The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua Sutherland (Act One Summary)

Introduction 

This post is to summarize the Act One of the drama book title "the Marriage of Anansewa by Efua T. Sutherland. Hopefully to be useful for the students of Literature-In-English and fans of literature in general. 

Act One Summary

The scene opens with Ananse entering his home, soaked from the rain. He has bought some typing materials to write letters to the suitors he had chosen for Anansewa, his only daughter.

 Anansewa comes in shortly after her father calls for her attention. She is all dressed up, ready to go out, but her father persuades her to stay and type the letters. 

The letters are typed according to Ananse's preference: the first letter is addressed to Chief Sapaase, the second one to TogbeKlu IV of Akate, the third to Chief of the Mines, and the fourth and final one to Chief-Who-Is-Chief. The first three letters are similar in tone and content, but the last one is different. It is more personal and emotional, because Ananse prefers Chief-Who-Is-Chief to the others.

When Anansewa is done typing the letters, her father gives her the sum of 120 cedes, which he says is her school fees for the E. P. Secretarial School. The money is actually part of the cash gift from Chief-Who-Is-Chief. 

Anansewa soon realizes her father's scheme and protests against being sold into marriage. However, Ananse resorted to emotional blackmail, lamenting his poverty and how he struggles to cater for Anansewa. Anansewa cannot help but sympathize with his father, and she agrees reluctantly to accept the cash gift.

The scene was followed by a brief interlude of traditional musical performances known as Mboguo, followed by a conversation between a young couple, Akwesi and Akosua. This scene is to establish the fact that only the presentation of the head-drink gives a man the right to claim a woman as his wife. 

The final scene in the Act shows Ananse receiving more gifts from his daughter's suitors, specially, TogbeKlu IV, which is delivered to him by the Postman.

Conclusion 

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The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua T Sutherland (Synopsis)

 The Marriage of Anansewa by Efua T Sutherland is a four arts drama book about poverty, peer pressure, greediness and estreme parental control.

ANASEWA: The beautiful daughter of George Ananse, a very dubious man.

ANANSE: (with cunning): Supposing it isn't some old chief but the finely built glowing black, large-eyed, handsome as anything, courageous and famous Chief-Who-is-Chief?

Ananse the cunning spider man is the hero of count-less Ghanaian legends. But this Ananse gets entangled in his own web of deceit when his scheme to get rich quick backfires, and disaster stares him in the face. The only way out is for his daughter to die.

Efua T. Sutherland has done great deal to encourage the theatre in Ghana. She began the Ghana Experimental Theatre and the Ghana. Drama Studio, and has written many plays for adult and children, in-cluding Edufa. Also published in Drumbeat.

Efua Theodora Sutherland was a playwright and poet from Ghana who lived between 27 June 1924 and 2nd January 1996. Her most popular work of art is The Marriage of Anansewa (1975). 

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