Web Info

Many aspects of Soyinka’s play, Death and the King’s Horesman, were exemplified in Ladipo’s play, Oba Waja also known as The King is Dead. Such aspects include gender roles, traditions, and tragic action.

These factors were treated and viewed very much the same in some parts of the plays in comparison to other parts. In other instances there are differences between the plays that come across as significant variances defining the customization of each play.

A major feature of both plays is the presence of prominent gender roles. These were often defined by the women in the play rather than the men.

The women in The Death and a King’s Horseman were bold and with-power, as were the woman The King is Dead. They were insistent on having their way fulfilled. Due to their position of power and influence, they treated the men accordingly.

This phenomenon is clearly seen on Act Three of Death and the King’s Horseman.

The scene with Amusa trying to get past the women speaks volumes of the women’s power.
They bombarded Amusa, blocking his way and speaking to him inappropriately in accordance with his position as an officer.

The women ridiculed Amusa and blocked his way. Seemingly there was nothing Amusa could do about it. Such occurrences showed the fearlessness of the women as well as their firm confidence in their position.

They harassed an officer with no repercussions showing that the women were in a safe position of influence. In Death and the King’s Horesman, the women show their influence more significantly and straightforwardly than in The King is Dead.

The women kept showing up at important moments with incentives and motivations which were voiced publicly and without shame.

It is obvious the culture the women assume can be seen when looking at the girls in Death and the King’s Horesman.

The girls help the woman ridicule Amusa. Their display of impoliteness towards Amusa who is a man and an officer shows their cockiness in their position as upcoming women. They were not afraid or even humiliated to speak to Amusa the way they did.

The district officer’s wife, Jane, also plays an important role in both plays. However, she is treated differently in the plays.

In Death of a King’s Horseman she is somewhat subdued by her husband who is influenced by her but keeps telling her not to interfere. The contrast of Jane who is one woman and the women of the market is great. They hold their power strong and above their heads whereas she holds her power non-confidently.

In The King is Dead, Jane is more confident. She is more straightforward and powerful. She is the one who drives her husband, the District Officer to commit the actions that he did. He listens to her as Elesin listened to Iyaloja in Death of the King’s Horseman.

Traditions are shown in both plays differently and with different intensity. In Death of a King’s Horseman the traditions seem to be strong within the community.

They are viewed as important and nonflexible. But in The King is Dead, the traditions are not very deeply rooted.

This is shown by Elesin’s actions in the play. After the district officer tells him he must not commit suicide he backs down.

Perhaps his mind was not made up to follow tradition but rather he was encouraged by the people. He did not want to commit suicide and die. He was happy to live unlike Elesin in Death and the King’s Horseman.

Tragic action comes in the same forms in both plays. Elesin’s son is ashamed of his father in both plays.

He enters the play thinking his father is dead and when he finds out that he is not, he is shamed. Both Elesin and his son kill themselves in both plays.

But the difference in the plays, as far as tragic action is the reasons behind the action. In Death and the King’s Horseman, Elesin wanted to kill himself all along. Where as, in The King is Dead, Elesin was happy not to die. In the end, he kills himself because he sees his son has killed himself. Therefore, he feels shamed and thinks he should die.

The two plays are similar in plot but different in many other aspects. Upon closer look on can see that the plays exemplify different viewpoints about the many factors included as their themes.