REIMAGINING MASCULINE IDENTITY: FEMINIST AGENCY AND THE SURRENDER OF TRADITION IN JONATHAN MBACHAGA'S WIDOW'S MIGHT

Abstract

This research examined the reconfiguration of masculine identity in Jonathan Mbachaga's play Widow's Might (2018), focusing on how feminist agency compels men to relinquish hegemonic positions, assume domestic responsibilities, and ultimately surrender patriarchal traditions. Employing summative content analysis as the methodological framework and R.W. Connell's theory of hegemonic masculinity as the theoretical lens, this study analyses the textual and thematic elements of Mbachaga's drama to demonstrate how feminist resistance precipitated a crisis in traditional masculine authority. The findings revealed that Mbachaga constructs a narrative trajectory wherein patriarchal structures, initially presented as immutable, progressively yield to organized feminist activism. This surrender manifested in three distinct phases: the displacement of men from positions of public authority, their reorientation toward domestic labour, and the formal renunciation of harmful traditional practices. The play thus served as a literary intervention that envisions the possibility of transformed gender relations within African cultural contexts, suggesting that masculine identity is neither static nor essential but subject to reconstruction through feminist pressure and collective action.