Abstract

The social institution of marriage and the culture of paying bride price are interlinked and form an important part in the lives of African men and women. Like other communities, the African society has its own series of events that take place before and after marriage such as the hunting of bride by going to the prospective bride’s hut before marriage and the inheritance of a widow and her family by the brother-in-law after the death of the husband. The traditional society of Africa strictly follows the culture of paying “bride price” by the groom’s family failing to which consequently lead to the death of the bride in her first childbirth. The African men and women strongly hold this belief no matter how modern the society has become in order to avoid death. In the light of these social practices and taboos prevalent in the African society, the paper is an attempt to analyze the reflection of the African system of marriage and the very culture of paying bride price in Buchi Emecheta’s novel The Bride Price.

Key words: African women, bride price, marriage, traditional and patriarchal society.