Oghenefejiro Shielar ESHABUKO

All activities associated with decision-making or other forms of power relations between members of the family are centered on politics. This study aims to analyze The Politics of Polygamous Marriages in Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood and Isidore Okpewho’s The Victims. The study is essentially qualitative in approach in that it is text-based. This study employs a feminist approach to literary criticism with focus on the African concept of feminism. The works as reviewed have shown that both texts are rich in feminist ideas and concerns. This fact draws a connection between the previous studies and this present study as the causes of women’s troubles are all that have been highlighted: patriarchy, polygamy, ignorance, motherhood, and colonialism. However, there is an aspect of the traditional African society that has been neglected in the reviewed scholarship. That is, The Politics of Polygamous Marriages which entails the interests of both sexes in marriage and the essence of marriage in African society. Therefore, with a feminist lens this study attempts to fill this gap by highlighting the politics involved in marriages especially in the Nigerian society and other related African societies. The finding of this essay is that polygamy is not an easy marriage to run. This essay therefore holds that The Victims and The Joys of Motherhood depict polygamy as an unhealthy marital union. Polygamy is a tasking family life which requires that a man is up and doing. If a man fails to handle his home well, his family will be in crisis that will eventually destroy it.