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Summary - ENG2603 - Colonial And Postcolonial African Literatures
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ESSAY The weight of womanhood in nervous
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The weight of womanhoodEssay Question-The “Weight of Womanhood” is a recurrent idea in the
novel and helps the female some way in understanding their plight. Discuss how the
burdens of the women are expressed in the novel.
“This business of womanhood is a heavy burden” is a frequently reappearing idea in
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel, Nervous Conditions. In this book, women are portrayed
as having no authority over men, no rights are expected to do all the work and
receive no credit whatsoever as a result of this. The women in Nervous
Conditions are faced with numerous struggles throughout the novel which in the end
helps them in some way to understand their plight.
Throughout the majority of the novel, Maiguru; Tambudzai’s aunt, has to carry with
her the burdens of Nyasha, Babamukuru and Tambu; Tambudzai. Maiguru cooks,
cleans and cares for the family the best she can and she receives no credit for any of
the work she does and she still lives in the shadow of Babamukuru; her husband.
This is shown when family returns from England. Both Babamukuru and Maiguru
have received degrees from England and Maiguru’s could even be considered a
greater achievement as she is not only black but also a woman. However, she
receives no congratulations of any kind while Babamukuru is praised like a god with
family members “ululating” and saying that their “Prince has returned.” This shows
the burdens that the women have to face in this society.
Also at various stages in the book, Maiguru is likened to an egg-laying bird; a bird
that has to carry around its burden. It seems to the reader that Nyasha, Tambu and
Babamukuru are her eggs and she is constantly trying to look after them. “Maiguru
tended to me solicitously like a mother bird” who was “ever ready to drop tasty
morsels into my mouth.” What’s more, we also see that Maiguru always “fluttered”
about, “clucking concern” for Tambu’s “lack of appetite.” Maiguru is regularly
worrying over the wellbeing of Tambu and Nyasha and it is not until later on in the
novel that we find out that she is “quite sensible underneath all the feathers,”
showing that even though she is always looking after them.
Throughout the novel, Tambu is put through immense pressure to succeed at school
like her brother did before he died. She is focussed on her studies and works
through the distractions that Nyasha occasionally provides her such as smoking and
going out dancing to which she “would bury her nose in The Wind in the Willows and
tell her that she could not dance.” There is a burden on Tambu to help her family get
out of the financial rut that they are stuck in. As a female, it is hard for Tambu to live
up to the standards which Nhamo had set before her, as she does not receive all the
opportunities which Nhamo had, as even at the mission there is not a great sense of
equality. This is shown as the women are still expected to cook and clean for the
men and wait upon them for their meals. Tambu aspires to be like Maiguru as she is
relatively wealthy and she “had not been crushed by the weight of womanhood,” and
the great burdens that so many of her family members had faced.
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