Ready Reference Treatise: Death and the King's Horseman

By Raja Sharma

“Death and the King’s Horseman” by Wole Soyinka was first published in 1975. The story of the play is based on a real incident.

The incident had taken place in Nigeria during the British colonial rule. There was an important native chief who was going to commit ritual suicide, but he was prevented from doing so by the colonial authorities.

On one hand, the authorities prevented him from committing suicide, but on the other hand, the chief’s own intention comes under question in the play. Thus a problem is posed before the community, and it disturbs the community’s balance.

Ready Reference Treatise: Death and the King's Horseman
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Act One
Act Two
Act Three
Act Four
Act Five
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Feb 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310178627

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: Death and the King's Horseman

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Death and the King's Horseman

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka was first published in 1975. The story of the play is based on a real incident.

The incident had taken place in Nigeria during the British colonial rule. There was an important native chief who was going to commit ritual suicide, but he was prevented from doing so by the colonial authorities.

On one hand, the authorities prevented him from committing suicide, but on the other hand, the chief’s own intention comes under question in the play. Thus a problem is posed before the community, and it disturbs the community’s balance.

Wole Soyinka had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Death and the King’s Horseman is said to be the Wole Soyinka’s greatest and most enduring work.

The play has been staged worldwide. It has been included in the course of studies at several schools and colleges. The play is frequently performed at several schools and colleges around the world.

It is said that Wole Soyinka had started writing the play when he was a fellow at Cambridge in the early 1970s. The events described in the play had really taken place in Oyo, an ancient Yoruba city of Nigeria, in 1946.

Death and the King’s Horseman is a five-act play. The play is to be performed without an intermission or break.

Since the play presents a critical stance on imperialism, it is frequently admired by critics. The play provides insights into Yoruba religion and their rituals.

There are several characters who are very appropriately handled by the playwright. The prose writing is highly praiseworthy.

It is generally pointed out by several critics that Death and the King’s Horseman simply presents a ‘clash of cultures,’ but Soyinka does not agree with the critics.

In the prologue of the play, Wole Soyinka calls a ‘clash of cultures’ a ‘facile’ and ‘prejudicial’ idea.

Wole Soyinka claimed that, Death and the King’s Horseman presupposes a potential equality in every given situation of the alien culture and the indigenous, on the actual soil