Anowa

Anowa
Ama Ata Aidoo

Anowa SuperSummary 1
Table of Contents
S UM M A RY 2
Content 2
P LA Y S UM M A RIES & A N A LYS ES 4
Prologue-Phase 1 4
Phase 2 5
Phase 3 7
C H A RA C TER A N A LYS IS 10
Anowa 10
Kofi Ako 10
Badua 11
Osam 11
Old Man 11
Old Woman 11
TH EM ES 13
Motherhood 13
Tradition 13
Slavery 14
S YM B O LS & M O TIFS 15
Priestesses 15
African Funeral Marches 15
Africa 15
IM P O RTA N T Q UO TES 16
ES S A Y TO P IC S 22
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Summary
Content
Published in 1970, Ama Ata Aidoo’s play Anowa tells the gripping story of its title character,
who serves as an allegory for Africa itself. No stranger to Africa’s political and societal
turmoil, Aidoo, a Ghanaian playwright, uses Anowa to interrogate the relationships between
men and women, husbands and wives, women and motherhood, mothers and daughters,
society and the individuals comprising it, and the future encroaching on ancient traditions.
Anowa opens in the 1870s in the Ghanaian village of Yebi. During the prologue, two figures—
called the Old Man and the Old Woman—take the stage and describe one of Ghana’s
perennial folk tale tropes: the daughter who refuses to obey. It is clear that the Old Woman
views Anowa’s story with disdain, while the Old Man considers it an opportunity for reflection.
After the prologue, the first scene begins with Badua and Osam arguing about their
headstrong daughter, Anowa. Osam believes that Anowa might make a better priestess than
a wife, but Badua insists that Anowa needs to conform to societal mores, settle down, and
marry. However, when Anowa falls instantly in love with a handsome young man named Kofi
Ano, Badua protests the union. She wants to arrange a marriage for Badua, seeing Kofi as a
narcissistic, lazy show-off from a family who tends to produce disastrous husbands. Anowa
ignores her mother’s opinions, marries Kofi, and leaves the village of Yebi forever.
Two years later, the reader sees Kofi and Anowa on the road. They are making a decent—if
hard—living selling monkey skins and corn. They are playful and affectionate, but Anowa asks
Kofi if he might not like to have another wife. The reader learns that they have been trying
unsuccessfully to conceive a child. Kofi wants for them to consult with a medicine man, but
Anowa wants to see a traditional Western doctor. Kofi changes the subject to slaves. He
wants to buy several men to help them with their work. Anowa is appalled and angered by the
suggestion. She believes that slavery is evil. Also, she says that if she has no work to do, she
will wither away.
Years later, Kofi has grown prosperous. Financially, at least, buying the slaves has paid off
handsomely. However, his marriage to Anowa is deteriorating. Now that she no longer has to
work, she hates idleness as much as she predicted she would. He is mystified that she

cannot enjoy or appreciate the life he has provided with her. But the fact that they still have
no child weighs on her heavily and consumes her thoughts. Again, she asks Kofi to take
another wife, and again, he refuses.
In the final segment of the play, Kofi has become the richest man on the Guinea Coast. But he
still cannot make Anowa happy. Without daily work or a child to care for, she is directionless
and despairing. She spends her days pacing their home, encouraging the children who clean
for them to call her mother. During a final argument with Kofi, he says that he wishes for her
to leave. Her ingratitude is making him miserable. For her own good, he wants to separate.
However, he will not give her a specific reason. Anowa is incensed. She would be willing to
leave him, but is not willing to be expelled. She has a cleaning boy summon the slaves, who
gather in the room with them. Before them all, she reveals that Kofi is impotent, and this is
why they have no children.
Kofi leaves the room and shoots himself. Anowa drowns herself shortly after. The Old Man
and Old Woman retake the stage. The Old Woman lays all of the responsibility on Anowa and
her erratic actions and emotional instability. The Old Man, however, says that the blame
belongs to Anowa, Kofi, and also the villagers. He is more optimistic about change than she
is, and while the ending is grim, the fact that the Old Man is given the final word suggests that
Aidoo is hopeful about the future.
Anowa is a challenging play filled with grave questions. It was released to well-deserved
critical acclaim and has been hailed as a feminist masterpiece.

Play Summaries & Analyses
Prologue-Phase 1
Prologue Summary
In the Prologue, an agitated character known as Old Woman enters the stage in a restless
state. She never stops moving and is frequently taken by bouts of coughing. She is joined on
stage by a character known as Old Man, who is her opposite in demeanor. He is calm, stately,
and self-possessed. Together they are known as Being-The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper.
They describe how the village of Yebi has always been blessed with food, shelter, and good
fortune. They attribute this to the gentle, considerate nature of the villagers. However, they
say that there is an oddity in the village: a young girl named Anowa. Her mother, Badua, is
always playing matchmaker, attempting to pair Anowa with suitors. But Anowa refuses them
all. The villagers often blame Badua for her daughter’s reluctance to wed. Some suspect that
she might be better suited to life as a priestess, if she is unable to find a mate. The Old
woman points out, however, that a woman who refuses to take a husband is a common,
disastrous trope in folk tales, and urges patience. She believes that Anowa’s destiny will
reveal itself and her reluctance to wed will make sense eventually.
Phase 1 Summary
Phase 1 introduces Anowa as she enters carrying a water pot. She is very attractive and
wears a dress that shows a good deal of her skin. A handsome young man named Kofi Ako
enters and sees her. They make eye contact and smile at each other. A woman and man walk
by. The woman cannot stop looking back at Anowa and Kofi Ako. The implication is that the
woman is envious of their flirtatious glances. She is paying so much attention to them that
she does not see where she is going and trips. Anowa and Kofi Ako laugh as the play shifts to
another scene where Anowa’s mother and father, Badua and Osam, are talking.
Badua says that it is scandalous that Anowa is still unmarried. Osam counters that it is not
his job to marry his daughters, and he would prefer for her to be a priestess. Badua feels that
priestesses are honorable, but that they always end up imitating the Gods, to their own ruin.
Anowa enters and says that she has met the man she intends to marry: Kofi Ako. Badua is
not happy. She believes Kofi Ako is not a man of substance, but merely a handsome face.
Osam says that he will not interfere. As Osam yells for a boy named Kwame, the scene shifts.

Anowa, now dressed in a new outfit, packs her belongings. Badua pleads with her not to run
away with Kofi Ako. She says that he is lazy and arrogant, and that the men of his house do
not make good husbands. Anowa is insistent that she knows what she is doing. Finally, she
tells her mother to leave her alone and Osam intervenes, stepping between them. Anowa
leaves, promising never to return as the Old Man and Old Woman enter. They argue about the
responsibility of parents and ask each other whether a good parent controls a child, or lets
the child make their own mistakes. They do not believe that Anowa would have been allowed
to choose her own marriage had she been born in their generation, but they do not say
whether they believe this is good or bad. They point out that the villagers will be angry Anowa
is breaking from tradition, but they cannot decide whether the source of that anger will be
Anowa’s choice, or the realization that their traditions are fading. Ultimately, their stance is
ambivalent. They must step back to see what happens with Anowa and Kofi Ako.
Prologue-Phase 1 Analysis
The Old Man and Old Woman serve a role similar to that of the Chorus in a Greek play. They
offer their opinions on the events in Anowa without playing an active role. Their role is to
explain various ways in which the audience might interpret the events unfolding on stage.
Anowa is quickly shown to be a free spirit who follows her own desires. However, there is no
suggestion that she is a bad daughter or that she delights in defying her parents. Rather, she
seems to be a rift between the traditions of her ancestors and the new generation of
independent youths. It is significant that the Old Man and Woman remark that Anowa, at
least at the outset, is like the young women in all the old folk tales who refuse to settle down.
Typically, this results in disaster for the other villagers. However, there are hints that, while
Anowa may resemble those folk characters, both in her actions and temperament, she may
enjoy a different outcome. And yet, Osam’s continued insistence that she may be better
suited to life as a priestess is mildly foreboding.
Phase 2
Phase 2 Summary
Anowa and Kofi Ako are traveling on the road in a storm. Two years have passed since they
left Yebi together. They are carrying heavy loads of monkey skins to sell on the roadside. Even
though they are soaked by the rain, they seem happy and in love as they tease each other.

They have been on the highway for two weeks and still have 30 miles to go before reaching
the town of Atandasu. Anowa suddenly turns serious and suggests that Kofi Ako should wed
another woman who can help them, but it is unclear what she means. Kofi Ako says she is
being silly and that he wants to consult someone to help them with their problem, which is
still currently undefined. Anowa does not want to resort to magic or “medicines.” Anowa
reveals that they having been trying to conceive and she is worried that she is not yet
pregnant. Kofi Ako reminds her that her doctor told him there was nothing physically wrong
with her. She says again that she wants him to marry another woman, and now it is clear that
she means another woman to help conceive a child for Kofi Ako. He refuses. Then Kofi Ako
mentions he wants to buy a couple of men to help him with their business. Anowa says she
could not bear to own slaves.
Osam and Badua are in their home, discussing Anowa. Badua is aware that Anowa has not
been able to conceive and blames it on her departure from her home. Badua also knows that
Anowa and Kofi have grown wealthy through their business, which has been greatly
increased by their purchase of slaves. Badua is confused, knowing that Anowa always said
she could never own slaves. Osam reminds her that he always wanted their daughter to be a
priestess. Anowa was not cut out for normal life, he says, and their daughter’s current
situation proves that he was right. They agree to stop arguing and hope for the best.
Kofi is shown carrying a light load across the stage, behind eight men who are groaning
beneath heavy burdens. Anowa enters and it is clear that years have passed. Even though
they are obviously prosperous now, Anowa and Kofi argue. Now that Anowa has no work to
do, she cannot face the long days. She laments that she did not become a priestess and asks
Kofi again to consider marrying another woman. She says that when she looks into his future,
she does not see herself in it. Rather, she refers to herself as a “wayfarer,” belonging to
herself, but not to a place or to anyone else. Kofi is frustrated with her and asks why she
cannot enjoy their success.
The Old Man and Old Woman step onto the stage. Old Woman says that Anowa deserves all
of the scorn that she has received from the villagers. She says that if Anowa knew her place—
as a woman inherently inferior to men—she would be grateful for what she had. The Old Man
disagrees, arguing that it is precisely Anowa’s desire for independence and her
unpredictability that make her a worthy agent of change. They agree once again to observe
the unhappy couple and to keep their further remarks to themselves.

Phase 2 Analysis
During the time jumps between Phase 1 and Phase 2, Anowa and Kofi have left the village,
agreed to buy slaves (or “bonded men”) and have grown wealthy. Unfortunately, their earlier
happiness has vanished. They are no longer able to enjoy each other’s company. Anowa
mourns her lack of purpose and her lack of children. Kofi is frustrated that he has provided a
plentiful life for his wife, yet she cannot even fake contentment. As they describe the life of a
priestess, it seems apparent that this is what Anowa should have done with her life. When she
asks Kofi to marry another woman, it is not simply so that he can have children, but also to
free herself. This is at stark odds with the opinions of the Old Woman, who claims that even
the dumbest man is more equipped to make decisions than any woman. The Old Woman is
appalled by Anowa’s ingratitude. Ironically, it is the Old Man—whose life was ostensibly one in
which he enjoyed the elevated status and unquestioning deference the Old Woman seems to
attribute to all men—who argues in Anowa’s favor. In this way, the reader sees that, even if
men have created the system that binds women, women who refuse to insist on change
become complicit in the continued imprisonment of all women. And not only that—even if
society is created by man-made rules, once a man (like the Old Man) feels that the rules no
longer serve the society’s needs and realities, the men are trapped within the system, as well.
Phase 3
Phase 3 Summary
Phase 3 begins in an opulent room, with rich carpeting and animal skins on the floor. An
ornate painting of Queen Victoria hangs on the wall next to a picture of Kofi. His business has
now made him the wealthiest man on the Guinea Coast. Four men enter, carrying Kofi on a
bier. Then, several women in flowing dresses dance onto the stage. Anowa enters, dressed
plainly and obviously unhappy. She delivers a monologue about a time when, as a child, she
watched white men coming to her village to take away slaves. Her grandmother told her not
to question it. Shortly after, Anowa had a dream. She dreamed that her body was massive,
and suddenly, giant, boiling lobsters poured out of her. The lobsters rushed on the slaves and
tore them to pieces. When she told her grandmother about it, her grandmother told her never
to mention it.
The lights go down. When they come back up, two characters—Girl and Boy—are cleaning the
room. As the Girl dusts, she tells the Boy that she has been hearing rumors about their
mistress, a woman who insists the child slaves call her “mother.” The Girls says that the

woman is a witch, and that if “mother” runs away, she will go with her. The Boy says that
“father” will never allow it. As they tease each other, it is clear that they are working for Anowa
and Kofi. After they leave, Anowa enters the room. She is dressed in shabby clothes and her
feet are bare. She makes a speech about how she has no purpose since she was denied the
responsibility of motherhood. Two children—Panyin and Kakra—enter the room and begin
fanning the throne where Kofi will sit.
Kofi enters, being led by the Boy, who then leaves. Kofi tells Anowa that he does not like her
wandering aimlessly around the house. Anowa is still upset and saddened that she has no
work to do. She says it’s Kofi’s fault. If he had not bought the slaves, she would still have the
purpose of worthwhile labor. Kofi says that if she cannot be normal, like other women, she
should go and leave him alone. Once again, she urges him to take another wife. When he
protests, she demands to know the subject of a conversation Kofi had with a priest the
previous week. Anowa believes that his sudden desire for her departure has something to do
with what the priest told him. Kofi begs her to leave. Anowa admits that she had been
sleeping with other men, and she knows that the villagers say that a woman who is unfaithful
can never prosper. The villagers believe that her infidelity is the reason she cannot conceive.
Kofi summons the Boy. Anowa interrupts and asks the Boy to summon all the wise men he
can find. But first, he is to bring the slaves into the room. Soon, the room is filled with the
slaves, and the boy leaves to find the wise men. Anowa asks the slaves if they have ever
heard of a situation in which a man wants to divorce his wife but will not tell her why. She
reveals that she and Kofi have not shared a bed in years, and wonders aloud if it is because
he is now impotent. Kofi begs her to stop talking, but she continues. Kofi does not answer,
and she mockingly says that she has learned the truth. She no longer considers him a man.
Kofi leaves. Anowa revealing his secret in front of the slaves is the ultimate indignity. After
his exit, Anowa says that they will just have to wait for the wise men to arrive. Only they will
be able to advise her. There is a gunshot offstage. Anowa giggles as the lights go out.
When the lights return, Badu and Osam, both weeping, enter the room and go to Kofi’s throne.
The Old Woman and Old Man enter. Old Woman reveals that Kofi shot himself, and Anowa
drowned herself in response. She insists that everything that has transpired in the play is
Anowa’s fault. Anowa tried to make herself a new kind of heroine and was punished for it. But
the Old Man is unsure. He still admires Anowa’s independence, even though her choices
resulted in misery for her and Kofi. Ultimately, he believes that it is better that she lived and
died on her own terms.

Phase 3 Analysis
Kofi reaches the summit of earthly prosperity, while Anowa reaches the deepest depths of her
despair. Phase 3 is an overview of the traditional ideas of male and female fulfillment. Kofi
has achieved what is typically seen as masculine success. He is rich, he has provided a
luxurious home for his wife, and by all appearances, he genuinely loves Anowa. He is
frustrated by her unwillingness or inability to appreciate what he can offer. His successes
have not been enough to give her the life she wanted, even though other women in the village
would gladly trade places with her.
Anowa, however, sees herself as a failure. She has not borne children and she has lost the
work that was so valuable to her. Idleness exhausts her. Besides children, it is unclear what
she wants with her life at this point in the play. It is implied that she does not know either, and
that is possibly why she exerts control in one of the only ways she has left: humiliating her
husband in front of the slaves. She is able to assert her dominance over him by suggesting
that an impotent man is no man at all. She even calls him a woman, which presents a subtle
irony. Anowa sees herself as less of a woman because she is not a mother. Her mockery of
Kofi is also directed at herself, because neither of them has achieved parenthood, despite her
many affairs with other men.
Kofi offers to set her free and send her away. It is surprising when she instead chooses to
stay and interrogate him. Despite her apathy towards Kofi, she is still unable to leave him.
Even when he kills himself, Anowa drowns herself rather than live without him or start a new
life. Anowa has several opportunities to do what she wants with her life, but she takes none of
them. Against her parents’ wishes, she marries Kofi instead of becoming a priestess. Anowa
represents all women who are unfulfilled by the societal strictures into which they are born.
Even though she is more independent than other women, she cannot escape her own ideas
about what a woman must be: a mother, first and foremost.
Once again, it is telling that the Old Woman unequivocally blames Anowa while the Old Man
remains ambivalent. He suggests that the gossip and judgmental nature of the villagers may
have forced her to make the choices she did, simply to prove that she was not experiencing
peer pressure. The Old Woman’s attitude represents a deep pessimism at the possibility of
change. This suggests that her own anti-feminist views are products of society.

Character Analysis
Anowa
Anowa is a spirited young woman with a restless temperament. When the play begins, she
considers becoming a priestess, which would require her to forego marriage. However, when
she meets Kofi, she seems to experience the proverbial “love at first sight.” Even though her
mother protests, Anowa marries Kofi and leaves her family home forever. Perhaps this is
because she only believes herself to be in love, or maybe the love is real. But it is also
possible that she does it simply to prove that she can make her own choices. Because Anowa
knows the folk tales in which unruly, commitment-phobic young women bring disaster on
their villages, she sees her departure as an opportunity to change the tradition for all women.
However, she her union with Kofi is marked with apathy and contempt once it appears that
they will never be able to have children together. The character of Anowa can be seen as a
triumph—if a tragic one—of feminism, in that she makes her own choices and earns the right
to her own failures. But for the more conservative, it is also possible to read Anowa as a
cautionary tale of the price that will be paid for breaking with tradition.
Kofi Ako
Kofi is a handsome, ambitious young man when the play begins. He falls in love with Anowa
and is overjoyed when she agrees to marry him and leave Yebi. He works hard and does
whatever he can to make Anowa happy. However, once they suspect that they cannot have
children, he throws himself into the more achievable goal of growing his business. If he
cannot give Anowa a child, he will give her wealth and luxury. Kofi’s success leads to an
elevated opinion of himself, but his ostentatious displays of wealth are presented as crass
naiveté rather than true narcissism, particularly when it is revealed that he suffers from great
personal insecurity about his impotence. Kofi falls in love with Anowa because of her fiery
independence and great beauty. But eventually, he sees himself as being used as a means to
an end: the bearing of children. He comes to define himself as Anowa defines him—as
something broken, less than a man. Rather than live in the village after his public humiliation,
he commits suicide. Kofi serves as a composite of the male ego, the entrepreneurial spirit,
and the moral contortions required to use slave labor to better one’s own situation.

Badua
Badua is Anowa’s mother. She spends Phase 1 in perpetual frustration over her daughter’s
stubbornness. Badua wishes that Anowa would follow in her footsteps as a wife and mother.
Even though she bickers good-naturedly with her husband, Badua seems happy. The
complication lies in the fact that her happiness may stem from the traditionally diminished
status of African women that the author describes. If Badua is happy because she is
somewhat subservient to the whims of her husband, is this real happiness? Badua aspires to
her daughter’s happiness, but also wishes to steer Anowa’s aspirations into traditional ideas
of fulfillment. Her ideas align closely with those of the Old Woman. When Anowa eventually
dies, it is difficult to imagine that Badua does not blame herself for her own perceived failings
as a mother.
Osam
Osam’s outlook on his daughter is similar to that of the Old Man. He does not see the raising
of daughters—or participating in their matchmaking—to be his responsibility. In part, it is his
hands-off approach that allows Anowa to run away with Kofi. Even though he espouses
personal independence, once Anowa has died, he feels the same parental failure as Badua.
He is a less developed character than the women in the play, largely because the men in
Anowa are presented as static objects who are used to having their needs met by women.
Old Man
The Old Man presents one half of the pair that serves as the Chorus in Anowa. He and the Old
Woman act as the play’s editorializing figures. They evaluate the events they witness and
speculate as to their causes. The Old Man is a plausible version of what a future Osam could
be. He has obviously seen and experienced tragedy, but retains a belief in personal agency
and the empowerment of women. He prefers to wait and think before pronouncing final
judgments on the causes of the play’s tragedies and believes that society often shares
responsibility for the actions of its individuals.
Old Woman
The Old Woman is more close-minded and reductive than the Old Man, her counterpart. She
holds Anowa responsibility for not only Kofi’s death, but Anowa’s own fatal tragedy. She
believes that if Anowa had just behaved like a proper women, all of the death and sorrow

could have been avoided. It is implied that the Old Woman lived a traditional African woman’s
life, and holds herself as an example of the wisdom of doing so. To suggest that Anowa might
have done what was best for herself—even though the results are tragic—would imply that
perhaps the Old Woman could have lived her own life differently. Regretting the past is an
admission of one’s own fallibility, and the Old Woman is perhaps the only character in the
play who has no doubts. She believes that women are inferior to men, that they should know
their place, and that true happiness comes only from submitting to societal norms. If
progress is only achieved through the tumult of breaking from custom, she wants no part of
it.

Themes
Motherhood
Women and mothers—and specifically, the failures of both—are central to the events that
have the most impact on the characters. From the outset, the Old Woman posits that Anowa’s
struggles are due to the actions of her mother, Badua, who stacked the deck against her from
the moment of her birth. Badua is frustrated that she cannot dissuade Anowa from marrying
Kofi and leaving Yebi. At first, Anowa is concerned that she may not be able to bear children,
but by the end of the play the void of her childless life consumes her and her husband.
Beyond the actual physical act of giving birth, Anowa shows the primary duty of motherhood
to be teaching a female child to act properly and normally. Therefore, when Anowa refuses to
conform to her mother’s ideas of proper behavior, Badua sees herself as a failure. When
Anowa is unable to conceive, she views herself as being both physically incapable and
unworthy of doing so. In this way, because most women can conceive children, Anowa never
has a chance to be normal. This causes her great distress because she believes that a
woman’s primary purpose is to bear children. As the year pass, her disappointment over her
childlessness grows.
There are hints throughout the book that if Anowa had a female child, she would raise her to
be a different sort of woman. A woman who thought, spoke her mind, and chose her own
destiny. Because she never experiences motherhood, Anowa is also denied the chance to
create a woman like herself, a woman whose influence might help to dilute the controlling
influence of men in Ghanaian society.
Tradition
Anowa and the Old Man represent the possibility of new traditions replacing the old. In
Anowa’s case, her efforts are futile. In the Old Man’s case, it is unclear whether his optimism
is well-founded or not, since he is so near the end of his life and will never know if the world
changes. But overall, Aidoo makes it clear that if traditions do not evolve, a society stagnates.
The debate between conservatism and progressivism is demonstrated in the conflicts
between between Anowa and Kofi, Badua and Osam, the Old Man and the Old Woman, and
even between the children who clean Kofi’s throne room.

Change is always turbulent, and especially so in societies whose norms have formed over
centuries. The only way in which traditions can be replaced is by demonstrating the
usefulness of new traditions. However, when no one in the play—save for Anowa and the Old
Man—are willing to entertain the possibility that their society might evolve, those who seek
progress are immediately branded as insane, witches, or worse. Further enforcing the
intractability of the problem are the constant reminders that in most of the Ghanaian folk
tales, the heroine who seeks to choose her own suitor is often punished along with everyone
she loves. In this way, Anowa’s actions do not inspire other villagers to independence, but
instead reenact ancient tropes. They fear her and gossip about her because she represents
something their culture has been taught to abhor: a woman who seeks to elevate her own
station and choose her own life.
Slavery
Slavery appears in several forms in Anowa. First, there is the literal acquisition of slaves.
Much to Anowa’s disapproval, Kofi purchases men to employ in “bonded labor.” In this
setting, these people are property, without agency or options. But marriage itself is presented
as another sort of bondage, particularly for wives. Women in Anowa are expected to bear
children, make their husbands feel special, and are encouraged to be seen not heard,
particularly when they offer unorthodox opinions. While the punishments for a rebellious wife
are not as severe as those that could be administered to an unruly slave, the women still live
in oppressive environments in which they can be made to suffer—through shunning, for
example—for their opinions.
Culture itself is also presented as a kind of enslavement. Anowa suffers greatly because she
is enslaved by the prevailing ideas of what women should be. She is perceived as crazy and
has no way to prove to anyone that she is sane. The characters in Anowa are all bound by the
system in which they live. However, most remain unaware that they are imprisoned because
they are able to be happy within the system. However, the strictures of their society limit the
expansiveness of their thoughts and intellectual aspirations.

Symbols & Motifs
Priestesses
A common lament throughout Anowa is that Anowa should have been a priestess. A
priestess is described as a woman who is unattached to anything except her God. She is not
expected to have children or obey a husband, and her allegiance to the laws of the Gods takes
precedence over her civic and cultural duties. However, priestesses are also viewed as wild,
unmanageable, witch-like, and as having too much in common with the Gods’ unsavory
qualities. But the role of priestess in the play is a symbol of both freedom and a lack of man-
made expectations. Because Anowa never became a priestess, the calling is also a motif for
personal regret and the need to follow one’s instincts.
African Funeral Marches
Near the end of Anowa, whenever Kofi looks at his limbs, funeral marches play in the
background. A funeral dirge is always ominous, but in the play, the timing is significant. The
music plays at the moment that the audience becomes aware that Kofi is unhappy with the
sexual function of his body. Anowa accuses him of being like a woman, signifying that his
body does not work in the way that a man’s body is supposed to. Because he cannot pass on
his genes to offspring, Kofi is presented as a dying man, or even one who is already dead. He
lacks the vitality connected to masculine identity, and this lack is underscored with the music
of a funeral.
Africa
Anowa is a representation of Africa itself. During her dream in which she sees the lobsters
pouring out of her own massive body, the lobsters signify the white slave traders who overran
the continent and destroyed so many lives. As a whole, Africa has experienced relatively few
periods of peace and stability. The trajectory of its life can be mapped onto that of Anowa’s.
Every revolution begins with a person or a group deciding that it knows what it wants. After a
revolution is complete—in Anowa’s case, her defiant union with Kofi—the new situation
inevitably shows itself to be flawed in unexpected ways. This can result in an opportunity for
growth, or for new destruction. Africa is an immense continent whose countries contain a
multitude of identities. Multiculturalism can be a boon when people share the same goals, but
it can also fracture a country’s sense of self, just as a mind that wanders in too many
directions at once can become unmoored.

Important Quotes
1. “But in the end, they are not people. They become too much like the Gods they interpret”
(Page 6)
It is unclear whether the characters in the play view the Gods as just or unjust, or beneficent
or malevolent. In any event, the suggestion is that, whatever they are, there is little reason to
emulate them.
2. “A prophet with a locked mouth is neither a prophet nor a man”

(Page 8)
The identities of the play’s characters are linked to the roles they fulfill. In this quote, the duty
that men and prophets share is that of speaking and revealing truth. A quiet man without
truths to reveal is shown not to be a man at all.
3. “I am going to help him do something with his life”

(Page 12)
In the early stage of their courtship, Anowa is committed to helping Kofi achieve his goals. By
all appearances, they will be a team. In hindsight, it is difficult to know exactly what she
wanted to help him do, besides become a father.
4. “A kind God angered is a thousand times more evil than a mean God unknown”
(Page 24)
Just as the formerly gentle and hopeful Anowa eventually shows herself to be spiteful and
cruel, even a God of kindness can become angry and vindictive. For Anowa, it is more
important to be known and reviled than to be unknown and exist in peace.
5. No man made a slave of his friend and came to much himself

(Page 26)
Anowa resists Kofi’s suggestion to buy slaves. At this point, she is still Kofi’s friend. But as
their inability to conceive persists, she comes to see herself as bound to him unjustly, in a
sort of enslavement.

6. “People like her are not content to have life cheap. They always want it cheaper”
(Page 30)
While she is not a materialist or an advocate of contention, Badua holds nothing but scorn for
those whose actions make life more challenging than it has to be.
7. “One stops wearing a hat only when the head has fallen off”
(Page 31)
Anowa views her desire to have a child and her need to work as innate, immutable parts of
her identity. Some things change only with death. She cannot stop herself from feeling them
and if Kofi wants to understand her, he must understand this.
8. “I cannot be happy if I am going to stop working”

(Page 34)
In the absence of a child, Anowa’s work becomes her purpose. Her ability to produce results
through her labor justifies her existence. She is miserable with a life of idleness because
idleness does not lead to creation.
9. “Peace creates forgetfulness”

(Page 34)
The Old Man sees more value in a challenging, tumultuous life. Peace is pleasant for many,
but for those like Anowa, who fear stagnation and complacency, peace can be a thief of
memory and a distorter of perspective.
10. “I know I could not have started without you, but after all, we all know that you are a
woman and I am the man”
(Page 35)
By referring to Anowa as “a woman” and to himself as “the man,” Kofi relegates Anowa’s
identity to that of all women, while making his own status in their relationship clear. Her role
is interchangeable with other women, but he would be superior to any woman who found
herself in Anowa’s position.

11. “I wonder what a woman eats to produce a child such as Anowa?”

(Page 40)
The Old Woman blames Badua for Anowa’s behavior. It is notable that she does not consider
Badua’s child-rearing abilities as inadequate. Rather, she assumes that something went
wrong even before Anowa was born, implying that Anowa was destined to be abnormal.
12. “What woman is she who thinks she knows better than her husband in all things?”
(Page 41)
The Old Woman cannot entertain the possibility that a woman might know more than her
husband. When a matriarchal figure takes such a viewpoint, it is hard to see how female
empowerment can be achieved. The Old Woman’s views are similar to the bars of a jail cell
that surrounds all women.
13. “Shut up child or your mouth will twist up one day with questions”
(Page 45)
When, as a child, Anowa asks about the slaves being taken away, her grandmother tells her to
shut up. Anowa was discouraged from asking questions about issues such as slavery. Even
her grandmother encouraged her to simply accept things as they were and forget the
possibility of change. There is little wonder that Anowa formed strong opinions about bonded
labor.
14. “Is it too much to think that the heavens might show something to children of a latter day
which was hidden from them of old?”
(Page 46)
The Old Man believes in the evolution of knowledge. He understands that unless people
understand that there is always more to learn, and more profound depths of understanding to
achieve, ignorance and all of its attendant miseries will persist.
15. “Why didn’t someone teach me how to grow up to be a woman?”

(Page 47)

Anowa realizes that because she was discouraged from asking questions as a child, her
development as an adult is also stunted. Now, she is beginning to ask questions at an age
when her peers have accepted the status quo. This makes her appear abnormal to them.
16. “The dumbest man is always better than a woman”

(Page 48)
The Old Woman’s absolute use of “better” implies that men are better than women in every
way. The statement borders on self-loathing. Nowhere in the play is the difficulty facing
women in Ghanaian society more clear than in this stance.
17. “Anowa, did you have to destroy me too?”

(Page 50)
Even though he chose to marry her, and even though his own impotence is at the root of their
greatest challenge, Kofi solely blames Anowa for his ruined life. Because he sees himself as
destroyed, he absolves himself of the responsibility to change his situation or redeem
himself. This makes his suicide an act of cowardice as well as an act of desperation.
18. “Going away is one thing. Being sent away is another”

(Page 52)
Despite her desire for freedom, Anowa is unwilling to be sent away without a fight. She would
rather stay and risk the destruction of both of their lives than to be expelled by another’s
decree.
19. “You must be a witch, child”

(Page 56)
Because Anowa will not stop asking her grandmother questions, her grandmother tells Anowa
that she must be a witch. Given the culture and time in which the play is set, the child would
have been well-acquainted with the meaning of “witch.” Equating the presence of childish
curiosity with the presence of dark magic is insidious. And yet, even this condemnation does
not stop Anowa’s questions.
20. “You are like a woman”

(Page 57)
Despite Anowa serving as an example of an autonomous woman, she uses the word “woman”
as an insult, suggesting that for a man to be compared to a woman is singularly degrading.
21. “That man who is afraid of women?”

(Page 58)
Even the cleaning girl has an idea that Kofi harbors negative feelings towards women.
Because the rumors about him have spread even to his help, once the cause of Kofi’s
insecurity is revealed, it foreshadows the great lengths to which his disgrace has infiltrated
the village.
22. “Poor children. I feel like picking them up and carrying them on my back”
(Page 58)
This is another example of how badly Anowa needs a burden to shoulder. When she sees the
children cleaning, her instinct is to lift them.
23. “In order for her man to be a man, she must not think, she must not talk”
(Page 59)
One way in which men are defined is through the respect, silence, and subservience shown to
them by women. This is a terrible contrast to the early stages of courtship when Anowa
wanted to help make Kofi make something of his life, because she did not intend to bring it
about through unquestioning obedience.
24. “It is men who make men mad”

(Page 64)
There is little acknowledgement of the possibility of mental illness or personal responsibility

when it comes to the concept of “madness” in Anowa. One’s actions are nearly always
assumed to be result of someone else’s influence. In this way, one can only be assumed to be
as healthy or sick as the society in which one exists.

25. “Who knows if Anowa would have been a better woman, a better person, if we had not
been what we are?”
(Page 66)
The Old Man refuses to let himself, the Old Woman, her husband, her parents, or the villagers
off the hook for Anowa’s disintegration. He implies that at some level, all people share the
stewardship of each other’s emotional wellbeing, and that all carry the blame when no one
helps a person in such dire need as Anowa.

Essay Topics
1. Is Anowa a feminist play? Why or why not?
2. What is the contrast between the enforced slavery of laborers with the voluntary
subservience of married women in the play?
3. Is masculinity presented as positive or negative in Anowa? In what ways?
4. Why are the characters of the Old Man and Old Woman collectively called The-Mouth-That-
Eats-The-Salt-And-Pepper?
5. Should Anowa’s parents have tried harder to prevent her from marrying Kofi? Why or why
not?
6. Is there a hero in Anowa? If so, who is the hero? Justify your position.
7. Based on your reading of the play, do you consider the author an optimist? Discuss.
8. What is meant by the suggestion that priestesses always end up emulating the Gods they
interpret? Why could this be a bad thing?
9. Why do you think Anowa marries Kofi?
10. What is the significance of motherhood in the play?


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Ama Ata Aidoo

P LA Y S UM M A RIES & A N A LYS ES 4

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Play Summaries & Analyses

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Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

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Symbols & Motifs

African Funeral Marches

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2. “A prophet with a locked mouth is neither a prophet nor a man”

3. “I am going to help him do something with his life”

5. No man made a slave of his friend and came to much himself

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8. “I cannot be happy if I am going to stop working”

9. “Peace creates forgetfulness”

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11. “I wonder what a woman eats to produce a child such as Anowa?”

15. “Why didn’t someone teach me how to grow up to be a woman?”

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16. “The dumbest man is always better than a woman”

17. “Anowa, did you have to destroy me too?”

18. “Going away is one thing. Being sent away is another”

19. “You must be a witch, child”

20. “You are like a woman”

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21. “That man who is afraid of women?”

24. “It is men who make men mad”

There is little acknowledgement of the possibility of mental illness or personal responsibility

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Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

1. Is Anowa a feminist play? Why or why not?

3. Is masculinity presented as positive or negative in Anowa? In what ways?

9. Why do you think Anowa marries Kofi?

10. What is the significance of motherhood in the play?

Downloaded by Nikhil Sookur - sookurnikhil@gmail.com

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