Role of Women in Poof by Lynn Nottage - Essay Example

Poof is a play written by Lynn Notage and shows how a housewife struggles to put pieces of her life together after her abusive husband dies as a result of a conflict between them. This paper analyses the role of women in the play Poof by NotageBodyAccording to the role of women by Nottage, traditionally women were viewed as emotional individuals who were not capable sound decisions in times of crisis. The traditional gender role in the play has been used to depict biases towards women character present in the play by giving various samples and incidences which points to this.

Louren who is viewed as a typical example of a traditional women goes contrary to this belief when she burns her husband to ashes after a confrontation.However, she refuses to acknowledge that she is the cause of her husband as she was brought up in a family which emphasized that she had to respectful to her husband. This meant that in spite of the fact that her husband mistreated her, she had no voice in complaining the manner of treatment which she received from her husband. However, she goes contrary to this when for the first time she disputes her husband’s command leading to the conflict which resulted in his death.

Secondly, Florence is the second character of a woman in the play who matches the traditional role of women in society by being deemed a perfect housewife. When compared to Louren, we notice that they share similar characteristics because just like Louren was afraid to convince herself that she did not kill her husband so was Florence afraid that she was being involved in a murder case and that Louren actually killed her husband. Being a traditional lady, she was adamant to refuse to believe that Louren was a killer as she could not picture of a woman like killing her husband not to mention disputing.

Her character can not be adequately described because despite practising and upholding her traditional roles, she is also fascinated by feminism as through her conversations with Louren, she brings out her suppressed feelings towards men. This shows that as much as she was playing her traditional roles, she was also yearning freedom as she believed that women were supposed to men’s equal, therefore were entitled to the same rights and privileges as men. She is afraid of staying at the crime scene with an excuse that she was busy in the kitchen and that her husband would not be pleased to find her in a neighbor’s house before finishing her duties.

ConclusionIn conclusion, the role of women is adequately displayed in the play Poof as characters like Louren are depicted as powerful women will do anything to ensure that the society or partners do not discriminate them because of their sex. She breaks the traditional assumption of the role of women as she opposes her husband’s authority and kills him for not treating her like a woman. Louren character in the play displays the changes happening towards the gender role as she is depicted to be a symbol of power possessed by women in the current society.

In sum, it is the kind of power relieved in Louren that highlights the role of women and shows that women too are individuals capable of protecting their own rights.