Marriage Of Anansewa Analysis

The book marriage of Anansewa is an African play sourced from an Akan folktale whose story tells the tale of a beggarly, struggling father, Kweku Ananse, who concocts a plot to escape the privations life has to offer, especially the financial constraints in which he finds himself such as: paying his daughter Anansewa’s school fees, primarily among other needs. In the context of pages (44-47), Sutherland’s writing makes this time of celebration in the play both enjoyable and significant for us readers through the application of literary devices such as engaging diction in the dialogue between Aya (Ananse’s Mother) and Ekuwa (Ananse’s Aunt), atoning metaphors and the mollifying utilization of song. Consequently, Sutherland’s method of writing

As the conversation between Aya and Ekuwa continues, Sutherland gives me further insight into the life of Anansewa - her mother died and her grandmother and aunt substitutes her position and role. We observe this when Aya reflects, “Yes, it is true that you and I are here doing all we can, and yet when I remember that the person who should be here as well, bustling around Anansewa, is her own mother,….It isn’t as though we could send a messenger by taxi to fetch her. Truly, death has done some wickedness.” Sutherland’s writing here make this time of celebration in the play both enjoyable and significant as her grandmother and aunt are there for her and substitutes the role of her late mother in her time of celebration. The fact that she still enjoys her outdooring ceremony despite it being rushed truthfully makes reading it all the more pleasurable. Although a pivotal component in a young girl’s life at the time of courtship is her mother, Sutherland’s writing makes the death of Anansewa’s mother significant as we are told that even with her absence in her life she actually relishes her outdooring ceremony “so much” that, according to her grand-aunt, Ekuwa notes that Anansewa “keeps on asking questions in order to learn as much as she can.” This verifies that regardless of the fact that her mother was not there, she intends to relish in the presences of her grandmother and aunt and learn from them at her outdooring