldiers from burning down his house. I also want to believe that the soldiers who come to burn down Alhaji Mustafa’s house are also armed. This shows how the elitist segment of the Nigerian and African societies have armed themselves while the downtrodden are left to secure themselves.

PROMISE: While freedom as a concept is the slogan of National Liberation Party, Promise, as Lejoka-Brown’s good luck python is called, is the symbol of restriction. Nowhere in the play do we see the snake allowed to crawl around. Instead, Lejoka-Brown locks it up in his room just the way he locks up his wives emotionally and socially. Lejoka-Brown promises (pun intended) his people freedom but restricts Promise from exercising its freedom.

REFERENCE:

Rotimi, Ola (1977), Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Ibadan: University Press Plc.

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ABDULLAHI INUWA

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