She Nolonger Weeps Exam Questions

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• "Something that has been agreed upon " so i think the patagonist for criticising conventions is Martha who is saying no to ;

  -Tradition that discourages women to be educated as Martha educates herself to fight patriarchy and to finacially support herself to stop relying on men for survival.
  -She goes against the accepted dress code as she fearlessly wear "trousers like men"
  -She also refuse to be silenced by tradition that views women as breeding species whose role is to look after children and serve men in kitchen and bedroom
  -She also defies the odds as she reshapes parenthood by managing to singlehandledly raise her child without chauvinistic Freddy's assistance.

• We can take Freddy as the tragic hero, who by virtue of being a man, is obsessed with the enjoyment of the patriarchal power, which he exercises through most of the girls in the play - Martha, Getrude and Chipo. Patriarchy elevates him to a position of power over the female gender as seen by "spoiling" and physical abusing Martha. An assessment can be made that he's essentially conceited. However, it this flaw (irresponsibility) towards Sarah and his rejection by Martha, that leads to the tragic resolution. Freddy is emasculated, bound and stabbed by Martha. This cathartic moment for Martha serves to show the downfall of patriarchy as shown by the lack of power by Freddy, Martha's father (panonzi "pity your poor father"). Though this helps Martha and women in general to relief pent up emotions of centuries of subjugation, the sad reality is that there is a possibility that Martha may be jailed for the violence against Freddy.

  However, the play's resolution is a learning opportunity for both men and women in the play - Martha's father lives to tell the story of feminine power. Women also learn that the "social revolution" espoused by Martha is possible if women decide to take the fight themselves.

  I'm not sure of comic elements - maybe these are revealed through the satirical presentation of religion especially panonzi na baba va Martha, ngatinamatei (its funny). Then the love story ya Martha na Freddy through flashback (they were happy moments), to the reader, the indecency in terms of language can provide comic relief, then Martha's and Lovemore's relationship (cohabitation) seems to generate some pleasure for them. Martha's and her daughter's relationship seems to be defined by happy moments. We can also talk about the comic presentation of male characters - it is laughable (shown through dramatic performance and dialogue - Joe and Freddy confess their fear of women. They also put up a poster on the door reminding themselves not to bring other women home since "Martha is here".

  However, despite few elements of comedy, the play is basically serious drama communicating the catastrophe of patriarchy - what it does to both men and women characters.