The Truly Married Woman by Abioseh Nicol - A SILENT SONG AND OTHER STORIES

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         The Plot Summary


Abioseh Nical’s story, ‘The Truly Married Woman,’ follows Ajayi, a civil servant, and his relationship with Ayo, a woman he eventually marries.


In the beginning, Ajayi and Ayo live together (Co-habitate) but aren't married despite the fact that Ayo had always wanted to be married properly.


While Ayo tries to coarse Ajayi to marry her, Ajayi is hesitant as he feels that marriage involves some wild spending and the ceremony is unnecessarily costly.


Ajayi's view on marriage frustrates Ayo until she accepts that it will never happen; thus, she stops trying to talk Ajati into marrying her. Basically, she gives up on the issue.


despite not being officially married, the couples time together appears relatively amicable as Ayo performs her 'wifely' duties faithfully.


They enjoy an everyday family life punctuated with minor conflicts such as the one that arises over Ajayi’s beating of their son Oju.


This conflict surprises Ajayi as Ayo rarely ever disagreed with him.


At this point, Ayo’s modernised trait is revealed as she discloses that she has been attending women’s meetings where they learn modern ideas of oversea doctors.


Ajayi spends his day in the office thinking about this revelation (about the women's meetings) which makes him admire Ayo more.


As the closing hours approach, Ajayi receives an unexpected guest — missionaries from World Gospel Crusading Alliance (WGCA).


He remembers that he had contacted them with the hope of getting free bibles, religious pictures and maybe some magazines.


However, the missionaries are set on enrolling him as one of them, but the chief clerk saves him by explaining that it was prohibited for government workers to become missionaries.


He invites the team (the three men from WGCA) together with the chief to his home, where the wife (Ayo) reorganises the house after learning that guests are on their way.


She even borrows a wedding ring from a neighbour.


After the visit, Ajayi decides to propose to Ayo, and they begin making wedding arrangements.


Although she is shocked, Ayo welcomes the marriage and thus starts preparing for it.


Ironically, she turns down his sexual advances that evening, arguing that it would be incorrect.


She then moves back to her parental home, where the traditional marriage preparation practices are carried out. Ayo's father is initially hesitant to allow the wedding, and tests Ajayi's family's resolve by bringing out several women for them to inspect before finally presenting Ayo.


Soon, the church wedding ceremony takes place. Ayo chooses to dress in a grey dress instead of the traditional white one as Ayaji had wished. The grey dress is symbolic of her impurity since she is already a mother of three.


She also wanted a corset to ensure she did not look too massive. After the church wedding, a European ceremony is also conducted where a wedding cake is cut.


Ajayi notices that Ayo had been transformed after the wedding. On the morning after the wedding, Ajayi is surprised to find that Ayo is no longer serving him tea in bed, as she had done for the twelve years they had been together.


The morning after the wedding, Ajayi is met with a rude shock when he wakes up. Ayo does not wake up early to prepare breakfast as usual. He concludes that maybe she was taken ill. When he asks her, she replies nonchalantly that he should wake up and make himself a cup of tea. She even contemptuously wonders if something is wrong with his legs. Surprisingly, she demands respect from him asserting that she is now a truly married woman.


The story emphasises the importance of valid marriage as compared to cohabiting. Through this emphasis, the writer, however, satirises marriage as it is not only economically draining but fails to 

provide happiness that should come with it.


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