SOCIETY, CULTURE AND WIDOW MALTREATMENT IN NIGERIA: AN EXAMINATION OF ROSE MARY ASENS THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Culture, religion and social norms are major alibis and impediments that have over the years stood against the general well being of widows in Nigeria. Widowhood in Nigeria is a physical, mental and psychological nightmare that most women dread and cannot help but wish away. This paper engages literary - textual exegesis to discuss the vice upon which the sanctity of humanity and fundamental human rights of widows are to say the least grossly violated. It brings to bare the multi-faceted evils inherent in widow maltreatment as is common in Nigeria as captured in the world of the play The Woman in Black. Beyond highlighting the evils of widow maltreatment; this paper challenges these obscure, obnoxious and retrogressive cultural practices contending that they are barbaric, insensitive and anti-social. The paper submits that widowhood is an excruciating phase of women s lives as such; harmful traditional practices that demean the dignity of womanhood hence should be abolished through social re-orientation and/or legislation.