FEMALE PROTEST IN NIGERIAN DRAMATURGY: A STUDY OF IRENE SALAMI-AGUNLOYE’S THE QUEEN SISTERS AND MORE THAN DANCING

Abstract

Protest as a concept in gender discourse is not a recent phenomenon in Nigeria because some existing cultural and political structures have undisputedly created an unbearable gap between the male and the female gender that has resulted in series of agitations and protest by the female. This paper aims at using Salami-Agunloye’s plays, The Queen Sisters and More Than Dancing, to examine the walls of cultural and political inhibitions that negate the rights and freedom of women. The literary texts were purposively selected due to their thematic relevance and materials that are relevant to the topic were consulted and employed to substantiate arguments in the textual analysis. The feminist theory was adopted since the study examines female protest in Nigerian dramaturgy in Irene Salami-Agunloye’s The Queen Sisters and More Than Dancing. The chosen plays present Nigerian women’s resistance to all forms of continuous cultural imposition, suppression, subjugation and protest against the political structure. The findings reveal that female protests in both cultural and political settings are justified and call on the male gender to embrace and work towards attitudinal change of seeing and accepting the female gender as partners in progress rather than engage in a war of sexes.