The Yoruba religion informs Death and the King’s Horseman and therefore merits consideration. Yoruba religion is found in Western Nigeria but varies widely, even from town to town, no doubt because it was spread orally and also incorporates parts of Christianity and Islam.
This costume is a lot more important to the Yoruba people than to the Pilkings. To them, it is a representation of their take over of the land. Jane Pilkings states “you saw it confiscated last month from those egungun men” (Soyinka 25).
In Wole Soyinka's play "Death and the King's Horseman" the colonials, best represented by the character of Simon (and his wife Jane) Pilkings, does not understand the culture or the people of the... In Death and the King's Horseman, does Soyinka provide evidence in the text to suggest there is an argument that...
In 1946, when a Yoruba king died, the king’s companion and counselor Elesin, known as the Horseman of the King, prepared to commit suicide as commanded by tradition, in order to accompany his king into the afterlife.
Death and The King's Horseman focuses on a man named Elesin Oba, chief horseman to the king of Nigeria's Yoruba people. In the story, the king has recently died and, according to Yoruba law and...
The final words spoken in the play by Iyaloja to the Bride of Elesin are “ Now forget the dead, forget even the living. Turn your mind only to the unborn.” There are two interpretations of this...
Oriki is a kind of Yoruba literary genre used to inspire people. It is usually in the form of poetry, consisting of songs of praise. Oriki can also take the name form as well. One must learn,...
It is interesting that Soyinka takes this view, as many critics argue that actually the central conflict of this play is, essentially, colonial, as two civilisations clash with dramatic and tragic...
Yes, Elesin is a tragic character. As the now-dead king's "horseman" he is expected to committ suicide in loyalty to his former leige. Here is an excerpt from the character...
Tanure Ojaide states that the reason the play is so difficult to understand is because usually the readers have no understanding of the Yoruba culture or a similar culture before reading the play (Teaching). Some information taken in prior to reading the play would go a long way in understanding the play as a whole.
The Egungun: The Costume and the Ritual in. Death and The King’s Horseman. In Wole Soyinka’s play Death and the King’s Horseman, the reader is immersed into Yoruba culture and traditions from the Yoruba mindset, and how it differs from the colonial district officer side. The play describes the struggle of Elesin, the king’s horseman with suicide.
Amusa tries to talk to the Pilkings about Elesin’s ritual suicide that is coming soon. As part of the notes of what the character is doing Amusa “retreats slowly, open-mouthed as Pilkings approaches the verandah” (Soyinka 24). The Pilkings are wearing the egungun, which Amusa states that “it belong to death cult, not for human being” (Soyinka 24).
The appearance of the egungun was a sign of celebration that goes on for several days (Egungun Masquerade). The goal of the egungun is to unite those who have departed the earth with those who still inhabit it. This costume is a lot more important to the Yoruba people than to the Pilkings.
Amusa fears the ramifications of talking about the dead to the dead. The egungun represents death in a way to the Yoruba culture. The Yoruba material culture of the play helps illuminate why the egungun is so significant to Amusa and others that see the Pilkings couple wear the masquerade like it’s any old costume with no sacred value or meaning.
Jane believes that because Amusa is fulfilling his job, that he has let go entirely of everything in his culture that he grew up in. The background of the egungun is helpful to any reader to have a level of understanding of the Yoruba material culture.
The egungun in the play showcases the religious nature of the Yoruba people. The egungun is a visible representation of spirits or ancestors (Egungun Masquerade). It is made up of many different materials like cloth, beads, and shells (Egungun Masquerade). Only the best materials are used for the costume as the costume is to include “potent ...
A large part of what makes this play such a thought-provoking piece is the rich Yoruban culture that surrounds the story. Much of the culture comes from material possessions, such as fabric, costumes, and sacred religious items. There are two religious items that are mentioned in the play, an opele and a sigidi. Interestingly, both items are revealed amidst Elesin’s Not-I bird allegory. Exploring the cultural meaning of the opele and sigidi, in terms of Ifa, help to illuminate the…
There are two religious items that are mentioned in the play, an opele and a sigidi. Interestingly, both items are revealed amidst Elesin’s Not-I bird allegory. Exploring the cultural meaning of the opele and sigidi, in terms of Ifa, help to illuminate the….
The African world-view in Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman In his play, Death and the King's Horseman, Wole Soyinka uses certain literary forms and devices to intermix Yoruba culture and a predominantly European dramatic form to create a play easily understood by the audience, but that allows the introduction of a foreign influence. These devices include the use of a songlike quality in dialogue and the telling of stories, the use of personification and metaphor to give
Death and the King's Horseman is an interesting play because it brings forward the culture of the Africans, specifically the Yoruba tribe, to the attention of the reader that most probably come from a different background. There are many ways to read this play for example, it may appears uneventful to some reader who only reads the play literally as an entertainment but if the reader looks at this play as some cultural study then the theme of understanding will surely be obvious and the reading will be a tougher task as there are many things that must be taken into consideration such as the "clash of cultures" (Soyinka 3) and "threnodic essence" (Soyinka 3), which is the main theme of the play. Cultural tension between the Western culture and the Yoruba's culture can be felt throughout the play because the writer always draws the attention of the reader to understand another's culture (Yoruba's culture) from a perspective of a different culture ( Western culture) in the play. The struggle between the Westerners and the Africans to understand each other can be seen from the beginning to the end of the play. Regardless of Soyinka's claim in the Author's Note against the reader who would read the Death and the King's Horseman as "clash of cultures", which consequently makes them ignorant to the "threnodic essence" that discusses about the idea of death in the Yoruba's culture - which is the main theme that Soyinka wants to bring forward to the reader, the reader must not ignore
Ahamed The purpose of the present paper is to investigate Wole Soyinka's attempt to establish an identity for his postcolonial Nigeria as explored in his play Death and the King's Horseman. In fact, on studying this play, most of the researchers have focused on hybridity or the hybrid protagonist, mimicry or the mimic man as well as the structure of the play. Bernard Ayo Oniwe, for
Wole Soyinka’s play, The Road, touches upon on varied issues prevalent in society. Culture, society, humanity, spiritualism and religion are some of the issues focussed upon. Life’s meaninglessness and absurdity in a postcolonial world forms the hoof of human character. It results in linguistic, mental and spiritual alienation of modern man. Quintessential man holds on to the contents within his reach. The transition is the only source on which he keeps the foothold. This paper is an effort to throw
Accompanied by his drummers and Praise Singer, Elesin Oba is following his dead lord, he is on his way to commit suicide. The protagonist’s entry involves drummers and praise-singers. When the play opens his dance is “no longer of this earth” (Six Plays 146). The opening scene presents the Yoruba as a people who have had a vision of
“From a Crooked Rib” (1970) deals with themes of post-colonial identity and war. Wole Soyinka (1934), Nobel Prize winner in literature, in his novels such as ‘King’s Horseman’ and ‘The Years of Childhood and Death’ portrays his life experiences and thoughts about Africa as well as Nigeria. Femi Osofisan’s (1945) including poems, plays and novels are informed by colonialism and its legacy, and is a rich protest against injustice and corruption. His first novel, “Kolera Kolej” (1975) tells the story
the horseman of an important chief was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In addition to the British intervention, Soyinka calls the horseman's own conviction toward suicide into question, posing a problem that throws off the community's balance.
When the play opens, we learn that our protagonist is a dead man walking. According to tradition, as the late king's horseman, Elesin must now commit suicide to join his king. The entire play revolves around his preparations for this event… and the attempts of local British authorities to derail it, of course.
Jane is married to Simon Pilkings, the District Manager in the area where the play takes place. Like her husband, she is well meaning but more than a little clueless about the culture and customs of the indigenous folks where they live.