A feminist reading of motherhood in selected Athenian and Akan plays

Abstract

This article employs a feminist perspective to interrogate the concept of motherhood and the expectations of mothers in selected Athenian and Akan plays. The plays of the two distinct communities and eras (Athenian and Ghanaian; classical and contemporary) are assessed to appreciate what is distinct and shared, as well as what is static and changing between the two communities and eras, in the representation and perception of women. Issues of stigmatisation of childless women and the expectation of mothers in Athenian and Akan societies are analysed through the lens of the plays. This enables an appreciation of the two communities regarding their treatment of women as mothers. Two plays by Euripides: Alcestis (438 B.C.) and Medea (431 B.C.); and two Ghanaian ones, Edufa (1979) by Efua Sutherland and Anowa (1970) by Ama Ata Aidoo are subjected to a literary analysis focusing on the representation of motherhood in both societies.  The study reveals that mothers’ expectations, societal pressures, the stigmatisation of barrenness, and the roles of women and mothers are largely similar in the plays from both societies. We also argue that while motherhood is essential to every community, it goes beyond the physical bearing of children. Childless women, too, practice motherhood. One of the roles of art is to challenge the narrative and stigmatisation of childless women who yet practice other forms of ‘motherhood’.