When I first looked up Netflix’s latest hit series from South Africa, The Polygamist, and saw that it was labelled as a telenovela, I was initially confused. However, by the end of the first episode, I completely understood why and how the show fell into that genre. The Polygamist is an unadulterated drama- messy, chaotic and filled with so many twists and turns you begin to ask yourself if any of it is even possible. Unfortunately, by the end of the series, while a part of me was in awe of how insane the story had gotten, I knew innately that the events depicted over those 22 episodes weren’t that far-fetched.
The Polygamist, based on the novel by Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi, initially seems to follow a wealthy influencer named Joyce Gomora (played by Gugu Gumede) and her relationship with her husband, Jonasi (Sdumo Mtshali), after he takes on a mistress. However, the story quickly spirals beyond the journey of Joyce and her marriage to an exploration of four different women whom Jonasi has played and betrayed in different ways. The Polygamist hit harder than a typical telenovela for me because every female character in this show depicted an aspect of the roles that women are taught to play to ‘keep’ a man. Each of Jonasi’s wives played these roles perfectly, yet the series consistently showed how playing the right role does not guarantee respect.
Joyce - The Pushover
Joyce is introduced as Jonasi’s first wife, whom he has been with for twenty years. They have the perfect relationship on paper, with Joyce even turning their supposed marital bliss into a cornerstone of her brand as a social media influencer. All of this seemingly falls apart when, right after giving birth to their third child, Jonasi begins an affair with a woman at his office named Matipa (Kwanele Mthethwa). Fast forward several months, and he is openly with this woman, eventually leaving his home with Joyce to live with Matipa for a year.
Joyce represents the ways women are taught to forgive their husbands, no matter what. At first, Joyce’s insistence on trying to get Jonasi back seems to be solely to protect her career and image but as the series goes on, we see that Joyce seems to truly love him. After his year with Matipa, he returns to Joyce, ready to pretend that the last year never happened. Instead of Joyce rejecting him for his disrespect, she puts up some feeble protests, then immediately begins to gloat to Matipa about being chosen while worrying that he would leave her again.
Joyce, unlike the other women in Jonasi’s life, consistently calls him out for his behaviour and fights with him over his infidelity, but ultimately stays. It takes him physically and sexually assaulting her for her to finally leave, which happens after years of disrespect. Jonasi knows that he will always be able to convince Joyce to take him back, and he says as much to his brother when he claims that only death will separate them. For women like Joyce, Jonasi’s behaviour is worth lamenting and crying about, but not worth leaving.
Matipa - The Temptress
Matipa is a combination of the gold digger trope and the woman who sleeps her way to the top. She is first introduced as dating Jonasi’s brother, whom she uses to get a role in their company then promptly dumps in order to go after Jonasi, which secures her even more promotions and privileges. Matipa represents the temptress, the woman whose primary tool is her sex appeal and who makes the man feel even more powerful when he conquers her. Matipa knows her strengths and plays into them, showing glee in the game and gloating to Joyce when she successfully steals Jonasi. She believes she is owed the things (and men) she wants, to the point that she is genuinely angry at Joyce for wanting her own husband back. Where Matipa makes her biggest mistake is actually falling in love with Jonasi.
Matipa entered Jonasi’s life as the temptress but believed that he could want her for more than that. She fell in love with him and believed that the feelings were reciprocated, but all he wanted was her body. This is made especially clear when, mere days after she gives birth, he still insists on her performing sex acts for him, prioritising his wants over her health.
Matipa thought her desirability could get her whatever she wanted, but the second she tried to be anything more than a body for Jonasi to use, he discarded her.
Essie - The Faithful Wife
Essie (Celeste Ntuli) is one of the most tragic figures of the entire series and perfectly embodies the faithful wife, who is supposed to remain loyal to her husband by all means, even to her own detriment. As two poor teenagers in Soweto, she and Jonasi fell in love, with Essie even giving him all the money she had to her name to allow him to apply for university. After he leaves, she continues to pine and believe that he loves her, even after she sees in the newspaper that he has married Joyce, the daughter of a wealthy businessman. When he eventually returns, he plies her with gifts and convinces her to be his second wife, only to deny her and claim that she is his brother’s wife the second she meets Joyce. This is where Essie has remained for the last twenty years- pretending to be married to Jonasi’s brother, still living in poverty to keep appearances and waiting around for his sporadic visits. If viewers were confused as to why Joyce and Matipa continued to fight for and love Jonasi despite his wrongdoings, what then can we say about Essie?
Essie’s role is the long-suffering, devoted wife. The crux of her character is revealed before we even know the depths of her tragedy when Joyce, unaware at this moment that she is speaking to Jonasi’s earliest victim (that we know of), comes to her for advice on how to keep Jonasi from cheating again. And what advice does Essie give Joyce? She has to be Jonasi’s peace, stop nagging him, stop reminding him of his infidelity and accept that he will cheat, but rest assured that he will always come back to her. You see, this is exactly what Essie herself has been doing. She wants to believe that this strategy works, that both she and Jonasi are happy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. No matter how faithful she was, he still kept her hidden for two decades, made her live in poverty to protect his own reputation, neglected her child while lavishing both Joyce’s and Matipa’s kids with wealth, and only used her for sex when his other wives and women were angry at him. She was the perfect, loyal wife to the very end and got nothing in return.
Lindani - The Final Girl
The final woman to round off Jonasi’s collection of victims is Lindani (Luyanda Zwane). The best friend of Jonasi’s daughter, Lindani initially seems only to be interested in him for his money and the lifestyle he can provide her. She resists some of his more sexual advances at first while still accepting his monetary gifts, but she eventually caves and not only begins to have sex with him, but also falls in love - or so it seems. Lindani’s relationship with Jonasi is the most appalling because of her age. She can’t be any older than eighteen, if that, and unlike the other women who are also victims but are grown women regardless, Lindani is a child. Both the age and class gaps between Jonas and Lindani show just how sinister and careless he is. Lindani doesn’t even seem to be playing any roles at first, she is simply a young girl who is taken advantage of by a man old enough to be her father.
It isn’t until the rest of his wives leave him and he only has Lindani to rely on that we see her true colours. Lindani is a monster of Jonasi’s own creation. Perhaps there was a time when she truly loved and cared about him but the second Jonasi falls sick, Lindani abandons him. Despite being his most vulnerable victim, we never see any scenes of Lindani hurt over Jonasi or even crying over him besides the tears she shed at his funeral, which were arguably fake. She never fights the other women for him and emotionally detaches from him quite easily. She got one taste of a lifestyle he could offer and simply used him as a stepping stone. Lindani, it seems, is the only one to actually outplay him but this leaves her character quite morally corrupt by the end, presumably destined to go on and repeat a similar cycle to Matipa.
At the end of the day, despite how smart or accomplished these women were, or how much they stood to gain from separating from Jonasi, they all ended up giving significant portions of their lives to Jonasi. The lesson that women need to take from this show is that you cannot ‘perfect wife’ your way into being respected. You teach people how to treat you, and once you show someone you have no self-respect, they will always treat you disrespectfully.
