1
Affonso
Rayne Affonso
LITS 1002 - Introduction to Prose Fiction
2nd November 2020
Compare the implicit social criticism of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre, incorporating a discussion of not only thematic concerns, but also the
specific ways in which the themes are conveyed through narrative strategies.
Salman Rushdie, in his postcolonial novel Shame (1983), makes a profound statement
on gender inequality: “Repression is a seamless garment; a society which is authoritarian in
its social and sexual codes, which crushes its women beneath the intolerable burdens of
honour and propriety, breeds repressions of other kinds as well” (173). Indubitably the
criticism of the patriarchal hegemony embedded within the precolonial Igbo society of Things
Fall Apart (1958) and the Victorian England society of Jane Eyre (1847) serves not only to
highlight the oppression of women, but also to demonstrate the extent to which social status
is contingent upon the gender performance of an individual. This major thematic concern of
gender roles pervades both novels and is illustrated via the authors’ deployment of narrative
strategies such as context and setting, narrative perspective and characterization.
Gender performance, a concept first theorized by American philosopher Judith Butler
in the late 1990s, rejects the traditional notion of feminist criticism that defines gender as a
social structure based on the biological sex of an individual. Instead Butler postulates that
gender is performative, in the sense that one’s gender is self-determined by his/her daily
practices which are learnt and performed on the basis of heteronormative ideals of
masculinity and femininity (Butler 4). She argues that: “The gendered body is not passively
scripted with cultural codes…it acts its part in a culturally restricted corporeal space and
, 2
Affonso
enacts interpretations within the confines of already existing directives” (9). A close
examination of Jane Eyre and Things Fall Apart proves true Butler’s theory. The social rank
of both male and female characters is impacted by their conscious gender performance which
is influenced by the gender norms of their respective societies.
Firstly, Achebe critiques the flawed gender roles within a highly stratified pre-
European society. Things Fall Apart is set in a precolonial village called Umuofia within the
Igbo territory of south-eastern Nigeria. The novel’s events occur at some point during the late
nineteenth to early twentieth century, when British imperialism was now beginning to extend
from coastal Africa to penetrate its heartland. Prior to colonization, Europeans’ hostility and
racist ideations towards African peoples and their way of life manifested itself in the
metaphor of the ‘Dark Continent’. This unexplored area was perceived to be filled with
heathens and implacable forest (Jarosz 106). Achebe’s novel thereby challenges this notion
and reaffirms Africa as a richly cultured, civilized society with traditional social, religious
and political structures.
However, Achebe does not hesitate in highlighting the deeply flawed patriarchal
hegemony of Igbo society. Umuofia is male-oriented: the ndichie village elders, the egwugwu
ancestral spirits, the household, and the agricultural practices are all exclusively dominated
by men. The roles of a woman as daughter, child bearer and caretaker are largely understated,
as they are subordinate to the overwhelming male authority that constitutes the smooth
running of their community. The clan’s use of gendered language also cannot be overlooked.
For instance, preparing the yam known as the “king of crops” (15) attributes a masculine
quality to its farmer, since “yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on
yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed” (21). Yet there is a
noteworthy contrast between the use of the offensive term agbala to describe a man who has
Affonso
Rayne Affonso
LITS 1002 - Introduction to Prose Fiction
2nd November 2020
Compare the implicit social criticism of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Charlotte
Bronte’s Jane Eyre, incorporating a discussion of not only thematic concerns, but also the
specific ways in which the themes are conveyed through narrative strategies.
Salman Rushdie, in his postcolonial novel Shame (1983), makes a profound statement
on gender inequality: “Repression is a seamless garment; a society which is authoritarian in
its social and sexual codes, which crushes its women beneath the intolerable burdens of
honour and propriety, breeds repressions of other kinds as well” (173). Indubitably the
criticism of the patriarchal hegemony embedded within the precolonial Igbo society of Things
Fall Apart (1958) and the Victorian England society of Jane Eyre (1847) serves not only to
highlight the oppression of women, but also to demonstrate the extent to which social status
is contingent upon the gender performance of an individual. This major thematic concern of
gender roles pervades both novels and is illustrated via the authors’ deployment of narrative
strategies such as context and setting, narrative perspective and characterization.
Gender performance, a concept first theorized by American philosopher Judith Butler
in the late 1990s, rejects the traditional notion of feminist criticism that defines gender as a
social structure based on the biological sex of an individual. Instead Butler postulates that
gender is performative, in the sense that one’s gender is self-determined by his/her daily
practices which are learnt and performed on the basis of heteronormative ideals of
masculinity and femininity (Butler 4). She argues that: “The gendered body is not passively
scripted with cultural codes…it acts its part in a culturally restricted corporeal space and
, 2
Affonso
enacts interpretations within the confines of already existing directives” (9). A close
examination of Jane Eyre and Things Fall Apart proves true Butler’s theory. The social rank
of both male and female characters is impacted by their conscious gender performance which
is influenced by the gender norms of their respective societies.
Firstly, Achebe critiques the flawed gender roles within a highly stratified pre-
European society. Things Fall Apart is set in a precolonial village called Umuofia within the
Igbo territory of south-eastern Nigeria. The novel’s events occur at some point during the late
nineteenth to early twentieth century, when British imperialism was now beginning to extend
from coastal Africa to penetrate its heartland. Prior to colonization, Europeans’ hostility and
racist ideations towards African peoples and their way of life manifested itself in the
metaphor of the ‘Dark Continent’. This unexplored area was perceived to be filled with
heathens and implacable forest (Jarosz 106). Achebe’s novel thereby challenges this notion
and reaffirms Africa as a richly cultured, civilized society with traditional social, religious
and political structures.
However, Achebe does not hesitate in highlighting the deeply flawed patriarchal
hegemony of Igbo society. Umuofia is male-oriented: the ndichie village elders, the egwugwu
ancestral spirits, the household, and the agricultural practices are all exclusively dominated
by men. The roles of a woman as daughter, child bearer and caretaker are largely understated,
as they are subordinate to the overwhelming male authority that constitutes the smooth
running of their community. The clan’s use of gendered language also cannot be overlooked.
For instance, preparing the yam known as the “king of crops” (15) attributes a masculine
quality to its farmer, since “yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on
yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed” (21). Yet there is a
noteworthy contrast between the use of the offensive term agbala to describe a man who has
