Anowa – Ama Ata Aidoo
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レッスンノート
The play and its context
- ×Anowa×(published 1970) is a play by Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo (1942–2023), one of Africa's most important women writers.
- It is set in the 1870s on the Gold Coast (now Ghana), in Fante country, as British power grows along the coast.
- Aidoo reworks a traditional folk tale her mother told her: a girl refuses the suitors her parents approve, marries a stranger of her own choosing, and he turns out to be the devil in disguise.
- The play confronts Africans' own complicity in the slave trade — something Aidoo felt was rarely discussed.
- Set for 2026 only (not 2027).
Structure and the chorus
- A Prologue and three Phases: Phase One in the village of Yebi; Phase Two on the highway; Phase Three in Kofi Ako's grand house at Oguaa (Cape Coast).
- An Old Man and an Old Woman together form "The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper" — a chorus representing the community's gossip and opinion.
- The Old Woman is restless and harsh, blaming Anowa's pride; the Old Man is calmer and more sympathetic, seeing larger causes.
- The chorus speaks directly to the audience, frames events, and reminds us of the forts on the coast that bear witness to the slave trade.
- The play mixes verse-like speeches, proverbs and realistic dialogue — rooted in oral storytelling.
Phase One: Yebi
- Anowa is beautiful, clever and outspoken; she has refused every suitor. Her mother, Badua, despairs; her father, Osam, smokes his pipe and leaves the decision to her.
- Osam once thought Anowa should be apprenticed to a priestess — she seems to have the gift — but Badua refused: she wants her daughter to be a "human woman" with a husband, a farm and children.
- Anowa announces she will marry Kofi Ako, a handsome young man with a reputation for not making good use of his inheritance. Badua scorns him as a good-for-nothing "cassava-man".
- Insulted, Anowa leaves with Kofi, vowing she will never set foot in Yebi again.
Phase Two: the highway
- Anowa and Kofi trade animal skins along the roads. Anowa works as hard as Kofi and enjoys it; Kofi wishes she would be like other wives and stay home.
- They have no children. Anowa suggests Kofi take another wife — he angrily refuses.
- As the business grows, Kofi decides to buy slaves to carry the loads. Anowa is horrified: owning people is wrong.
- Kofi insists he will treat them well. The partnership splits: Kofi grows richer and allies with the white traders; Anowa grows restless and isolated.
Phase Three: the big house at Oguaa
- Years later Kofi is the richest man on the coast, living in Victorian-style luxury, carried in a regal chair, dressed in fine cloth and jewels. Anowa is thin, barefoot and shabby.
- Anowa remembers asking her grandmother, at about twelve, about the white men's big houses by the sea — the slave forts — and learning that their own people sold others. Her grandmother silenced her and called her question-asking unnatural.
- She recalls a nightmare: she is a vast woman, men, women and children pour out of her, and they are caught by giant lobsters that turn into pale people keeping their lobster heads and claws — an image of Africa and the slave trade.
- Anowa calls herself a wayfarer with no home. Kofi, who calls her a witch, orders her to leave without explanation.
- Anowa realises — and says in front of the household — that the childlessness is Kofi's: he has lost his manhood. Kofi shoots himself; the Old Woman reports that Anowa drowned herself.
Key characters
- Anowa — independent, questioning, morally uncompromising; rejects convention yet longs for children; a symbol of Africa's conscience.
- Kofi Ako — ambitious and at first loving; wealth and slave-owning hollow him out; his impotence symbolises spiritual and moral sterility.
- Badua — Anowa's mother; wants a conventional, respectable life for her daughter.
- Osam — Anowa's father; mild, wry, passive.
- Boy and Girl — two of Kofi's slaves, who call Anowa and Kofi "mother" and "father"; Panyin and Kakra, eight-year-old twin slaves.
- The Old Man and Old Woman — the chorus.
Themes
- Slavery and complicity: the play refuses to let the community forget its own part in the trade — the forts "bear witness".
- Women's independence and gender roles: Anowa's choices challenge what a wife and daughter should be; the community judges her harshly.
- Tradition and change: matrilineal village life meets colonial capitalism.
- Wealth, greed and sterility: material success brings moral and physical barrenness.
- Belonging: Anowa cuts herself off from Yebi, and ends with no place anywhere.
Writing about the play
- Analyse the chorus: how the two views of Anowa shape the audience's judgement.
- Use stage pictures: Kofi's throne-like chair and jewels against Anowa's bare feet; the slaves' presence.
- Explore the folk-tale frame: who is the devil? Aidoo turns the moral from "obey your parents" towards greed and slavery.
- Trace Anowa and Kofi's relationship across the three phases: love, partnership, conflict, destruction.
- Consider the ending: tragedy, symbol and a question to the audience.
スライド
練習問題
無料プレビュー — 42問中8問。すべて見るには登録を。
1.Who wrote Anowa?
Easy- AAma Ata Aidoo
- BChinua Achebe
- CWole Soyinka
- DChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2.Where and when is Anowa set?
Easy- ALagos in the 1960s
- BNairobi in the 1950s
- CAccra in the 2000s
- DThe Gold Coast in the 1870s
3.What is the chorus called?
Easy- AThe Voices of the Forts
- BThe Priestesses
- CThe-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper
- DThe Elders of Yebi
4.How many phases does the play have after its prologue?
Easy- AFour
- BThree
- CTwo
- DFive
5.What did Osam once think Anowa should become?
Medium- AA priestess
- BA trader
- CA teacher
- DA chief
6.What does Badua call Kofi Ako when Anowa announces she will marry him?
Medium- AA prince among men
- BA wise elder
- CA devil from the sea
- DA good-for-nothing cassava-man
7.What do Anowa and Kofi trade in Phase Two?
Medium- ACocoa
- BFish
- CAnimal skins
- DGold
8.What does Anowa suggest when they remain childless?
Medium- AThat she become a priestess
- BThat Kofi take another wife
- CThat they adopt a slave child
- DThat they return to Yebi
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