Women in Leo Africanus

Leo Africanus is a novel filled with many different characters, almost all of which, even the quite minor ones, are fully developed and fleshed out as individuals. Despite the fact that the characters seem consistently well-defined and articulated, the status of women characters in the story is very problematic. Female characters are prominent in the story and are given lots of background and detail and in their development as characters. Salma, for example, is given a whole chapter to explain her experience on the day of the Parade and the great flood that caused so much devastation. Her tense relationship with Warda, and the worries the two women had about their pregnancies, are also given a lot of attention in the text. The feelings of these women, and other women like Gaudy Sarah and Miriam, as well as the hardships of their situations are explained in this novel and seem to be considered important.

But the treatment of women becomes problematic when we consider how and why the narrator, Hasan, is including these descriptions of women in the stories he is passing down to his own son. It often seems that he (Hasan) only includes these narratives about women in order to better explain the relationships between himself and other males in the story: relationships that seem to be more important to him than those with females. The best example of this is the whole scene with the proposed marriage of Miriam to the Zarwali. Hasan hears the horrific rumors about how the Zarwali treats his wives, and does seem to be genuinely concerned about the well-being of his sister. This concern, however, is qualified by some of his underlying concerns: “I needed someone around me to show indignation, someone who would tell me that the world had not been created so that women and the joys of life should be handed over to the Zarwali and people like him,” (135). This passage suggests that, though his concern for his sister may be genuine, it is also infused with a sense of masculine justice that the Zarwali doesn’t deserve to be handed this woman (implying that some men do).

The use of women characters in the novel is further complicated by Hasan’s expressions in the aftermath of Miriam’s being taken to the leper colony. He says of his relationship with his father: “Miriam’s engagement had torn us apart; her ordeal hastened our reconciliation,” (148). This statement implies that Miriam’s horrific ordeals have simply been a vehicle to the more important male relationship between father and son, therefore minimizing the truly terrible things that Miriam has faced.