Redefining Gender Roles: An Odyssey of Tests and Triumphs for African Women in Irene Salami-Agunloye’s Sweet Revenge and Idia, the Warrior Queen of Benin

This study explored the renegotiation of gendering of roles, as well as the portrayal of the struggles and successes
of African women in Irene Salami-Agunloye that are reflected in her plays, Sweet Revenge and Idia, the Warrior
Queen of Benin. Although the feminist African discourse has increased, both prose and poetry, little emphasis has
been put on the female playwrights whose plays criticise the patriarchal system and rewrite history. This research
paper addressed this gap by talking about the dramaturgical elements, characterisation, and themes of SalamiAgunloye, which depict women as leaders and change agents in the male-dominated societies. The research design
was based on a textual analysis, and it was illustrated on the concepts of Feminist Theory and Social Role Theory
to explore how societal expectations on women were reinforced and violated in the selected plays. Studies have
shown that Salami-Agunloye was conscious of the active use of practices of symbolism, historical reconstruction
and dialogue in pre-empting the resistance, agency and political power of women. The plays succeeded in rejecting
the old stereotypes of the two sexes and offered a counter-discourse to the marginalisation of women in literature
and history. The Salami-Agunloye drama was discovered to be a critical tool of gender activism and social
transformation that played a crucial role in African feminist discourse and contributed to the progressive
redefining of female roles within the contemporary African society.

Keywords: Gender Roles, African Feminism, Irene Salami-Agunloye, African Women, Women’s Empowerment