SOCIOPATHIC WOMEN IN TRACIE CHIMA UTOH-EZEAJUGH’S OUR WIVES HAVE GONE MAD AGAIN

Abstract

Sociopathy, the act of exhibiting apathy and disregard for other people, is a psychological condition that is embedded in social and marital frustration. Existing literary scholarship on women and sociopathy has focused mostly on women’s psychological imbalances which do not define sociopathic behaviour. However, few works have been done in the area of drama and its representation of the psychological conditions of aggressive women, which result in sociopathic behaviours. This paper examines the verbal expressions of female characters in Our Wives Have Gone Mad Again by Tracie Chima Utoh Ezeajugh with a view to discussing the sociopathic traits they exhibit in their relationship with others. In subjecting the text to critical analyses, the feminist model of Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory is adopted for the study, and used to analyse the psychological condition of female characters, which brings to the fore the unconscious and conscious realities that influence the actions and expressions exhibited by the female characters in the chosen text. The verbal expressions of the women in the play are marked with egocentrism, frustration, hostility, aggressiveness, lack of empathy and overwhelming selfishness. The women’s anger is directed against male characters who are involved in the dramatization of action. These sociopathic traits are revealed in the characters of Ene, Funmi, Mairo, Ifeoma, and Irene. Which are dramatized through characterization, language and plot in the play. Empowered women in hence forth, Our Wives, exhibit sociopathic traits in their subconscious through verbal expressions resulting from social and marital castrations.