At the time, I Will Marry When I Want was perhaps Ngugi's most overtly political piece of writing. Since then, he has continued to embrace the themes presented in the play, particularly in works like Barrel of a Pen and Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature.
Similar works by other authors include Alex La Guma's In The Fog of the Seasons' End and Pepetela's The Return of the Water Spirit.