I’m going to analyze “Things Fall Apart” from a feminist perspective. The theoretical text explains that when applying feminist criticisms to a p iece, we must consider certain questions, such as whether the author is male or female, the role of women in the text, and the attitudes held towards women by male characters, and I plan on applying these perspectives and more when examining the novel. The text states that the essence of feminist criticism is that “it is feared, it is problematic, and it has the transformative power to reshape our world.” This is indeed a strong theme in “Things Fall Apart,”-although it takes place figuratively: Christianity, which Okonkwo blames for the “warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” is symbolically a feminine force in the novel. The English missionaries who come are ruled by a Queen, Nwoye, who is regarded by Okonkwo as “effeminate,” is among the first to convert, and while Okonkwo believes that aggression and anger are masculine traits, the missionaries preach about “brothers who lived in darkness and in fear, ignorant of the love of God.” This new religion ends up permanently transforming the village, and directs a shift of cultural tradition.
The text also provides several quotes that are parallel to the attitudes towards women in “Things Fall Apart.” For example, Alexander Pope is cited as stating that “Most women have no character at all.” In the novel, the cultural word for a man who has taken no title, therefore having no “character” is an “agbala”-meaning a woman. In addition, Okonkwo frequently wishes that Ezinma was born a male, as she demonstrates traditionally masculine characteristics such as temper tantrums and is bold and confident in nature. Accordingly, the text states that “consciously or unconsciously, women and men conform to the societal constructs established by society. Boys, for example, should be aggressive, self-assertive, and domineering, but girls should be passive, meek, and humble.” Although Ezinma displays the masculine societal constructs, she unconsciously falls into that of the typical woman in Umuofia, eventually getting married and presumably becomes destined to repeat the life of her mother.
Due to what the text calls “sexual politics,” branded by what Kate Millet maintains is centered around “male dominance,” Ezinma is unable to attain a high position in society due to her gender. Ironically, Nwoye’s laziness and uncertain personality is precisely the opposite of Ezinma, and greatly troubles Okonkwo, who states “I will not have a son who cannot hold his head in the gathering of the clan.” Although Ezinma has the potential that Nwoye lacks to p articipate in leadership and gatherings, it is not even a matter to consider in Umoufia, and Okonkwo is simply left with the nagging, persistent wish that Ezinma would have been born male. Virginia Wolfe analyzes this phenomenon in societies, in which she “hypothesizes the existence of Shakespeare’s sister, one who was equally as gifted a writer as Shakespeare himself.” She claims that “because she is a woman, she cannot obtain an education or find profitable employment…such a loss of artistic talent and personal worth is the result of society’s opinion of women: they are seen as intellectually inferior to men.” As a result, Ezinma’s potential for leadership and participation in clan affairs is overshadowed by Nwoye’s unconventional and disappointing “laziness” for a male.
