Vowing in Tears

a Cross-Gender Interpretation of Human Rights Abuse in Sofola`s wedlock of the gods

Abstract

Many scholars have examined the play, Wedlock of the Gods, but most readings of the text looked at it from the perspective of feminism and, in this case, the right for a woman to choose her marriage partner. While it cannot be denied that this theme is discernible in the text, this paper attempts to demonstrate that the burden of human rights abuse in the play is not only shared by both genders, but that the chief male character, Uloko appears to be more “sinned against than sinning,” to use Hazlitt’s popular phrase. In the text, he is made the butt of society, a persona non grata from where spirals the tapestry of violence witnessed in the play.