CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
This is an analysis of the concept of reversed roles in Tracie Utoh’s Our Wives Have

Gone Mad Again.This work analyses utterances in the play which reflect reversed roles by

applying the theory of Speech Acts.

1.1 PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this essay is to examine the theme of reversed roles and how it is

portrayed through the extensive use of violence by the women in the play using speech

acts which include illocutionary acts and perlocutionary acts.

1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY

This essay examines the nature of language use by the language users in a

situational context. It focuses on using the Speech Acts Theory to exclusively explain the

violence meted out to men in the play by the women through the reversal of roles. The

speech acts categories applied here are acts of threatening and abusing.

1.3 METHODOLODY

The method used in carrying out this essay is the qualitative analysis method of

research. The data for analysis have been extracted from Our Wives Have Gone Mad

Again. Other materials have been taken from related textbooks, journals, articles and the

internet. Materials borrowed from supportive sources will be referenced.

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1.4 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

John R. Searle’s speech acts theory stands as a useful foundation for the study and

analysis of discourse and we have been applied it here to interpret Tracie Utoh’sOur Wives Have

Gone Mad Again. Speech act is defined as the “the basic or minimal unit of linguistic

communication” (Searle 16).

Speech act theory originates in J.L. Austin’s observation that while sentences can be used

to report state of affairs, in some specified contexts, they can also be treated as the performance

of an act (Brown and Yule231). The sentences uttered can either be ‘explicit performatives’

(realized with performative verbs such as declare, request) or ‘implicit performatives’ (without

performative verbs). Quoting Austin, Malcolm Coulthard says “to say something may be to do

something” and by “issuing an utterance” a speaker can perform three acts simultaneously: a

locutionary act which is the act of saying something in the full sense of ‘say’, an illocutionary act

which is an act performed in saying something and a perloctionary act, the act performed by or

as a result of saying something (18).

Searle (1975) establishes five (5) categories of speech acts which are representatives

(assertive), directives, commissives, expressives and declarations.

1. REPRESENTATIVES: This is one of the macro classes of speech acts developed by Searle.

For this category of illocutionary acts, the purpose is to commit the speaker to something

being the case. These speech acts therefore, centre on the belief of the speaker in what he is

saying. Thus, one can say representatives are speech acts which express what the speaker

believes to be case. Coulthard says ‘the degree of belief can obviously vary between ‘swear’

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 ‘suggest’ and ‘hypothesize’ and effective features can be incorporated as in ‘boast’ and

‘complain’ (24).

To further elucidate, a representative speech act is an illocutionary act that deals with the

world’s real and intended meaning, causing some kind of action.

ii. DIRECTIVES: Coulthard defines directives as “all attempts by the speaker to get the

hearer to do something”. In this case, the speaker is WANTING to achieve a future situation in

which the world will match his words and thus this class includes not simply “order” and

“request” but, more subtly, “invite” “dare” and “challenge”(24). In other words, directives are

speech acts that aim at the hearer to do something, the speaker’s authority over the hearer where

the former may be seen as superior to the later. Other examples of directives include command,

advice, suggest, forbid, ask, recommend, instructetc.

iii COMMISSIVES: These are illocutionary acts which commits the speaker to a future

course of action, e.g. promising, threatening, oath-takingetc.

iv. EXPRESSIVES: The illocutionary point of this class is to express the psychological state

specified in the sincerity conditions about the state of affairs specified in the propositional

context (24-5). What Coulthard means is that there is an expression from the speaker that reflects

his psychological disposition to what he is saying. In other words, it is safe to say that

expressives are speech acts that state what the speaker feels. It expresses only the speaker’s state

of mind. Examples include thanks, forgive, apologize, commiserate, congratulate, pardon, praise,

deplore, regret, complimentetc.

Speech acts function in the way of promising, threatening, judging, wishing etc. In

literary analysis, speech acts are usually very important especially in the analysis of drama texts.

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Speech acts are important at the beginning of the play where readers have to know what kind of

environment (atmosphere) they are being led into, what was, what is happening and all of such

relevant sensations that come with drama and theatre. Speech acts in fact show the nature of

social relations between characters and also how they relate to their world.

Due to violence exhibited in Utoh’s play, a lot of aggressive statements are made. These

statements therefore will therefore be analyzed using illocutionary acts such as that of abusing,

questioning, threatening etc. Speech acts such as promising are also employed for analysis.

ENE: (stand-offish.) welcome yourself, foolish man. (22)

Above, Ene performs an illocutionary act of abusing. Speech acts like the above will be

applied doing the analysis of Utoh’s play.

1.5 REVIEW OF RELATED SCHOLARSHIP

Utoh’s play Our Wives Have Gone Mad Againis a feminist play that attempts to

contribute to the concept of women liberation. According to Karen Offen“The dictionary

definition (in composite) of feminism read approximately as follows: a theory and/or movement

concerned with advancing the position of women through such means as achievement of

political, legal, or economic rights equal to those granted men”(123).Quoting from an online

article, “Feminism is the struggle to end sexist oppression. Its aim is not to benefit solely any

specific group of women, any particular race or class of women” (240).

Feminism in the West may have had effect in their society thereby liberating women and

making them almost equal to men or sharing same rights as men but it has been a different ball

game entirely in Africa. It is almost like African culture and tradition stands against women

having a voice in affairs; affairs of the home and most especially of the state. It is in this light

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thatOsita C. Ezenwanebe comments that “In Nigeria, feminism is accepted with a pinch of salt. It

is confronted with serious bias, misrepresented and misinterpreted often deliberately by men who

feel threatened with the way it is practiced in the West.” In reference to Ezenwanebe’s comment,

Nigerian men are a hindrance to women liberation due to the fear of the effect/ result of the

independence of women which we discover in Utoh’s play Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again.

Quoting EmmanuellaNduonofit in her article, Tracie ChimaUtoh comments in a Sunday

Vanguard “There’s urgent need to weed out forces detrimental to women emancipation”. Utoh

further comments

…I am saying the women movement has their problems. But, I don’t

believe that a movement can really continue if you do not cleanse the

system. And that is why I am saying that women should clear up the

movement, have women who are genuinely committed to the cause of

gender equality in the society.(1)

Utoh therefore reacts to the oppression of women through her play. The idea in the play

is transported through the reversal of roles. Women acting in the position of men and vice versa.

The play is aimed at enlightening women that they are under oppression and they barely know it.

Most African women may probably hide under the shadow of men being the heads of then home

and then they tend to tolerate everything (good or bad) that is done to them. Utoh strives at

changing all that.The women in play display the viciousness of men with the same vigour some

men are known to display violence. Utoh’s play gives an insight and expatiates on the issue of

female empowerment. The play satirizes male chauvinism. The tables are turned in the play to

allow men feel the pain of being ‘under’ as most African women are. The men are presented as

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home care takers while the women get to take control of every aspect of life; economic, social,

political and otherwise.

According to H. ObyOkolocha and Sophia I. Akhuemokhan:

In the bid to dismantle the cultural practices that abuse the rights of

women. Tracie ChimaUtoh’sOur Wives Have Gone Mad Again reverses

the roles of the sexes in the home in the favour of the woman. The

husband, Inyang, is depicted as more of a houseboy than the traditional

master of the home. On the other hand, Utoh presents the wife Ene as

economically empowered and in a reverse of male chauvinism, Ene bullies

Inyang. Utoh’s play suggests that the economic empowerment of women

can break the stronghold of patriarchal subjugation of women and

eliminate the loopholes through which women’s rights are abused.(191)

Jeremiah S. S. Methuselah comments that:

In the case of Irene and her friends in our wives have gone mad again, she

used the most unconventional methods to secure the presidential ticket.

Once again is ChimaUtoh making a point on behalf of women which

seems to suggest that what a man can do a woman can equally achieve”.

(158)

Almost every scene in Utoh’s play is an attempt to explain to the society that it should

not be thought that men are the only ones who are capable to oppression or of going extra miles

to achieve their goals. To her, women should be respected for who and what they are because

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due to the way men in the society tend to treat women; it is not very easy to be under someone or

subjected to someone.

In praise of Utoh and her play,Ameh Dennis Akoh comments that “of the new feminist

playwrights, Utoh’s Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again, opens up dialogue between old feminism

and the new post-feminist ideology. The obvious merit Our Wives is in its ideological twist from

the norm, a twist which stands as a foil to the almost infallible picture of the ‘new’ woman

presented by the many, sometimes self-styled, feminist writers in their bid to overthrow

patriarchy that ignores the intricacies of time, environment and individual experiences. Utoh

engages her dramatic writings not only with the discourse on feminism but other contemporary

socio- political issues both national and international concerns”(270).

Akoh further comments that:

Tracie Utoh’s plays are simple and executed without the usual political

cants prevalent in the plays of her fellow ‘new’ feminist voices. What has

privileged Utoh above this group is partly her daring spirit and

unambiguous presentation of the characters strength as well as their

foibles. While recognizing the place of women, she still takes an

unambiguous post-feminist stance. (270)

IzuuNwankwo is of the opinionthat;

Tracie ChimaUtoh, through her dramatic works, has shown that amidst the

proliferation of variegated strands of feminist strands postulations, female

writers can still resist the temptation of viewing society through the

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 periscope designed, manufactured, assembled and patented by feminism.

(171)

Quoting Nwankwo, Femi Osofisan opines that “Chima is a playwright who will not shy

away from reality, however painful, and who is not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom,

however controversial that may be (175). Obviously Utoh has portrayed very forcefully that

women are under oppression and they are being oppressed by men. In my own opinion, Utoh

uses her play to ask a question which is “Will men be able to withstand the pressure and

oppression if they were actually subjected to women”? Somehow, Utoh’s play answers the

question because we see Inyang, the husband of Ene moving out of the house because he was

tired of being treated the way his wife was treating him.

Utoh’s theme in her play may have been the enlightening of women but critics and

scholars have derived another idea from the play. Some think that Utoh’s play is unrealistic and

that the playwright went too far in trying to portray her anger at the oppression of women.

According to Alex Asigbo,

This play, is an unbridled criticism of the excesses of women’s liberation.

One observes however, that plot weaknesses and a degree of over-

enthusiasm on the part of the writer have contributed to making the play

anything but realistic. Thus, when one sees the so-called liberated women

riding rough-shod over their men, one cannot help but realize that the

issue has been over-stretched. The begging of the feminist question is

predicated on the unrealistic situations and actions which we find the

characters indulging in time and again. In the end, one wonders if the so-

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 called cankerworm in the society has really eaten as deep as the

playwright would have us believe. Without doubt, however, the play is yet

another manifestation of the playwright’s obsession with the rooting-out

of the warpers of the feminist vision and ideology. (271)

Asigbo further argues that “It should however be noted that the so-called relegation of the

female human to a subordinate position has both religious and socio-cultural backing. Consider,

for instance, that the Judaeo-Christain religion is replete with such injuctions as these ‘Wives, be

obedient to your husbands’, ‘The husband is supreme over his wife’, ‘For man was not created

for woman’s sake, but woman was created for man’s sake,’…..On a socio-cultural level, we

discover, entrenched in language and habit, indices of feminine subordination to the male

gender.” (266)

As is discovered in the preceding paragraph, Asigbo is one of those critics that feel that the issue

of women liberation has been over emphasized by Utoh’s play. He feels that the liberation of

women will not be beneficial to the men and the society at large if what happened in Utoh’s play

will be the actual effect of women liberation.He backs up his arguments with biblical doctrines

that state that women should be subjected to men.

Agatha NjidekaNwanya and Chris C Ojemudia opine that

Utoh’s inversion of Ola Rotimi’s, Our Husband Has Gone Mad

Againraises moral questions on issues of oppression. Our Wivespresents

“feminist activists” political agigators who hide under the banner of

Women Liberation” to disrupt public peace. They are charlatans, never-

do-well, social misfits, nincompoops, opportunist, morally debased

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 women. Their stock in trade in trade is to lord it over their husbands in

order to sustain their ego.”(59)

They further comment that:

As expected this role inversion irked most dramatic critics who argue

against the backdrop of the play’s realism. Subversion of gender roles with

the aim of reversing gender stereotyping in favour of women they argue is

not in tune with human culture let alone African custom and tradition. But

juxtaposition of female empowerment vis-à-vis male empowerment is to

set a standard for proper evaluation (59).

Utoh may have had a good reason for writing her play the way she did it but she must

have done it wrongly and in reference to what the critics are stating, it most definitely has passed

a wrong message. The message that women will not be able to handle authority and liberation

the way men are able to handle it and when liberation is handed down to them, they will misuse

it, going to the most extreme lengths to prove they are in power and to protect their egos.

Ezenwa-Ohaeto comments:

In Tracie Utoh’s play, she satirizes women engaged in politics as well as

the type of society that provides an opportunity for such warped activities.

The group of women in this play is dearly used to interrogate some of the

prevalent notions that either occupy unreasonable interest among women

or tempt them into illogical acts. The satire in the play focuses on those

women without moral principles who marry men much younger than

themselves. Furthermore, the women exhibit the kind of immorality that

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 men have always been criticized for exhibiting in various Nigerian literary

works. But the writer uses this play to comment on the act of domestic and

matrimonial exploitation that turn spouses in real life into unremunerated

workers in the home. In the play, the men are presented as those spouses

who are exploited while the wives are portrayed as the exploiters. This

actually is an artistic way of presenting the real dimensions of this issue of

domestic exploitation that has been the bane of wives in the society

(10,11)

Ezenwa-Ohaeto, at first, views the play from a different angle. He believes that it is the

women who are being satirized and they are satirized based on the negative resulting effects of

handing power down to them (women). The play in his idea, makes explicit the inability of

women to manage authority that is handed to them. We discover that women are able to go

lengths to achieve their goal; good or bad.

DapoAdelugba, opines that ‘Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again is a feminist drama which

may be closer to imminent political realities than its farcical exterior suggests’. (15)

1.6 THESIS STATEMENT

Tracie Utoh uses speech acts and turn taking to portray the acts of physical and emotional

violence by women through a reversal of roles in Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again.

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 CHAPTER TWO

EMOTIONAL VIOLENCE

2.0 INTRODUCTION

The theme of reversed roles in this play is a prominent theme that aids in the realization

of the motive of the play. Reversed roles in the play has to do with switching roles; women

taking the lead roles in the society; being the bread winners, the ones who control the homes, the

political leaders and the ones high up the social ladder while the men are subjected to being the

housekeepers. The concept of reversed roles though unrealistic is the main transport of the idea

Utoh tries to portray in the play. The play satirizes the women in the society based on the fact

that being in the position of the men, they do just exactly what the men do that makes the women

angry at them and they do even worse. The play tries to convey the idea that when women are in

authority, they are not able to control it. Utoh in her play introduces the idea of ‘masculine

females’ and ‘feminine males’. The women in the play use violence as a tool to support the role

of authority they have assumed.

Utoh’s play portrays the ridiculousness of the authoritative nature of men towards the

women in the society by placing women in men’s position. This is to make the men realize and

correct their attitudes towards the women who they think are their subordinates whom they

should control and dominate as they like. The women’s use of violence in one way or the other

creates some kind of wrong emotions in the men. Emotions such as fear, total subjugation and

surrender. This is as a result of the intimidation and abuse they receive from their superior wives.

Throughout the play, we discover that at one point or the other, a lot of abuseand intimidation are

inflicted on the men as their cross to bear. The men in the play are emotionally violated.

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2.1 ABUSING

Ene, the wife of Inyang plays the role of being the chief bully in the play. In situation one

of the play, she runs Inyang down and she does it in front of her friends.

ENE: (waves her hands expansively.) Inyang!

What is the meaning of all this?

INYANG: (straightens up.) What? Madam Ene you

have come. Welcome. Madam Funmi and

Madam Mairo.

ENE: (stand-offish.) welcome yourself, foolish

man. (pointing). Look at the clock. Is this

the time your mates clean the house? Lazy

idiot! (Ene expresses her disgust and then

marches to a settee. As the other women

move towards the settee, Funmi trips on an

upturned chair and nearly falls. Inyang

quickly puts out his hand to aid her.) (22)

In the above dialogue, Inyang is criticized and insulted as being lazy. Ene performs an act

of abusing (expressive). This is done to him in the presence of Ene’s friends. This of course is

totally embarrassing. Usually, couples are not expected to scold each other in the presence of

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their children or their friends but the idea here, that is the idea behind Ene scolding her husband

in front of her friends is to portray him in a bad light to show that she has no respect for him. She

wants her friends to believe that her husband is ‘useless’. This is a show of dominance. This in

return on the part of Inyang will always create in him an emotional response of subjection.

ENE: Necessary evil or not, evil is evil and I, Ene,

will not put up with it any longer. What have I not

done for this useless Inyang? I took him to my

village and gave him money to pay my dowry. I

sponsored the traditional marriage and the church

wedding. I feed this man, I clothe him and I put a

comfortable shelter over his head. Now what do I

get in return? Ingratitude! He cannot even

impregnate me. Three years since our wedding and

nothing has happened. What am I supposed to do

with a eunuch? (24)

Ene performs an illocutionary act of insulting (expressive) and complaining

(representatives). She plays the blame game. She complains to her friends while insulting her

husband that he is lazy and good for nothing. She even goes as far as insinuating that her

husband is impotent. In normal African homes, men are never seen as impotent when a couple is

not able to bear children.Even if it is true, here, due to the fact that Ene has authority over her

husband, she boldly tells her friends that her husband is responsible for her inability to have

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children because he is incapable of impregnating her. This is a simple indication that the women

folk get tired of taking most of the blame for whatever goes wrong in the family.

As a form of abusing and intimidating Inyang, Ene orders her husband around. This also

occurs in Situation One when Ene performs an illocutionary act of commanding (directives)

when she commands him to get drinks for her friends and herself.

ENE: ……..(To Inyang) Don’t just stand there staring. Go

and get drinks for us. (Inyang goes to the kitchen).

(23).

We see that Ene commands her husband to carry out her orders with immediate effect.

This produces a perlocutionary effect of intimidation, fear and obedience on Inyang who in total

compliance, goes to the kitchen to carry out his errand. This act of obedience shows his total

submission to Ene’s authoritativeness. This in turn shows his emotional stand on issues

concerning his wife and their home.

INYANG: Sorry, the food is remaining small to be

done. I know you don’t like food to be cold.

I am cooking late so that the food will be hot

for you. I am thinking that….

ENE: (cuts in) see how you are blabbering like a

fool in front of my friends. A fool that

cannot take simple instructions. You want us

to starve and wait for his majesty ‘king

15
 Inyang’ because ‘you are thinking’. Are you

capable of thinking? (25-6)

In the above dialogue between Ene and her husband, she violates the rule of turn taking

(when one person should be done with talking before someone else can talk) to intimidate an

already hapless husband.

According to Jacob L. Mey “Turns occur normally at certain well-defined junctures in

conversation; such points are called ‘transition relevant places’ (TRP)” (140).Mey goes further to

explain that “bystanders can also intervene in the conversation directly, for example by taking

the floor (preferably at a TRP, so as not to be accused of interrupting the speaker. This kind of

turn-taking is probably the most familiar among speakers of any language as there are strong

cultural taboos in many communities against usurping the right to speak, not only in a formal,

official or religious context, but also in everyday conversational practice.” (140) Ene is able to

do this because to her, her husband does not have any right to think or speak due to the authority

she exercises over him. This most definitely will continue to make him remain subjugated.

ENE: You need to do that. (Suddenly looks around

the room.)Inyang! Where is that good-for-

nothing piece of liability? Inyang! (Inyang

comes in from the kitchen. He is wearing an

apron.) (32)

ENE: Why didn’t you say so all this while? Why

should you take a taxi when my cars are

there and Inyang is idle. I will get him to

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 drop you off. (raises her voice) Inyang!

Inyang! (inyang comes in still wearing the

apron). (33)

Ene performs an illocutionary act of insulting in the former statement by calling Inyang

good for nothing and in the latter statement, she performs an illocutionary act of promising

(commissives) when she tells her friend Ifeoma that she will get her husband to drop her off.

This also indicates the degree to which she orders her husband around. Ene stops at nothing to

ensure that her husband is aware of her ruler-ship over him. Inyang practically does all the

chores one can think of in the house from cooking to cleaning and washing. Most amazingly as

we discover in the above statements made by Ene that apart from all the chores he does in the

house, he still drives her and worst of all, he drives her friends.

INYANG: Madam Ene, are you calling me?

In total submission to Ene, Inyang performs aperlocutionary act of appearing in the

presence of Ene as soon as he is sent for. He does this due to the fact that he is scared and much

traumatized by the insults and oppression rendered to him by his ‘wife’.

In the following conversation, Ene also violates the rule of turn taking by cutting in.

INYANG: Madam Ene, I do not throw away money.

ENE: (cuts in) Get out of my sight.

She performs an illocutionary act of commanding (directives) when she orders Inyang

out of her sight. This could pass as a form of intimidation and abuse at same time. Abusing,

because she is not supposed to talk to her husband who is supposed to be the head of the home in

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that manner. Intimidation in the sense that by cutting his sentence short and telling him to get out

of her sight, he becomes scared. Even though it is not stated in the play, we can as well assume

that Inyang performs the perlocutionary act of actually getting out of her sight.

2.2 AUTHORITATIVENESS

As a contributor to the buildup of Utoh’s play, we see the men being subdued to do all

sorts of things. The women are unable to act the role of the men without being authoritative and

this in a major way aids the emotional violation of the men

Mairo who is the wife of OderaIkemefuna and Ene’s friend, is first seen in Situation One

at Ene’s house. In Situation Two, Mairo performs an illocutionary act of warning (expressives)

when she authoritatively states that she does not want to hear any excuses from Odera

concerning her money.

MAIRO: What? Look here Odera, I don’t want to hear

stories about that money. (48).

This illocutionary act of warning performed by Mairois aimed at scaring or intimidating

her husband, Odera who has been brought under the realm of complete domination. This most

definitely works as we discover that Odera performs a perlocutionary act of swearing to affirm

the certainty of the fact that the money was stolen from him.

ODERA: I swear, they took everything. They said they saw in

a vision that my wife is a witch and…. (48)

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 Due to the fact that he is actually intimidated, he has to lie to save himself from the wrath

of his wife and whatever it is that she is going to do to him.

A breathlesspoliceman in pursuit of Ifeoma, (who ran into Ene’s house for shelter) with

the intention of arresting her, performs an illocutionary act of ordering(Directives), when he

orders Ene to bring Ifeoma out.

POLICEMAN: (Panting). A murderer is hiding here. She

was spotted running into this house. I demand that you

produce her or I charge you for aiding and abetting a crime,

for deliberate obstruction of the due process of the law with

intent to aid concealment… (66).

The policeman uses this utterance to give authority because he is aware of his legal

authority as police officer to arrest any criminal that roams free.

Ene, having expressed extreme disgust at the policeman’s rude remark towards her,

performs a perlocutionary act of commanding when she angrily asks him what gives him the

temerity to come into her house, and then she commands him to quit the house with immediate

effect.

ENE: (interrupts). Imagine the cheek of it! Who

gave you the right to enter my house? (Pointing

towards the door). Get out now before I throw you

out (66).

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 Ene uses her political power and authority to threaten and intimidate the policeman,

which is as a result of her political influence which is the backup that she has. She recognizes

that no police force can oppress her because of the political power accruing to her. In society, it

is quite unusual to see a woman ordering a policeman without fear, a woman who ought to fidget

at the sight of one.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of questioning (directives) when she asks Inyang where

he is headed to.

ENE: Inyang, where are you taking all these boxes to?

(72).

This act of questioning is as a result of her authority over Inyang which indicates that she

has to be aware of his every move. This is almost like being a prisoner in one’s house.In

response, Inyang performs a perlocutionary act of lying because he is scared. He stammers.

INYANG: (flustered.) I … I … I am taking your clothes to

the drycleaner. (72)

Inyang, who is fed up with the emotional trauma is about to take a bold step of moving

out but he is too scared to even say so because of the authority Ene exercises over him. He

shivers at the sound of her voice.

2.3 INTIMIDATION

In Situation Two, Inyang tries to escape from a bar because his wife and her friends

came into the same bar.

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 ODERA: ……. (At that instance, Inyang who is

almost at the door, is seized by a bout of

sneezing. Having struggled in vain to stifle

it, he succumbs. Every eye turns in his

direction. The women stare in wonderment

and shock. Odera wears a look akin to

horror.)(49)

How often do men run away from places where they hang out because their wives show

up? Well, as we see, this is the case above. As a result of the fear created in the heart of Inyang,

he devices a means to run away from where he is having fun with his friends because his wife

shows up. This is as demeaning as it can get. This happens because he has been abused several

times by his wife and he is too scared to face another episode of his wife’s abuses. Inyang,

unfortunately is not the only one in this compromised situation, his friends that are with him in

the bar too find a way to either run away or pretend not to be there.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of alleging (representatives) when she accuses Inyang

of squandering her money, and not being grateful for the fact that she labors dearly to make her

money.

ENE: Spending my money! That is the only thing you are

good at. You enjoy throwing away my money. Do

you think I pluck money from the road? Do I pluck

21
 money from trees? You don’t ever appreciate the

fact that I work for every single kobo I own. (35).

Ene’s utterance shows her extreme disgust at the way Inyang squanders her money,

which shows her ownership of the home and the fact that she is in charge of even the minor

things in the home. She tries as much as possible to intimidate him solely to keep him in his

place in the home. She does this because she wants him to always remember that she is the head

of the home. This will always keep him in fear resulting in subjugation.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of questioning (directives) when she questions Inyang

about whose permission he had to spend her money unnecessarily without consulting her.

ENE: With whose permission? Who authorized

you to spend my money carelessly? (34)

This is an act of intimidation. She makes sure that Inyang is aware that she is the bread

winner of the house and she will not condone impulsive and wasteful spending of her money.

Inyang most definitely will be intimidated because if he was supporting the upkeep of the home,

she would never speak to him like that. The effect of this act is due to Ene’s control over her

husband Inyang, which is ridiculous and preposterous in our society where men ought to be the

ones giving money to their wives.Inyang, in total submission as usual performs a perlocutionary

act of apologizing after being scolded by his wife.

INYANG: Sorry Madam Ene. I noticed that many things have

finished in this house and you need to see how the

prices of food things are just going up. (34-5)

22
 Chief (Mrs.) Irene Okpiribe-Sabio, a political aspirant performs an illocutionary act of

boasting (representatives) when she tries to bribe a policeman to cover a crime.

IRENE: (beating her chest with emphasis.) I am an

important woman. You are looking at the

next civilian president of this country. (68)

She does this so the policeman gets intimidated and does whatever he is asked to.

In Situation Five, we also see Mrs. Irene performing an illocutionary act of questioning

when it is obvious that she has been caught for trying to cover up a murder that was committed

by her friend.

IRENE: (screaming with rage.) What impertinence.

Which of my detractors paid you to come

here and embarrass me? I will take this

matter up with your superiors! Now, get out

of here! Before I have you thrown out!

2.4 OWNERSHIP

Mairo performs an illocutionary act of suggesting (directives) when she says that

lecherous men who had once lived a hanky-panky life are susceptible to contracting infection

and then suggests to Ene that Inyang be taken to the hospital for proper diagnosis of any medical

imbalance, which may be the reason for his inability to impregnate her.

MAIRO: Take him to the hospital so that he will be

subjected to extensive medical tests. Maybe

23
 he contracted an infection which destroyed

his reproductive organ. You know how it is,

with these men from the gutter. (24)

Mairo utters this utterance because she recognizes Ene’s headship over Inyang, and has

the sole right to treat and handle her husband however she wants to.

This is strange and unacceptable in a society like ours where men are supposed to be the

ones having the right to take their wives to the hospitals for medical checkup when there is a

delay in child bearing even when the fault is from them.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of questioning (directives) when she furiously

questions her husband about the delay in bringing the drinks to entertain her friends.

ENE: (furious.) Inyang, how long does it take to walk to

my fridge and bring me the drinks I bought with my

money? (24-5)

Ene exercises her headship and ownership over her husband Inyang, by the use of “…my

fridge”, “…drinks I bought with my money” because she knows that he has no choice but to

submit to her. The use of “my” and “I” indicates ownership and she doesn’t hesitate to use these

possessive pronouns whenever she wants to exercise her ownership over her husband.

Inyang performs a perlocutionary act of apologizing when he apologizes to Ene that he

was busy washing the glass cups, which took his time.

INYANG: Sorry Madam. It is the tumbler. I have to wash it

before I bring them. (25)

24
 He utters this utterance as a result of his submissiveness and acceptance of Ene’s

headship and ownership over him.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of stating (representatives) when she states with all

disgust that Inyang is piling up dirty glasses in her house.

ENE: Oh! So you keep dirty glasses in my house. (In

exasperation.)Inyang! Do you want to cause an

epidemic in my house? (25)

This is also an indication of ownership, as Ene portrays herself as the owner of the house,

which is also unacceptable in African tradition because it is deeply rooted in our society for men

to house women not the opposite.

At the end of the play, Utoh makes us see that violence in Our Wives Have Gone Mad

Again is not only suffered by the men as a result of reversed roles, it is also suffered by the

members of the society. The members of the society are lied to and deceived simply because of

political recognition and the people are not even aware because they have been blinded by the

initial goodies presented to them by political aspirants.

Irene performs an illocutionary act of promising (commissives) when she informs the

people of all the ‘good’ she will do if she is voted into the position of the president.

IRENE: Pay no attention to detractors. This country

is ripe for a woman president. I have come

to right the wrongs that have been

perpetuated against each and every one of

you. If you give me your votes, I will build

25
 all your roads. I will install electricity and

pipe borne water everywhere. I will initiate a

welfare scheme for unemployed husbands. I

will build a home for all orphans. I will

create jobs for all school leavers. I will give

salaries to every unemployed citizen of this

country from the age of twenty two years

upwards. In fact, I have wonderful plans for

the betterment of the lives of every citizen of

this country. LLP! (79-80).

This act of promising stands as a form of emotional violence to the people. She only

makes these promises so as to convince the people to vote her into position. She knows very well

that more than half of the promises made will not be fulfilled. This is a clear indication that the

women in this play are ruthless. They will do whatever and say whatever just to get to authority.

Utoh presents them as power hungry women and will never be able to stand a man ruling or

controlling them.

The issue of emotional violence to the society gets worse when shamefully, Gambo,

Chief Irene’s husband gets influenced by the women he communicates with especially his wife

and joins in deceiving the people. After Chief Irene’s show down with the policemen, Gambo

also performs an illocutionary act of promising in order to calm the hungry listeners at the

campaign ground.

26
 GAMBO: There is no cause for alarm. The rally

continues. Dancers, please entertain the

crowd. There will be refreshments later. We

contracted the best caterers in town, to

prepare pounded yam and vegetable soup,

fried rice, fresh fish pepper soup, goat head

pepper soup, cow-leg and cow-tail pepper

soup, foo-foo and bitter leaf, egusi and draw

soup. Plus all types of chilled drinks for

your consumption. These things are free.

Money will also be shared at the end. (82).

The men in the play, Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again are supposedly the ones who are

violated, but in this situation, a man is doing the same to society simply because he is married to

an aspirant and most definitely has to do what she wants or what will be in her favour. He

happens not to care if what he is doing is wrong or right. This could be because he is scared of

her and he does not want to get kicked out because it is normal that everyone wants to get

associated with wealth, fame, position and affluence.

The illocutionary act performed by Gambo gets a very positive perlocutionary act

because the crowd is extremely excited as they anxiously wait for the food items and monetary

gifts that have been promised to them.

… (The Crowd starts yelling in ecstasy. Gambo and

the 3rd policeman confer by the corner. Gambo

brings out a parcel and gives the 3rd policeman.

27
 They smile and shake hands. Then they move back

to centre stage. (82).

It is a very pathetic situation because the people do not care if what is being said to them

are all lies. They are hungry; therefore, all they care about is the food. Nothing more.

ENE: Our friends and supporters, I want you to know that

we, women, have come to solve all your problems

with feminist dispatch. We learnt politics from men

but we promise you that we will do politics better

than men. Vote for Chief Irene Okpiribe- Gambo

and you will see that the difference is very clear.

(83-4)

MAIRO: (shouting). Yes! After all, what a man can

do, a woman can do even better! Vote for

Chief Irene Okpiribe-Gambo and you will

see that behind every successful nation,

there is a woman. (84)

FUNMI: Yes! For a radical change, make a radical

choice. Vote for Chief Irene Okpribe-

Gambo. (84)

28
 The extracts above fromEne, Mairo and Funmi, friends of Chief Irene, perform an

illocutionary act of promising (commissives) just to ensure that their friend is voted for. The

people are lied to thereby being emotionally violated because, most definitely, after such

promises, the people would expect changes to occur but of course, the promises made were never

meant to be effected.

The people then in response to the act of promising perform a perlocutionary act of

acceptance. They have accepted all the gifts presented to them not caring how they are gotten or

the aftermath of the gifts. They all accept to vote for the Chief and somehow join in the

campaign by shouting “Vote for Chief Irene Okpiribe-Gambo”.

ALL: Vote for Chief Irene Okpiribe-Gambo. (84)

(The crowd yells in ecstasy. The campaign train climbs

down and begins to throw money into the crowd. Dancers

continue to perform in frenzy.)(84)

From all the dialogues above in this chapter, we discover that the women in Utoh’s drama

have been able to make use of illocutionary acts like abusing, questioning, stating etc, to exercise

and portray their authority over the men in the play which in turn have contributed to the men

being emotionally violated. The men are traumatized by the harsh treatment meted to them by

their wives and they show it through their perlocutionary acts. They do this by obedience,

immediate response to whatever their wives ask and submission.

29
 CHAPTER THREE.

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

3.0 INTRODUCTION

Violence has to do with the use of extreme force. Action intended to cause destruction,

pain or suffering. In Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again, there is the use of forceful measures. The

women in the play go extra mile just to prove their superiority over the men. In different

situations, we find the men being treated as slaves. Assassination and murder are the most

extreme measures that are used by the women to get what they want. The women in the play

especially those who are in political power let nothing stand in the way of their achievement.

Ene performs an illocutionary act of questioning (directives) when she inquires from

Inyang as a form of threat about who gives him the idea that he has escaped with his life when

Inyang tries to move out of her house.

ENE: And who told you that you have escaped with your

life? Do you think you can disgrace me and go free?

(Ene swiftly picks up a heavy porcelain piece and

advances towards Inyang. Inyang makes makes a

quick dash for the door and escapes. Ene goes after

him. All the women rush after them.) (73)

30
 Ene tries to kill him when he tries to move out of her house. She is unable to take it that

Inyang wants to leave her after everything she has done for him. This is a clear instance of

physical violence.

3.1 MURDER

In Situation One, we see that Ene as the one who spear heads most violent acts in the play

advices her friend, Ifeoma who is going through some hard times with her husband to be violent

with him. Ene performs an illocutionary act of stipulation (representatives) when she tells Ifeoma

to take charge of her marriage and be the total controller. She advices Ifeoma to take bold and

violent steps in putting her husband where he belongs. In her stipulation, she enunciates to

Ifeoma to keep a pestle by her side and hit her husband on his head each time he makes a move

against her, in that wise, he will humble himself and respect her.

ENE: Next time your husband picks a quarrel with you, make sure you teach

him a bitter lesson. Keep a weapon handy. You can put the weapon in a

corner of the house where you can easily reach it. That big pestle your

house girl uses to pound yam can serve the purpose. When he makes a

move towards you, draw him towards your weapon. Take the weapon and

deal him a deadly blow at the back of the head. If you hit him hard

enough, he will pass out. When he recovers, he will think twice the next

time the devil pushes him towards self destruction. (31-2)

31
 Somehow, the women are still very much aware of the fact that the men are stronger than

they are but they do not allow that truth deter them from doing what they think and deem

necessary to keep the men subjected to them.

In response to the advice given to her by her friends, Ifeoma performs a perlocutionary

act of committing murder. She does exactly what Ene has told her to do. She hits her husband on

the head and kills him.

ZEUS: By the time I finish with you today, you will know who owns this

house. (Zeus goes after Ifeoma with deadly determination. Ifeoma

picks up a pestle and delivers him a deadly blow on the head. Zeus

slumps and passes out.) (57-8)

Obviously, Ifeoma has no intention of killing her husband but she still performs the act of

hitting him on the head just to remind him of her position as the superior one in the marriage.

This is a very clear act of violence meted out to Zeus, Ifeoma’s husband.

Felix, Inyang and Odera at a bar, are talking about an act of violence that was performed

by an unnamed character; a woman in the play.

FELIX: (incredulous.) Inyang hold on for moment. Are you telling

us that a woman picked up a sharp razor blade and

deliberately cut off her husband’s private part? I don’t

believe such story. (36).

32
 The men are amazed at such a portrayal of unthinkable wickedness. The men perform the

perlocutionary act of being surprised. They are unable to fathom the reason a woman will do a

thing like that. Felix opines that ‘she should be executed instantly. Cutting off a man’s organ!

That is unimaginable (37)’. This is one way the women use to keep their husbands in check.

They refuse to let their husbands ride on them.

7TH MAN: (shouting.) It is a lie! Bitch, you

killed my brother! (The thugs

descend on him, beat him and drag

him out.)(78)

The 7TH MAN perform the illocutionary act of accusing (representatives) when he shouts

at Chief Irene and accuses her of killing his brother. The response he gets is being descended on

and whisked away by a group of thugs.

3.2 ASSASINATION

Ene performs an illocutionary act of suggesting (Directives) when she suggests that the

annihilation of any rival is an extremely important factor in achieving their targets. Her

suggestive points includes bribing of oppositions, using young girls to seduce their rivals to

cause a scandal for them and also to finally eliminate those rivals will escape their first and

second trap.

33
 ENE: ……Where blackmail fails, we will send hired

assassins to eliminate them. After all, dead men tell

no tales. (45)

Ene’s suggestive utterances is to enable their party’s candidate Irene win the election so

they can have influence and gain political power and will, to dominate and rule as they like. This

is another absurdity where people can do anything and go any length to gain political power.

OLD MAN: I will expose you! You assassinated

my son! (The thugs are busy, beating

and dragging people away.

Confusion reigns in the gathering.)

(79)

The old man above in the crowd of the campaign of Chief Irene performs an illocutionary

act of threatening. He laments the assassination of his son and threatens to expose her. As violent

as the women can get, there are hired thugs at the venue of the campaign to beat people who are

there to say the truth and expose them. In a normal society where men are the heads and they are

ruthless, the women are their soft sides. The women sometimes are able to calm them down and

stop them from perpetrating evil but in Utoh’sOur Wives Have Gone Mad Again, the women

happen to be more ruthless than the men would have been if they were in control. The women

are very desperate.

8TH MAN: Excuse me Madam Irene, there has been talk

of a syndicate of call girls, led by one retired

prostitute, who has been going around the

34
 country, blackmailing many men in high

positions. What…? (80)

IRENE: Yes, my government will initiate a

programme for the rehabilitation of all sex

workers, whether male or female. In fact I

will personally… (80)

8TH MAN: But madam, my question is … (Thugs

descend on him and whisk him away.)(80)

The 8TH MAN on the campaign ground performs an illocutionary act of questioning

(directives) on the issue of blackmail and assassination of other candidates of the presidency but

he is does not get an answer because he is violated. The thugs perform a perlocutionary act by

taking him away so that Chief Irene would not have to provide any explanation.

35
 CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

This essay has been a discourse analysis of the theme of reversed roles in Tracie

ChimaUtoh’sOur Wives Have Gone Mad Again. Utterances from the text have been analyzed

and accounted for. Searle’s classification of speech acts have been used for analysis. The five

classes were enumerated and four classes applied in the essay which is the representatives, the

directives, the commissives and the expressive and they have been explained in detail. The essay

has also been a clear analysis of the emotional and physical violence suffered by the men in the

hands of the women due to the case of reversed roles in Utoh’s play. The different ways and

situations where the men are insulted, threatened, abused, murdered and assassinated have been

stated and accurate speech acts used to analyze them.

36
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