House of Mirth

The Many Faces of Oppression Tsitsi Dangarembga address several issues concerning women in her novel, Nervous Conditions. Three main issues include coming-of-age, colonialism, and patriarchy. They are all encountered by the central character, Tambu as she grows up in colonial Rhodesia. While living on the homestead with her family, Tambu witness the examples of oppression prevalent in her environment. The women in her immediate family are domesticated and for the most part uneducated. When Tambu …

…Maiguru’s example, by not acknowledging educated women or having their earnings controlled by men. Although this realization now occurs to Tambu, she tries to find some other way to resist the oppression (refusing to go to her parents’ wedding). Nervous Conditions is a great example of how women struggle regardless of class or level of education and whether they accept the oppression or resist it. Bibliography Dangarembga, Tsitsi. (1988). Nervous Conditions. Great Britain: Seal Press.