STUDENT NUMBER: 62810197
ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT 01
NERVOUS CONDITIONS
BY Tsitsi Dangarembga
STUDENT NO: 62810197
UNIQUE NO: 780246
1
, STUDENT NUMBER: 62810197
The women depicted in Nervous Conditions play a significant
role in Tambudzai’s family life in Rhodesia. Both, Maiguru and
Lucia are different women from different paths of life. In this
essay I will discuss the two character mentioned and compare
their circumstances that lead then to their different levels of
empowerment.
The first character that will be discussed is Maiguru. Maiguru is
a strong, educated, and successful woman. This is what makes
her stand out from the rest of the women in her family and in
the novel. Maiguru visited England for a while which changed
her and made her more westernized. Her greatest concern is
about the upbringing of her kids and their various cultural
traditions, both Western and African, which was taught to them
from a young age.
Whilst Lucia who is Ma’Shingayi’s sister and Tabus aunt, is a
women of mystery. She is a strong-willed woman and many
people fear her. Some people in the novel believe that she is a
witch. Lucia is known to be sexually promiscuous and is always
the topic of gossip. She is rumoured to have had numerous
affairs with rich men. This creates the impression that she is a
very persuasive female who is able to manipulate those men.
Maiguru is married and has children with her husband,
Babamukuru. Babamukuru is the patriarch of the family but
colonized by the “white man”. Maiguru is driven by fear and is
often found contradicting herself between the African and
Western ways. These two cultures also affect the way her
children are raised. When Maiguru and her family returns to
Rhodesia, she was reduced from a highly educated and
accustomed to earning her own living as an educator to a
traditional role as domestic housewife.
2
ENG2603
ASSIGNMENT 01
NERVOUS CONDITIONS
BY Tsitsi Dangarembga
STUDENT NO: 62810197
UNIQUE NO: 780246
1
, STUDENT NUMBER: 62810197
The women depicted in Nervous Conditions play a significant
role in Tambudzai’s family life in Rhodesia. Both, Maiguru and
Lucia are different women from different paths of life. In this
essay I will discuss the two character mentioned and compare
their circumstances that lead then to their different levels of
empowerment.
The first character that will be discussed is Maiguru. Maiguru is
a strong, educated, and successful woman. This is what makes
her stand out from the rest of the women in her family and in
the novel. Maiguru visited England for a while which changed
her and made her more westernized. Her greatest concern is
about the upbringing of her kids and their various cultural
traditions, both Western and African, which was taught to them
from a young age.
Whilst Lucia who is Ma’Shingayi’s sister and Tabus aunt, is a
women of mystery. She is a strong-willed woman and many
people fear her. Some people in the novel believe that she is a
witch. Lucia is known to be sexually promiscuous and is always
the topic of gossip. She is rumoured to have had numerous
affairs with rich men. This creates the impression that she is a
very persuasive female who is able to manipulate those men.
Maiguru is married and has children with her husband,
Babamukuru. Babamukuru is the patriarch of the family but
colonized by the “white man”. Maiguru is driven by fear and is
often found contradicting herself between the African and
Western ways. These two cultures also affect the way her
children are raised. When Maiguru and her family returns to
Rhodesia, she was reduced from a highly educated and
accustomed to earning her own living as an educator to a
traditional role as domestic housewife.
2
