THE CHALLENGES MENDE CHIEFDOM CONFRONTED WITH IN THE PLAY
The main theme explored in the play is the strupgle for leadership. Yoko makes her claim while Musa and Lamboi think her unworthy because of her gender. The Setting is in Mende Land where the chiefdom is ruled by the assassinated Ghanya and his successor is Yoko. Mende chiefdom meets challenges from both within and outside the chiefdom. For the external, colonial exploitation as represented by Governor Samuel Rowe - the Representative of the Imperial Majesty. External challenges come mainly from colonial power, the governor and the District Commissioner. The governor humiliates the chiefs of Mende land. Gbanya is whipped into stupor before his subjects for disobedience. Governor Rowe imposes tax on Mende people. Yoko is humiliated by Governor Samuel Rowe who demarcates the borders that count against Mende without consulting her.
One of the internal challenhes is the betrayal in the quest for power by Lambo. Musa and Lamboi fear that Gbanya will leave the chiefdom to Yoko and plan to thwart that. They bid their time and seize their opportunity when the chief lies in his helpless state after his thrashing, they assassinate Gbanya. They implicate Yoko in an ‘abduction’ and murder of Jeneba.
Yoko battles with threats to unseat her after she is falsely accused of murdering Jeneba and humiliated by Ndapi, Jeneba's father. She is also faced by revolt from her soldiers for her insatiable thirst for wars and territory grab. Yoko seen by others as ‘greedy, insolent, and power drunk - very, very ambitious’. Yoko dragging the state into senseless wars and enslaving others. Both the ruler and the ruled are frustrated. out of this frustration, Yoko takes her own life. Yoko takes her life to preserve her dignity and self worth.
THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN THE PLAY
The play is about g traditional African society faced with an internal struggle for power and an external aggression by the colonial government. Women play significant roles which give rise to what their men do to them. The significant characters are: Yoko, who succeeds Gbanya, her husband, as ruler of Mende Chiefdom. She is beautiful, confident and assertive, These are qualities she exploits to her advantage, She is childless, Jilo, Ndapi’s wife, who flirts with Lansana, Her daughter is Jeneba who is adopted by Yoko and who becomes the focal point of Yoko's troubles as leader and ruler of Mende Chiefdom. Lambo, who is Yoko’s brother, together with Musa thwarts Yoko’s reign. The less significant characters are Musu and Fanneh, Yoko's maids, Ndapi, the chief warrior who later turns agaisnt Yoko.
In Mende Chiefdom, men see women as sex objects: The play opens when Gbanya. Chief of Mende Chiefdom is all over Yoko, his wife for sex. He asks: “of what better use is a woman to a man?”. When Yoko protests that characterization, he insists: “go back to bed, Yoko, you are a woman. Your brain was made for music, your feet for dancing steps that will fire the loins of any man, and your body for that bed, Not for the important affairs of the Chiefdom". Lansana pursues Jilo, Ndapi’s wife, merely to have sex, When Jilo protests and tells him to go to his wife, he retorts: “Nyande, Nyande, for how long can a man go eating Sakitomboi? From time to time, he should taste jolabete”. This portrays or shows men’s freedom to Choose a variety of women.
Women are seen as not fit to rule in the play. Gbanya reiterates this view and acts on it. When Yoko insists that he hands over the Chiefdom to her upon his death and even reminds him of a promise he had made, he says: “Look woman, if Senehun is to survive, a man must lead her”. Gbanva would rather have Ndapi, Chief Warrior, to succeed him, not have Yoko, his wife to do so. For him, a woman does not qualify to rule, Lamboi, Yoko's brother, who fears the chief may hand over the Chiefdom to Yoko, expresses the same opinion about women, “If he lives longer, she might be able to convince him to pass the chiefdom to her... It is necessary that a man should succeed Gbanya, not a soft woman who has music in her ears, itchy dancing feet, and legs wide open for a man”. Ndapi vents his frustration when Senehun suffers too many casualties to satisfy Yoko's territorial ambitions thus: “Look, my brother, reasoning with a woman like Yoko is like telling a charging ram in mid-fight to hold its peace”. And the Guard adds: “Yoko should be in bed behind a virile man, not on the throne of Senehun, Yoko's denial of her femininity to join the Poro cult is not recognized. “Poro or no Poro, she is still a woman”,
Woman are viewed as gullible and weak as Gbanya would not share state secrets with Yoko, his wife. About the Governor's impending arrival, he says to her: Go back to bed, Yoko, you are a woman. Yoko’s answer is; “I am a woman, but I’m also a human. Lansana succeeds to have sex with Jilo by exploiting her gulibility and vulnerability. He flatters her: “Look at your body, Nyande. See how smooth it is – as smooth as Tue back of a bridal calabash”. Later, ability Later Jilo explains to Fanneh why She gave in to Lansana. She explains that Ndapi, her husband, could not her feel wanted. “Can you imagine the frustration of giving your body to a man and not receiving even a kind word in return?”, Lansana was different. “At least he made me feel proud as a woman”. When Musa and Lamboi spread the false news that Yoko killed Jeneba for ritual purposes, it is Senehun women who set upon Yoko, their own. Lavalie. speaking for the women says to Yoko “The Gbeni said you sacrificed Jeneba buried her in a pot and ‘This has shocked me’ and later Fanneh announces: ‘The women have gone to beg for forgiveness from the Queen’. Musa says to Lamboi, “You know how women like to gossip... I planted it in their minds... rumours have wings you know, eh Lamboi?”.
In the play, Women are viewed as home keepers and child bearers. This attitude manifests in Gbanya’s conversations with Yoko, to the effect that she is body and no brain. Yoko has ‘Weaned’ herself by joining the Poro. When it is alleged that Yoko killed Jeneba, Ndapi tells her: “You don’t know the pain of of would childbirth”. In her lonely moments as Queen, Yoko confesses to Fanneh: “There are even times when I feel lonesome. I would have very much liked to have my own children. Children to hold, to love”.
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