Microsoft Word - IGWEBUIKE JOURNAL VOL. 3. NO. 7.doc IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 81 PARADOXES OF ADOLESCENT AND ADULT LOVE IN FEMALE SEXUALITY: NWABUEZE’S A DANCE OF THE DEAD AND A PARALIAMENT OF VULTURES AS PARADIGMS Canice Chukwuma Nwosu Department of Theatre and Film Studies Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State nwosucoc@gmail.com Abstract Sexuality differs from sex because it is embracing and encompassing; since it involves the individual’s expression of sexual interest, attraction and sensual feelings. Sex refers more to the physical and biological sexual characteristics that conservatively determine gender. Love in the other hand is a sensational feeling in the individual that spurs him or her on to express sexuality. Thus, there is a thin dividing line among love, sex and sexuality. The problem of this study therefore, stems from the proposition that age and human development impact on how the trio of love, sex and sexuality are expressed by the individual; despite the contention that in sexuality some people are either “younger” or “older” than their ages. The researcher identified two age brackets in this study: Adolescents and adults and examined how youth and maturity have affected the expression of female sexuality in postcolonial Nigerian society. This is without prejudice to the fact that; biological, socio-cultural change, nature, concept of choice as well as material gratification and pleasure are important variables that condition individual sexuality. The researcher interrogated Emeka Nwabueze’s contention in the two plays selected for study: A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of Vultures, that there are conflicting paradigms of female sexuality in the postcolonial Nigerian society, as the two plays juxtapose the impact of adolescent and adult love on female sexuality; using case study and content analysis approaches of the qualitative research method. Therefore, there is a paradoxical attempt to determine the negativity and positivity between and betwixt the two: adolescent and adult female sexuality in the postcolonial but volatile urban Nigerian society. The study concludes that; though discourse on sexuality, especially female sexuality across different eras in human development is as diverse as it is complex, age, human development and socio-economic change are variables of love, sex and sexuality. IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 82 Keywords: Sexuality, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Love, Paradoxes, Drama. Introduction Love is a known character trait of man and animals, both species develop the idea to love from the family through parental love. It is however, a truism that the family is the smallest but very important component unit of communities and different worldviews. Hence, how communities and worldviews perceive love, bi-laterally impacts on the individual and family perception of love. The ubiquity of love in the activities of man and his environment stems from the proposition that love is a universal phenomenon which is as old as man and his environment. Hence, love dominates religious, social, economic and political aspects of man’s life as it influences thematic fixation of modern African and European drama. Similarly, religion presents the importance of this phenomenon called love when the Holy Book argues that God created man and the world out of love. Thus, the relationship between God and man is sustained by shared love between God and mankind. Other social relationships including marriages and friendships are basically contracted and built on love, despite other motives that may govern or condition such relationships. Even business and political partnerships are not devoid of love. However, the impact of love on the social life of man is both axiomatic and enigmatic, and has therefore, generated intermittently compunction and elated discourses. There is no gainsaying that the impact of love on human sexuality which is an important aspect of human sociality is both enormous and complex. Hence, it has generated intermittently, periodic, culture bound and dialectical discourses that attest to the positivity and negativity of love in human sexuality. Despite these age long sexological optimistic and skepticisms, love has enabled the opposite sexes to co-exist peacefully in the same geo-enclaves from creation to the postcolonial Nigerian society. Love as a sophisticated activity in human sexuality has been interpreted and defined to mean different things in different cultures and to different scholars and lovers. To some, it is a means to an end; while to others it is expression of acceptance. Love is presented in this study to mean a sensational feeling that indicates affection, acceptance or rejection between/among persons or groups. Deborah Anapol posits that, “love is a force of nature”, (1) Explaining the nature of love further, she says, “It is difficult to IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 83 control the powers of love.” Emphasizing the power of love, Anapol concludes that, “love is bigger than you are. You can invite love, but you cannot dictate how, when, and where love expresses itself,” (1) especially in adolescent love. Anapol’s definition of love affirms the complex and sophisticated nature of love that makes it difficult for adolescents to understand it in the process of exercising their sexuality during different periods and within different cultures. According to boundless, human sexuality refers to “peoples’ sexual interest in and attraction to others, it is the capacity to have erotic or sexual feelings and experiences” (i) Anapol’s definition of love as a variable of human sexuality affirms the proposition that age impacts on sexuality, especially female sexuality exercised within the context of a society that is dominated by patriarchy. The centrality of love in human sexuality stems from the view that love induces the expression of sexual interest, attraction and sensual feelings which are all aspects of sexuality. Psychologist are of the view that adult love is restraint or even sometimes selfish, in the expression of sexuality; while adolescent love throws caution to the wind. The views of Psychologist notwithstanding; human sexuality is conditioned by cultural and social constructs of nations and periods in history. Hence, given the patriarchal nature of most cultures of the world, there is the tendency that exercise of female sexuality has been generally accepted to require more caution than male sexuality. Defining female sexuality; Jesi Egan says that; “it is women’s ability to feel sexual desire and achieve orgasm…” (10) Egan goes further to explain that female sexuality is not a universal phenomenon since there are societies where women do not feel any particular pleasure by sexual activity. Many socio-cultural and religious factors impact on female sexuality, of which female circumcision is one of them. The goal and purpose of female circumcision among other secondary reasons is reduction or total elimination of female sexuality. Female circumcision further justifies reasons why most cultures and religious denominations condemn pre-marital sex and preach chastity; which directly and indirectly impacts on female sexuality. Thus, Egan affirms that; Female sexual desire is a quality that can be fostered or suppressed during upbringing. Nothing prevents different cultures from IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 84 evolving differently in this respect since female desire is not necessary for fertilization to take place. (10) The pre-colonial Nigerian society is restrictive and conservative about sexuality, especially, female sexuality. Hence, most pre-colonial and colonial writers and artists discuss sexuality with reservation and present its expression as vulgarity and immorality. Writers like Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart, Kalu Uka in Ikhamma Bode Sowande in Farewell to Babylon and Femi Osofisan capture in their plays the old sexuality that dwell on morality, abstinence and sometimes pretence and secrecy However, the trend in postcolonial writings and arts in Nigeria has strained this pre-colonial cultural view on sexuality, thus the postcolonial era in Nigeria is producing highly amorous works in literature and music. Emergent and contemporary writings and performances reflect radicalized views on sexuality as the enriched sexual contents of these creative products are enjoyed and applauded worldwide. The changing trend on sexuality in postcolonial society is also evident in the patronage of such pornographic and erotic music and performances enjoy. The plays selected for study, directly or indirectly capture both the old and new sexuality of pre-colonial and post-colonial society. One of the plays selected for study, A Dance of the Dead is set in Igbo pre-colonial culture; but the actions of the play spill over to urban culture. The second play, A Parliament of Vultures is totally set on Nigerian postcolonial urban culture, the two urban cultural settings combine to achieve a socio-centric pull that reveal the bastardization of Igbo culture on sexuality in the first rural setting of the play. The playwright situates Ngozi, the protagonist of A Dance of the Dead within these periodic and cultural settings; and uses forces emanating from these periods and cultural milieu (pre-colonial, postcolonial and Igbo culture) to interrogate Ngozi’s sexuality against the Igbo accepted perception on sexuality. Nwabueze shows that; the position of pre-colonial Igbo culture on female sexuality is clear: pre-marital sex is not tolerated and marital infidelity is not for women. Samuel Chukwukwu – Okoronkwo and Izuu Nwankwo posit that: … the woman is inextricably entrapped by culture. Thus, her issue and indeed, those of her relations with ‘men’ in the society cannot be IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 85 discussed in isolation of culture which encapsulates the totality of the ways of life in the society. (109) Okoronkwo and Nwankwos’ cultural views on women, further affirm that there is need for the adolescent and adult female to be aware that female sexuality is not individually constructed. The female should be aware of the cultural provisions of her own worldview on female sexuality. According to Ngozi Udengwu; “To be culturally literate … one does not only have to understand the cultural norms, but should also abide by them, as failure to conform to cultural norms can have dire consequences.” (38) However, violation of cultural norms on female sexuality may be as a result of youthful exuberance, rebellion, or materialistic tendencies, ambition, acquisition of political power and so on. By and large, Nwabueze reveals in A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of Vultures that how the female, entangled in love, wrestles with these important elements of female sexuality is to a large extent determined by the age of the female and the prevalent socio-economic construct of each era. Hence, the researcher’s preoccupation in this study is to interrogate the impact of adolescent and adult loves on female sexuality in A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of Vultures, paying close attention to the nexus between sexuality; cultural, social and economic constructs of the postcolonial Nigerian society. Adolescent and Adult Love in Female Sexuality Despite the fact that female sexuality is culturally constructed, there are convergent and divergent cross-cultural views on the issue that produce a globalized perception of female sexuality and its expression. Freudian theories on sex and sexuality were among the earliest theories that helped modern man to come up with some of these universal views on sexuality because Freudian theories were penetrating and revealing in their approaches to the understanding of human sexuality. Prior to Sigmund Freud’s discourses; issues of sexuality were peripherally treated leaving many grey areas that added to the curiosity of the youth about the subject. The influence of Freud on contemporary theorists of sexuality like Michil Foucault cannot be overemphasized. Roy Horrisby reveals Freudian influence on Foucault as he recounts the latter’s incisive questions on sexuality below: how is it that in a society like ours, sexuality is not simply a means of reproducing the species, the family and the individual? Not IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 86 simply a means to obtain pleasure and enjoyment? How has sexuality come to be considered the privileged place where our deepest “truth” is read and expressed? There is no doubt that Freud and Foucault in their studies opened new horizons on human sexuality and consequently influenced both Western and African theorists on issues surrounding both male and female sexuality. However, in the bid to answer some of Foucault’s questions, one cannot help but relate sexuality to various aspects of human endeavors. Ameh D. Akoh and Elizabeth Olayiwala affirms that, “ sexuality is derived from the word sex.” Thus, they argue that: Sexuality is more embracive and revolves around human experiences ranging from, family relationships, dating, sexual behavior physical development, sensuality, reproduction, gender, body and so on (101). Discourses on human sexuality in recent times do not exclude gender as one of the elements of sexuality as listed above by Akoh and Olayiwala above. Genderism lead to the bifurcation of human sexuality into male and female sexuality as traditional gender constructs in most cultures, until the recent experience in proliferation of gender, which produced homosexuals, and asexuals. Though Akoh and Oyilolas’ elements of human sexuality have one thing or the other to do with the level of expression in sexuality, it is female behavior that is most conditioned by culture. “Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political and spiritual or religious aspects of sex activity” (Wikipedia, 1). Even though, female sexuality share the restrictiveness and inclusiveness of human sexuality, it is culturally, more restrictive than male sexuality. According to Wikipedia: In most societies and legal jurisdictions, there are legal bounds on what sexual behavior is permitted. Sexuality varies across the cultures and regions of the world, and has continually changed throughout history, and this applies equally to female sexuality. Aspects of female sexuality include issues pertaining to biological sex, body image, self-esteem, personality, sexual orientation, values IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 87 and attitudes, gender roles, relationships, activity options, and communication. (3) Apart from the variables mentioned above, age is another variable of human sexuality that has not been fully explored. Like other variables, age produces divergent views on love and sexuality, hence, even within same cultures and periods, the perception of love and sexuality by the young and the old differ. Therefore, adolescent and adult loves as variables of human sexuality are pitched against cultural and periodic variables to assess the demographic implication of age on love and sexuality within the Igbo culture of postcolonial Nigeria. However, the variables of adolescent and adult sexuality are appropriated in this section of the study to enable the researcher put in place suitable theoretical framework for the analyses of the two case studies. Few sexcological researches focus on the age variable, even theories of sexuality in the elderly are few. Up till now, Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory and Foucault’s theories appear to be the most focused on sexuality. However, neither Freud nor Foucault focused on age and expression of female sexuality. Therefore, the researcher combines two theoretical approaches in an attempt to broaden this horizon. Hence, in the theoretical application the researcher collapses Theories and Approaches Adolescent Development: Aspects into Eddy M. Elmer’s Applying Symbolic Interactionism and Age Stratification Theories to the Study of Sexuality in the Elderly, because these two theories support the analyses of the impact of adolescent and adult love on expression of female sexuality in the two plays selected for study. Adolescents are people within the age bracket of ten to nineteen (10 – 19) years. Female adolescents start expression of their sexuality as soon as they begin to experience certain physical changes in their body. “In response to these physical changes, young adolescents begin to be treated in a new way by those around them. They may no longer be seen as just children, but as sexual beings to be corrected or targeted. They face society’s expectations for how young … Women “should” behave. (Theories and Approaches,1) Young female adolescents may or may not express their sexuality according to their society’s cultural provisions and social constructs of the period. Generally, provisions for expression of female sexuality in most cultures are more restrictive than the expression of male sexuality. However, the postcolonial Nigerian society has seen departure from the old and conservative view of adolescent female sexuality. Hence, adolescents in some cases break cultural norms and transgress taboos in the process of IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 88 expressing their sexuality. Theories and Approaches argue that these experimental behaviors are as a result of: A dramatic shift in thinking from concrete to abstract which gives adolescents a whole new set of mental tools. They are now able to analyze situations logically in terms of cause and effect. They can appreciate hypothetical situations. This gives them the ability to think about the future, evaluate alternatives, and set personal goals. They can engage in introspection and mature decision-making. As a result of their growing cognitive abilities, most developing adolescents will: Become more independent. Take on increased responsibilities …. (3) The adolescent’s new ideals and desires are reflected in the expression of adolescent sexuality in postcolonial Nigeria as captured by Nwabueze in A Dance of the Dead, as the adolescent female protagonist Ngozi, accepts or rejects partners for one reasons or the other. The adolescents feel that they can handle their own affairs and that they are in charge and are therefore independent from their parents. Sometimes, “The adolescents’ new desire for independence leads to increasing conflicts between adolescents and their parents (Theories and Approaches, 2). Even though some of these conflicts between adolescents and their parents may not be ruled out, they should be carefully handled to avoid escalation. The situation may be worse if a female adolescent falls in love with an adult and sees her new lover as an alternative care giver and replacement for her parents. Most of these adolescents/ adult relationships are based on dependency as a result of inability of the adolescents to get enough care from the family, take care of themselves or general un-conducive atmosphere. Such relationships involve too much give and take involving risks on the part of the adolescent; that may not be for the overall interest of the adolescent. “Unfortunately, some of the risks that adolescents pursue may pose real threat to their health and well-being. These include motor vehicle accidents, pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse… (Theories and Approaches, 3) Adult love differs from adolescent love, the beginning of adult love is love for one’s self, and then attraction and motive follow. The combination of Theories and Approaches… and Applying Symbolic Interactionism … captures Nwabueze’s transition from adolescent love to adult love in the expression of female sexuality IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 89 in A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of vultures. Unlike adolescents love, Eddy M. Elmer says adult love in female sexuality in the elderly: … can be conceptualized in a number of ways. Foremost, sex can be considered more than biological act of procreation or pleasure. It is a complex social interaction between two or more people. It is the dynamic interaction not only between one's own personal values, attitudes, personality dispositions, cognitions, wants, desires, and behaviours, but, more importantly, the interaction between these entities and those of one's sexual partner(s). Furthermore, sexual behaviours, including acts of courtship, foreplay, and coitus, can be interpreted not simply as means to ends, but as acts invested with meanings that are interpreted differently by different people. Together, social interactions relating to sexual acts and the meaning attached to these sexual acts can change over the life course, and may change significantly during older age and may change significantly during elder age. (2) The conceptualization of adult sexuality may take different dimensions depending on the motive for falling in love. Sometimes it may conform to the socio-cultural construct of sexuality and confine it to marriage or within wedlock. It may also go against this traditional socio-cultural construct, especially in urban and postcolonial African societies, where materialism, politics, power, ambition and economic desires constitute values that are traded with sex. Traditional expression of adult sexuality makes it a biological act for procreation or pleasure. Beyond this traditional conception of sexuality in organized societies as presented by the elders in A Dance of the Dead, there is also the modern radical expression of adult sexuality where the adult female fall in love because of mutual understanding to benefit one thing or the other. In this regard, sex and sexuality become powerful instruments for achieving socio- economic and political goals. Unlike, the adolescent female lover, the adult female lover knows and understands what she wants, the antics to be adopted, and when to quit. The relationship is not usually built on dependency or genuine love; but on personal values and personality in relation to the distribution of societal values in the world of the adult lovers. Hence, most of the adult loves may violate cosmological view of sexuality in a given society, but may remain acceptable within the urban society so long as IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 90 they serve as means to one end or the other. However, depending on the meaning attached to such relationships, they are very dynamic under the dynamism of overall values of the society, personality and fortunes of the lovers. Therefore in most cases, it is the adolescent female lover that is preyed upon in adolescent sexuality while the adult female lover preys on the male in adult sexuality, as portrayed by Emeka Nwabueze’s A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of Vultures respectively. Adolescent and Adult Love in Female Sexuality: An Appraisal of A Dance of the Dead and A Parliament of Vultures A Dance of the Dead captures the consequences faced by a radical adolescent lover who violates in all ramifications the socio-cultural construct of adolescent sexuality within the Igbo cultural setting miniaturized in Emeka Nwabueze’s A Dance of the Dead. The play opens in Ojogwu’s (Ngozi’s) father’s house, where the news of Ngozi’s absconding from home and her waywardness are revealed to us through the disagreement between Ojogwu and his first son Amobi. Ngozi’s violation of the people’s cultural norms in the expression of her sexuality is further revealed by her father, who informs that, though an adolescent, Ngozi is betrothed to a young man whom he drank his palm wine. The visit of the elders: Nweke, Chuba and Azuka further affirms that Ngozi’s sexuality cast a doubt on what is expected of her by the community as both adolescent and a betrothed maiden. However, Ngozi’s transgression of the people’s culture is not without consequences; her romance and abscond to Bokina with Chief lead to unwanted pregnancy and Ngozi’s untimely death. The playwright’s exposition of Ngozi, the female protagonist, goes a long way to reveal Nwabueze’s understanding of character motivations and impact of background factors on character behaviour. Like realistic and naturalistic playwrights, Nwabueze makes Bio-physical factors participants in the dramatic actions that eventually overwhelm Ngozi. Hence, the school environment and variables of adolescent development combine to form the driving force that lead the protagonist to a tragic end. Justifying the saying that nothing grows without a root, Mba, Ngozi’s teacher and her friend Ada reveal in the dialogue below, how Ngozi met Chief and entered into an adolescent love that ruined her life. Mba: This Chief, what is he like? IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 91 Ada: Haven’t you seen him in school? He first met Ngozi that night you took her to a party (Mba starts, shows some confusion, and looks suggestively at Ada) Ojogwu: Party? (Ada is about to speak but Mba beats her to it) Mba: It was just a school party. (Winks at Ada, who deliberately avoids Ojogwu’s searching eyes) Ojogwu: You see, I took my daughter to school so you will protect her. I could as well have taken her to a brothel (24) Thus, the dialogue above shows that Ngozi is exposed early to the complex game of love with adults, which may appear very simple to her as an adolescent; she embraces this game with that burning zeal of an adolescent and moves from one level to another. Ngozi later abandons her teacher lover, Mba for Chief whom she absconds with to Bokina. Thus, in an adolescent manner, Ngozi justifies her relationship with Chief, this Nwabueze brings to us in a conversation between the love intoxicated adolescent lover Ngozi and her mother; who tries without much success to change her perception of love and expression of sexuality. Below Nogzi’s mother, Nwamu, cautions her: Nwamu: Whoever the gods want to kill they first block her vision and make her a walking corpse…I have been talking to you since you developed those tiny breasts I had always thought you were listening … (13) Ngozi’s response is typical of an adolescent who feels that she has grown up and therefore thinks that she can handle her own affairs, retorting Ngozi informs her mother: Ngozi: Mama, I have got tired of your preaching leave me alone. I’ am no Longer a school girl. My eyes are now open. (13) IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 92 Unfortunately the eyes which Ngozi says have opened are blinded by materialism and utopia desires. Ngozi, a betrothed wife of a young undergraduate, is now interested in marrying a rich Chief who promised to take her to the city where she will find a job in a bustling urban Bokina city. In an outburst Ngozi informs her mother of her plans: Ngozi: There are many things a modern girl needs to do with money, and a teacher’s pay packet isn’t just enough to provide her with these. Surly you want the best for your daughter, isn’t it, mama? There’s a rich a man who wants to marry me. He lives in Bokina. He is a Chief… (14-15) Ngozi’s mother cautions her, calls Ngozi names to discourage her, Ngozi would not deter because she fails to realize that her mother is an adult who understands the game of love and sexuality more than her. Ngozi’s mind is made up, continuously she reveals that love to her is all about satisfaction of material needs. Furthermore she tells her mother. Ngozi: Mama, you don’t understand. Try to be realistic I need money to be up-to-date. I need to buy more of this (points at the jeans), I need a beautiful home, I need a nice car, I need… (15) Ngozi’s material needs are endless; these utopic desires push her to violate her peoples’ cosmological view on adolescent sexuality as she enters into a flirtatious relationship that rocks the entire village. Ngozi brings shame to her family and subjects her parents and relations to traumatic experiences that made one time respected and dreaded Ojogwu (Ngozi’s father) an object of ridicule before his kinsmen, Ojogwu’s son Amobi reports her sister’s careless and reckless expression of her sexuality below: Amobi: Don’t you know that iroko tree beside the church? ... it was under it that the stupid man parked his car and waited for Ngozi. You know the place is near Nweke’s house. They saw what happened. (16) Ojogwu presses Amobi further to know what happened and Amobi opens up: IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 93 Amobi: When Ngozi met this man standing beside the car under the tree, the two embraced each other, touched each other here and there, licked each other’s mouth, like this, before they entered the car and finally drove away. (16) Ngozi absconds with Chief, to Bokina, she gets impregnated by chief and to her greatest surprise Chief, refuses to marry her and resorts to abortion. Chief gives her a concoction to drink and sends her back home. Ngozi returns home on the day Okey, her suitor and his friend visited Ngozi’s family right before them Ngozi collapses and dies. Nwabueze presents in the second play A Parliament of Vultures, an adult female lover who is completely opposite of Ngozi in the of madam Omeaku, who rose from a street hawker to a parliamentary secretary. The play mirrors activities of Nigerian parliamentarians and high level of corruption among law makers in Nigeria, the playwright reveals political maneuvering bickering, rancor and bitterness that characterize the modus operandi of the Nigerian legislature. He shows the failure of the legislative and entire political system and attempts revival of traditionalism in the play as a solution to corruption and roguery that is the bane of the postcolonial Nigerian society. The playwright further suggests revolution and change through the intervention of the youths. Unlike Ngozi, Madam Omeaku knows what she wants in love, she is not dependent on her lovers and has no intention to depend on any man. However, she is the type of women that uses what she has to get what she wants; this she shows in the amorous relationship between her and Mr. Brown. Despite their closeness, madam Omeaku demands half a million Naira from Brown before she can support his Chairmanship of the purchasing committee of the Parliament, hear madam Omeaku: Madam Omeaku: What will wait? Do you think I am a teacher? Do you think I left my hotel to go into the house of parliament to wait? … I want half a million naira before I support you. I say my own ho- ha. (12) Madam Omeaku settles for three hundred thousand Naira and Mr. Brown pays her cash there and then. As soon as she gets the money, her mood changes and IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 94 she enters into romance with Brown. The playwright paints a good picture of the two adult lovers in the stage directions below: (Mr. Brown opens his brief case and brings out a wad of notes, and gives it to Madam Omeaku she removes the top of her wrapper and wraps the money, then embraces Brown smiling. Mr. Brown caresses her hair, and says): Brown: You are a very beautiful woman . . . (12) Madam Omeaku continues to use her sexuality to control the affairs of the Parliament; she goes as far as planning and removing the Secretary of the house by using her daughter to set the Secretary up. She succeeds in removing the Secretary, Mr. Otobo and takes over as the Secretary of the House. As the play progresses, we see Madam Omeaku dump Brown after using him to climb to the top. The playwright also brings to us the encounter between Mr. Brown and Madam Omeaku when Mr. Brown requests for his own share of the party deal below: Brown: I need my own share of the party deal. From my estimation, my own cut will be close to a billion. Madam: Haven’t you received eight million? (104) Brown: That is mere chicken feed. What is eight million? And remember that I spent a good part of it paying our hotel bills, purchasing flight tickets to London, New York, and Amsterdam and buying presents for you. (104) Madam Omeaku: Look here mister; take your time - o! Did I ask you for any present? Am I the only woman you buy presents for? You’ve had your enjoyment, and that should be enough for you. You are not ashamed of yourself go back and tell your wife and your parents that you spent eight million paying hotel bills, purchasing flight tickets and buying presents for women.(104) Madam Omeaku loves when there is need, when love is needed to open political, business and economic doors. Love to madam Omeaku is an instrument, a tool for political jiggery-pokery and economic wellbeing. Madam sees love relationships as give and take; however, she ensures that she takes more than she gives. As a notorious breaker of agreements, she fails to give Brown his own cut IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 95 of the party money after Brown helped her to inflate the contract and collect billions of Naira. Like some Nigerian female politicians, Omeaku relies on her sexuality and blackmail for getting what she wants. She accuses Brown of dating many women, worst still in an archetypal Nigerian politician’s manner, Madam outsmarts her partners in crime and uses intimidation against her frustrated lovers as seen in the dialogue above. Brown feels highly embarrassed as Madam Omeaku urges him to go home and inform his family that he spent all the peoples’ money he stole on women. Mr. Brown’s attitude is not far from the attitude of the African male political class who spend the nation’s resources on chains of girlfriends. There is no gainsaying that Madam uses her sexuality for material gains, she preys on her lovers (victims) and leave them frustrated at the end. Conclusion The study reveals that adolescent and adult love in female sexuality differs; hence the study provides strong indicators that age is a variable in female sexuality. Analyses of the two plays selected for study indicate that understanding of female sexuality by most females comes with age; even though the two protagonists Ngozi and madam Omeaku reveal in the expression of their sexuality, that material benefit is a major factor to contend with in both adolescent and adult love. However, unlike the matured Madam Omeaku, young Ngozi does not understand that some men are deceitful, selfish, greedy and sometimes devilish in their dealings with their lovers. Nwabueze shows that sexuality is culturally and socially constructed in the world of the two plays. He also reveals that transgression of cosmological perceptions of sexuality could be more catastrophic in the rural communal setting than in the urban setting where nobody raises an eye brow about what others do. Hence, Ngozi is highly chastised by her people while the Parliamentarians see the relationship between Brown and Madam Omeaku as one of those things. The study also shows that in adolescent love men prey on women; while in adult love women prey on men. Hence, the playwright shows the consequences of IGWEBUIKE: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol. 3 No 7, December 2017. ISSN: 2488-9210(Online) 2504-9038(Print) (A Publication of Tansian University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies) 96 radical adolescent love and uses it to sustain his support for Africanist values of female sexuality that border on virginity, respect for culture, family values and marital fidelity. Works Cited Akoh Ameh D. and Elizabeth Olayiwola “Ethnography, Gender and Self Determination in the Drama of Ogonna Anagudo-Agu” Metephors and Climax: Reminiscence in Honour of Ugonna Agu. Nwadigwe, Charles, Molinta Enendu and Canice Nwosu Eds. London: Adonis Abbey. 2014:91-110 Amaonyeze, Chinenye. “African-womanism and Sexist Paradox in Emeka Nwabueze’s The Dragon Funeral.” A Lion on the Ijele Dance: A Festrich in Honour of Prof P. Emeka Nwabueze. Ngozi Anyachonkeya Ed. Abakaliki: Ojiaka Press. 2015:67-78 Chukwu-Okonkwo, Samuel Okoronkwo and Izu Nwankwo E. “Culture and Gender Issues in a Contemporary Nigerian Drama.” IMSU Theatre Journal: A Contemporary Journal of Arts and Theatre Practice. 2.1 Owerri: Department of Theatre Arts, 2012: 105-116 Elmer, Eddy M. Applying Symbolic Interactionism and Age Stratification Theories to the Study of Sexuality in the Elderly. http://www3.telus.net/edyelmer/Artics/sisfu.htm Simon Fraser University, June, 2001. Accessed, 05-11-15 Nwabueze, Emeka. A Dance of the Dead. Ibadan: Evans Brother, 1991. - - - A Parliament of Vultures. Enugu: ABIC Books, 2000 Stosny, Steven. Anger in the Age of Entitlement. Adults in Love http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age entitlement/201101/adults-in-love. 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