Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

This study sheds some light on the stereotypical patterns of the representation of women in “The Wives Revolt” by J. P. Clark through the use of humour. This paper shows how joke is used and manipulated to serve maintaining the status quo of gender inequality and masculine hegemony in Nigerian society. It addresses the two themes of women in public and private spheres. By employing Teun A. van Dijk’s ideological discourse strategies, the study shows that in all these themes there has been a common explicit or implicit division of the world in J. P Clark’s “The Wives Revolt.” There are always two images presented in the novel, a positive image of the superior, knowledgeable, rational men, and a negative image of the talkative, ignorant women who are unfit for the public sphere.