“He fulfilled himself outside as he wished in his trade union activities”
The above line tells us that Modou did not spare time for his wife as he was occupied with his work. Here, once again, the author tries to imply that men usually were the hard-workers and very committed to their jobs.
In addition to that, the fact that Modou hardly returned to Ramatoulaye’s home after the marriage with Binetou, the author insinuates that men, after committing adultery, forget their first wives and spend most of their time with their new partner.
“With Modou absent all night (was he already consummating his marriage?)…”
This extract above tells us that men are interested in women because of the sexual desire and satisfaction they get from them.
To add to that, Bâ suggests that men are materialistic and are enticed by the beauty of women.
“I knew a few whose remaining beauty had been able to capture a worthy man…”
Here, Ramatoulaye says that beautiful women, even after being abandoned by their husbands, can easily be embraced by men due to their good looks and the typical nature of men.
Additionally, the role of men was to do some of the odd jobs such as the grocery shopping and the payment of bills. The line below shows us that Ramatoulaye takes up the jobs of Modou, even if she feels odd about it:
“I was often the only woman in the queue”
Ramatoulaye further describes the role of men/husbands later in the work. She depicts men as the usual, good-for-nothing type:
“They remain stolid, like marble…they snore deeply”
Similarly, in Blood Wedding, through the character of Leonardo who is the only named individual, we see the role of the men emerging in the Spanish rural society. The rest of the characters are functional – their function is more important than their identity.
Firstly, in Act 1 Scene 2, we see the vice of lying in Leonardo. He cheats his wife by not telling her that he had gone to visit Bride. Even though he had been spotted with his horse on the other side of town, he declines that claim; being dishonest to his spouse.
“Leonardo: No. What would I be doing in that Godforsaken spot?”
Secondly, the characteristic of Leonardo being a very rude and discourteous person is evident throughout the play. At first, he acts very impolitely with the neighbor who came with the news of Bride’s wedding:
“Leonardo: What do we care?”
By showing disregard for what the neighbor says, we get the hint that he is a very boorish king of person who doesn’t care about others. This vice is further emphasized when Leonardo becomes rude to his wife because of her extended questioning:
“Leonardo: bitterly “Why can’t you just shut up”
Moreover, Leonardo appears early at the wedding day so as to spy at Bride and refresh her memories about their love. He states that his “hands had been tied a long time back”, due to his marriage with Wife. He illustrates the societal restriction that is dissuading him from embracing Bride. In addition to that, he describes his desire to take on Bride:
“And when they reach their centre, they’re unstoppable, like water rising in a deep well”
His extreme determination and ardor for Bride’s love is exquisite. Here, he foreshadows that he would be not be stopped from running away with Bride – which is the case as we find out later. During this scene, we see Leonardo coming, all alone, before the wedding leaving his wife to follow later on. This shows the lack of togetherness and unity in the marriage of Leonardo – he comes to entice the bride to leave with him!
Furthermore, shortly after the marriage of Bride and Bridegroom, we see Leonardo absconding with Bride due to their everlasting love for each other. Albeit Leonardo is married to his wife, he has the impetus which drives him to run away with Bridegroom’s wife. This shows us the lack of commitment from Leonardo’s side in the marriage.
In the end of the play, Bride describes her love for Leonardo compared to Bridegroom. She depicts Bridegroom’s love as a “trickle of water” while she portrays Leonardo’s love as a “sea” of water that forced her to escape with him.
In contrast to the typical role of men, their negative attributes and their lack of commitment, we see a contrast in So Long A Letter in the form of Mawdo Ba and in Blood Wedding in the form of Bridegroom.
In So Long A Letter, Mawdo Ba acts as a good husband and as a person to envy and emulate. This, I say, is because of his uniqueness and good will.
“ ‘What, a Toucouleur marrying a goldsmith’s daughter?…’ ”
Even though Mawdo was not of the same class as Aissatou, he still insisted in loving and marrying her. He did not care about what the world said and was more conscious about his love-life
“He emphasized his total commitment to his choice of life partner by visiting your father…”
The above quote reinforces Mawdo’s dedication to marriage. Here, as we see, Mawdo is a contrast to most of the man of Senegal at that time.
Moreover, the fact that Mawdo’s mother did not approve of the marriage with Aissatou, he, nonetheless, went on with it due to his immense love. We do not see such love flowing through the veins of other men in So Long A Letter.
“His mother’s rejection did not frighten him.”
In addition to that, we come across the second marriage of Mawdo. He embraces Young Nabou, who is indeed his mother’s favorite, due to Seynabou. He had to choose between her mother’s happiness and the contentment of Aissatou. He followed his mother’s advice as he was scared that since she is old, not marrying Young Nabou would really affect her health and might lead to her death.
“ ‘…I will never get over it if you don’t take her as your second wife. Shame kills faster than disease.’ ”
These were the exact words from the mouth of Mawdo’s mother. Failure to comply would have led to a detrimental situation.
Furthermore, even after his second marriage, he was still in love with Aissatou and perhaps wanted her back. Her “departure had truly shaken him” because he yet had feelings for her. He only committed polygamy due to his mother’s happiness and not because he wanted to give competition to Aissatou. Therefore, his action to take on a second wife is justified.
To add to that, when Modou’s friends announced the second marriage to his wife, they were in a very happy mood as if it was a good thing to do. On the other hand, Mawdo reacted differently from them due to his understanding of marriage as not being a sport but a commitment to the spouse.
“How pleased they were, all except Mawdo, who correctly judged the import of the event.”
Likewise, in Blood Wedding, the character of Bridegroom is very different to the one of a typical man in the Spanish rural society at that time. He, unlike Leonardo, was committed to his marriage and did not want to break any rules of society. After seeing Bride abscond with Leonardo, he had the will to go and get her back due to his immense love. Even though, Leonardo loved Bride, he had to express his love by breaking the rules of society i.e. he escaped with a married woman. Thus, Bridegroom’s character is something different to Leonardo’s character because he is committed to his marriage; while Leonardo’s not!
“I know that I’ll find them here”
This shows us the determination of Bridegroom to find his beloved wife. This is not the case with Leonardo who just does not spend much time with his wife.
Additionally, in the end of the works, Bridegroom fights Leonardo and as a result loses his life in doing so. Although, Leonardo died in that tangle too, he did not do it for his wife. He instead did it for his love while Bridegroom did it for his wife…his commitment and great affinity for her is evident here.
In conclusion, we have seen men being portrayed differently by both Mariama Bâ and Federico García Lorca. Bâ and Lorca believe that most men are without commitment and strong will towards their consorts, and get distracted by small pleasures; thus committing polygamy. On the other hand, both these writers believe that there are always exceptions such as Mawdo Ba and Bridegroom who have tried to follow the rules of society, by doing the right thing at the right time.
WORD COUNT: 1694 WORDS