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THE CONFLICT OR CONTEST BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY AS PRESENTED IN THE PLAY

 The conflict between tradition and modernity in the play produces humorous and ridiculous effects. The main characters featuring in the contest between tradition and modernity are: Baroka,  the Bale of Ilujinle. He  is 62 years, wiry and polygamous.  Sadiku, the Bale’s eldest wife, susceptible to gossip. She is also Baroka’s matchmaker attempting to patronize Sidi. Sidi is the village belle. She is Slim with plaited hair, vain and gullible. She is a traditional woman. Lakunle is the village school master. He is Nearly 23 years. He is ludicrous in his western attire and much opposed to tradition he is full of bombastic language.

In the play, We see Baroka as the representative of tradition. As Bale, he is the custodian of the culture and traditions of his people. He believes in, and practices polygamy. He is portrayed as an opponent of modernity when he pays surveyors to re-route a railway track that was to pass through the village. His positive attitude to the siting of the postal service in the village suggests that he is not totally against modernity but wants to proceed more cautiously, and on  his own terms. 

Lakunle’s ideas of ‘modern marriage’ do not convince Sidi. Lakunle's view of women as the weaker sex and having smaller brains puts her off. She realizes that she would have less power and fewer rights as Lakunle’s wife than she would in a traditional marriage. 

 Sadiku playing the role of go between woos Sidi for Baroka. She wards off Lakunle from attracting Sidi and she is key instrumental in winning Sidi over to tradition and killing Lakunle’s ambition. 

In the play, it is resolved that  Lakunle as a representative of modernity is rather shallow and not convincing. Rather, he cuts a poor figure.  Baroka is a strong, confident traditionalist who has his way with his people, particularly his women.  Sidi, by virtue of her youth and relative inexperience could have been swayed by Lakunle away from tradition, but for Lakunle’s  persuasions are not convincing enough. The pull of tradition, aided by Sadiku proves too strong for her, especially her insistence that Lakunle pay the bride price which Lakunle refuses to pay. The play suggests that an outright  rejection of tradition for the sake of joining the modern world is ill-advised.  Baroka’s triumph suggests that progress must be made when it truly benefits the village and its people. 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE USE OF PLAY-WITHIN-A-PLAY

The broad theme is the conflict between tradition and modernity which reproduces humorous and ridiculous effects. Instances of the play-within-a-play is the pantomime of the stranger with one eye box and his devil's own horse-motor-car “the man from the outside world . The pantomime about the thwarted, railway construction that is to pass through Ilujinle. The white surveyor is bribed and the Prisoners stop work. 

 Lakunle plays the role of the ‘stranger’ as imaginary driver while the girls ‘crouch on the floor as four wheels of a car’. The presence of ‘a snake',  ‘monkey’ and a roar gives a local colour.  Sidi’s picturesque image fascinates the drunken stranger and he sheepishly follows her,  Baroka plays the role of the former Bale, Chief Baseje. The chief threatens and pacifies the Stranger. He orders ‘a feast in his honour’. The stranger first rejects the drinks, then accepts and drinks to stupor. He admires Sidi and takes ‘all sorts of magazine postures and innumerably photographs of her’. The Purpose of the play-within-a-play is to entertain the people Particularly, the, ‘ Bale. He tells the protesting Lakunle, ‘without these things you call nonsense, a Bale’s life would be pretty dull’. It  brings the audience up to speed on current incidents in the entire play. It  justifies Lkunle's resentment of the Bale’s life Style. It also shed light on the background of Ilujinle people. 

The play-within-a-play acts as flashback to the entire events in the play. It enriches the play’s humour. It depicts the culture of hospitality and the spirit of togethemess that characterize African tradition. It establishes the source of the feud between Lakunle and Baroka as captured in the interrupted railway construction. It serves as a link between the past and present life of Ilujinle as evident in the coming of the magazine that changes Sidi’s life and that of the village. it attracts or encourages audience participation.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CATHY AND HARETON

The interplay of love and revenge is the dominant theme in the novel. This theme manifests in the lives of Cathy Linton and Hareton Earnshaw, who suffer Heathcliff’s revenge, but join hands later in the novel. Cathy is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Catherine Earnshaw. She is a beautiful woman. She is typically human. She revises her attitude towards Hareton, later in life. While Hareton is the son of Hindley and Frances. Hareton and Cathy Linton are cousins. He is deprived of education by Heathcliff. He is made a labourer in his father’s house. He is tutored by Cathy to become a gentleman later. 

Nelly introduces Hareton and Cathy as cousins. Cathy is appalled by Hareton’s lack of education and poor manners. The two fall in love after the death of Heathcliff Linton who Cathy was forced to married by Heathcliff. Heathcliff is not happy with this development, but can’t do anything about it. The relationship between Cathy and Hareton had effect on Heathcliff  as he is unable to direct the cause of the relationship between Cathy and Hareton, Heathcliff repines in dismay and becomes a hermit. Heathcliff dies totally frustrated. Cathy and Hareton eventually marry and became the owners of Wuthering Height and Thrushcross Grange. 

The relationship foreshadows the imminent unity of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. Their union also confound Heathcliff's vengeance. The marriage of the two resolves the major conflict in the novel.

 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCKWOOD AND HEATHCLIFF

The theme of love and revenge is played out in the relationship between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. The relationship between Lockwood and Heathclifff unlocks the mysteries of love founded on deep-seated vengefulness. The Character of Heathcliff is a very dark skinned gypsy from Liverpool. He is  Lockwood’s’ landlord and looks on when his dogs attack Mr. Lockwood during his visit to his landlord at Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is the owner of both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights. The character of  Lockwood is that he  is a wealthy gentleman who comes to spend a year in the country at Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood is  Heathcliff’s tenant. He is uncomfortable at Wuthering Heights as the occupants of the place are hostile towards him. 

The relationship The relationship between Heathcliff and Lockwood  is that of a landlord and a tenant. Where Heathcliff is the landlord and Lockwood is the tenant. Lockwood Is conventional and outgoing and a foil to the strange and fierce landlord,  Heathcliff.  Heathcliff and Lockwood are strange bedfellows. 

The significance of their relationship is that Lockwood finds attraction in Heathcliff’s hospitality. The relationship reveals a pattern of power and authority as means through which one could be corrupt. Looking at the genesis of Heathcliff’s life as a gypsy he eventually inherits Wuthering Heights but unfortunately treats people who come closer to him with scorn and disdain. It is reveal that their relationship provides a key for Mr. Lockwood to unlock the details, through Nelly Dean, about Heathcliff and how he has become the owner of Thrushcross Grange. Their relationship inspires compassion in Lockwood. Who eventually understands Heathcliff’s unhappiness and feels sorry for his landlord. Lockwood learns of the circumstances of Heathcliff’s death from Nelly. 

TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

The novel deals with gender discrimination in a chauvinist society, Nigeria. Culturally and traditionally, women are relegated to the background. This is because in a patriarchal society they are seen as objects. They can only be seen but nit heard. This, therefore, results in some males treating them negatively. However, women have positive attributes. The female characters in the novel are treated rather dishonourably. Particular reference can be made to  Adah, who is the female protagonist, works as a librarian assistant and is breadwinner whether she desires or not. She is abused by her husband. Francis beats her at the slightest provocation that attracts the attention of the Nobles and also Mr Okafor who followed her home to beg her husband when she left home after a beating. Adah provides for her family and cares for her children while Francis does nothing. Ma, Adah’s mother, who is blamed for Adah’s well executed sneaking into the classroom. Ma is given a bowl of Garri to drink. Ma is also given in marriage to Pa's younger brother after he dies. Trudy, who is a child minder and cares for Adah’s children in the UK is taken advantage of by Francis. Trudy and Francis has sexual relationship together. Western education is only preserve for males. So Adah always takes Boy, her younger brother to school at Ladi-Lak but she never goes to school herself because her parents wont send her. It is believed that education is not ment for girls. Adah initiates to start schooling as she stole into Mr Cole’s class, their neighbour when her Ma is engrossed in talk with her visitor. Submission  of wives to their husbands even extending this to their families. Development of wives onto siblings of  their late husbands.  Adah sponsors and takes care of both Francis’ education in the UK and his family (2 sisters-in-law and parents-in-law) in Nigeria. This decision is taken by Pa, Francis’ father. Adah solely takes care of her marital home (bears the children maintenance and Francis’ school expenses. Adah’s mother is physically and emotionally abused by the police for child (Adah) neglect. Adah is emotionally, psychologically and physically abused by Francis in the UK; Adah’s marriage certificate, her passport, and the children’s birth certificates are burnt by Francis. This happens after Adah moves out of their apartment when she could no longer bear Francis manly behaviours after the burnt of her manuscript. Francis us dragged to court for stalking and burns the marriage certificate, her passport and the children birth certificate to hide evidence in court. Adah resists tradition as Francis exerts it through seeking birth control. She secretly forges his signature on the family planning form in order for the medical officers to attend to her. Even then the cultural obligation still works against the female gender. 

ADAH’S GROWTH IN CONFIDENCE AND DETERMINATION IN PURSUIT OF HER DREAMS.

The novel explores the theme of gender discrimination and its negative effects on women. In the novel, a young woman. Adah, struggles against various forms of discrimination in her male-dominated society. Adah is an ordinary Igbo girl growing up in Nigeria. Her father dies when she is still young: her dream of pursuing education nearly shattered. She finds support from her paternal uncle to continue. She is denied education simply because she is a girl. She “enrolls” herself in school. This happens after she wanders away from her mother and goes into Mr Cole's class,  her neighbour. Ma is punished for child neglect by the police and she was later enrolled in Ladi-Lak Institute after the stunt she pulled. She accepts to marry Francis at a very early age and becomes a mother in her teens. She works to support her husband and children. She aspires to travel abroad in the hope of a better life. She is inspired by the warm welcome given to Lawyer Nweze after his return from the UK. She consents to Francis leaving alone to study abroad. She sponsors Francis to the UK to study accounting and later joins him with her two children. She experiences  a very hostile weather,  drastically different from the bright and sunny weather back home. Francis is lazy and abusive towards her. She finds a job and works to support her husband’ schooling and her children. She experiences racial discrimination. This is revealed in her search for accommodation as they were rejected for being blacks.She receives intolerance from other Nigerians of different ethnic background. Firstly for securing a white man's job instead of factory jobs meant for Second Class citizens like her. And secondly for refusing to give her children away to foster parents. Adah is an Igbo who is not put down when Francis burns her manuscript. She stands up to Francis over his affair with Trudy and his sexual harassment of other women in their rented apartment.  Already saddled with 4 children, she decides to practice birth control but was met with stiff resistance from Francis who beats her when he finds out she is trying to control her birth. She decides to be a writer. She learns very early in life that with determination she can survive on her own. Adah’s growth in confidence (searches for accommodation). She never gives up on her dreams. Against all odds, she has moved her family to the UK.  When she realizes that her marriage is proving to be a stumbling block in her life, she leaves Francis and decides on divorce. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING IN THE WUTHERING HEIGHTS

 The theme of love and revenge is played out in the relationship between Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Examination of the settings reveals traditional links between the push and pull of the theme. The setting of an event or place may be described as ‘location’. Other types of setting can be described in literary terminology, such as time-setting.  The setting in these locations gives an opportunity to the writer to compare and contrast symbolically producing a powerful plot built on suspense. The description of  Wuthering Heights gives the location a symbolic setting. Wuthering Heights ‘being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather’.

 The inhabitants have fiery passions and are mostly violent in nature expressing strong and passionate feelings for one another both in love and in hate. It is isolated in that it is on top of a hill and surrounded by moorland, the nearest house. Thrushcross Grange, is four miles away from Wuthering Heights and the route is so precarious that numerous characters get lost when walking between the two in treacherous weather.  Thrushcross Grange described as ‘a splendid place carpeted with cuisine’ unlike Wuthering Heights, it has light, which is a metaphor for the more inviting, more pleasant atmosphere. The residents are calm even in hate, and well behaved. Wuthering Heights has Influences on its characters. The inhabitants are stormy and wild. For instance,  Hindley beats Heathcliff, the adopted, ‘dark-skinned gypsy’ as a revenge. Hindley Earnshaw hits Heathcliff with an iron weight. Heathcliff’s violent behaviour results from Hindley’s overbearing treatment. Heathcliff becomes fond of drunken rags and he derives joy from the sight of Hindley coming home drunk. Hindley acts with wild passion, oftentimes, resulting in violence. 

 Thrushcross Grange setting also has its influence on its characters. Just as the inhabitants of Wuthering Heights parallel their home, so too do the inhabitants of Thrushcross Grange. They are calm, leisurely and refined, Edgar and Isabella Linton both grew up at Thrushcross Grange as calm and reposed children. Catherine is forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange when Skuller, the Linton’s dog bites her. This serenity of the place transforms her into a much calmer aid and more mannerly person. After Catherine’s death, Edgar cares for young Cathy and educates her. 

The time Setting of the novel is set in the nineteenth century in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. Events related to the revolution took place in distant places but the major characters are affected, even if indirectly, Heathcliff is picked up in Liverpool, a city which, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, is so busy that people no longer care for each other. The Industrial Revolution could also account for Heathcliff’s sudden riches. The setting of Wuthering Heights has its Significances. The winds which blow across the moors during the storms may represent the conflicts which occur so often in Wuthering Heights between the characters, e.g. Heathcliff and Catherine and also Hindley and Heathcliff. The settings lend themselves to the supematural aspects of a Gothic novel (Catherine’s appearance at Lockwood’s window). They create a sense of horror and act as a sanctuary, The setting is instrumental to the readers understanding of the character by conveying their attitudes and emotions which are tied to different places throughout the novel. (v) Bronte uses setting to establish contrast, and the wild moors act as a barrier differentiating the two. 

THE NARRATIVE DEVICES IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Narrative device is the writing technique an author can use to present his story. It comprises of tone, point of view contrast irony (dramatic and situational) fore shadowing multi-narrator technique, non-chronological plotting, symbolism etc. 

The following narrative techniques used are: 

Point of view — the principal characters Mr. Lockwood, the tenant and Nelly Dean are: First person narrators because they are also involved in the event. It’s also used omniscient narration point of view. 

Use of contrast - These abound e.g. the fireless grate at Thrushcross Grange is contrasted with racing fire at Wuthering Heights in terms of location, Wuthering Heights is located on a hill while Thrushcross Grange is situated in a valley a distance of four miles apart. There is contrast in the socio economic status of the master/mistresses of the two manor houses e.g Mr & Mrs Linton’s are wealthier and more comfortable than Mr & Mrs Earnshaw Catherine and Healthchff see through the corridor of Thrushcross Grange and a vision of life and luxury. There is contrast in the personality of Catherine and Isabella, Healthcliff and Edgar, Linton Herocliff and Hareton, W. Heights character are seen as offsprings of storm while those in Thrushcross Grange are seen as offspring of calm. Other contrasts are the difference between Good and Evil, Love and Obsession of the characters. 

Foreshadowing - Heathcliff’s seizure of Hindley's colt in their teens foreshadows the eventual seizure of his father's property. The deprivation of Hlindley’s fatherly love results in his frustration and alcoholism, The variation in Cathy’s love relationship with Linton and Earnshaw foreshadows her unhappy life thereafter, 

A Dramatic Irony - Heathcliff eavesdropping Catherine/Nelly Dean’s conversation, the audience knows she would never marry Healthcliff whom she is considered too low ‘beneath’ her grade. Isabella's love for Heathcliff. 

Symbolism - The titles "Wuthenng Heights,” Thrushcross Grange, the Moors are all symbolic of the evils in the society, The mother too is symbolic. The gothic nature in the novel symbolizes the past dark side of man and emotions. 6. Use of flashback - The whole story is an example of flashback. It makes reference to the period between 1501 - 1803 when Lockwood rent the apartment and now the focus in the novel. 

5. Epistolaric method - The letter written to Nelly Dean by Isabella’s show that her marriage to Heathcliff is a great error - showing the mind of Isabella to realism of love. 

Other devices are Irony, dreams, multiple narrators, etc.

 WAEC AND NECO QUESTIONS: THE ROLE RACE PLAYED IN THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE OFILIS AND COMPARISON OF ADAH AND FRANCIS IN SECOND CLASS CITIZEN

 THE ROLE RACE PLAYED TO DAMPEN THE LIVING STANDARD OF THE OFILIS 

The Ofilis are Ada’s family members i.e. Pa, Ma, Boy and Adah. The role race plays can be seen through Ada’s stay in England. Adah ‘Ofilis’ expectations in life are high and she pursues them through all odds. Born at the time when male children are held in high esteem, her birth is not recorded and her education is not taken seriously. She is a disappointment to both her parents and her society. She arrives at a time everyone was expecting a boy. With determination Adah gets through primary and secondary education after which she marries and gets a well paid job as a Librarian in the American Consulate. Her zeal to travel to United Kingdom is engineered by the rousing welcome given to lawyer Nweze on his return from the UK. “But she made a secret vow to herself that she would go to United Kingdom one day” p17. Adah also want to be referred to as ‘been to'.  She sells the idea to her husband, Francis who goes there first to study accounting and he is later joined by Adah and their two children Titi and Vicky that she has in Nigeria. 

The role race played is so pronounced in United Kingdom that immigrants especially blacks are underrated. Francis tells Adah on her arrival in England ‘you may be living like an elite but the day you land in England, you are a second-class citizen’. p43. Racism limits the blacks. For example, places like high-brow restaurants on Finchley Road are not places for blacks p63. 

For a black to secure accommodation, it is a herculean task. When Adah is disgusted by the accommodation of Francis, he tells her “this is the best I can do. You see accommodation is very short in London especially for black people... We are all blacks, all coloured, and the only houses we can get are horrors like these” p41. Blacks are also expected to foster their children p50. Adah faces a lot of criticism and hatred for making her children live in the same apartment with her. This is also a major reason why they were evicted from their house and rendered to seek fresh accommodation.  Most black women in England work in factories which is considered suitable for housewives especially black. Adah however decides not to bring herself so low but seeks job as a librarian which she gets after some time. In England, Adah gets to know that blacks are inferior and that “her colour was something she was supposed to be ashamed of” p76.

When Francis and Adah have to leave their first accommodation, they contend with serous discrimination before they get another one because they are black. In some places where there are vacant rooms, “nearly all the notices had sorry no coloured” on them p76. Their search for accommodation at Hewley Street is a great embarrassment to their being. 

The land lady never thought them to be the black because Adah closes her noise to talk on phone. And they also chose to go see the Landlady at night so that their colour would blend with the night. On citing them, the woman loses her voice that “at first, Adah thought the woman was about to have an epileptic seizure” p84. When she eventually regains her voice, she tells them that the rooms have been taken and points them to some of waste land across the road where no houses exist. This is an outright rejection because they are black. 

When Vicky, Adah’s child becomes sick as a result of bed-bug bite on Christmas day, the white doctor called upon fails to come to attend to Vicky mainly because he is a black child. It is a Chinese doctor who is also considered a second class that attends to him P149. 

In England, Titi, Adah’s first child is noticed to be verbally numbed because of fear of being beaten with belt by her father if she attempts to speak Yoruba which she is fluent in. Titi tells her friend who teases her in Yoruba “Don’t talk to me, my dad will cane me with belt if I speak in Yoruba”. Here again, any other language apart from English makes somebody a second class citizen. 

Emecheta’s depiction of race in the novel is seen even amongst Nigerian immigrants abroad. Yoruba and Ibo people acquire sceptical and stereotyped ideas toward one another. (75) 

COMPARISON OF ADAH AND FRANCIS

In Second Class Citizen, the theme of marriage and the struggle for survival in a male dominated society is paramount in the novel. In Adah’s society, girls and women alike do not count. They were married off as willed. They could only be seen not heard. This theme plays in the relationship between Ada and Francis in their marriage as the couple differs on things that binds them together. 

 Ada and Francis are both of Igbo descent and are brought up in Lagos. They both travel abroad. Adah  is Boy’s sister Ada is the daughter of Pa and Ma. . She educates herself despite intimidating constraints. Adah forces herself to school as she stole into Mr Cole's class, her neighbour and this act caused her mother,  Ma to be punished for child negligence. She therefore joins Boy, her brother to attend Ladi-Lak institute. She never relented in pursuing education even after Pa dies and Ma is given away to any man. She stays with her maternal family and is only allowed to continue her education because they believe that the more she is educated the higher her bride price. She stole her Uncle Vincent money to pay for her scholarship form and got into Methodist Girls High School. She gets job at the American Library Consulate and marries Francis early. Francis is a young man aspiring to become an accountant. He and Ada marry rather early. He proceeds to the UK to pursue his accounting ambition with the support of his wife. 

 Adah proves to be hardworking while Francis in downright lazy. Adah secures job as a Librarian in the UK even when other blacks think she should only take up factory job. Francis does nothing but claims to be studying only to fail his exams over and over  again. Adah is sensitive and affectionate but her husband is rather opportunistic, insensitive and selfish. Adah takes care of the family’s expenses including Francis through her salary.  Adah is committed to the marriage, while Francis cares little about his wife and children. Francis refusal to look after the children while Adah is away at work makes Adah finds a minder. She takes her children to Trudy, the baby minder and takes them back home after work while Francis does nothing.

Francis plays the male chauvinist while Ada resists the oppression of male domination. Francis believes the man is the head of his wife. He believes the wife must be brought under the control of her husband. Francis burns the manuscript of Adah's story because he considers the story not worthy of her to be written. He kills Adah's “Brain child”. Adah moves out of the out with her children into a rented apartment. Francis attempts to force Adah back to him but she stood her ground. Adah respects the institution of marriage while Francis does not seem to comprehend the union of husband and wife. 

 While Francis regards marriage as all sex, Ada favours some control over and moderation in sex in the marriage. After the birth of Bubu, Adah goes for birth control measures. She forges Francis signature to apply for capping birth control measures. Francis gets to know of this and he beats her. She becomes pregnant again and gives birth to Dada. Adah sees children as gifts that should be cared for, protected and brought up in a disciplined mental and psychological regulation. She sees child upbringing as a mandatory parental responsibility that cannot be waived, relinquished or passed on to third parties. 

She is bent on getting a conducive accommodation that can help her nurse and raise the children. Francis is unconcerned about all these. Adah wants the best for her children while Francis does not care about them. 

 CHARACTER, ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCKWOOD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS: WAEC AND NECO QUESTIONS

The novel deals with the upheavals within an upper middle class English society due to internal and external forces. These generate sub-themes like marriage, revenge, property ownership, superstition, love, betrayal.

The story of two families told from the point view of  second narrators. That is, Neally Dean and Mr Lockwood. The Lintons which include Mr and Mrs Linton, Edgar Linton and Isabella Linton live in Thrushcross grange while The Earnshaws which include Mr and Mrs Earnshaw, Catherine Earnshaw, Hindley Earnshaw and Heathcliff live in Wuthering Heights. Chaotic situations settle in the Earnshaw family after Mr Earnshaw brought home Heathcliff, a seven year old boy  from one of his business trips to Liverpool. Hindley despises Heathcliff because his father showered on Heathcliff the love and attention meant for him. This hatred made Him maltreat him later in life after the death of Mr Earnshaw as he took control of Wuthering Heights. This also altered the love that had existed between Heathcliff and Catherine in his absence.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was Catherine spending of few weeks at Thrushcross Grange after she was biting by a dog on the night she and Heathcliff went there on a mischievous adventure. She fell in love with Edgar Linton during her stay at Thrushcross grange and eventually gets married to him. Heathcliff who had left Wuthering after he overheard Catherine's conversation with Nelly Dean on her decision to marry Edgar over him came back after three years educated and rich and also to revenge all the wrong that has been done to him. Heathcliff eventually took control of Wuthering Heights from Hindley, marries Isabella Linton to get back at Edgar Linton for marrying his childhood love, Catherine. Heathcliff later leaves the marriage and does not care about his son, Heathcliff Linton whom Isabella had in London before she dies. Heathcliff does not also send Hareton, Hindley and Frances son to school just to get revenge.

Catherine Earnshaw gives birth to Cathy Linton and dies. Her death caused serious health issue to Edgar. Heathcliff's desire to become the owner of  Thrushcross Grange, what is due to Cathy Linton after Edgar- her father’s -death made him arranged a marriage between Cathy Linton and his son, Heathcliff Linton whom Isabella bore for him. But soon after their marriage, Heathcliff Linton dies. Cathy Linton reconciles with Hareton after the former mistaken him for a servant due to his shamble dressing and his inability to read and write. She tutors him how to read and write and they eventually get married. Both Hareton and Cathy Linton moved out of Wuthering Heights to Thrushcross Grange after the death of Heathcliff.

CHARACTER OF LOCKWOOD

Lockwood is a young London wealthy gentleman who comes to the Gimmerton countryside of England to spend a year at Thrushcross Grange. He rents a place of relaxation for himself at the old Linton estate. Thrushcross Grange from Heathcliff as a result of his adventurous nature. 

Lockwood is Heathcliff’s tenant at Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff put up Thrushcross Grange for rent after the death of Edgar Linton and while Cathy Linton was living at Wuthering Heights after her marriage with Heathcliff Linton Lockwood is a narrator. He is a commentator, who provides a perspective of the narration. He is in Wuthering Heights to introduce himself to his landlord (Heathcliff) Lockwood is the narrator of the story of Wuthering Heights. The novel consists of his diary entries during a period of Heathcliff tenant and the records of the story he hears from Nelly Dean about all the character. He is a commentator, who provides a perspective of the narration, Lockwood is portrayed as a naive narrator, who is prone to making vain and amusing mistakes. He mistakes Cathy for Mrs Heathcliff even though it is clear to him that there was too great disparity between the ages of the parties to make it likely that they are man and wile. Lockwood is little more than a passive listener, confined to his bed with a cold for most of the novel, yet his impartial facade unsuccessfully hides his admiration for the second Catherine pg.5 He is conventional and outgoing. He is more sociable than Heathcliff who is reserve as he tries to compare his own attribute to Heathcliff. 

He is noisy, persistent in seeking the knowledge to eccentric character of his landlord. He is an accomplice well travelled bachelor who enjoys the company of happy ladies, but never makes commitment. Mr Lockwood’s character does not experience much change over the course of the text.  He spends the night at Wuthering Heights. On his second visit to his Landlord at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood could not return to Thrushcross Grange due to heavy snowfall that have cover his way back home. He pleads with Zillah, the servant at Wuthering Heights for a place to pass the night. Zillah leads him to the room that has been forbidden for everyone. He had an encounter with the ghost of Catherine in the room.

In the morning, Lockwood narrates his conversation with the ghost of Catherine and ran all the way home trembling. Heathcliff did not take Lockwood sleeping in Cathering room lightly. He is tormented once again over the loss of Catherine Earnshaw which is considered  unnatural. Heathcliff pines for Catherine. Heathcliff is violent in matters concerning Catherine. 

ROLES OF LOCKWOOD

Wuthering Heights He introduces himself to Heathcliff, as his new tenant, and expresses the hope that he Lockwood is a young gentleman who is the second hand narrator of the story of has not caused his landlord any inconvenience through his persistent soliciting to occupy Thrushcross Grange. . He makes two visits to his landlord. His purpose of first visit is to introduce himself and have an acquaintance with the landlord Heathcliff who lives at Wuthering Heights. 

The visit shows the unfriendly nature of both Wuthering Heights and its occupants. He is unfairly treated during his first visit and did not get to see his Landlord. He is not welcomed into Wuthering Heights. He is accused of stealing a Lantern by Joseph. His encounter with Catherin ghost in her old room gives him a terrifying experience about Wuthering Heights.

The second visit is based on his promise to visit Heathcliff on the next day. When Heathcliff arrives, he reproves Lockwood for walking in snowstorm to come and visit him just because of his promise to visit him since he is not ready to give him any guide to accompany him back to Thrushcross Grange. Lockwood insisted to spend the night at Wuthering Heights inspite of the hostile attitudes of the landlord and the inmates, Through Nelly Dean, Lockwood provides a key to unlock the details about Heathcliff and how he has become the owner of Thrushcross Grange. He learns of the circumstances of Heathcliff’s violent, vengeful nature and death. 

He takes much interest in the fittings and furniture with view, and his eyes on old guns and other kinds of arms makes him considers the house and it occupants as 

being at odds. through his comments, enquires, and reflection on judgements that we are introduced to the character, their histories and actions. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCKWOOD’S VISITS TO WUTHERING HEIGHT

The visit introduces the reader to the power play or conflict in the household of Wuthering Heights. Lockwood visits Wuthering Heights at a time Cathy Linton had been forced to marry Heathcliff Linton and  live in Wuthering Heights. Cathy had just lost his father and what is due to her is under Heathcliff's possession. A time Cathy is having a rough time with Hareton who had sworn not to talk to her again after she mistook him for a servant. 

Lockwood’s visit to Wuthering Heights also shows that Heathcliff has control over Cathy and he disdains Hareton with a passion. He controls Cathy and rebukes her for being stubborn but would never hit her because he sees her in Catherine. Cathy's inheritance is in Heathcliff’s possession having forced her to marry his son who dies shortly after the marriage. His dislike for Hareton is borne out of revenge. Hareton's father, Hindley Earnshaw maltreats Hearhcliff when he returns from London with his wife, Frances after the death of his father and to take over the control of Wuthering Heights. He makes Heathcliff work as a servant even though he was adopted by his father. Heathcliff therefore refuses to send Hareton to school as the guardian after the death of Hindley.

Lockwood's visit also portrayed Hareton  as being aggressive and uncouth because of his sensibility to his ‘ Status. Hareton becomes extremely angry after being called a servant. 

Lockwood was utterly disturbed in Wuthering Heights with the offensive behaviour of the inmates of the house. His relationship with Heathcliff and the occupants is suggestive of the unfriendliness. He is uncomfortable at Wuthering Heights for hostile atmosphere pervading the house. 

Lockwood narration provides vital information about Wuthering Heights. Useful historical information about Wuthering house is given. For instance, ‘1500’ and Hareton Earnshaw suggests was built and its owner respectively. 

Lockwood passing of the night on the weird dwelling that Wuthering Heights " represents. The dwelling reveals its gothic atmosphere. Lockwood’s cold disposition, foreshadows the unfriendliness, violent of Wuthering ° Heights. 

His weak attempt to win Catherine so as to protect his male ego is an expression of the male chauvinism tendency common then. The experience of Lockwood in late Catherine’s room where he is to pass the night revealed the character of late Catherine as not only as avid reader but a very attentive writer. 

 THEORY OF FEMINISM AND SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AS A FEMINIST NOVEL 

THEORY OF FEMINISM

Feminism can be defined as a shared contemplation and advocacy of equality between men and women. feminism, the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes. Although largely originating in the West, feminism is manifested worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.

The feminist theory sees its purpose in challenging the assessment of positions and experiences of women, as well as society and social interaction by male bias. It supports women’s rights as well as linked issues. Furthermore it criticises unequal social relations. The understanding of particular social behaviour, the awareness of male dominance and the observation of a situation through various angles and viewpoints have been achievements of the feminist theory.

The feminist perception is moreover divided into a variety of different approaches like the liberal and radical feminism.

Feminist theory considers the lived experience of any person/people, not just women, with an emphasis on oppression.  While there may not be a consensus on where feminist theory fits as a theory or paradigm, disruption of oppression is a core tenant of feminist work. As hooks (2000) states, “Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. 

Feminist theories that focus on gender inequality recognize that women's location in and experience of social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.

Liberal feminists argue that women have the same capacity as men for moral reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy, particularly the sexist division of labour, has historically denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning.

These dynamics serve to shove women into the private sphere of the household and to exclude them from full participation in public life. Liberal feminists point out that gender inequality exists for women in a heterosexual marriage and that women do not benefit from being married.

Indeed, these feminist theorists claim, married women have higher levels of stress than unmarried women and married men. Therefore, the sexual division of labour in both the public and private spheres needs to be altered for women to achieve equality in marriage 

Radical feminists argue that being a woman is a positive thing in and of itself, but that this is not acknowledged in patriarchal societies where women are oppressed. They identify physical violence as being at the base of patriarchy, but they think that patriarchy can be defeated if women recognize their own value and strength, establish a sisterhood of trust with other women, confront oppression critically, and form female-based separatist networks in the private and public spheres.

Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved for men. In medieval Europe, women were denied the right to own property, to study, or to participate in public life. At the end of the 19th century in France, they were still compelled to cover their heads in public, and, in parts of Germany, a husband still had the right to sell his wife. Even as late as the early 20th century, women could neither vote nor hold elective office in Europe and in most of the United States (where several territories and states granted women’s suffrage long before the federal government did so). Women were prevented from conducting business without a male representative, be it father, brother, husband, legal agent, or even son. Married women could not exercise control over their own children without the permission of their husbands. Moreover, women had little or no access to education and were barred from most professions. In some parts of the world, such restrictions on women continue today.

Feminist theories first emerged as early as 1794 in publications such as A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, "The Changing Woman”  "Ain't I a Woman”  "Speech after Arrest for Illegal Voting”  and so on. "The Changing Woman" is a Navajo Myth that gave credit to a woman who, in the end, populated the world In 1851, Sojourner Truth addressed women's rights issues through her publication, "Ain't I a Woman". Sojourner Truth addressed the issue of women having limited rights due to men's flawed perception of women. Truth argued that if a woman of colour can perform tasks that were supposedly limited to men, then any woman of any colour could perform those same tasks. After her arrest for illegally voting, Susan B. Anthony gave a speech within court in which she addressed the issues of language within the constitution documented in her publication, "Speech after Arrest for Illegal voting" in 1872. Anthony questioned the authoritative principles of the constitution and its male-gendered language. She raised the question of why women are accountable to be punished under law but they cannot use the law for their own protection (women could not vote, own property, nor maintain custody of themselves in marriage). She also critiqued the constitution for its male-gendered language and questioned why women should have to abide by laws that do not specify women.

Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theories or politics. Its history has been varied, from classic works of female authors such as George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Margaret Fuller to recent theoretical work in women's studies and gender studies by "third-wave"  

In the most general terms, feminist literary criticism before the 1970s was concerned with the politics of women's authorship and the representation of women's condition within literature Since the arrival of more complex conceptions of gender and subjectivity, feminist literary criticism has taken a variety of new routes. It has considered gender in the terms of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, as part of the deconstruction of existing power relations

SECOND CLASS CITIZEN AS A FEMINIST NOVEL

African society is characterized by widespread male supremacy. Patriarchy is a key topic when talking about feminism and gender issues, Feminism symbolizes the struggle for participation of women in a world literally dominated by men. 

Adah Ofili, the protagonist is the centre of discussion in the novel. Buchi Emecheta creates Adah as a feminist character. Female children are less relevant and of low value in Ibuza, therefore, they are not given equal opportunities as their male counterparts. Adah's younger brother, Boy is enrolled in Ladi-Lak institute while her parents does not care sending her to school. She had to fight her way through to school after pulling up a show in which got her mother, Ma punished. 

It is noted from the beginning of the novel that Adah “arrived when everyone was expecting and predicting a boy” (p17). Therefore, Adah becomes a disappointment to her society. In Adah's society, a female is considered a child while a male is like four children put together. This shows how the society places more premium on the male than on the female

Her parents failed to record her birth date because she is believed to be a disappointment to her immediate family and to her tribe. Similarly, Adah’s family is disappointed at the birth of Titi because “after a long and painful ordeal, she had come home to Francis bearing a girl. Everybody looked at her with “is that all?” look. (p116). The birth of Vicky, her second child serves as a compensation for disappointing her people in the first place 

However, Adah who is not moved by any form of gender bias, inequality and societal belief, braces the odds to challenge the status quo. As the story unfolds, Adah is excluded from education due to her sex. As for the girl, “a year or two would do as long as she can write her name and count”(p9). However, the expectation that “the longer she stays at school, the bigger the dowry the future husband will pay for her (SC. 1994, 2) cannot go unnoticed.” Adah stole into Mr Cole's class, her neighbour while Ma was busy chatting with her friend and she was warmly received. While she is in the class, Ma, had been arrested for child neglect and forced to drink a bowl of garri as punishment. This single act of Adah earned her the right to education as her brother, Boy.

When Pa dies, Adah still struggles to acquire education. She goes to live with Uncle Vincent who punishes her sorely for losing two shillings which she actually used to pay for the entrance form. Adah is allowed to continue with her education after the death of Pa, her father and after Ma goes to marry Pa’s brother because of the believe that the more she stays in school, the higher her bride price. The plan for Adah is to marry her off as soon as she knows how to read and write. She determines to further her education into Methodist Girls' High School through scholarship in which she has to tell lie that she has lost Vincent Money in order to pay for the scholarship entrance form. Meanwhile Boy, her younger brother is already a pupil at Ladi Lak institute, one of the most expensive schools in Lagos. 

In marriage, Adah discovers that Francis is an “African through and through” (p30). To Francis, “he was the mace, and he was rigid to tell her what she was going to do” (p30). In contrast to contemporary feminism, Adah’s feminist mindset first viewed marriage as escaping destitution. The home she aspires to have is not one there would be trouble.. but a good, quiet and peaceful air. Her father in law subtly shifts the family responsibilities to Adah even the training of Francis sisters. She fend for Francis family after she has sponsored him abroad to study accounting. She pays the school fees of Francis' siblings while working as a Librarian at the American Consulate.

When Adah joins her husband in the United Kingdom, she refuses to work as a factory worker as others did. She secures a white collar job that elevates her to an enviable status with her landlady and co tenants. She feeds her children and  Francis with her earnings as Francis refuses to get a job despite repeatedly failing his examinations. She gets a minder for her children when Francis says he could not look over them. 

In Britain, after the birth of Bubu, Francis did not show up at the hospital. Adah wore her hospital gown for days and no greeting cards for her from her husband having seen all other women in her maternity ward showered with so much care. 

But when she gave birth to Dada she provides herself all she needs to be happy like buying twenty greeting  cards and addressing them to herself to be presented to her while in hospital.  

 Francis steady sexual violence on Adah makes her resolve not to get pregnant for him again  and therefore goes for family planning which Francis finds out and beats her into submission.

Francis had illicit affair with Trudy, the baby minder and also sexually harassed other female co-tenants that the women put it into writing and mailed it to Adah's Library address which everyone eventually got to read about. 

Later, when her husband’s selfishness, apathy and coldness toward her grown increasingly pronounced in Britain, their marriage deteriorates. This is after series of fights that the Nobles had to settle. Her loneliness and frustration are ordered in this situation. In this respect, when Okpara, a stranger, comes to console her at the park and then accompany her home, Adah does not care because “her mind was crying for someone to listen to her, to understand her” (p157). 

‘ Adah who is also the breadwinner of the family, does not want to refer to her husband as “Sir” or treat him as a master. She is no longer afraid of him. Francis regrets bringing Adah to London and letting her mix with middle class English women. “They African Woman” soon know their right, (p70). 

To crown it all, Adah shows her feminist hot headedness by dissolving her marriage with Francis, taking custody of her children in a hired two-bedroom apartment. Adah’s determination to fulfil her dream of being a writer is frustrated by Francis burning her manuscript. (p. 185). This single act by Francis is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. With the dissolution of the marriage, Adah prepares to assimilate into British culture while retaining her freedom and blackness.