Abstract

Women are often the victims of spousal abuse which male writers, in their reductionist preoccupation with socio-political issues of the moment, often down play. This is the issue fore-grounded in this paper from the standpoint of a female novelist as seen in Neshani Andreas’ The Purple Violet of Oshaantu. It argues that wife battering continues courtesy of the silence of the fairer sex themselves in deference to the oppressive yoke of patriarchy which has come to define their existence. Until they learn to stand up to the bullying antics of their partner, women are likely to continue in their oppression. The possibility of this, the paper contends, is the very essence of the network of friendship among the women themselves as well as the central character’s resolve and radical transformation at the end of the narrative.

Key words: Spouse, abuse, marriage, battering, patriarchy, couple.