Death and the King’s Horseman

by Wole Soyinka

Estaris, Rj Catala BSMT 2- Altair

Singuillo, Jayland
 A. SUMMARY

Death and the King’s Horseman, presents a representation of the Yoruba worldview. In Yoruba
cosmology, there are three worlds: the world of the living, the world of the dead, and the world of the
unborn. This play focuses on what connects all three worlds transition, the pathway on which members of
the different worlds meet and interact.

The opening of the play involves the ritual ceremonies for the burial of a dead king. Elesin, the king’s
horseman, attired in glorious robes, enters the village marketplace in a majestic dance procession,
followed by praise-singers and drummers. Elesin dances until he is in a trance, a state of transition. He
performs poetry and song about the world of the ancestors and the connectedness of the three worlds.

The purpose of this ceremony is to help the dead king travel peacefully to the world of the dead. It should
conclude with the suicide of Elesin, whose soul will accompany the king’s. Elesin sees a beautiful woman
in the crowd and demands one night of love with her before he dies. Iyaloja, the mother of the
marketplace, reluctantly agrees.

Also in the village is the British colonial district officer, Pilking. He is well-meaning but unable to
understand or respect the Yoruban people. He also performs a dance at a gathering of his own people—a
mocking imitation of an African dance in captured regalia. When Pilking hears of Elesin’s intention to
die, he has him arrested to prevent it.

Soyinka makes it clear in his preface that this is not a mere clash of cultures; this is not simply a case of
the white colonialist interfering with native culture. Elesin has failed to perform his duty, and his failure
has cosmic significance. The white officer is a catalyst, but he cannot otherwise affect the village. The
cosmic world is untouched by colonialism and materialism.

Elesin’s son Olunde, a doctor, returns from England. He has heard of the king’s death and assumes that
his father’s death is near. Olunde reveres native culture and has had wide experience of Western culture.
He tries unsuccessfully to make Pilking understand Yoruban belief. Ashamed to see his father’s failure,
he kills himself in Elesin’s place.

When Elesin sees his son’s body, he takes his own life. This suicide is the result of shame, however, not
duty, and it cannot repair the bonds that have been broken. The young bride, pregnant from her one night
with Elesin, appears. She ritually closes her husband’s eyes as Iyaloja says, “Now forget the dead, and
forget even the living. Turn your mind only to the unborn.”
 B. ELEMENTS

PLOT

Death and the King's Horseman builds upon the true story on which Soyinka based the play , to
focus on the character of Elesin, the King's Horseman of the title. According to Yoruba tradition, the
death of the king must be followed by the ritual death of the king's horseman as well as the king's dog and
horse, because the horseman's spirit is essential to helping the chief's spirit ascend to the afterlife.
Otherwise, the king's spirit will wander the earth and bring harm to the Yoruba people. The first half of
the play documents the process of this ritual, with the potent, life-loving figure Elesin living out his final
day in celebration before the ritual process begins. At the last minute, the local British colonial ruler,
Simon Pilkings, intervenes, the suicide being viewed as barbaric and illegal by the British authorities.

In the play, the result for the community is catastrophic, as the breaking of the ritual means the disruption
of the cosmic order of the universe and thus the well-being and future of the collectivity is in doubt. The
community blames Elesin as much as Pilkings, accusing him of being too attached to the earth to fulfill
his spiritual obligations. Events lead to tragedy when Elesin's son, Olunde, who has returned
to Nigeria from studying medicine in Europe, takes on the responsibility of his father and commits ritual
suicide in his place so as to restore the honour of his family and the order of the universe. Consequently,
Elesin kills himself, condemning his soul to a degraded existence in the next world.

CHARACTERS

Elesin Oba- is a dead man walking.

Simon Pilkings- is a local District Officer in Nigeria. Apparently part of his job is maintaining the
law and order, which means interfering with Elesin's plan to commit ritual suicide.

Jane Pilkings- married to Simon Pilkings

Olunde- Elesin’s eldest son

Iyaloja- She is known as the "Mother of the Market"

SETTING

Death and the King's Horseman takes place in the Nigerian town of Oyo.

TONE

The tone is ironic and more on tragedy. In the first and third acts it is ritualistic, and vibrant. In
acts two and four it is getting intense and ironic. In act five it is mournful, ironic, and bittersweet.

POINT OF VIEW

Death and the King's Horseman is written in a third person point of view.
THEME

Death and the King's Horseman focus on a ritual suicide, so it shouldn't come as a shock that
death plays a big role. Soyinka himself has argued that spiritual struggles including Elesin's attempts to
carry out his duty by dying are at the heart of the play, and judging from what characters like Olunde and
Jane Pilkings have to say. Death is a very different animal in British and Yoruban cultures.

CONFLICT

The conflict of this story is introduced in Scenes 2 and 3 of this masterful tragedy between
Yoruba culture and Western culture. This of course finds its strongest expression in Elesin's planned
suicide, which is seen as being a necessary duty for the king's horseman to carry out after the death of his
king. However, to Pilkings, suicide is something that is "illegal" under British rule, and therefore is
something that has to be prevented. Above all, the arrogance of the British colonial powers is introduced
through the character of Pilkings, who, in front of his native house-boy, calls the Yoruba "sly, devious
bastards" because they, from his perspective, continue to practice traditional tribal practices like the
suicide of the King's Horseman whilst also suggesting that they have become more "civilized" through
contact with the British.

SYMBOL

One main symbol in the novel, Death and the King's Horseman, is that of the ship and its captain,
which symbolizes the sacrifice the King's horsemen will make for his people.

C. Does this piece reflect issues of society of humanity?

Death and the King's Horseman is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in
Nigeria during British colonial rule: the horseman of a Yoruba King 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. It is indeed a presentation of an issue within the society and humanity. The literary
piece is a manifestation of the imbalance that occurs within the society especially on the recognition of
man about his fellow human beings. This reflects a certain reality regarding the presence of apartheid in
Africa and the quest for equality among black and white people, among those who are colonizers and
native people. One of the important thing about the literary piece is the plight of the African tribe for a
more equal and justified treatment about the human person. This issue even though quite different from
the past is still exists in various countries in the world. Man as he continues to strive for his existence also
fights and struggles about the degrading system in our society today. Equality is still the plight of
everybody in different areas of his or her existence and this is an issue that must be given us attention
response and dedication.