Chapter IV

WOLE SOYINKA’S PLAYS: THE ROAD,

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 CHAPTER IV

WOLE SOYINKA’S PLAYS: THE ROAD, KONGI’S

The Road

The Road is one of the remarkable plays of Wole Soyinka. It is performed

on the stage during 1965 in London. It is written in the „phase of sixties‟. The

Road won the first prize in commonwealth art festival and proved to be a superb

accomplishment of Soyinka as a dramatist. It explores the Socio-political

situation of Nigerian based Yoruba Society. It depicts the realistic pictures of the

society after the independence of Nigeria. It is consider as a superficially

humorous and dramatically intense play.

Each of the characters reflects certain aspects of contemporary society.

The single setting continuing for the whole play includes the church and its

graveyard; adjacent to it is the road-side shack and the lopsided „bolekasa‟ (a

mammy wagon) minus its wheels. Thus, the physical location hints at different

dimensions.

The setting takes place in a transport depot of Nigerian town. In a garage,

where the salvaged parts of crashed cars are sold, the owner named Professor, an

unorthodox Christian, is engaged in trying to understand the meaning of death.

According to Pushpa, “It is simply a play about a day in the strange life of a

group of drivers in Nigerian road, their aimless existence, waiting for jobs,

drinking, sleeping; dreaming of an exciting future is dominated by the obscure

but powerful presence of the professor. He runs an establishment providing spare

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parts for vehicle, which is looted from road accident”. (35-36) The Road is the

product of Nigerian experiences during the middle of the twentieth century and it

reflects the different roles played by drugs, criminals, corrupt policemen and

unscrupulous politicians.

The play opens with the Conversation between Samson and Salubi. Both

are talking on various issues of the Society like parody of the police force, the

church and the absurd morality of the wars. Professor, a protagonist of the play,

owns a shop called „AKSIDENT STORE‟. In a shop Professor selling a part of

wrecked cars to drivers who need them. Some other people‟s helps professor,

they depends on the road for their livelihood. Kotonu, a lorry driver who assists

professor in is business. Samson, Kotonu‟s companion and tout, is distressed

with kotonu‟s indifference to his profession. Salubi, a private chauffeur,

managed to obtain a driver‟s uniform but has no driving license. Say Tokyo Kid

is a typical character, relevant to the universal political scene. He is lorry driver,

but is more interested in leading gang of hooligans. Such gangs help politicians

in disrupting meetings of the opponents. Joe is another typical character- a

corrupt policeman, fits into the scene smoothly.

Professor himself was a Sunday- school teacher and lay preacher in a

church close to his shop. He lost his position in the church after charges of

embezzlement of funds and drunken misbehavior were foisted on him, causes

Professor lost his faith in the validity of Christian teaching, and retained his

interest in spiritual matters. He is obsessed to find the mysterious truth called

“the word” and he believes that we cannot understand the meeting of life, unless

we understand the meaning of death. This notion prompts him to settle close to

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the road, as numbers of accidents occur there. He even manipulates certain

accidents.

Professor and his worshippers conduct a kind of communication,

different from that being administrated in the church. They drink palm-wine

served by murano. Murano is taking part in religious feast in honor of Ogun. He

is possessed by god, and runs across the road. He is run over by kotonu, who is

driving the lorry, and could not apply the brakes on time.

Professor being happy to keep murano with him, as he feels that murano

is close to death. He is keen on his doing the ritual dance, so that he could get a

revelation of the world. At the end, Say Tokyo Kid makes an attempt to stop the

ritual dance, during the fight between both professor and Say Tokyo Kid. Say

Tokyo Kid stabs knife to Professor and play comes to an end with the death of

professor.

The Road is structured around a character called professor and his search

for the meaning of a certain „word‟. Earlier he was a Sunday school teacher, an

austere Christian and after being thrown out of the church for pilfering its funds

now he is proprietor of the „Aksedent Store‟. In addition to the income from the

store, professor plunders from the accident sites, forges driving licenses and in

the evenings, offers shelter, liquor and lecture to the drivers and touts. Professor

has nursed and cared for murano, a god-man, finding him brutally injured in the

back of a lorry; he wants to see the divine manifest ting in murano and hopes he

will be helpful in his search providing a sharp contrast to professor is Kotonu, a

driver, who before the play has begun, has decided to retire from driving after

seeing death in an accident. In the accident Kotonu has killed an Ogun possessed

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mask-dancer (murano) who was participating in the driver‟s festival of offering

sacrifice to the god of road. Frequenting the road side shack of professor are

particulars Joe, an unscrupulous policemen hoping to be bribed either by

professor or the drivers and touts and chief in town, a corrupt politician looking

for the jobless touts for his political criminal activities.

Various characters are the different faces of the corruption in the society.

Like, Professor‟s embezzlement of church funds, Kotonu‟s dishonesty during the

driver‟s festival, Ogun‟s betrayal of his worshippers trust, Professor‟s

manipulation of Murano in the former‟s attempt at unraveling the mystery of the

“word”, Soyinka executed these aspects appropriately.

Soyinka depicts Yoruba culture and Nigerian society with aspect like

traditions, Nature, Songs, and religion. He highlighted various tribal traditions in

Yoruba Society. Such as, folk tradition demonstrates spiritual possession. As it is

believed in Yoruba Society, Egungun is the cult of the dead, masquerader dances

until he is seized by the spirit of the dead Person. It seen through the following

incidence,

[From inside, the canvas is pushed aside, emerging

silently, egungun. The Laughter dies out gradually

all eyes on the. . .The egungun continuous to

dance… The dance of the masquerade becomes

wilder, racked by spasms, the gradual build-up of

possession… The egungun has become thoroughly

possessed.”(226-228)

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 Drinking and offering palm wine is another important tribal custom

performs a mystic role in the play. In Yoruba Society, palm wine serve on the

Special occasion to celebrate the festival or for the hospitality. In the incidence

of the party, when Say Tokyo Kid after drinking a Palm wine, stabs a knife into

the stomach of the Professor causes death of him. Such crucial scene disuses as:

“Murano sets down the gourd beside him, prostrates…

Murano spills a libation to earth.” (CPI:222)

Road used as symbol to influence the action in the play. It suggests a path

leads to the destination, a kind of link between Professor and his victim illustrate

pessimistic expression of the tragedy of the man‟s life. It explores influence of

the Nature over Yoruba People, acts as a vital role in the play.

The Road is a genuine work of Soyinka‟s creative imagination with an

unusual dependence on ritual design. Soyinka ridiculous the religion and its

institutions with sharp tool of satire.

The “agemo” mask dance is symbolic of change from life to death with

the death of professor; the “Aksident Store” has got a new proprietor Kotonu. He

suggests a qualitative change. The Road is built around the Yoruba cult of

„Agemo‟. As Jones says, “Agemo is simply a religious cult of flesh dissolution.

Agemo, the mere phrase includes the passage of transition from the human to the

divine essence”(149). The “agemo” mask dance is symbolic of change from life

to death with the death of professor; the “Aksident Store” has got a new

proprietor Kotonu. He suggests a qualitative change. Soyinka deals with

mysterious Religions as well as African rituals can be traced in the incidence of

driver‟s festival through a flash back. Again the presence of Ogun Perform a

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vital role in the play. As Pushpa puts, “Ogun dominates the play with his

presence. He is the road and is in possession of the truth. Anyone who wants to

get at the truth must surrender himself to Ogun, even at the risk of his life, Ogun

wants to accept death as a prelude to life, from the decay of the dead past comes

new life”(127-28). It seen through the character of Kotonu, with the masked

figure actually possessed by Ogun, becomes the god surrogate.

The Road is dominated by myth and ritual. Ogun is the central idea

around which the play has been constructed. The Yoruba believe that the god of

road Ogun has to be offered sacrifices at regular intervals for the good of the

users of the road. The Sacrificial animal for his celebrated in a festive mood with

egungun mask dance and the drums.

The religious faith of the Yoruba Peoples is explored throughout the play.

It explored through the character of Professor, who is the central figure in the

play. He is a mysterious and absurd, perceived or misunderstood as a

“millionaire”, “Madmen”, “new born fool” who sleeps in the churchyard with all

that dead body (CPI:154) like a tantric. Professor search revolves round wealth

and power. He desires to strengthened his knowledge with the essence of

christen religion, Ogun spirit and death. In order to achieve this, he wears

various masks of a devotee, a preacher and a searcher. As a central figure

Professor, professes Christian ideology, delivering Sunday sermons, his morning

walk in search of „Rising Spirit‟ leaving behind the earthly spirit. Professor as a

spiritual guide to the criminals it seen through religious jargon:

“You may be the devil‟s own army but my arm is powered

With the unbroken Word!....They died, all three of them

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 Crucified on rigid branches… My kindness would be plagued

Be beggars if I gave them a chance… The butterfly thinks the

flapping of his wings fathered the whirlwind that followed

The burrowing beetle feels he powered the arm of the

eruption … A gravestone turns slow and gentle on the hinge;

angels trapped by day in illusions of concrete rise in night‟s

parole; the dead earth opens at your feet… Vermin. Judases

you god-forsaken judases you sell your bodies and you have

just done again have you not?... The dust in the belfry never

quite settles. It only awaits the next clangour of the bell…Be

like a bat. Keep your earth stuck to the vestry door.” (157-207)

In another incidence, Soyinka represents corruption in the name of

religion, when Professor operates crooks heaven called „Aksident Store‟

adjoining the church,

The shop must be re-opened at once. I don‟t permit shuttered

Windows in my household.[pointing to the church.] They

Are the ones who bar up their windows? I have nothing to hide.

(199)

Thus, Soyinka illustrates, Professor is a diabolic character, professing

religion and serving spiritual needs for his own materialistic prosperity. He

serves „spirit‟ i.e. palm wine to drivers so they might cause accidents and invite

death to the passengers. At the end Professor got trap in his trick when drunken

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person kills him. As said in Christianity “The wages of sin is death”, Professor

meets his doom.

The Road is the first sustained presentation of Soyinka‟s vision of the truth

behind reality. Soyinka unfolds his plays with the use of various elements. Songs

is one of the major elements makes the play interesting. It expresses life‟s

movement towards death that reduces everything into nothing. Each and every

song discloses different aspects of actions, which takes place in the life of a

human being. Thus, songs of Soyinka are a mode of experiences, human

sufferings, quest, failure, disappointment, frustration, discouragement,

hopelessness, ignorance, sense of insecurity, alienation, and dis-aggressiveness

on the road of life and death. According to Eldred Jones, “Soyinka makes the

scenes natural by using songs. They seem to comment on life and its serious

issues in a dynamic way. Songs also reflects the character‟s sorrow,

disappointment, frustration and longing which form the backdrop of the play.

Soyinka, particularly in The Road, has used his own folk tradition as the basis of

very sophisticated theatre.” (57)

Soyinka uses Yoruba language especially for the songs: the tonal rhythms

of Yoruba are in tune with the drums and the dancing, and all three-language,

music and action- are inseparable from the performance of ritual. As Jonathan

peters says, “Soyinka thus owes a great debt to traditional wisdom and culture

which he fashions into a literary credo.” (Peters 165)

Dance represents the blending of the religious elements in traditional

Culture and Christian doctrine. As Soyinka comments, death is inescapable

through the use of dance, mime, songs and music. Masque tradition is an

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important part of Yoruba people during dance. Soyinka draws attention to the

unfamiliar use of the masque idiom, to the significance of death to the main

characters. Samson and kotonu recollecting their past life on the road while

compare their indifferences towards the god‟s through the expression of songs.

Soyinka again throws a light on the mindset of the drivers. They perform

worship towards god by sacrificing dog, but fail to prevent accidents. Such a

plight of the drivers express as (Quotes 106)

Thus, Songs and rituals constantly break through the surface of the drama

and draw attention to this Yoruba dimension. Thus, Soyinka endeavors to clarify

the relationship between the contemporary Nigerian life and Yoruba Myths

through songs which heighten the effect of the play. (Jones 27)

The Road is more thoroughly grounded on Yoruba background. It

illustrates through the songs: the tonal rhythms of Yoruba are in tune with the

drums and the dancing, and all three – language, music and action – are

inseparable from the performance of ritual. As it says, “The Road is an eloquent

comment on Nigerian society. It is in fact a bitter attack. The whole society reeks

with the stench of disintegration and death. There is no character in the play that

is not diseased- there is an ambience of vice and greed. The play presents a great

grim picture of gloom and decadence, where a dog – eat – dog morality rules

supreme.” (Pushpa 132)

Soyinka owes a great debt to traditional wisdom and culture which he

fashions into a literary credo. The Play enacts a ritual of possession during which

a god becomes apparent. It is a play that is more thoroughly grounded on Yoruba

lore and especially in the mysteries of Ogun by blending the many themes and

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scenes artistically together; Soyinka has succeeded in creating a remarkable

piece of theatre. Thus, it is true to say that, “The Road is a superb

accomplishment of Soyinka as a dramatist.” (Jones27)

Soyinka borrows basic Yoruba beliefs to produce an atmosphere for

connect of living and the dead, the unearthly and the earthly, with the present,

the past and the future is focused. The play conveys sense of mystery,

bewilderment and anxiety and “Satisfies our sense of dramatic rightness.”

(Izebaye 53)

The Road profoundly influenced a Yoruba sense of the continuity

between life and death and of the limitation of the human beings to get the

knowledge of the universe. It present attack on the crooked ways of politicians,

scathing attacks on Nigerian politicians. At the same time, portrays the negative

side of corruption in political, material/economic and religious area. Thus, The

Road explores Socio, Political and cultural milieu of post independent Situation

of Nigeria. All the characters are in the play are victim of political, economical

situation.

MADMEN AND SPECIALIST

Madmen and Specialist is the first play that Soyinka wrote after his

release from prison. It is the record of the personal experience that had been

assimilated into his sensibility. Madmen and Specialist was first produced in

Waterford, Connecticut U.S.A. in the summer of 1970. The play based on the

background of the horror of Nigerian civil war during 1966-1970. Soyinka

depicts the gloomy atmosphere and frustrated mindset of the people during

wartime through the Absurd Theatre technique. It is close to the brecthian

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concept of alienation in a theatrical work. It is considered to be a most un-

localized play. Soyinka employs parody and play within a play to describe the

incidence happened before the play.

Soyinka written seven plays based on the theme of ritual. Ritual that is

not patterned on myth called Social rituals. The origins of these rituals are as old

as community itself. As Hans H. Penner says, “A Community is based upon

certain relationship and such relationship can be sacralised by imbuing them

with certain powers outside the material world and connecting them with the

cosmic realm.By resulting with whom one can eat or whom one can marry or

kill.” (3)

Madmen and Specialist broadly divided in two parts: The first part

establishes the role of major characters and their inter-relationships with the

individuals during the war. Second part presents the ritual killing of Old Man.

The play opens in front of the home Surgery of Bero, who has just returned from

the war. Before going to the war, Dr. Bero known for reputed healer doing for all

he could to ensure the preservation of life. But after return from the war, he

became the head of the intelligence section and cares little for the preservation of

life.

The Old man, is a doctor in profession. After his son was asked to help

the wounded readjust the pieces and remnants of their bodies. Instead readjust

the piece of their, he began to teach them. “To Think, Think, Think”. It causes

rivalry begins in between father and son. According to Bero, Old man has

committed a treacherous deed by placing “a working mind in a mangled body”

(CPII:242). Another crime committed by the old man is the creation of new Cult

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„As‟. It is rightly said about Old Man, He is mentally collapsed seeing daily

Spectacles of Man killing Man. He becomes a “perverted Salvationist and he

become the engineer the prospectus cult of As” (Peter214). This Cult equalizes,

Intellectualizes and brutalizes life dieses and death man and vegetable and

animal, past, present and future.

On the other hand, during the war time period Si Bero (Dr Bero‟s Sister)

decided to take part as role of the local leader, in her brother‟s absence. She is

courageous lady who kept the fort in the absence of brother and father (235).

Two Old Women Iya Agba and Iya mate called as Earthly Mothers. They teach

her the art of leaving, using the roots and herbs that she collects. As the day

moves, she realises and observes brutal nature of his own brother and decided to

meet him. Both meet at the place, where their farther became imprisoned.

At the end of the play, things became difficult for the Bero. Bero in a

frightened and frustrated state shoots his father and the house is burned down by

strange old earth mother‟s. Killing and conflagration take place at the end with a

premonition and hope, in spite of the fact that hope is rarely given any credence

in the play. Burning of fire represents reality as well as ritual event. Thus, “The

Play is a powerful literary record of the devastating effect of the civil war on the

country and its survivors. It is based on the terrifying and terrifying and

humiliating experiences during the imprisonment.” (Peter 9)

In Madmen, the structure is far more fluid, and there is continual fading

back and forth so that time and place become almost abstract. There are few

definite references to time, and even these only serves to blur the time system.

As Peter comments on the structure of the play, “Soyinka closely approaches

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Brecht‟s alienation effect, and the atmosphere achieved by the practitioners of

Theatre of the Absurd. Soyinka has, however, arrived here in his own time and

his own way, in a logical development of ideas and techniques which had been

hinted at in earlier plays.” (236)

The nature and the function of the rituals have changed with the change in

the political and social conditions of modern Society. Festival and rituals have

been appropriated for political use. Examples of using religious symbols for

political gains or using “Yatra” as political ritual or erection of a temple in order

to gain mass support. Such examples are fairly common in India. Soyinka raises

issues in contemporary Nigeria for his dramatic purpose.

Soyinka narrates the effect of war like dieses and corruption through the

various imagery and symbolism makes the play meaningful and suggestive.

Sickness of both mind and body is given visibility in the figure of the

Mendicants. Sickness also becomes the basic metaphor of the play sustained by

repeated use of words like „malignant‟, „infectious dieses‟ and „pleurisy‟. Again,

Soyinka describes the polluted earth through the image of Onile Goddesses. She

is polluted due to shedding of human blood as a part of sacrifice.

Dr. Bero is amcentral character in the play represents as dictator. He

dressed as military uniform, carries a swagger stick and a gun, both of which he

does not hesitate to use. It suggests that he represents a military regime,

compatible with the totalitarian nature of life. He is a representative of all

Specialists who are ruthless in nature. As Soyinka puts it “These men are not

merely evil [..], they are mindless of evil made flesh”(The Man 228). Dr. Bero

represents men‟s insatiable guest for power and the desire fill the last moment to

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cling on to power. As Peters says, “Bero‟s only law is the law of son which for

him is a symbol of absolute power (211). His nature illustrates to control and

rule over others. Soyinka satirizes the inhumanity of these over of power

towards the common man. Bero‟s only law is „the law of the gain‟ which

symbolizes absolute power. It indicates his lust for power never satisfied

throughout play. As James Gibbs, “compare Bero with Oedipus and Isola and all

those who are condemned to go through life with the blood of their fathers on

their hands”(98). Thus, at the end he is unsuccessful in his attempt to extract the

secret out of his father, leads to the death of Old man. As Peter utters the

philosophy of the word „As‟, is the first word of a meaningless catechism which

operates on a cyclical pattern of foolish violence which has dogged man‟s

existence from the beginning” (Peters, 213). It is the reason Dr.Bero, believes

eating of flesh gives a sensation of power. As he utters, “Power comes from

bending nature to your will.”(237)

At the end, Bero killed his father draws attention to the similarity between

his father and Socrates giving poison berries to the old man. Bero concern

tiredness of the old man as, “If you ever get tired and you need a night cap like a

certain ancient Greek you are so fond of quoting; just soak a handful of them in

water” (CPII262). Thus, bloodshed and the need for Purification are important

thematic strands to depict a ritual sacrifice through the character of bero.

Old Man, carries a positive force in the play. He is aware of scale and

magnitude of crisis, humanity in general and Nigerian Society in particular. He

has experienced moments of truth and reality. Old Man taught his son to be a

Specialist in giving life and healing. But bero becomes Specialist in killing and

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torturing represents the adverse effect of the War and Power. The death of the

Old man is therefore significant in different ways. He is the symbol of the

Sacrifice scapegoat of humanity, the ritual offering. The Word “As” has

suggested, there is a little dramatic action in the play. All the action lies in the

words which are suggestive. The word „As‟ in Norse mythology represents God.

It was the name for any of the Norse gods, such as Odin or Thor, who lived in

Asgard, the home of the gods. It comes from the Icelandic word „ass‟ meaning a

god. It was the interchange ability of specific gods under the title „As‟ which

appealed to Soyinka. The Old Man preaches the Nihilist philosophy of „As‟ to

war victims to show ambience of evil side of the human nature, and the cruelty

of a war-torn world. “As does not change” conveys the despairing message that

people will not change in their cruelties towards each other.

The Role of Earthly Mother is a significant from the point of view of

ritual significance. As Moody puts it, “Both the two old women Iya Mate and

Iya Agba are the twin manifestation of the benevolence of mother earth. They

are cult herbalist: two long live spent pickles at secret grain by grain”(235).They

represent worldly wisdom and good will.

In fact, Earthly Mothers provide the climax to the play by their decision

to turn down the room with herbs. They are particular that the collection of herbs

should not go into the hands of Dr. Bero the agent of evil. As Griffith says, “The

role of the earth mother‟s in the play is highly significant because they give the

world a different interpretation of the destruction and pain caused by the war.”

(167)

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 Madmen and Specialist is a short story written in wider situations.

Soyinka, concern abundantly and traditionally plot with the portrayal of fixed

characters. Soyinka repeatedly makes use of the four men to comment on events,

draw diverse experiences into consideration, help the plot unfold and represent

the legacy of war. The mendicants represent the people suffered physical and

psychological damage during the war. The mendicants establish the opening

mood of the play with a grotesque game of chance in which the stakes are parts

of their bodies. As they bicker, they convey an impression of a dehumanized,

brutalized community.

Some names of the characters strike no obviously associative chords like

- Goyi, Aaafa, Bero, Iya Mate, Iya Agba (CPI 91) and Si- Bero – while others

bear representative labels rather than names- Blind Man, Cripple, Priest, The Old

Man.Thus, the play is an interaction between “Madmen”-four mendicants, is war

victim, and “Specialist” as Dr. Bero and Old Man.

Madman and Specialists continues the themes present in works such as,

The Strong Breed and Kongi's Harvest, bringing corrupt power into collision

with humane interests. In which connection with reality, with reasonable

attention, the seemingly disjoined and illogical dialogue makes the play

thematically significant. Pessimistic tone of the play, suggest futility of regimes

like Bero. According to the Jones, “The central enveloping theme is the erosion

of humanity in a well-organised, tightly-controlled authoritarian Society.”

(Jones107) The Mendicants portrays men as victim-as sufferers. The main

characters Bero and Old Man – are healers, who have specialized in the medical

Profession, their capacity to perform active service during the War. Thus, theme

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of healing is the background of the action. Such estimate by Soyinka is based on

a climate of huge moral failure in Nigeria during the civil war.

In Madmen and Specialist focus on the ritual support the action and tends

to be used as a means for cultural retrieval or recuperation of tradition or history.

Such ritual elements are closely related with political thrust of the play. Madmen

and Specialist with its overt political tone and direct attack on the corrupt system

of governing is a mercy portrayal of the deviation from acceptable norms of

conduct in natural life.

Madmen and Specialist is a rather unusual Yoruba tragedy in which the

tragic experience is not undergone by one protagonist. The play epitomizes the

tragic history of mankind and the recurrent phenomenon of war. It depicts

Soyinka‟s personal despair and disillusionment with human rationality. Civil war

in Nigeria provides the emotional sinews to the play, Soyinka‟s personal

response to a real event, like war, has helped him to analyse the effect of it on

the human psyche. He evokes with “audacious imagination and clinical precision

the terrible hurt caused by the civil war-or any war –to common humanity”

(Iyanger 6).The play depends on the clash of rival motivations and tangle of

diverse individual destinies and all these proceed towards the final act of the

tragedy.

Madmen and Specialists is certainly a significant work exploiting new

techniques, shows the adverse effect of the war over a common human being

portrayed through the real situation of the civil war. It deals with the struggle for

existence of human being to survive. Thus, Soyinka throws light on the political,

social situation of Nigeria after the civil war.

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 DEATH AND THE KINGS HORSEMAN

Death and the King’s Horseman published in 1975. It is a ritual tragedy,

grounded on the real event, took place in the Oyo kingdom in 1946. Oyo

kingdom was the most powerful Yoruba kingdom in the nineteenth century.

Soyinka narrates the rituals and customs of Africa becomes part and parcel of

their lives. The rituals, including human sacrifices his life for the welfare of the

Society is a crucial custom in Yoruba Society. The present play revolves around

Elesin Oba, the king‟s Horseman, preparing to die ritualistically so that he can

accompany the king who died earlier into the realm of ancestors.

The first scene begins with the entry of Elesin and his praise singer at a

marketplace. It is the eve of elesin‟s death, but he came there to see the women.

Elesin was the king‟s horseman who has to die because the king has died.

According to Yoruba tradition, Horseman must leave with the king. Elesin is a

very gracious and expensive character. He is full of zest. He and the praise

singer banter back and forth. Several women come to the marketplace along with

Iyaloja, the mother of the marketplace. She also arrives there and watches and

listens.

Elesin boasts that he is not afraid of death and he is ready for his fate. The

women admire him and call him a man of honor. Before leaving the place, elesin

suddenly notices extremely beautiful young women. He declares that he wants

that women. Iyaloja and the women begin to conflict, because that beautiful

women is betrothed to Iyaloja‟s son. After the conflict, they decide to give

Elesin what he wants. For his ritual death a wedding consummation are

arranged.

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 Iyaloja reminds elesin about to keep his goal in mind and leave no curse

with his seed. Eventually a gala is arranged. The district officer and his wife Jane

prepare to attend the gala.

The officer and his wife are dressed in the clothing of the egungun. It is

taken from the rituals from the rituals of Nigerian death cult. They put on the

costumes which they find very amusing and they frighten the local Nigerian

constable amusa. Plikings happens to be a typical Englishman in colonial Africa.

He is in his costume but he is annoyed because amusa does not want to talk to

him. Amusa gives him the message that a local chief named elesin is preparing

to commit a ritual suicide.It makes Jane frightened and pilkings groans. He says

that he had thought those sorts of rituals had already been finished.

Meanwhile, hearing the sound of drums in the distance, they began to

wonder whether the ritual suicide is really going to happen. Pilkings calls his

house boy Joseph.It transpires that Joseph is Nigerian who has refused to

become a Christen. Plikings asks Joseph about the chief and the ritual. Joseph

confirms that the ritual suicide will be committed. Pliking remember that he had

once clashed with that man named Elsien before. He recalls securing the passage

of his son olunde to England where would study to be a doctor. Pliking

remember that elesin was very angry and his son olunde was more or less

smuggled out of the country. It transpires that if for some reasons elesin is not

able to commit the ritual suicide his son would have to complete it. Jane begins

to giggle that; it might be the reason why the chief was angry while his son was

leaving for England. Pilkings thinks about the situation trying to sort out

wheatear he should intervene or not. Jane encourages him to go and intervene

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she says that it sounds barbaric. Pilkings has ordered amusa to arrest elesin.

Plikings and Jane are ready to go the ball Party. He informs Jane his wife that

the prince will be the special guest at the ball that night.

Again Scene, shifts to the market place where amusa and two constables

come to the market place to arrest elesin. The girls and women are obviously

very angry and they begin to taunt them. Amusa and his constable leave,

warning that they will be back soon. Elesin marries his bride and the wedding is

consummated. He begins to prepare for the death. He declares that he is quite

eager to make his journey. Elesin dances and delivers a speech. The praise

singer‟s chanting accompanies his dancing. Elesin‟s eye begins to drop and his

dance movement becomes very heavy. His trance seems to have dependent. It

appears that he is sinking deeper and coming close to the death.

Now, Scenes shifts to the party. The guests gathered around the prince.

He is assisted by the resident. When pilkings and Jane come forward the prince

admire their costumes.The resident takes pilkings aside and scolds him for not

knowing about the elesin‟s situation earlier. Amusa comes and wants to inform

pilkings about the arrest of elesin, but he feels nervous because Pilking is in

strange costumes. At the same time, pilking is frustrated and sends amusa away

from pilkings goes back to take care of the elesin affair.

Suddenly Jane notices someone waiting in the wings. It transpires the

man is olunde. He has just come back from England he seems to be quite

reserved smart and composed. Jane and Olunde greet each other and their

conversation becomes tense when Jane tells him that she does not understand the

ritual of committing suicide. She thinks that the ritual is crass. She is quite

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confused when Olunde informs him that he came back to home from England

when he heard. The king had died he says that he has come home to bury his

father. Jane tries to her best to understand the situation but she is still very much

confused and unconvinced.

Pilking comes back immediately and asks for the De-camp. Seeing

Olunde there, he is surprised. He begins to act awkwardly. Pilikings moves away

and begins to take care of things. Seeing pilkings disturbed Jane and Olunde asks

whether he is upset because of elesin death. Suddenly elesin brought in his

voice becomes the across the hall. He is bound and struggling. Seeing his son

there, elesin stops short. He tells his son to listen to him, but Olunde turns away.

He is obviously disgusted and calls his father and eater of left over‟s.

Eventually elesin is send to prison. His bride sits silently outside his cell.

Pilking‟s visits him in his cell and speaks to him for awhile. They begin to

dispute over what the notion of duty means. Elesin declares that his son, Olunde

did not betray him. He says that he understand his disgust. He says that Olunde

is indisputably his son.

The scene shifts to Iyaloja. She wants to meet elesin in the prison.

Pilkings rejected but at last, he allows her to go into the prison. She scolds and

condemns elesin with his coward nature. And he is not going through his death.

She says that she and the other women feel that they have been betrayed. She is

very angry with elesin. He looks sad but he does not say anything in return.

At the end, Scene shifts to the market place. The women from the market

place take a march to the jail. They carry a burden raped in a cloth piece. Jane

consults Pilkings and tells him to let the women in because she thinks that the

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women are afflicted with Olunde, and there would be no harm. Having entered

the jail, the women put the burden down. Elesin begins to shout out to get out of

the prison cell. Pilkings is confused but he refuses elesin to get out.

The praise singer begins to sing even the Condemns elesin. Eventually the

women unwrap the burden. When the cloth is removed Olundes body is

revealed. It transpires that he has committed suicide to carry out his father‟s

duty. Before Pilkings stop him, elesin strangles himself. Iyaloja orders Pilikngs

not to interference Pilikngs wants to stoop to close the eyes of Elesin but Iyaoja

stops him. The bride comes in and she closes the chief‟s eyes silently. Iyaloja

and the bride depart. The women from the market place begin to sing and sway.

Soyinka‟s Death and the King’s Horseman is a complex illustration of

the same historical event narrated by Dura Ladipo a Yoruba playwright in the

play Oba Waja. “It is a Political play and Peripheral in a sense.” (Soyinka783)

The play is serious in tone deals with themes of the superficial sociological

disorders that provide the usual crux of so many plays. According to Eldred

Jones, “play deals with things that matter, things that are worth troubling about

sociological disorder that connected with fate of man in his environment, the

struggle for survival, the real meaning of progress the role of death even the

necessity for death in man‟s life.” (The writing 14)

The present play employs dance, poetry and music three media of

human expression that draw the performer of rituals into the abyss. Katrak says,

“All the three means of human expression fail to lead him into the metaphysical

gulf”. (96) Symbolical aspect is the key of the play when Soyinka symbolically

portrays further actions and his poetic vision through images, symbols and

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allusions to depict the tragedy. In the incidence, when Elesin Oba enters market

in the company of his Praise-singer and Drummers. Soyinka Symbolically

portrayed market as the earthly life. According to Yoruba, the market is

considered to be a microcosm of life itself. Moreover, they have great regards

for market, because they consider that “The market square facilitates more than

just the exchange of goods and services for humans. Spirits, goblins, and other

ethereal characters are believed to come there to buy and sell, and to bless and

curse humans, too.” (Adeeko79)

The Structure of the play, states the condition of the minds of the

characters. Market, a vanity fair, symbolizes the physical desires of human. In

the incidence when elesin enters to enjoy the presence of women to be decorated

by them. He says, “This market is my roost. When I come among the women I

am a chicken with a hundred mothers. I become a monarch whose palace is built

with tenderness and beauty” (DKH 148). Towards his acts, Praise-Singer stresses

him the necessity and importance of ritual as, “There is only one home to the life

of a river-mussel; there is only one home to the life of a tortoise; there is only

one shell to the soul of man; there is only one world to the spirit of our race. If

that world leaves its course and smashes on boulders of the great void, whose

world will give us shelter?.” (149)

Elesin acquainted with the importance of ritual and his duty and

responsibility to his society. He is very much ready to surrender his life for the

sake of his community. He knows that his death will enhance and preserve the

spiritual health of his people, and as it is his principle duty, he is bound to do it.

To fulfill the last wish of the dying man, Iyaloja arranges for their union. She

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eulogies the union as, “The fruit of such a union is rare, it will be neither of this

world nor of the next or behind us. As if timelessness of the ancestor world and

the unborn has joined spirits to wring an issue of the elusive being of passage”

(DKH162).The acts of Iyaloja and the people prove the importance of tradition

and chief towards the community.

Death and the king Horseman asserting the supremacy of the Yoruba

cult, communicates this message to his countrymen that “ritual is a part of the

cultural dominant” (William 571). The Yoruba gives first priority to the society

and latter to individuals. The Yoruba tradition is based on community. Tradition

is identity for them. Rituals and customs are part of their day-to-day life. Here it

is very suitable to quote the idea of Meena Bhambani on tradition and culture,

“Culture is then not just a matter of individual belief in its various aspects but is

a mode of self-expression. It gives identity to a nation thus building an image for

it and granting a standing to it as a separate entity in the world.” (208)

Elesin Oba is a central character in the play. He is a King‟s horseman

by profession. According to the Yoruba custom after the death of King his

horseman should sacrifice his life for the sake of society and his duty towards

King. As a result elesin is mentally and physically prepare to sacrifice his life

due to his faith on ritual and his attachment towards Yoruba society.

In Yoruba Society, death is an essential for the survival of the society

in future. “Most African peoples accept or acknowledge God as the final

guardian of law and order and of the moral and ethical codes. Therefore, the

breaking of such orders, whether by the individual or by a group, is ultimately an

offence by the corporate body of society” (Mbiti 206). As the prime savior of the

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society, he must safeguard the spiritual well-being of the society. It is his duty to

enhance the spiritual well-being of his community. Regarding this Ojaide says,

“Order to Africans is perceived as natural and ritualistic to ensure harmony, the

absence of which will bring calamity to the whole group. For this reason, an

individual could be sacrificed to avoid a war, a plague, or any anticipated

communal disaster. In other words, the individual can be sacrificed for the well-

being of the community.” (48)

According to the Yoruba tradition, after the death of Horseman, he will

act as a mediator between the people and the other world, i.e. the world of the

dead and the unborn. His act will reinforce the bridge between the ancestors,

gods and the living. Thus, Elesin‟s action is inspired by the culture to which he

belongs and knows the meaning and value of its rituals.

The role of Simon Pilkings is a white man officer, against all the tribal

tradition and rituals of Yoruba society. It is the reason, he against the Elesin‟s

suicide; he used a power to prevent suicide attempt of elesin, arouse the battle

between Yoruba tribe and white man‟s law in Nigeria. This incidence throws a

light on the white man‟s positive sign towards civilization, with the drawback of

the tribal life. In the incidence, When Simon Pilkings and his wife Jane dancing

on the tango music, wearing a black dress with a mask which is no longer wear

by Africans till they alive. Amusa, follower of traditional beliefs and custom,

utter as,

AMUSA. Mista Pilking, I beg you sir, what you think you do

with that dress? It belongs to dead cult, not for human being. (164)

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The conversation shows the attachment of the people like amusa towards

superstitious belief in Yoruba Society.

Olunde another vital character in the play associated with the Yoruba

culture. He is a son of elsein, returns from London after hearing the news death

of the king, to attain event of Sacrifice of his own father. He gives reason for his

arrival as, “Our King is dead…. I had to return home at once so as to bury my

father” (DKH 194). According to the Yoruba Tradition, when the horseman

offers himself for the sacrifice; his position will be taken over by his eldest son,

so his son also will grow up with the same mentality to take up the place of his

father. Olunde knows and goes through the same situation.

It is in the ritual that the heir or successor is forbidden to set eyes on his

father from the moment of the King‟s death. The Yoruba historian, Johnson

notes that the chief‟s delay or reluctance to accompany the dead Alafin to the

other world will face very grave moral implications by his people. But by the

end of nineteenth century “all the men [Chiefs] refuse to die and they are never

forced to do so.” (qtd. in Izevbaye “Mediation” 122)

The conversation between Mrs.Pilking and Olunde surprises her to know

olunde‟s acquaintance with his father‟s decision of committing suicide and his

support. She remarks, “I see, so it isn‟t just medicine you studied in England”

(194). Such a sarcastic remark of Mrs. Pilkings shows Yoruba peoples are not

ready to abandon their tradition though they accept the costume of any other

country. She calls it as “barbaric Custom.” (194)

Amusa is a minor character in the play. He is a police constable working

under the colonial power. He is a typical middle class person influence with

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Yoruba traditions. Such as, in the incidence, when Simon Pilkings and his wife

wearing black dress at the party, usually wear at the time of death, looks omen to

amusa. It shows influence of tradition over the psyche of the Yoruba People like

amusa.

Praise Singer follows elesin like a shadow. He is like Jester in the plays of

Shakespeare. He gives first clue to the readers about the tragic nature of the

king‟s transition, He utters,

“They love to spoil you but beware. The hands

of women also weaken the unwary.” (148)

He afraid of Elesin‟s attachment toward women creates delay to the holy ritual

of self-sacrifice.

Iyaloja is the only powerful women character in the play. She is a Head of

the market women represent the mindset of the Yoruba Society. It seen in the

incidence, when she is in a dilemma to choose between her son and elesin, she

took a favors of elesin side to prove the dominance of the ritual over a Yoruba

Society. As she utters,

“ …. Today is

Your day and the whole world is yours.

Still, even those who Leave town to make a

new dwelling elsewhere like

To be remembered

by what they leave behind.” (159)

It proves that, in Yoruba society, community gets the primacy. It gives

importance to the dead ancestors and unborn lives. The dead ancestors are

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worshipped as guides and companions. The Yoruba people believe that their

blessings will save them from all evils.

The role of Joseph is a servant boy to the house of Simon Pilking. He

explains the traditions and customs of Yoruba to Simon piklings and his wife.

The following conversation illustrates aptly,

PILKINGS. What is supposed to be going on in town tonight?

JOSEPH. Tonight sir? You mean the chief who is going to

kill himself?

PILKINGS. What?

JANE. What do you mean, kill himself?

PILKINGS. You do mean he is going to kill anybody and no

One will kill him. He will simply die.

JANE. But why Joseph?

JOSEPH. It is native law and custom. The king dies last

Month.

Tonight is his burial. But before they can bury

him, the Elesin must die so as to accompany

him to heaven…

He is the King‟s Chief Horseman.” (167)

Soyinka depicts the ritual practice of Yoruba, through the character of

Joseph. It helps to understand the Yoruba culture for the people like Mr. Pilking

and his wife.

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 Death and the King’s Horseman treats the theme of sacrifice; in which

protagonist martyr himself for the moral benefit of the society. Human sacrifice

is the act of killing human beings as a part of religious ritual. This practice was

prevalent during ancient days in many cultures in the human society. According

to James Frazer, “In the ancient days, trees, vegetables, wild and domestic

animals, birds, slaves (humans), women, chieftains, priests, princes, sometimes

even kings were sacrificed. Among all sacrifices, human sacrifice is considered

as the greatest offering to God. The motives behind the rituals are the same, i.e.

to bring good fortune and to pacify the gods to grant success in their attempts in

warfare, magical purpose, business, buildings, and moreover welfare of the

society.” (67)

The ritual of death and the king‟s Horseman suggest the deeper

ideological necessity. The play becomes socially symbolic of the actual

collective narrative. In order to unrevealed this ideological necessity lies hidden

in the ritual we should inquire into “the political reality of the political

unconscious behind both the social text itself and the playwright textualiazation

of in it his play” (William 69). Culture as William defines it is “Material,

intellectual and spiritual totality of people‟s way of life” (69).

Death and the king’s Horseman eventually treats thus a tragic theme. It

moves on a profound and solemn level through the mechanics of rite and cultic

symbolism. But is also employs the mechanics of popular theatre that of satire,

comedy and masquerade. According to Yoruba Society, death is essential for the

survival of the society in future most African peoples accept or acknowledge god

as the final guardian of law and order and of the moral and ethical codes.

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 In the present play, Soyinka narrates the rituals and customs of Africa

becomes the part and parcel of their lives. Such a rituals in which human being

sacrifice his life for the welfare of the Society carries central aspect of the play.

Thus, Soyinka throws a light on the Nigerian based Yoruba society and the

Yoruba mentality about dead and unborn People.

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and the King’s Horseman.” Contesting Post Colonialisms., ed. Jasbir Jain and

Veena Singh. New Delhi: Rawat, 2000. 203-206. Print.

Frazer, James. The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion.

Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1993.67 Print.

Gibbs, James. Modern Dramatists: Wole Soyinka.Hong Kong. Macmillan. 1986.

----. Introduction. Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka. Ed. James Gibbs,

Washington D.C. Three Continents, 1980. 4-16. Print.

Griffiths, Gareth. A Double Exile: African and West Indian Writing Between

Cultures. London: Marion Boyars, 1978.167. Print.

Iyanger, Sreenivasa K.R. “Soyinka‟s Latest Play.” Literary Half Yearly.17.2

(1976): 3- 17. Print.

Izevbaye, D. S. “Language and Meaning in Soyinka‟s The Road” African

Literature Today (1988): 52-65.Print.

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Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka. ed. James Gibbs. Washington D.C: Three

Continents Press, 1980.116-125.Print.

Jones, Eldred Durosimi.The Writing of Wole Soyinka. London. Heinemann.1973.

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Katrak,Kethu H. Wole Soyinka and Modern Tragedy. A Study of Dramatic

Theory and Practice. West Port: Greenwood, 1986.96. Print.

Mbiti,John S. African Religions and Philosophy. New York: Anchor Books,

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Ojaide, Tanure.“Modern African Literature and Cultural Identity.” African

Studies Review 35.3 (Dec. 1992), 43-57. JSTOR. Web. 5 Jan. 2012. 48. Print.

Peter, Jonathan A. A Dance of Masks. Senghor, Achebe, Soyinka. Washington

D.C.: Three Continents, 1978. 236- 237 Print.

Pushpa, M. The Plays of Wole Soyinka: A Socio-Psychological Study. New

Delhi. Prestige, 1999. 35-132. Print.

Soyinka, Wole. The Man Died. London: Rex Collings, 1972. 228. Print.

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----, ed. Collected Plays I. A Dance of the Forests, The Swamp Dwellers, The

Strong Breed, The Road, The Bacchae of Euripides. London: Oxford UP, 1977.

226-228. Print.

---. Collected Plays II.The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi’s Harvest, The Trials of

Brother Jero, Jero’s Metamorphosis, Madmen and Specialists. London: Oxford

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---. Death and King’s Horseman.London: Methuen, 1975.Print.

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