Females as Heroines and Patriots in Written Igbo Drama

Abstract

Is the female child inferior to her male counterpart?  Is the capability of being physically and mentally fit the exclusive preserve of the male child?  Are there natural qualities the female child is endowed commensurably with her male counterparts?  These are the kernel issues on which investigations are carried out in this paper.  In doing this, attention is drawn to what obtains in Igbo literary creations.  Specifically examined are the natural qualities Igbo playwrights ascribe to female characters in selected written Igbo drama texts, namely: Akọma’s Obidiya, Maduekwe’s Otu Mkpịsị Aka and Onyekaọnwu’s Eriri Mara Ngwugwu.  Both the heroic and patriotic achievements of the different female characters in the texts are isolated to debunk the popular notion that: ‘females are the weaker sex’.  In conclusion, the paper asserts the equality of men and women.