Death and the King's Horseman

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1975

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Summary

Background

Act Summaries & Analyses

Acts I-III

Acts IV-V

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Themes

Cultural Conflict and the Impact of Colonialism

Content Warning: This section of the study guide references ritual suicide.

Preceding Death and the King’s Horseman is an author’s note in which Soyinka argues against the “reductionist tendency” of using “the facile tag of ‘clash of cultures’” to understand the play’s conflict (5). Instead, Soyinka writes, “The Colonial Factor is an incident, a catalytic incident merely” (6), and the focus should remain on the “threnodic essence” of Elesin’s struggle to come to terms with his mortality. Although cultural differences might not be the ultimate cause of the play’s tragedy, the theme of cultural conflict and the impact of colonialism still drives much of the play’s action. It creates tension as Pilkings tries to stop Elesin’s suicide, and the play’s setting in colonial Nigeria during World War II illustrates the many issues with and contradictions of colonialism.

In Death and the King’s Horseman, characters can be divided into three categories: the British, the Yoruba, and the Yoruba characters like Amusa and Joseph, who have tried assimilating into British culture. Paradoxically, Amusa and Joseph have not succeeded in becoming any more British; rather, they have created a third category, distinct and distanced from both the British and the Yoruba. Amusa is shunned, mocked, and emasculated by the women at the market, who call him “the eater of white left-overs” (39). However, he also incurs Pilkings’s frustration for still being afraid of the traditional costumes he and Jane wear. Through the interactions between these three sets of characters, the play suggests that colonialism causes more division and chaos rather than bringing order and so-called civility.

Throughout the play, some characters try to cross the cultural bridge and understand one another. However, these efforts largely come to dead ends and don’t seem to result in any meaningful connection. Jane asks Joseph questions about local customs and proves herself more understanding than her husband on several occasions. She even asks Olunde to help her understand his acceptance of his father’s death despite her initial reaction of horror, admitting to “the many things [the British] don’t really grasp about [Yoruba] people” (56). However, she still laughs at Amusa’s fear of the costumes, and her first reaction to Olunde’s callousness is to call him a “savage like all the rest” (55), suggesting that her racist beliefs of British superiority remain deeply ingrained.

After four years living in England, Olunde illustrates the most cross-cultural understanding, but he disappoints Jane with his critique of colonialism and British excellence. He returns surer of his Yoruba beliefs than ever, telling Jane: “I saw nothing, finally, that gave [the British] the right to pass judgment on other people and their ways” (54). Olunde’s ability to critique both British and Yoruba culture and find nether inherently superior illustrates the ultimate fallacy of colonial thinking.

Death and Mortality

From the very title of the play, death and mortality play an important role. As the name suggests, Death and the King’s Horseman explores Elesin’s relationship with death and the struggle he faces when it is time to let go. According to Soyinka, the play is “metaphysical” in nature, exploring “the world of the living, the dead and the unborn, and the numinous passage which links all: transition” (6). The play tells the story of Elesin’s interrupted transition as he clings too firmly to life.

At the start of the play, the Yoruba king has been dead for a month, the appointed period to arrange the funeral rituals. After having 30 days to prepare, the time has come for Elesin to follow his king to the afterlife. Although he claims to be ready, Elesin’s behavior leading up to the ceremony suggests that he is more attached to life than he would like to believe. These ties to life are best represented through Elesin’s love of physical pleasures. As the king’s horseman, he enjoyed almost unfettered access to beautiful women, delicious food, and fine clothing. The Praise-Singer describes his reputation as a “snake-on-the-loose in dark passages of the market” (19), and Elesin maintains this attitude in his final hours, teasing the market women, wearing fancy clothes, and even taking a new wife. In his attempt to live life to the fullest right up until the moment of his death, Elesin connects himself more firmly to the land of the living, thus failing to die at the appointed time. Later, in his cell, he reflects that the “warmth and youth” of his bride “brought new insights of this world […] and turned [his] feet leaden on this side of the abyss” (65).

The play also explores the different relationships that the Yoruba and British have with death. When speaking to Jane, Olunde praises a captain who blew himself up with his ship to protect innocent people on shore. He calls the sacrifice “an affirmative commentary on life,” but Jane argues that this point of view is “nonsense,” suggesting instead that “life should never be thrown away deliberately” (51). This conflict illustrates the difference in opinion that causes Pilkings to interfere with Elesin’s suicide. The Yoruba believe death is honorable and sometimes sacrifice is necessary for the greater good. Olunde argues that his father will receive “the honor and veneration of his own people” in death (53), a gift greater than any he could have in life. Pilkings, on the other hand, cannot conceptualize death as positive. He holds on to an individualist British viewpoint, believing that saving a life is inherently good.

Duty and Failure

In Death and the King’s Horseman, the characters are bound by conflicting senses of responsibility. Elesin’s duty as the king’s horseman involves death by ritual suicide and following his king into the afterlife. Pilkings, acting under the British crown’s command, is responsible for imposing Western cultural norms and stomping out “barbaric” local customs, like Elesin’s suicide. This conflict of cultural ideals places the characters at odds with one another; however, both men are ultimately undermined not by their differences but by selfishness hidden beneath the veneer of honorability. The tragedy of the play lies in both men’s failure to act in accordance with the greater good, abandoning their duty when it matters most.

Elesin’s life is defined by his duty as the king’s horseman. He is considered an honorable man in his community, and he enjoys the veneration he receives and the benefits associated with his position, including access to beautiful women and elegant clothing. However, the respect that Elesin is granted comes with the assurance that he will fulfill his duty and die with the king, thereby avoiding an unspecified disaster for the Yoruba people. As his final hours approach, it becomes apparent that Elesin is not as committed to his duty as his community believes. He selfishly takes the young woman promised to Iyaloja’s son for himself, using the promise of his impending suicide to his benefit and claiming he “deserve[s] a bed of honor” (20) in his final hours. Later, faced with the shame of failing in his duty, Elesin refuses to take responsibility, blaming Pilkings’s interruption and suggesting that sex with his new wife tied him too strongly to the world of the living.

Like Elesin, Pilkings thinks of himself as an honorable man, but when his responsibility becomes difficult, he fails to show conviction. When Amusa arrives with news of Elesin’s ritual, Pilkings is annoyed that the ceremony is interrupting his party. Furthermore, he is frustrated that the local population is causing trouble when the Prince is in town, making it look like Pilkings doesn’t have control over his jurisdiction. Although he claims that saving Elesin’s life is his “duty,” he seems to be motivated more by a desire to make a good impression on the Prince rather than true belief in his duty. The actual well-being of the colony and the colonial mission seem to hold little interest for Pilkings. He openly scoffs at Joseph’s conviction toward “that holy water nonsense” (30), suggesting that he doesn’t care what the Yoruba population does or does not believe as long as it doesn’t reflect poorly on him.

Of all the characters, Olunde holds the strongest sense of honor and duty. Despite his time in England, Olunde’s feeling of responsibility toward his people has only strengthened, and he sacrifices himself without hesitation to right the imbalance Elesin created. Olunde’s suicide suggests another failure by Pilkings and the colonial government: His medical training and exposure to British culture were meant to separate Olunde from his Yoruba roots, but it had the opposite effect, instead strengthening the young man’s commitment to his traditional cultural ways.