SINCE MEN CAN MARRY MORE THAN ONE WIFE WITHOUT BEING BACKLASHED BY THE SOCIETY, WHY SHOULD WOMEN NOT HAVE THE CHOICE TO MARRY AS MUCH AS THEY COULD?

Our Wife Has Gone Mad is a play that looks at the biased and patriarchal system that exists in the African society in terms of relationship, basically between men and women . Bode Ojoniyi tackles the issue of social marginalization in the society. He succinctly looks at how men use and sometimes misuse their sovereignty over women and justify their action with different backings, from different perspectives.

The protagonist of the play – Daniela- marries three husbands, elder Dominion Akpan, Alhaji Sule and Chin-Chung from China. She is able to marry the three men legally at separate places, gave birth to a child each for the three men, foot their bills and takes responsibility on the three of respective men.

Eventually, she gets sick and got admitted into a hospital where her three husbands are being called to as legal husbands to her. This causes controversies, and baffles the nurses who are confused of what really is the identity of Daniella and the three men who claim responsibility over her as her husbands.

Daniella at last calls the three husbands together before the matron – matron Haywire- (who behaves in accordance to her name), she (Daniella) explains to the three men that she is legally married to them, and she want them to meet one another before she finally dies because she wants to make resolution before her death. In line with this, the three men leave her and she gets the peace of mind she desired.

Bode Ojoniyi is able to practically tackle the issue of one gender ascendency over the other. He is able to posit that because men are free and permitted to marry more than one wife, women should be allowed also to marry more than one husband legally and feel how women felt in the community when they eventually learnt that their husband has married another wife behind them.

The play is sarcastically able to posit that polygamy should be abolished, but if not, monogamy should not be condemned.

The play is able to look into the reasons behind men’ s habit of marrying more than one wife openly without anyone condemning them, which are: religion, culture and tradition. 

These three factors can be seen as agents that gives men the autonomy to do whatever they want with women, justifying their action by the three factors.

The play is also able to pin point that money is a great factor that can influence anything. Wealth can influence men to decide to marry more women in addition to his wife or wives he has already. Since men are able to get married to as much as they could because of their wealth status, women who are independent and financially buoyant should be allowed to legally marry as many men as they could without being questioned by the society. And also, they should be free to make decisions themselves just as men do.

The thematic concern of the play is the lack of equality in marriage between men and women in the society. Bode Ojoniyi therefore is able to take up the game of feminism to marital level, where he advocate that there should be no form of bias in marriage.