Rethinking The Gender Narrative: A Feminist Perspective of Akinwunmi Isola’s Efunsetan Aniwura, Iyalode Ibadan
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Abstract
This paper examines Akinwunmi Isola’s historical drama Efunsetan Aniwura, Iyalode Ibadan through a feminist lens. Traditionally, Efunsetan has been remembered as a cruel, monstrous leader. Recent scholarship, however, urges a re-evaluation of her narrative. Framed by African feminist theory, this analysis argues that Efunsetan’s portrayal in the play reflects both the constraints of a patriarchal society and her own assertive agency. By analyzing gender roles, power dynamics, and female authority in the text, the study shows that Isola’s “heroine” ultimately subverts imposed gender norms. This feminist reinterpretation highlights how Efunsetan resists a masculinist order and suggests a more nuanced understanding of women’s leadership in precolonial Yorùbá culture. The paper draws on feminist criticism and African literary scholarship to reveal how the play critiques patriarchal power and reimagines a historically maligned woman as a figure of female empowerment.
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