Prologue Summary

Anowa is Ama Ata Aidoo's play about the conflicts which arise when a woman named Anowa rejects tribal conventions, marries the man of her own choice and is forced to live with the consequences due to her inherent pride.

Anowa opens in a village called Yebi on the Ghana coast of Africa in the year 1870. As the story begins, an Old Man and an Old Woman who are also identified together as Being-The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper speak to the audience. The old couple tells of the providence of the village brought by the creator and that everything is lived in moderation. The sun is hot but not so hot that it burns the crops; the mountain rises to balance out the flat lands.

There is one oddity in the village, though, and that is the girl named Anowa. Despite her parents' urging and the advice of...