Death And The King's Horsemen Summary

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Recommended: Art & literature of Yoruba culture

The play Death and the King’s Horsemen takes place in British occupied Oyo, Nigeria in 1946 and is based on actual events during this time about the Yoruba people. Wole Soyinka, who was born into a Yoruba family and was very politically active, wrote the play in 1975. During this time the play takes place Nigeria is occupied by the British and over seen by the British Colonial Administration. Oyo is an ancient city in Nigeria that was also occupied by the British and home to the Yoruba tribe. The events of the play are based off of Yoruba cosmology beliefs of the three worlds. Yoruba’s believe that there are three worlds and these worlds are: the world of the living, the world of the dead, and the world of the unborn. This play focuses on the connection of these three worlds and the transition between the worlds.
In Yoruba tradition after a death of a king it must be followed by a ritual suicide of the king’s horsemen. This is essential for the king’s spirit to transfer from the world of the living into the world of the dead peacefully. If the king’s spirit is not accompanied by the king’s horsemen’s soul the king’s spirit will stay in the world of the living and harm the Yoruba people. The play begins with the ritual burial ceremony of the king. Elesin, the king’s horsemen, is dressed in elegant robes and enters the marketplace with a big dance; this dance symbolizes the transition between the two worlds. Elesin then reads poetry and songs about the world of the ancestors and the connectedness of the three worlds, after this is when Elesin is suppose to committee suicide.
This belief of the spirits transforming worlds and the rituals of how this is possible is an institution of religion. The ritual suicide is like the sacrifice...

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...lesin is expected to follow. The Yoruba people value honor, to have honor in ones family, in ones self, and in ones tribe.
The play Death and the King’s Horseman is an appropriate reflection of the Yoruba people and their values. They value the tradition of their beliefs, for example the rituals involved with the passing of the king’s spirit into the world of the dead. The Yoruba people also believe in honor, the honor of yourself, your family, and your tribe. Wole uses the British officers to show the contrasted of beliefs and the dilemma involved lack of respect and understanding. We see through the British officer that he does not understand or respect the Yoruba people and because of that the officer corrupts the ritual and causes the son’s sacrifice, Elesin’s degraded in the next world, and possibly the king not being about to pass to the world of the dead.

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