CHAPTER-II

PLAYS OF WOLE SOYINKA

1) THE SWAMP DWELLERS

Born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, and shortly famed as Wole Soyinka, Soyinka was

domiciled in Nigeria. He is the pride of Nigerian nations and occupied a major place in the

history of African literature in general and African drama in particular. A Yoruba by birth,

Soyinka has been enjoying wide acclaim as a poet, novelist, scriptwriter, critic and

playwright. An imaginative thinker, Soyinka is committed to the task of retaining his artistic

values to change the destiny of his people and the society.

One of the most significant problems facing Africa is the fact that the forces of change

which have promoted economic and technological advancements have also caused the

adulteration of traditional culture and values and the encroachment of more modern, more

western ones. Urban centers have been affected most, and the rural areas remain tradition's

last stronghold. Many African writers have addressed the advantages and disadvantages of

this trend in their works and Soyinka is no exception.

“Soyinka makes much use of traditional African myths form and ideas of Yoruba

Culture to capture the spirit of the native atmosphere. It is the large body of Yoruba myths,

tales, songs, proverbs, chants, and most of all rituals, embody a specific ontological and

epistemological system, which frames Soyinka’s writings” (Roy17).

Similar to other post-colonial writers in Africa, Soyinka creates new reference points

for African culture from within the culture itself. To address contemporary issues, Soyinka

creates rich layers of images and symbols, drawn from his nature culture. His use of language

is “Yorubised English”, rich with Yoruba expressions, songs, proverbs, and myths. To state

the words of Msiska “For Soyinka, writing is inextricably linked with the effort to createa

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just and democratic society in post-colonial Africa” (Roy1).

Soyinka’s theatre is firmly built on a reverse critique of the craving for power, as it

brings the indigenous values and myths to play as counteractive force for the colonising

societies. The realistic portrayal of African tradition and culture can be witnessed in the three

plays of Soyinka namely The Swamp Dwellers, The Lion and the Jewel and Kongis Harvest.

For more than a half century the poems, plays and novels of Chinua Achebe and

Wole Soyinka, the distinguished writers from Nigeria have defined African literature. Born

just four years apart, the two Nigerian writers have led a similar yet distinct life

simultaneously. Though their origins are different within Nigeria- Achebe, Igbo and Soyinka,

Yoruba, both have had common experiences in their lives and careers. They share an index of

national historical phenomena, from the history of colonisation and independence which

came to Nigeria in 1960. Both experienced continued political struggles against dictatorships

and through civil war tried to set their countrymen free from the clutches of British

hegemony, finally leading to their exile. Both Achebe and Soyinka grew up in Christian

households where they formed a sought of hybrid identity that fused the Christianity of their

fathers with the Igbo and Yoruba culture of their grandfathers and ancestors. Most markedly

both writers have chosen English as their language of expression.

The African writers very especially Soyinka, like any other dramatists of the colonial

or subordinate culture, tries to recuperate and reinterpret their own histories. They fused the

elements of western drama with the native models and Soyinka’s name stands high and most

prominent of the dramatists to use such fusions to produce intellectual and aesthetic effect.

His education in Nigeria and England made him familiar with both western and African

cultures and hence he was influenced by native and European theatres.

The way in which the writers use indigenous culture to overcome the burden of

colonisation depends on the stylistic devices used by the colonial writer in his works. One of

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the main tools used for self-assertion is the mobilization of culture and tradition. It is believed

that culture and tradition of a particular community brings about social transformation and

regenerates a marginalized culture. Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth points out

culture to be the major site where psychological and spiritual freedom might be won.

According to Fanon, the colonized should get rid of the white man’s values from their system

by making use of their own cultural resources.

Soyinka the recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1986 was the first African to

be honored with this highest accolade. Many laurels had been acquired by Soyinka for his

contributions to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the

exchange of knowledge between peoples. The award recognized Soyinka’s artistic

commitment to render the full complexity of his African culture- a culture that Soyinka

feltthat has been reduced in the West to a flat symbol of primitiveness. He wrote his works

with the intention of combining Europe antheatrical traditions with those of his Yoruba

cultural heritage. Reed Way Dasenbrock writes that the award of the Nobel Prize in literature

to Soyinka is; “The first Nobel prize awarded to an African writer or to any writer from the

new literatures in English that have emerged in the former colonies of the British Empire”.

Internationally celebrated as a playwright of exceptional talent, Soyinka’s works

engage in social critique on many levels, and is often concerned with bringing to light

corruption and contradiction found throughout Nigerian society, including both traditional

and western worldviews. At the simple level the play deals with the depiction of Yoruba

culture which Soyinka renders aesthetically. He relies on Yoruba rituals and traditional

sources for composing the play.Among the various tribes mentioned in Nigeria, one of

interest is the Yoruba tribe. This is for the basic reason that Wole Soyinka belongs to this

tribe and more importantly; Soyinka’s plays revolve around depicting the ways of this tribe.

Therefore, for a better understanding of his plays, it is necessary to know the details of this

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tribe.

The Yoruba tribe is one of the three largest ethnic groups of Nigeria. It is believed

that their primary descendants came from Egypt and were the Oduduwa. This assumption is

based on the resemblance of sculptures found in Egypt and the sculptures found in the

mythological center of Yoruban life, in the city of Ife. According to their myths, their

founders were the sons of Oduduwa. The Yoruba still refer to themselves as "the children of

Oduduwa." When he died, his property was divided up among his seven sons, and the tribe

grew in after a period of wars. Even though they had a common origin, religion, and culture

they never combined into a single political organization.

The myth of the origin of the Yoruba tribe is interesting. It goes like this: Oshanala,

god of white and creativity was given a iron chain, some earth in a snail shell, a five toed

chicken, and a chameleon by Olodumare, the creator. Out of that he told him to climb down

the chain and create earth. As he walked toward the gate of heaven, he saw some people

having a party. They offered him some wine. He drank too much and fell asleep. Oduduwa,

Oshanala's younger brother had heard the instructions. When he saw his brother sleeping, he

took the things and went to the edge of heaven and let the chain down. He put the earth on

the water and placed the five toed chicken upon it. The chicken scratched the earth in all

directions. Then Oduduwa placed the chameleon on the earth to test its strength. When it was

finished, he stepped upon the earth and made his home there. This myth does not explain how

the Yoruba came into being. It rather explains their customs and beliefs on creation. The

Yoruba myths bring a sense of unity to the people of their tribe, although all the kings or

Obas as they are called claim to be descendants of Oduduwa.

A reading of Soyinka’s plays reveals that he goes beyond the definite social and

political situation to a fundamental concern for the quality of human existence. His plays deal

with problems, which nagged the African society as a result of transformation that overtook

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the post-independence Nigeria. His writings are directed against society itself and its power

structures. He uses drama to register his dissatisfaction with the society. He is a radical who is

not particularly satisfied with the political authority in his country and an idealist who is

highly critical of the social order. He uses his plays as a vehicle to show his feelings and uses

it as an instrument to bring about social change.

The Swamp Dwellers reflects the life of the people of southern Nigeria. The playis a

close insight into the pattern of life in the isolated villages of the African countryside as well

as an existential study of the humble folk who face rigours of life without any hope for

succor. Soyinka focuses on the struggle between the old and the new ways of life in Africa

and a picture of the cohesion that existed between the individual and southern Nigerian

society. The conflict between tradition and modernity is mirrored in the socio- cultural

pattern, the sufferings and pain of the swamp dwellers and throws light on the need for

assimilating new ideas.

In the African society this conflict between tradition and modernism is a deep one.

The African society is communal whereas the Western society is individualistic. Africa

emerging from the cocoon of colonialism, found itself in the grip of certain western ideas.

The ideas were progressive but the coalition of the two strands of culture became a painful

experience. This led to a distinction between the modern and the traditional. People in the

period of transition are caught in a whirlpool. They are between the anvil and the hammer,

and are engaged in the shaping of a new life. The protagonist waits for the opportune moment

to strike the right chord, but sometimes he does not succeed. Soyinka, in his writings, wants

to communicate some message. His reactions are not class based- he is only interested in the

shaping of the human psyche. The power to change the course of mankind is in the hands of

leaders and strong men. These men sometimes make decisions prompted by their self-will

and petty interests, rather than the high-minded considerations for the welfare of the society.

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Soyinka’s plays have for their background that sensitive period which is called the

transitional period. Africa was ravaged by colonialism and it was passing through a socio-

economic stage, which produced the protagonists’ who tread the path of progress and attempt

to rouse the conscience of the people in their society. The Professor, Kamini, Kongi, Baroka

and Bero are some of the protagonists in his plays who are interested in their own welfare

whereas Igweju, Lakunle, Eman and Olunde are among those who have the welfare of the

society uppermost in their mind. They assert their will in order to rehabilitate the society, to

make it a better place to live in. We can see the reflection of this transition in many of his

play.

The Swamp Dwellers is set in a hidebound, traditional Ijaw village in the coastal

swamps of Southern Nigeria. Because of its adherence to tradition, the village has proved

resistant to the forces of change in the past. However, its ver y existence is now threatened

because it is being drained of its youth, who are immigrating to the city. Two of the play’s

principal characters are migrants. The blind beggar is a rural-rural migrant from the Hausa

tribe who emigrates from the dry north to the coastal village. Igwezu, on the other hand, had

immigrated from the coastal village to the city but has just returned to the village. The world

of the play is a dark one in which the characters are forced to either live under the tyranny of

the exploitative and regressive traditional Serpent religion or escape to the city where they

live under the tyranny of a new, dehumanizing and cruel religion, materialism. The

traditionalist protagonist, Igwezu, becomes a victim of the city’s religion and in despair

returns home to an environ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. However,

his experiences in the city have made him cynical and less trusting, so when he finds he has

been betrayed by the Serpent, he finally sees the religion for it is mere exploitative

superstition. With the help of the Muslim blind beggar, who has only the Serpent religion

standing between him and his dream of independence, Igwezu is finally able to repudiate the

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village's false god. The play opens with the aged and bickering couple, Makuri and Alu,

waiting for their son, Igwezu, to return from inspecting his ruined crops. While discussing

their past, Makuri speaks of the sexual virility he possessed as a young man. In fact, it was

because of his sexual prowess that he was able to keep the beautiful Alu, whom the traders

tried to seduce into leaving the village:

Makuri: . . . Those traders— every one of them wanted you to go back with him;

promised he'd make y o u live like a lady, clothe you in silks and have servants to wait on

your smallest wants . . . You don't belong here, they used to tell you. Come back with us to

the city where men know the value of women . . . No, there was no doubt about it. You could

have had your choice of them. You turned their heads like a pot of cane brew. Alu begins to

smile in spite of herself.

Makuri's speech is more than an old man's reminiscence about his lost sexual prowess

and his wife's enduring fidelity. In this play in which Soyinka employs a series of

interconnected images and allusions, Makuri and Alu are not only representatives of the

older, hidebound, traditional generation. They are also symbols of tradition. Thus, Makuri's

speech is a nostalgic reflection on the great strength tradition used to possess and the older

generation's loyalty to the village. The traders in turn are symbols of change. The same way

Makuri's sexual prowess ensured that his wife could not be seduced by the traders; tradition's

strength ensured that his generation could not be seduced by forces of change into leaving the

village for the city. It is only appropriate that Makuri is n o w an old man, his virility a thing

of the past. Similarly, tradition is no longer virile enough to prevent Igwezu's generation from

being seduced into leaving for the city; Makuri: It ruins them. The city ruins them. What do

they seek there except money? They talk to the traders, and then they cannot sit still . . .

There was Gonushi's son for one left his wife and children . . . not a word to anyone. (The

swamp Dwellers, 87). Thus, like Makuri, tradition can only look on helplessly as its children

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are lured to the city by the same forces to which Alu's generation proved so resistant. Makuri

cannot understand why the situation has been reversed. As far as he is concerned, the city

offers a purely materialistic-the possibility for an individual to make money. Secondly, the

city not only lures the individual away from the community, but also, as in the case of

Gonushi's son, it often lures him away from his family as well. Thus migration breaks up the

family unit, the nucleus of traditional society, and substitute’s materialism for traditional

values. Yet the youth continue to leave until, as Igwezu puts its Igwezu: Only the children

and the old stay. . . Only the innocent and the dotards. (The swamp Dwellers, 112).Igwezu

could be seen as one of the "temporarily urbanized" migrants since he stayed in touch with

the village while he was in the city and has returned after only a few months to harvest his

crops. His twin brother, Awuchike, who had emigrated before him, is one of the "detribalized

natives" since he has cut off all ties with the village and has become wealthy in the city.

Although Makuri tries repeatedly to convince his wife of these facts out repeatedly to his

wife, Alu insists that Awuchike is dead. While anxiously waiting for Igwezu's return from his

farm, she has the following exchange with

Makuri: ALU; I'm going out to shout his name until he hears me. I had another son

before the mire drew him into the depths, I don't want Igwezu going the same way. Makuri

[follows her.]; you haven't lost a son yet in the slough, but you will soon if you don't stop

calling down calamities on their heads.

Alu; It's not what I say. The worst has happened already. Awuchike was drowned.

(The Swamp Dwellers, 83).

This extract reveals the traumatic effect the emigration of a loved one can have on a

family. Alu, apparently, cannot bring herself to accept that anything, even the mysterious

city, could make a man cut off all ties with his family and community. She prefers to think

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her son is dead. In a way she is right--Awuchike has immersed himself completely in the

society of the city and is dead to the village. Igwezu confirms this when he declares,

"Awuchike is dead to you and to this house. Let us not raise his ghost"(The Swamp Dwellers,

104).

There is metaphorical logic to Alu's insistence that the son she knows emigrated to the

city is dead in the swamp. The swamp is the abode of the mysterious Serpent that wields so

much influence over the village. The city in turn is a place of mystery that wields an

incomprehensible power over the youth. Thus, Alu speaks of the unfamiliar and

incomprehensible city in terms of the mysterious but more familiar swamp. The words

"slough" and "mire" which Makuri and Alu use interchangeably with "swamp" in the extract

are significant. While "swamp" is rather neutral, these words add additional dimensions to its

meaning. "Slough" suggests a strong relationship between the swamp and the Serpent that is

supposed to inhabit it. Thus, the swamp takes on deep religious significance. "Mire" suggests

that the swamp is a sinister, slimy pit capable of trapping and drowning anyone who strays on

to it.

The negative effect the city has on the emigrants makes the mire an apt metaphor for

the city. Awuchike has acquired considerable wealth in the city but when his twin brother

comes to him after losing all his money, he can only see an opportunity to make money. He

forces Igwezu to use his last possession, his farm, as security before he loans him money. He

then proceeds to seduce Igwezu's wife. In deep despair Igwezu asks his father for an

explanation; Igwezu; Father, Tell me father, is my brother a better man than I?

Makuri; No, son. His heart is only more suited to the city. (The Swamp Dwellers, 107).

In order to be capable of cutting off all ties with his family and community and treating his

brother the way he does, Awuchik e must be ruthless and hard - hearted. To seduce his own

brother's wife, he must be sorely lacking in morals. These, apparently, are the characteristics

which make up a "city heart," which ensure that one thrives in the city. Therefore, emigrants

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like Awuchike are sucked into the mire that is the city and only by dying morally and

spiritually do they prosper in the heart less, ma terialistic city society. Soyinka obviously

means to have the audience note the contrast between Makuri's and Awuchike’s generations.

Makuri and Alu's fidelity to each other and their kindness 'and generosity to strangers are

qualities which have their basis in tradition. The way Awuchike, Gonushi's son and Igwezu's

wife behave is testimony to the fact that the younger generation seems to lose the moral fibre,

sense of decency, and loyalty that tradition imparts, when they leave the vi1lage. Igwezu,

however, is a model son and citizen, as Eldred Jones points out; Igwezu. . . is always looking

back to the village — to his parents , and to his farm which for him represents the last prop

when all else failed. His first act as soon as he has made a little money in the city is to send

his father a barber's chair which he had promised him when he left home — 'He's a man for

keeping his word.' He has religiously performed all the sacrifices required by the Priest of the

Serpent, he kept his mask in the village — a Concrete symbol of his spiritual attach ment —

indeed he is a model son and citizen. It is only appropriate that Igwezu fails miserably in the

city. Obviously, the fact that he is a traditional model son and citizen ensures Igwezu's failure

in a world where only those with a city heart thrive.The combination of his traumatic failure

in the city and the failure of the crops that were his last prop shocks Igwesu out of his

complacent adherence to traditional cultural values. Specifically, he begins to question the

validity of both the village's religion and the Kadiye or High Priest: Igwezu: The Kadiye. I

saw him when he entered this house, but I went away and continued my walk in the sw amps.

Makuri: You did? Igwezu: Yes, I did not trust myself. Makuri: You did not trust yourself?

Why? What has the Kadiye ever done to you? Igwezu: I do not know. At this moment, I do

not know. So perhaps it is as well he comes. Perhaps he can explain. Perhaps he can give

meaning to what seems dark and sour . . . When I met the harshness of the city, I did not

complain. When I felt the nakedness of its hostility, I accepted it… (The Swamp Dwellers,

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83).Thus, Igwezu can accep this failure in the city, which after all is a hostile, foreign

environment for him. What he cannot accept, although he can't yet articulate this, is the fact

that the Kadiye and the Serpent have betrayed him. Even though he had made all the

necessary sacrifices before leaving for the city, the Kadiye's assurance that he would thrive in

the city, that his marriage would be long, happy and fruitful and that his farm would not be

flooded have all proven false. The fact that it takes Igwezu some time to articulate his

religious skepticism is testimony to the strength of tradition. It is not easy for this model son

and citizen to conclude that the religion he had adhered to all his life is, in essence, mere

superstition. Yet it is essential that he come to this conclusion if he is to liberate himself from

a religion and a High Priest that not only deny the villagers any opportunity to advance

economically, but actually ensure that they can barely eke out a living. The village is situated

in the swamp so there is little arable land available, barely enough for the villagers to subsist

on. Yet the Serpent religion for bids the villagers from, reclaiming land from the swamp to

increase the meagre acreage they farm. Furthermore, of the little land that is arable, not all

can be cultivated since the Kadiye, supposedly acting on the dictates of the Serpent, limits the

size of individual farms. Also, the villagers have to make periodic sacrifices of grain, poultry

and cattle to appease the Serpent, In return for their compliance with all these demands and

acceptance of these restrictions, the Serpent is supposed to refrain from flooding the villagers

’ farms and grant their wishes. It is obviously a desire to escape these grim economic

conditions as much as the possibility of leading a more comfortable life in the city that

induces the younger generation to emigrate. Despite their compliance with the Serpent's

demands, the villagers’ farms continue to be flooded repeatedly. This is probably why even

the hidebound Makuri seems to have his doubts about the Serpent and the Kadiye. Although

he appears to be a devout believer and treats the Kadiye with reverence, his occasional slips

indicate that he has his reservations. At one point, he declares,"The Serpent is . . . Bah! You’ll

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make me voice a sacrilege before I can stop my tongue"(The Swamp Dwellers, 108-109).

One has to disagree with James Gibbs, who considers this a melodramatic scene.

Unless improperly handled, this scene provides a suspenseful, dramatic climax to the play.

The extract shows Igwezu employing the beggar's method of using incisive, rhetorical

questions to make his points. Igwezu's insinuation is that the Kadiye has grown fat by

keeping the villagers' sacrifices to the Serpent for himself. In the end, Igwezu attacks the

Serpent religion itself: Igwezu: If I slew the fatted calf, Kadiye, do you think the land might

breathe again? If I slew all the cattle in the land and sacrificed every measure of goodness,

would it make any difference to our fates? . . . I know that the floods can come again. That

the swamp will continue to laugh at our endeavors. I know that we can feed the Serpent of

the Swamp and kiss the Kadiye's feet-- but the vapours will still rise and corrupt the tassels of

the corn. (The Swamp Dwellers, 110). Here Igwezu repudiates the Serpent religion

completely. His questions and assertions in this extract could be interpreted in two different

ways. He might be saying that if there is a Serpent, and then both it and the Kadiye have

proven and will continue to be ineffective. It is more likely, however, that he is denying the

very existence of the Serpent. The only Serpent is the Kadiye. As Igwezu concludes shortly

after, "You lie upon the land, Kadiye, and choke it in the folds of a serpent"

Soyinka’s The Swamp Dwellers markedly examines the society in a state of change,

which extends beyond its apparent theme of rural decay. It is concerned primarily with the

social changes brought about by an easy access to sudden wealth. It demonstrates how easy

money destroys people and the society. The play comes to us essentially as an evocative

study in disappointment and frustration. In this play, the author shows us a lower class rural

community, which is disintegrating because the young, unable to accept poverty and hazard,

no longer have faith in its life or its narrow gods.

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 The play explores the theme of man’s misfortunes set against hostile nature- human

and physical. In the swamps, land is scarce. Although this village had earlier survived within

its strictly sanctioned borders without much threat from outside influences, now it seemed

impossible as these outside influences have begun to make steady encroachments and a crisis

has reached. There is a threat to the village as a majority of youth has been migrating to the

city. Alu and Makuri are witness to this migration as their two sons, Awuchike and Igweju,

have also migrated to the city. As Makuri, the father says: Those were the days...those days

were really good. Even when times were harsh and the swamps over ran the land, we were

able to laugh with the serpent...but these young people...they are no sooner born that they

want to get out of the village as if it carried a plague.... I bet none of them has ever taken his

women into the swamps. Awuchike, Makuri’s elder son, has, long ago, left for the city and

never returned. Igweju, the other son, too, had left the swamps to forget nature’s harshness

but he has been without success in the city, thus running into debt. The irony here is that

while Awuchike prospered, Igweju was ruined. When Igweju approached Awuchike for help,

the latter turned him out of his house. Thus, the disintegration of the society can be seen

where in a brother is driven against one’s own brother. Igweju is completely disenchanted and

so he blames the Kadiye (the priest): ...Perhaps he can give meaning to what seems dark and

sour. When I met with harshness in the city, I did not complain. When I felt the nakedness of

its hostility, I accepted it. When I saw its knife severs the ties of love of kinship, and turn

brother against brother (The swamp dwellers, 108). When his mother enquires of the welfare

of his brother hesays, He lives. What does it matter that he breathes a foreign air. Perhaps

there is something in the place that makes men forget. What if he lives sufficient only to

himself? He lives. One cannot ask too much. On being asked whether Awuchike remembered

his parents and what happened in the city, (The Swamp Dwellers,109). Igweju: Awuchike is

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dead to you and to this house. Let us not raise his ghost the city reared itself in the air, and

with the strength of its legs ofbrasskicked the adventurer in the small of his back. Makuri:

And Awuchike? Was he on the horse that kicked? Did your own brother ride you down?

Igweju is frustrated with his brother and also with the city. His elder brother has robbed him

of his money and wife. He is in despair and is furious at the Kadiye, the priest, who had

promised him a good harvest, a long happy life with his wife. Igweju has lost faith in the

gods and the priest. He is intent on his vendetta against the Kadiye, who he sets down as an

overfed rascal and an obstacle to all advancements in the area. The irony here is that while

the whole of the village is suffering from poverty with nothing to eat, the Kadiye has grown

immensely fat. Igweju is a victim of ruthless commercialism as well as the victim of the

'serpent'. He suffers against his will, as he can do nothing to avert suffering.

The play shows that if the city destroys every obligation of kinship and friendship. It

also destroys the kind of sanctified exploitation represented by the Kadiye. Igweju again

rushes off to the city to escape from the wrath of villagers though there is more likelihood of

his finding death than fulfillment. He says, only the children and the old stay here, bondsman.

Only the innocent and the dotards The play deals with a kind of spiritual death where the

young sever all familial and human ties with the village and commit themselves to a totally

new life in the towns. It seems the city tends to dehumanize the emigrants. The play also

seems to be a questioning of the tradition by the young. But so intertwined is religion with all

life in the village, that this questioning comes close to blasphemy. The villagers are totally

unreceptive to new ideas. They have totally compromised themselves with their

surroundings. The beggar, who, in spite of his handicap, is a spiritually strong force,

represents any hope of change within the village. He is a man of quick intelligence and is able

to analyze the ills of the society of the swamp dwellers. In contrast to Igweju, he has not lost

hope as he insists on being allowed to cultivate the land. He is a symbol of encouraging

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presence, a man of integrity and optimism for the future. Thus at the end of the play, Soyinka

tends to offer an open situation where the society is in a state of change but is bound by the

shackles of tradition. This aspect alone does not make the play traditional. By using the

materials from his native culture such as myths, sings, dances, music, etc, Soyinka furnishes

the play to produce something novel.

The Nigerians witnessed the disruption of African history caused by the political,

economical and cultural problems, yet the native performance of tradition remained

unharmed in the hands of reputed writers like Soyinka and Achebe. These writers printed the

aesthetics of their native culture by celebrating the seasonal rituals and interspersing folk

elements Soyinka has woven folk elements into his play to focus on the central idea of the

loss of native culture like other dramatists, Soyinka tried to recuperate and reinterpret his

countries histories. Soyinka’s affirmation of the traditional African and culture springs from a

deep reverence for the Yoruba traditional culture and a strong belief that its world view offers

a valid and adequate ground if metaphysical location for the Yoruba subject for instance the

Yoruba god of iron and the read whom Soyinka regards as his leading deity is a constant

presence in Soyinka’s works. Infact Soyinka’s concept of art and drama is based on Ogun’s

journey across the chthonic realm to unite the gods and men. So Ogun’s character and

journey serves both as metaphorical and metonymic of the structure of human experience and

subjectivity.

Dramatic techniques and methods play a prominent role in the art of playwriting.

They are aids used in enhancing and presenting effective plot structure. Playwrights employ

different techniques for different plots. Soyinka has been hailed as the master- craftsman in

the art of drama. The Swamp Dwellers is a fine illustration to prove the point that Soyinka is

a deft artist. The play talks about distant rural and urban society. The themes that Soyinka

treats in this play are family life, culture conflict, colonialism, search for roots, conflicts

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between old and young generation and old and new society for instance in the play.

Whenever they speak of their twin sons Awuchike and Igwegu, Makuri and Aru are seen

continually at each other throats. But their argument bears the testimony of deep love for

each other and for their future generations and displays concern for family ties that were in

susceptible condition during the transitional period in the post-colonial African states. The

different stories in the play give a preview of family bond throughout the play. So Soyinka

focuses on the life and culture of an African society.

In conclusion we can agree with the strong views of Soyinka that tradition and

culture are an integral part of any society without which the native people cannot survive. It

is so significant to them especially Africans for their communities to keep united. It is only

through retaining tradition and culture, and practicising and sustaining it will give a definite

sense of unique identity to the natives. In this respect Soyinka becomes the powerful one who

in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.

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2) THE LION AND THE JEW EL

Africa’s most distinguished playwright, Wole Soyinka is often referred to as the

‘Bringer of Light’ to African literatures since he has put Nigerian literature on the world map

through his art of playwriting. He has added his voice to the identity, authenticity; aesthetics

and glory of Nigerian literature. The play The Lion and the Jewel is another interesting drama

which testifies Soyinka’s strong addiction and attachment to his native roots. The play

remains one of Wole Soyinka’s best works. “This is the third play by Wole Soyinka to appear

in London since last year, and this work alone is enough to establish Nigeria as the most

fertile new source of English-speaking drama since Synge’s discovery of the Western

Isles…... Even this comparison does Soyinka less than justice, for he is dealing not only with

rich folk material, but with the impact of the modern on tribal custom: to find any parallel for

his work in English drama, you have to go back to the Elizabethan’s.” (TheTimes)

The play has a chronological causal plot and the action starts in the morning and ends

at night. The play chronicles how Baroka, the lion, fights with the modern Lakunle over the

right to marry Sidi, the titular Jewel. The play captures the story involving four characters –

Sidi, Lakunle, Baroka, and Sadiku. Lakunle is portrayed as the civilized antithesis of Baroka

and attempts to modernize his community and change its social conventions. Soyinka

emphasizes the theme of the corrupted African culture through the play, as well as how the

youth should embrace the original African culture. Soyinka draws a parallel between the

modern ways of life and traditional values and institutions to depict the impact and

ineffectual assault of modern values on traditional values.

A funny and simple play, with only few characters and structured into three acts

corresponding to the time in a day namely morning, noon, and evening, the play has forits

setting the village of Ilunjunle in Yoruba, West Africa. The play is characterized by conflict

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between tradition and modernity (as it played out in post-colonial Nigeria), ribald comedy

and love, where the old culture represented by the uneducated people in Ilunjunle, led by

Baroka, Sidi and the rest, clashes with the new culture led by Lakunle, who is educated,

school teacher by profession is influenced by the western ways.

“Soyinka does not use culture of his ancestors as a gimmick to sell his abilities or

even as an export commodity, but as inborn material for expansion. His skillful use of idiom

with the lively and musical Nigerian flavor in no way detractsfrom the command of English

language which he possesses.” (The Times Educational Supplement) The title - The Lion and

the Jewel- is justified and the symbolic nature of the two characters Lionthe Baroka and Sidi

a beautiful girl is highlighted. Hence the lion is Baroka and the jewel is Sidi. The “Lion” is an

elderly man whose power and potency are often referred to in the play and his sexual potency

is indicative of his status as a man, ruler and chieftain of his village. The lion’s symbolic

meaning is one of the most legendary of the natural world. The singular male leader of a

pride of male and female lion’s is often the eldest male of the pride. This male is usually

dominant and is frequently challenged by younger males. The eldest male keeps his position

of power in fighting the females and challenging his dominance, thereby winning the right to

mate with thefemales.

The “jewel” is not a living symbol, and this is appropriate since Sidi is considered

valuable for her youth and beauty and is objectified. She is like a beautiful possession on

display at Baroka’s side, much like a piece of jewelry or jewel in a crown. The precious

nature of a jewel is often associated with royalty. So Sidi is not only an attractive companion

to Baroka, but an asset to his standing as a monarch. Thought Sidi is wooed by a younger

man Lakunle, who admires her beauty, and is an intellectual, yet he does not possess the

animalistic power of “lion like” Baroka. It means that Sidi needs this power of the flesh and

blood to balance her abstract existence as an object of beauty. She is also led to believe that

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Baroka is impotent, and feels her beauty and worth will reawaken his potency, thereby

reaffirming her own precious value.

Thus the title depicts the relationship between the two leading characters of the play

Baroka, the lion and Sidi the jewel of the village who gets tricked by by Baroka in the end by

sleeping with him and “the lion” successfully engages in sexual relations with the “Jewel”,

and she ends up marrying him. Sidi is the village belle and the lion seeks to have the jewel.

The title depicts the relationship between the two leading characters of the play. The chieftain

of the village Ilujinle, a Yoruba village in West Africa, is named Baroka, and is known as the

"Lion." He is sixty-two years old and is able to deceive the village belle,Sidi.

The play is an amusing comedy renowned for its complex themes and allegorical

structure and most notable for its insights into Yoruba tradition and culture. The most

prominent themes of the story are the rapid modernization of Africa, coupled also with the

tremendous evangelization of the population. This has driven a wedge between the

traditionalists, who seek to nullify the changes done in the name of progress due to vested

interests, and the modernists, who want to see the last of obsolete traditional beliefs at all

cost. Another core theme is the marginalization of women as property. Traditionally, they

were seen as properties that could be bought, sold or even accumulated. Even the modern

Lakunle falls victim to this, by looking down on Sidi for having a smaller brain, and later by

thinking it will be easier to marry her once she's lost her virginity, since no dowry was

required in such a situation.

There is also the conflict between education and traditional beliefs. The educated

people seek to spread their knowledge to the tribal people in an attempt to make them more

modern. This in turn is objected and resisted by the tribal people who see no point in obtaining

an education as it was of nouse in their daily lives. Soyinka’s play also deals with the theme

of depiction of Nigerian tradition and culture which forms the major aspect of the play. Set in

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the village of Ilunjinle, Nigeria, the play is the story of Sidi, a beautiful young woman also

known as “The Jewel,". Her beauty has captured many souls, besides Lakunle. There is the

photographer who took her photos and published them in a magazine, and even Baroka the

lion, the bale/chieftain of Ilunjunle as well as other girls in the village. Sidi also brags a lot

about her beauty. She is not afraid to speak of it in public.She carries her pail of water past

the school where Lakunle, the schoolteacher anda village outsider with modern ideas, works.

He approaches her and chastises her for carrying her water on her head and stunting her

shoulders. Lakunle loves Sidi and wants to marry her, but he refuses to pay her bride-price

because he considers it an archaic tradition

Sidi does not love Lakunle; she finds him and his ideas about making her a modern,

Western bride very harmful. However, she plans to marry him if he can pay the price as the

village traditions necessitate.

While Sidi and Lakunle are talking, several young women run up to Sidi and tell her

that the stranger-a photographer who visited the village some time ago-is back, and that he

brought with him the magazine that contained within it pictures of the village and villagers.

Sidi occupies a central space and is stunningly beautiful. Lakunle is dismayed to hear this, but

Sidi glows with pride.

Sidi suggests the villagers act out and dance to the story of the stranger. She pushes

Lakunle to participate and act as the stranger, and the performance commences. The

drummers and singers and actors play out the arrival of the stranger and his camera. Lakunle

gets into the spirit of the performance. As it goes on, the Bale (i.e. head) of the village,

Baroka-a.k.a. “the Lion"—arrives. He plays the role of the chief. Later that day he stares at

the pictures of Sidi and feels that he has not taken a wife for some time. Baroka has many

wives though, despite his wanting Sidi for a wife. On seeing her in a magazine seated alone,

helament. “Yes yes…………… it is five full months since I last took a wife….. five full

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months” ( The Lion and The Jewel, 18).Sadiku, Baroka’s senior wife and head of the harem,

finds Sidi and tells herthat Baroka wants to take her for a wife. She considers this as an

incredible honor, but Sidi laughs that Baroka is old. She glories in her photographs and says

Baroka only wants her because she is so famous and has brought somany honors to the

village. Lakunle,who is jealously listening, excoriates Baroka as being against progress and

modernity. Sadiku returns to Baroka and gives him Sidi’s reply. He is calm at first but

becomes distressed when she tells him that he is old. He bemoans the fact that he is no longer

virile, and tries to take comfort in the elderly Sadiku’s gentle touch. Sadiku is Baroka’s head

wife. As custom suggests, the last wife of the previous bale/chief becomes the head wife of

the new chief oncesucceeded.

Sadiku’s duty as a head wife is to lure any woman Baroka pleases to have into getting

her. Sidi turns off Baroka’s proposal in the most demeaning way, through his head wife. She

scorns him: “Compare my image and that of your lord… an age of a difference….” See how

water glistens my face….But he-his is like a leather piece torn rudely from the saddle of his

horse. Baroka blames it on himself when he gets the news of his rejected proposal. He says:

“My man hood ended a week ago.” Sidi is standing and admiring her photos near the

schoolhouse when Sadiku, cackling to herself and carrying a bundle, arrives. Inside the

bundle is a carved figure of the Bale. Sadiku looks at it and bursts into laughter, exulting in

how she and the women have undone him. Sidi is confused, and Sadiku whispers to her about

the Bale’simpotence.

Lakunle sees them talking and tries to learn what they are saying, but both women tell

him to leave them alone. Sidi announces she has a plan, and tells Sadiku that it would be

wonderful if she could go to dinner with the Bale and see him thwarted. Sadiku gleefully

agrees, and Sidi bounds off. After she leaves, Sadiku and Lakunle argue, with Lakunle telling

Sadiku that his plans of modernity are what are best for the village.

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 The scene shifts to the Bale’s bedroom, where he is engaged in wrestling with a man

hired for the purpose of making him stronger. Sidi enters confidently, but the Bale’s

dismissive attitude confuses her. She pretends to ask his counsel on a man who wanted to

marry her, describing the Bale instead.

As the Bale continues to wrestle, he criticizes Sidi for listening to Sadiku. He asks her

if Sadiku invented any stories, and she says no. He pretends to complain about Sadiku’s

constant matchmaking. He does admire Sidi, though, for seeming much deeper and more

mature than how he once saw her.

Baroka confides in her his plan for a stamp machine that will have images of Ilunjinle

on it, as well as of Sidi herself. He ponders more to himself that he does not hate progress but

only bland similarity. He admits he and the schoolteacher are not so different, and that they

must work together.

The drums begin, and female dancers pursue a male. Sadiku and Lakunle wait for Sidi to

return. Lakunle is very nervous, and claims he will go rescue Sidi. The drummers play in the

distance, and Sadiku joyfully assumes that Bale has been brought down. She also tells

Lakunle he must pay the drummers for a performance or it would be rude. She grabs money

from his pocket and pays them; they dance out the story of Baroka and his downfall. Sadiku

herself is invited to help “kill” the Bale. Suddenly Sidi runs in, sobbing. She throws herself to

the ground. Lakunle is horrified and asks if she was beaten. Sidi sobs that Sadiku was fooled:

the Lion tricked her and was not impotent at all, so he raped Sidi and took her

virginity.Lakunle announces he will still marry Sidi. She is perplexed and asks if this is true.

He asserts to her surprise and shock However, almost immediately when marriage

preparations start, Lakunle becomes visibly distressed. He claims to need more time.

Sidi laughs and says she is actually getting ready to marry Baroka, because it is the

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only thing she can do. Sadiku blesses her and asks the gods for fertility. The festivities begin,

and even Lakunle seems to be getting into the spirit of things when he chases a young woman

who shakes her butt at him.

From the plot it is clear that Soyinka is certainly the ‘culture- keeper’ of his

countrymen. In fact the theme ofTradition versus Modernity is the most conspicuous theme in

the play. It initially seems like Soyinka is setting a clear dichotomy between these two things,

tradition embodied by Baroka and modernity embodiedbyLakunle.

However, as the play progresses, Soyinka defies the audience's assumptions. Lakunle

espouses a variety of backward views and seems to abandon his progressive principles when

it is convenient to do so. Similarly, Baroka says he does not hate progress but merely finds its

monotonous and boring. He is preparing to use a stamp machine to make the village make

money as they do in Lagos. Soyinka thus suggests that progress is not bad, but that it must be

done in terms of African tradition andculture.

Soyinka’s reverence to his native culture is also projected in his use of musical and

dance elements. There are several instances of performance in the text; they include singing,

dancing, and acting. All characters, including the Bale, participate in them. Performances are

a crucial part of Nigerian culture and serve to define, celebrate, and emphasize the things that

matter to the people. The story of the stranger was already known, but the performance

cemented it as a crucial moment in the collective history of the village. The drummers'

performance of the Bale's downfall and Sadiku's participation in it are a way to express

discontent with the leader. The performance gives the powerless Sadiku a sense of power,

though it is ultimately a dream and nothingelse.

Throughout The Lion and the Jewel, characters are referred to figures from the

Yoruba religion that was and remains prominent in Nigeria. Thus, an overview of the general

structure of Yoruba religion and the associations of the deities in its pantheon is useful.

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 According to the Yoruba people, all human beings possess “Ayanmo,” or destiny/fate.

They are expected to eventually become one in spirit with Olodumare, or Olorun, the divine

creator and source of all energy. Each person’s thoughts and actions in Aye, or the physical

realm/life, interact with all living things. Each person attempts to achieve transcendence and

find their destiny in Orun-Rere, the spiritual of realm of those who do good and beneficial

things. Life and death are cycles of existence in a physical body as one’s spirit evolves

toward transcendence.

Scholar Hal Horton explains, “The Yoruba treat their ancestors with great respect, as

might be expected in a culture with only oral records of the past, but anthropologists’ debate

whether the rituals dealing with ancestry are religious in nature, or simply respectful. At least

a few groups believe that ancestors, after death, become demigods, but only once they have

assumed the persona of a true deity. This resembles another facet of the Yoruba faith, the

phenomenon of possession, in which mediums take on the characteristics of one or another of

the gods. The characteristics of each god are so well stereotyped that mediums as far off as

Haiti roll back their heads and cross their legs in the same way when possessed by the

lightning god.”

The Supreme God is manifested in three ways: Olodumare, the Creator; Olorun, the

ruler of the heavens; and Olofi, the conduit between Orun (Heaven) and Aye. Orishas are

entities that have the ability to reflect some of Olodumare’s characteristics. The “orisha”

means uniqueand sometimes translated as “deity,” “divinity,” or “god.” They are

intermediaries between humankind and the divine. Each orisha has control over specific

elements of nature and thus is closer to deity than hero or sage, but some orisha’s can best be

described as the latter. Ade Dopamu explains these spirits further: “Spirits are believed to be

apparitional entities which form a separate category of beings from divinities and ancestors.

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The Yoruba regard them as powers which are almost abstract entities that take and characters

holding a mirror up to nature and presenting life as it is. The traditions and customs of Yoruba

are typically presentedin theplay.Some of the customs like, bride-price, polygamy, wife

wooing girls for her husband, are emphasized much and challenged these outdated customs

and traditions

Apart from that, the playwright sheds light on some of the indigenous customs like,

marriage, songs, dance, mimes, etc. Songs, dance and mimes are the major components in the

play. Soyinka has made use of these elements to forward the action ofthe play.Through the

play, playwright brings out the native tradition, livelihood of the people, politics, moreover,

role of women is emphasized much.Encyclopaedia Britannica says regarding the bride-price,

“the practice is common in most parts of the globe in one form or an other, but it is perhaps

most prevalent in Africa.”Bride-price is money orproperty given by the bridegroom to the

family of his bride. Such a system is still followed by the native Africans and Muslims in the

irreligion.EveninI ndia, the same system followed in olden days, but it had gone reverse in

the later period. However, the primitive African societies follow the footsteps of tradition and

culture, demanding the bride-priceto the bridegroom. It is honour to the bride who receives a

good price. If a girl marries without the price, it is assumed that she is not a virgin or she is

not worth to marry. Sidithe traditional African girl,who is untouched by the foreign ideas and

culture,insists onthe bride-price and its honour to Lakunle, I have told you, and I say it again

I shall marryyou today, next week Or any day you name. But my bride-price must first be

paid…. But Itell you, Lakunle, I musthave The full bride-price. Will you make me a

laughing-stock?

Well, do as you please.

But Sidi will not make herself A cheap bowl for the village spit…. They will sayIwas

novirgin ThatI was forced to sell my shame Andmarry you without a price. (“The Lion and

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the Jewel”, 8). According to the custom of Africa, a girl marrying without the bride-price is a

disgrace to the bride. Sidi, the beauty of the village, expects Lakunle topay more bride-price

for her beauty and virginity. But Lakunle, who has Europeansensibilities, is an iconoclast of

the African traditional manner. He attacks the traditional African customs of marriage. He

calls the system of bride-price:“A savage custom,barbaric, out-dated … unpalatable” (The

Lion and the Jewel, 8).

The admirable traits of Soyinka writing shinge upon certain pillars of literary forms

such as comedy, tragedy and scathing satire. His laughter provoking comedies have an

underlying object of high seriousness of satire. The tragic plays of Soyinka are written in

comic vein, though monotonous and grim, very suitable to the atmosphere of the play.

Jeyifo comments upon the play, The Lion and the Jewel occupies a unique place

inSoyinka’s dramas. It is perhaps the only play by him that is written entirely in a comicspirit

uncomplicated by a dark, brooding humor and satire (Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics and

Post colonialism, 106).

The play portrays conflict between tradition and modernism. In the play, there is

ample use of dance, song and mime. The play is very simple in its structure and it is

apoeticdrama or musical play. It shows deep familiarity of Soyinka with the variousaspects of

African tradition and the influence of the modern world on the African mind. Soyinka gives

an accountof the origins of the play inan interview, in that he mentions about the custom

andculture of Yoruba. It was actually inspired by an item which said: Sixty has taken to wife

Oona O’Neill” who was then about 17 something like that. … from Charlie Chaplin, and

again thinking of the old man I knew in my society who at 70 plus,80, would still take some

new young wives– and always seemed perfectly capableof coping with the onerous tasks

whichsuch activity demanded of them!Ijust sat downand that’s how Baroka came into

existence. (Soyinka in Zimbabwe, 82).

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 The Lion and the Jewel is the most simplest among Soyinka’s plays and connotes

much by means of abstract signs and plain usual symbols. The subject of the frail averageAfrican’s

challenges with the whims and fancies of the white forms the central nucleus ofthe play. This play

unfolds a venue for elaborating the state of Nigeria to be the plethoraof sources of English speaking

drama. Here Soyinka not only handles dramatically therich folk material but also the text of the off

shoot of modern on tribal tradition.

The play focuses on the failure of an elementary school teacher to apprehend thesense

of culture, advancement or civilization. The word “progress” needs to be under stern

scrutinization interpreting varied features connected with it and also the aspects unrelated to

it. The play The Lion and the Jewel evolves a subject almost classical in its worth withthe

juxtaposition of the values that forms a required dramatic confrontation.

The major characters create an atmosphere of mirth mainly due to the ordeals

theyencounter with and the consequent indecisiveness. The dark forces are inevitable

inessence. They assume serious and heinous proportions. The dramatic environment that

Soyinka creates has been enriched with variegated realistic scenes portraying African lifevery

exactly and fashions and characters holding a mirror up to nature and presenting life as it is.

The characters are very real to life. His object of representing something to express

something else exemplifies more than what the surface meaning offers.

This play is combined with a real flavor of African rural life in the context at which

idea of development requires a psyche transformation.The sense of progress under goes

necessary transition. The custom of polygamy and bride barter are challenged.

Lakunle is endowed with the glimpses of the Comedy of Manners carrying a stigma

of the exaggerated, caricature like portrayal. But the crafty, unscrupulous aged fox,the

BaleBaroka is quite satisfactory in his cunning warfare waged against modernism and in the

strong method of winding stairs for adopting polygamy.

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 Lakunle, who stands to represent “progress” and cultured romance fails Sidiat the

crucial hours, captivated by her own charm, keeps her head against Lakunle but loses itwhile

encountering the old lion. Sidi presents a full spectrum of the panorama of the heartof an

African village as against Lagos, which stands for advancement in accordance withdefinition

of Lakunle. Oyin Ogunba remarks the major theme of the play is the “Choice between the

rival worlds of tradition and modernism” (The Lion andThe Jewel,32).

The locale of the play is Ilujinle, a typical Nigerian village. Soyinka’s dramatic

creation the Bale Baroka the old lion of the village, metaphorically expresses the

traditionalgood and bad. Having experienced the amassing opulence and power, the Bale has

a haremfull of the most beautiful ladies in the area,new commodities annexed frequently. The

dramatist exhibits his skill through the depiction of the Bale’s hard headedconservation

gaining, when Lakunle’s sloganeering defeats to compromise. Lakunle treats himself to be

the representative of the modern revolution against men like Bale and assertswhat he

considersamoral war.Lakunledevelopsan association with Sidi, the village beauty, ascends

upon the steps of modernization means of civilizing the bush girl.

Lakunle, the semi-European, wants to make some revolutionary changes in the

village. Heapparelled in the English suit of an ancient kind. At first, he imposes his ideas

onhis love,Sidi. To her, all his ideas are new and unlikely. Yet she has soft corner for him

more as ajocular character narrating comic and mysterious tales to her as a reformer. When

heproposes his love and talks of marriage to her, she demands the bride-price to marry him.

As the teacher is educated in the west, he objects it due to his influence on thewestern

concept of genderequality or his empty pocket. He believes that the custom is a disgrace and

humiliation to women. Child Bearing: Getting child, after one’smarriage, isone of the

mostvital purposes of marriage. That is the only way to make the worldexist. But the

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iconoclast and lover of western values, Lakunle does not consider the child bearingis a must.

He says that he does notseek wife “Tofetch and carry, / Tocook and scrub, / To bring

forth children by the gross …” (The Lion and the Jewel, 9).But Sidi could not make a grasp

his modernism means even child bearing as an issue ofcontempt in the wife. Out of fear,

immediately she utters, “Heaven forgive you!”to save him from the punishment of Gods. The

custom treats child bearing is not only thepart of life, but also it qualifies the married couple’s

life meaningful. Lauretta Ngcobo writes more about this:

As elsewhere, marriage amongst Africans ismainly an institution for the control of

procreation.Every woman is encouraged tomarry and getchildren in order to express her

womanhood to the full.

The basis of marriage among Africans implies the transfer of a woman’s fertility to

the husband’sfamilygroup. Through Sidi,Soyinka brings out the culture of the tradition based

rigid society. She would have chosen young Lakunle to marry, but her lossof virginity

makesher tomarry the old Baroka, Marry who…? You thought … Did youreally think that

you, and I … Why, did you think that after him, I could endure the touchof another man?

(The Lion and the Jewel, 57). Chastity is the only reason that preventsherto accept the

proposalof Lakunle. It is not the manliness of Baroka impresses her and shedecides to marry

him,but the age old tradition of marrying and living with only one man ceases her to take any

other decisions. Even though sheis portrayed as notfully matured girl, but she is the one of

the strong representatives of the tradition in the play.

Sethuraman comments on her decision at end, “Sidi in “The Lion and the Jewel” is

fleetingly metamorphosed into the glittering girl of the magazine by the Western

photographer, although common sense prevails on her in the end” (The Lion and The

Jewel,224).

In the play, Soyinka portrays the African polygamous society. The marrying of

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multiple wives is legal in Nigeria and itis a prominent feature of traditional life. Lofts and

wives are the criteria of wealth of a person. It is accepted that the old man marrying the

young girls. Toyin Falola in his book “Culture and Customs of Nigeria”, states

regardingpolygamy, “…the function of the family as an economic unit of production.

Especially for those in agrarian production, a large family provides the labour necessary for

the maintenance and growth of the business”. And he adds more, that the tradition allows

widow inheritance, in which a man marries the widow of a deceased brother.

This practice ensures that the woman and her children remain under the economic and

social care of the family. Sometimes thesuccessor of deadBale or chief of thearea marries the

last and favourite wife of the dead Bale, as his first wife. According to the custom, the first

wife of the Bale becomes the senior and receives all honours in the family. According to the

tradition, a Bale can have as much as wives he can, but he has tofollow some conditions like,

treating all equally, distributing resources equally to all wivesand children, avoid

discrimination among wives and children . Baroka, the Baleof the village, has many wives.

His harem is already full with his number of wives fromSadiku to latest favourite wife,

Ailatu. The desire for more girls has not left him even at the age of sixty two.UnaMaclean

calls the play a“Nigerian bedroom farce”for its convention of polygamy. After seeing Sidi’s

beautiful pictures in a glossy magazine,he desires to have her on that night and he expresses

his wish to his first wife, Sadiku to woo that young girl for him.It is the custom of the village

that the first wife has to persuade and makes the girls to marry her husband; it is a part of her

duty to ensure hishappiness. By this act, the society emphasizes that the wives have to obey

and do furnish all sorts of his desire. It is settled in the minds of the women in the society.

Sadiku is the veteran representative of the tradition. She is proud of her role as the chief wife

of a familyina polygamous society. While sheis wooing Sidi for Baroka,states another

tradition inthe society that lastwife of the Bale becomes chief wife to the next Bale. She

tempts Sidiby narrate the tradition: Baroka swears to take no other wife afteryou. Do you

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know whatit is to be the Bale’s lastwife? I’ll tell you. When he dies …itmeans thatyou will

have the honour of being the senior wife of the new Bale. And just think, until Baroka

dies,you shall be his favourite. No living in the outhouses for you, my girl. Your place will

alwaysbe in the palace; first as the latest bride, and afterwards, as the head of the new harem

… It is a rich life, Sidi. (The Lion and the Jewel,20).

The surprising fact is the successor, most probably the dead Bale’s son, becoming

husband to his step-mother. It is not a serious matter in the society that a woman became wife

to both father and son. Sadiku is an instance of such a practice prevails in the society.She

reveals thatsheisthebare witness of Okiki’s,father of Baroka,impotency “I wasthere when

ithappened to your father, the great Okiki.I didfor him,I, the youngestandfreshest of the

wives” (The Lion and the Jewel,30). These words state that she was the youngest wife of

Okiki and now according to the custom, she has become the senior wifeto Baroka, i.e. she

married father and after his death she became wife to her step-son. It is quite strange custom

to the Indian readers. But Yoruba calls it is the responsibility of theking to take care of the

youngest wife and children of the previous sovereign. This customis called “isupo” among

the Yoruba (Timothy). Wedding: Another tradition mentioned inthe play is wedding.There

are nomuch details of the wedding and its related functions, yet some descriptions and words

of Sadiku and Lakunle state the culture of wedding inYoruba. Before the marriage, the bride

packs her clothes and trinkets and oils herself as abride.And she is accompanied by her

relatives to bridegroom’s house with a group of musicians and dancers of the village.The

marriage has many ceremonies, Lakunleverbalises it :“… I have to hire a praise-singer, / and

such a number of ceremonies / must firstly be performed” (The Lion and the Jewel,56).

These words show that the ceremony of marriage is very colourful and mirthful

ambiance with songs and dance. Oaths on Pantheon of Gods: Aswell as, Soyinka has

included some religious tradition like making oath son Yoruba pantheon of Gods like Ogun

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and Sango. These two gods are usually invoked in oaths. Ogun is the god of oaths and

justice.In Yoruba courts,devotees of the faith swear to tell the truth by kissing amachete

sacred to Ogun. The Yoruba consider Ogun fearsome and terrible in his revenge; they believe

that if one breaks a pact made in his name,swift retribution will follow(Horton). In the play,

when a girl gives the news to Sidi about her photograph published in a western magazine, at

first she could not believe and asks, SIDI: Is that the truth? Swear!

Ask Ogun to Strike you dead. GIRL: Ogun strike me dead if I lie. (The Lion and

theJewel,12). In the scene of Sadiku woos Sidi for her husband, Sidi’s acts make her to pray

to theGod Sango torestore hersanity,“May Sangorestore yourwits.For most surely some angry

god has taken possession of you” (The Lion and the Jewel,22). Sango is considered as god of

thunder and lightning. His anger is sudden and terrible. He strikes his enemies down with

lightning.And Yoruba believe that only Sangocan relivethepeople who behave abnormal or

possess by any angry god orevil spirit.Songs, Dance and Mime: Songs, dance and mimes are

the major components in the play. Soyinka has made use ofthese elements to forward the

action of the play. Russell McDougall considers the usage of“dance as the illumination of

dramatic form”.In the first part of the play,“Morning,” Sidi and her village girls and Lakunle

performs a dance and mime of “thedance of the lost traveller”. In the dance, the villages enact

the experiences ofthe western photographer on his first visit to Ilujinle. The second mime is

performed by Lakunle to Sidi and Sadiku about the coming of the railway,and of its rerouting

away from the village when the Bale bribes the Surveyor. In this episode, Lakunle seeks to

expose the wiliness of self-indulgent Baroka by telling them how the Bale has sabotaged all

schemesof connecting the village to modern civilization.The next dance is performed by

Sadiku after Baroka has confided in her the loss of his manhood. Sadiku gloats over itand

placesa carved figure of Baroka in the village centre and she performs “victory dance”.

Thefourth mime is the wrestling match between Baroka and a wrestler. The wrestling

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motions are mimed in order to impress Sidi with his prowess and virility. Baroka keeps on

talking warmly and affectionately to Sidi and defeats the wrestler also. Russell McDougall

opinesregarding the act of the Bale: “His argument is shaped and timed so as to suggest

almostinevitably the descriptive metaphor of dance”. The final song, dance and mime are

performed in the end of the play, after Sidi has announced to Lakunle that her intention of

marrying Baroka and bear his children.Sidi sings and dances the“dance of virility”.

Livelihood of Drummers: Sadiku: [wheedling.] Come on, school teacher. They’ll

expect itof you man of learning …the young sprig of foreign wisdom you mustnot

demeanyourself in their eyes … you must give them money to perform for your lordship …

[Maledancer enters first, persuade by a number of young women and other choral idlers. …In

the above passage, Soyinka brings out an other traditional practice of the Yoruba.The passage

evokes a picture of the livelihood of professional drummers.Timothy writes regarding this,

the person whose praise is sung is expected to dance towards them and begin topress money

on the forehead of the singers – the more money they are given the more and the longer they

sing the praises their benefactor.” The passages explicate more that if one is not ready to give

money to them, it is considered asan act of belittling one’s image in the society. As Lakunle

is not ready to spend moneyforthe singers, Sadiku wants to save his face, so she plunges her

hand into his pocket and takes some money forthem.Veneration to the Village Head:

Moreover, Soyinka brings out the veneration exercised to the head of the village by the

commoners. The head of village is called, Bale. He is respected as demi god. In the first

section of the play,“Morning”when the villagers enact the dance of the lost traveller,Baroka

enters.

Immediately all stop the play,all godown prostrate and kneeling with the greetings of

‘Kabiyesi’ and ‘Baba’.Although the people mock him in the dance, they pay respect to the

post he holds. In another scene, before entering the room of Baroka, his senior wife, Sadiku

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goes down on her knees at once and bows her head into her lap. It shows that even in home

also, his people show their respectfulness to him. In the seduction scene, Sidi theyoung and

mischievous girl, on seeing him in his house, she greets him, “Good day to thehead” (The

Lion and the Jewel,36).According to the tradition of the society,the people consider him next

to god, so the give much respect him atleast for the post he holds,the Bale of the

Village.Rajkumar in his work denotes the versions of anecdotes of ‘rumoured impotence’ as

partof the Yoruba tradition. After Sidi rejected Baroka’s invitation, he spreads a rumour that

he became impotence.But Sidi is caught in his trap by going to his house to mock him for his

impotency, leads her to seduce by him. Such a mode of seduction is very common among the

anecdote-makersinYoruba. Role of Women in the Society: Thevision of Soyinka is not

clearly present in this play.Till the end it is ambiguous that whether he exalts the customs and

tradition of his people or not. To the readers some ofthe tradition and customs portrayed in

the play are new to them. The polygamous societygives importance to the Bale, it allows him

to marry as manygirls he can, he uses the girlsonly for his pleasure, and after a new arrival of

favourite he sends the last favourite to an out house. It shows the society never give respect to

women, and they are used to, as Lakunle tells, “pounds the yam or bends all the day to plant

the millet … to fetch andcarry, to cook and scrub, to bring forth children by the gross” (The

Lion and the Jewel, 7 &9,). The custom of dead Bale’s last wife becomes the senior wife to

the successor, i.e. son. The custom is very awkward and surprise to almost all the readers,

particularly to the Indian readers.

However, the playwright does not makeany condemn, dislike or rejection of it.

Instead, by ending the play with the marriage ceremony of the Bale and the girl seems to

show that Soyinka nods approval to this custom.By the marriage of the cunning Bale and

ignorant and pride Sidi, the author emphasizes that chastity is only for female. All these show

that the female society ishighly marginalized by the males. The female characters like Sidi

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and Sadikuare the representation of the doubly oppressed in the society.They are the symbol

of self-marginality, particularly Sidi: … she never allows any rational idea into her

mind,which isadvised by Lakunle. …greatly supports and argues for her society and its

tradition. She does not want to come out of the conventional ideologies. She does not know

that she is marginalizing herself for the ideologies of the society. (Kumar 46).

In the play, Lakunle like a champion of feminism, voices for the females, who are

fastened with the traditions of the society. But he is portrayed as a foolish and stupid

teacher, who never gets any respect from anyone, Sidi chides his state in the village,Youand

your ragged books dragging your feet to every threshold and rushing them out agingas cruses

greet you instead of welcome…. The village says you’re man, and I begin tounderstand” (The

Lion and the Jewel, 5 & 10,). Even after so much humiliation he tells hisdream of new,

improved and modern society to her. But his expectation of development is a mirage. And

through the character of Baroka, playwright expresses that the society is not ready to accept

the changes,even if it is necessary.By portrayingLakunle as ahallow-modernist,Soyinka

presents the stubbornness of society.C.N.Ramachandran concludes his character, “Lakunle

represents not western culture but only hallow Westernization, notreal but only the image.

The play abundantly establishes that Lakunle isa modern version of Don Quixote, a

book nourished shrimp.Eldred Jones calls Lakunle “the half-baked Westernized

African”rather Florence Stratton posits, “he is a caricature of the alienated African – a

ridiculous figure in any case, but not in the latter an object of pity” . Onwueme inhis article

states that Soyinka made “a mild satire against Baroka’s ruthless leadership and brutal force

in society” . Even the mild satire ismade only through the weak character Lakunle.On support

of Lakunle,Basavaraj Naiker writes that Lakunle’s protestation against the payment of bride

price, instead of cunning ways of drawing Sidi into bed, his rational method of convincing

her to marry her, and his aesthetics of love and poetic sensibility have no significance in the

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tradition-ridden society.

The society is out of its sensibility, which never heeds to words of educated. Along

with that, the playwright satirizes the educational system in his land through the character

Lakunle. Through him, the dramatist brings out the African tendency to imitate the life of the

white man. He presents an ironical situation through the depiction of the character.Lakunle is

an embodimentof the qualities foundin the foreign educated African student.He must be an

intelligent herald ofthe revolution against old customs and blind faith. Butheis stuffed with

empty bombastic words, and unclearvision tochange his society.The sphere of education

requires acompletesense of devotion.Butpretensions, affection, hypocrisy, lack of depth, have

clouded the atmosphere. It is so disheartening to note thatin the context of newly evolving

nation like, Africa, where the universities do not promotethe custodians to upgrade the sphere

of education; instead they breed bugs as in any otherfields. The antithesis to Lakunle, Baroka

is a very impressive character in the play. Hedoes not sounds like Lakunle, the chatterbox,

rather through his actions, he proves himselfas a man of action. Physicallyhe is very strong

and vigorous. His worldly wisdom keeps him as a head of the village for a long time. He

keeps control the village under his rule; he isolates the commoners as far as possible from

modern ideas, even modern transportation,like railways. He combines courage with cunning

to pursue pleasures.He enjoys the privileges and power with zest with care and caution.At the

outset,he represents tradition, but the study of his character brings out that he represents

neither tradition normodern. He utilizes both the ideologies for his personal satisfaction.

Anthony Graham White remarks that Soyinka approved neither headman’s (Baroka)

tradition nor the school teacher’s modernism. The statement is made out of the reason that

nowhere in the play, Soyinka satirizes both the ideologies. James Gibbs comments about the

purpose of writing the play “the play should be digested as an experience, not chewed over in

search of an easily summarized message or a moral of general relevance” (“Notes on The

Lion and the Jewel”, 55).

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 By all the description of traditions and hindrances to modernism, and the portrayal of

Lakunle as hallow modernist, the playwright leads the reader to the assumption that he does

not support the tradition or modernity instead he merely records and pictures the tradition and

people’s life in the African society. But a deep reading of the play clearly depicts that

Soyinka’s support to indigenous tradition. In lastpart of the play, Sidi rejects the modernism

through act of handing over the magazine to Lakunle and the rejection ofwestern way of life

is mentioned by rejecting Lakunle. “The verbal elements of the sceneidentify the final dance

by its traditional function, as a ritualisation ofcommunity, so thatthe motive behind Sidi’s

invocation of the gods of fertility is to ensure cultural continuity”(McDougall 116). This

seems to be the issue of Baroka’s triumph, i.e. triumph of tradition.

The play is very mirthful to read, and makes the reader to enjoy the play more without

any other difficult tangent philosophies or ideologies.Ultimately,the play ison the surface

plane portraying the tribal life and its confrontation with the culture of the West. And

playwright reiterates upon the idea that the West hs not made any deep impact on African

culture and the tradition in the society is typical with all its merits and demerits. The play

exemplifies a voracity that amidst the search for requirements, conflicts and confrontation,

man must channelize the stream of his mental faculty unfettered by the tyranny of customs

and beliefs, as worthless as desert, preserving the mental resources for the functioning modes

of national mechanism with the knowledge unhampered by the constraints of ideologies.

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3) K ONGI’S HARVEST

Post colonial literature is concerned with the matters of decolonization, cultural,

economic and political freedom of the previously colonized nations. It attempts to explore the

challenges and results of a nation, particularly those countries who have attained political and

cultural independence. Wole Soyinka is one of the critical and phenomenal figure in the

canon of African literature in English who employs drama to address the issue of

postcolonial hegemony in Africa. He is one of those writers in the African literary scene to

receive the Nobel Prize for literature. His mission borders on the perennial caricaturizing of

the African well being. In this category, J. P. Clark looms large as he tries to trivialize the

whole concept of thepost-colony.

The Nobel Prize for Literature is not an innocent creature simply born out of a

visionary Alfred Nobel who had broad cultural interests with his library being described as

being rich in the selection of literature in different languages. As once scholar once remarked,

the Nobel Prize is a straight-jacket that African thinkers like Ngugi wa Thiong’o who have

concretely contributed a lot in raising the consciousness of majority black people and his

consistent anti-neocolonial stance cannot fit. That said; it is not disputable that Soyinka is a

master dramatist whose work transcends time, place and various social settings as is

illustrated in Kongi’s Harvest- a political satire on the role and attitude of founding African

leaders who have thus far shaped the direction of today’s politics on the continent.

African drama is characterized by dance, dress, ritual and music which ismanifest in the

everyday life of Africans. The musical elements form an important of the Nigerians’ cultural

traditions. Music plays a significant role in drama and society because the mores and values

are usually exhibit in specific genres of music. Though African drama is a genre derived from

both African and European traditions, its aesthetics is based on a purely African context or

ideology because the challenges and experiences by African playwrights are drawn from their

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own experiences of society and destroyed by imperialism, neo-colonialism and betrayal.

Soyinka explores the ideological conflicts which weighs down the Nigerian land scape and

through that renders the aesthetics of African drama through his poetry and prose. Wole

Soyinka’s “Kongi’s Harvest” (1974) contributes immensely to drama in general and African

drama in particular, in that it does not only conform to the three-part structure embraced by

Allison (1986), but also exhibits elements of ritual. Good drama reflects elements of black

vernacular tradition characterized by ritual, communal concerns, the use of music, poetry,

dance, mime and the element of spectacle (Wilson,1976).

Soyinka uses the tripartite structure espoused by Allison (1986) in “Kongi’s Harvest”

to examine how ideological conflict affects African societies. Such a dramatic structure uses

a basic plot; Hemlock, Exposition; first part and the second half of second part;

Complication; second part, and Hemlock.

African drama is characterized by dance, dress, ritual and music which are

manifestedin the everyday life of Africans as evidenced at weddings, funerals as well as

marriage and harvest ceremonies. Music pervades all the above in stances in all its different

forms. Though in most societies the drum is used at functions, its tone, pitch or sound can be

altered to suit a particular situation. Messages can be deciphered by just interpreting the

sound of the drum as is culturally accepted by a particular people or society. Music, therefore,

plays a significant role in drama and society because societal mores and values are usually

manifest in specific genres of music. Whereas percussions are the characteristic of weddings

or such functions where rapture prevails, dirges and melancholy bells are the preserves of

funerals and other such solemn occasions. The power of music can only be ignored at one’s

peril, for where words sometimes fail due to humanity’s tendency to allow attention to

wander somewhere else in the crux of the moment, music captures the soul and is usually

difficult to ignore. So the traditional elements and culture are dexterously interspersed by

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Soyinka in Kongis’s Harvest in complement withritual.

In this context the issue of dictatorship cultures becomes a central focus among the

Africans. Homi K. Bhabha in his ‘The Location of Culture’ highlights that “the

borderline work of culture demands an encounter with ‘newness’ that is notpart of the

continuum of past and present” (Bhabha,1994;17).

The play Kongi’s Harvest shows racial, cultural and political subaltern peculiarity

among African leaders. It is not clear whether Soyinka’s vision is centred on a faultless

leadership or was simply ridiculing their seeming obduracy and hypocrisy in terms of

balancing their Western-trained sensibilities and their traditional values. It is so because the

play is said to have been inspired by a quotation that Soyinka claims to have been uttered by

an African leader to the effect that: “I want him brought back, alive, if possible… but if not

… any other way.” Soyinka's plays defy classification. The characteristic stamp of intensity

can be traced in all the works of Soyinka - hilarious comedy, scathing satire and profound

tragedy alike - but very little else in terms of thematic similarity binds them together. The

conflict between tradition and modernity is the central thematic concern of the plays like

TheLion and the Jewel, Kongi's Harvest.

Other themes of the play are; African culture and tradition, , power politics,

colonization, obsession for power, etc. Literally, the play is a political satire on the rulers of

fictitious kingdom of Isma, somewhere in Africa, during the preparations for celebrations and

aftermath of New Yam Festival. The ruler of Isma, Kongi is repressive, ambitious, and

autocratic who is assisted by an omnipresent organizing Secretary. He is ably assisted by a

bootlicking Aweris and supported by a brutal carpenters Brigade

Danlola, the revered traditional king poses a threat to Kongi’s throne and authority

and is thus put behind bars as a way of coercing him to submit himself to him as the supreme

authority in the land. Kongi is very keen on public endorsement of his leadership and wants

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to brand himself as the protector and spiritual leader and acknowledge his supremacy.

`Kongi wants to usurp Danlola’s position by handling and officiating at the festival by

receiving the New Yam from Oba Danlola’s hands as a symbolical gesture of his submission.

However, there is a reversal of the progression of his plan as his rule is challenged by his

former mistress who runs a bar which is frequented by the omnipresent organising secretary.

Segi is assisted by her league of supporters and her current boyfriend Daodu who happens to

be a nephew of Danlola. Daodu is the leader of a successful co-operative that Kongi felt

jealous of but could not close for fear of antagonising himself with the people.Danlola is

reluctant to abdicate his religious responsibilities but Segi and Daodu convinces him to

pretend so that Kongi attends the public celebrations. Their plan is to assassinate him but the

plan fails to materialise and Segi’s father is killed instead. Kongi is shocked to learn of the

planned ratchet conspiracy and chases away Daodu and Sergi. The effect of this foiled

assassination attempt is the further entrenchment of Kongi’s repressive rule. Soyinka vision

in the play is thus to bring out the adversarial relationship between a traditional chief, a tribal

ruler and a dictator. Although African drama is a genre derived from both African and

English traditions, its aesthetics should be based on a purely African context or ideology

because the challenges purveyed by African playwrights are drawn from their own

experiences of a society beset by imperialism, exploitation, neocolonialism andbetrayal. Even

though vernacular traditions influence the way in which Africans write, as is the case with

Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart (1958) and Soyinka in “Kongi’s Harvest”, their

ideologies are shaped by a specifically African sensibility. This rationale is articulated in the

following: “The artiste has always functioned in African society as the recorder of mores and

experiences of his society and as the voice of vision in his own time” (Soyinka,1973:89).

Soyinka examines the ideological conflicts that weigh down not only on the Nigerian

landscape, but the African society as well, and as such he contributes aesthetically to African

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drama through his poetry and prose. The conflict which is established in the Hemlock is

predominantly between Danlola and Kongi, who are exponents of their own

respectiveideologies.

Danlola epitomises the old order of kingship whose traditional beliefs and cultural

affiliations are setting, inevitably like the sun in the west. Kongi, On the other hand, is an

exponent of the order of presidents whose dictatorial inclinations are more venomous than the

fangs of a black mamba, and exposes the follies of humanity. Thus, the conflict between

Kongi and Danlola works in a two-fold manner in that it surpasses individual differences and

encompasses the struggle at the deeper sense of the political and social order.

The ideological differences in Kongi’s Harvest embodied in Kongi and Danlola are

highlighted through the ritualistic structure of the play. The ritualistic aspect of African

aesthetics examines the dramatic aspects of performance and spectacle. The play closely

follows the African tradition of ritualistic structure; the exhilarations associated with the

preparations, the actual ceremony, followed by communal feasting. The sacredness of the

past is superimposed with modernity to lend the play an ideological tiff.

The compounding of the past, present and future is emphasised through the

ceremonial role of the king. Social, mythical and historical time is also marked by such

rituals. The king’s divine and sacerdotal identity central to ritual in “Kongi’s Harvest” is

expressed through eulogising as illustrated thus: “None but the king/Takes the oil from the

crossroads/And rubs it in his “awuje”/The king is a god”.

The play opens with the people of Ismaland caught in sombre and pessimistic mood

because their spiritual leader, Oba Danlola, is in preventive detention, with the people

agonizing over the acts of the political leader Kongi; they never expect any good from his

administration. Kongi, the self-imposed political leader of Ismaland, insists that Danlola

should only be seen at the New Yam festival, where he would bring the sacred yam with his

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own hands to him. Kongi has put Obas, Sarumi and Danlola in detention, as a way of

depriving them of their traditional power. The two kings are strong opponents of Kongi; they

never liked him for his tyrannical and oppressive rule. To curtail their opposition, Kongi

employs the machinery of governance to arrest and incarcerate the two kings. With his

enemies put under control, Kongi plans to use the New Yam festival, a festival highly

venerated by the people, to make Danlola relinquish his kingship to him. It is also meant to

launder his image. But he does not want to raise any dust over it; he wants to make it appear

as if Oba Danlola relinquished power without compulsion. If Danlola hands Kongi the new

yam during the festival it would mean Kongi would not only be the political leader of the

people, but also the spiritualone.

To make things work in his favour, Kongi engages the services of a fraternity of

Aweris and the ubiquitous organising secretary supported by a brutal Carpenters’ Brigade.

However, despite efforts to achieve his ill-conceived plans, his former mistress Segi

challenges him both in private and in the open. Danlola gets to know of the plan; this makes

him resolve not to relinquish his religious functions to anyone. Knowing his stand Segi and

Daodu persuade him to play along to draw Kongi to the public celebration where he would be

assassinated.

The counter plan works, but the assassination plot fails and Segi’s father is killed

instead. Later, when Kongi discovers the counter plan, he chases away Daodu, the heir

apparent of Danlola and Segi and asserts himself more repressively.The significance of the

title Kongi’s Harvest is amply justified. For this Soyinka makes use of the essence of his

native culture. The ritual of the festival of Yam is beautifully painted by Soyinka.

According to African tradition, the New Yam festival is the annual cultural feast

celebrated by the Igbo people usually held at the end of the rainy season in early august. This

ritual is practiced throughout almost all African countries. The symbolic significance of this

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festival of Yam marks the conclusion of a harvest and the beginning of the next crop cycle.

The celebration is a culturally based occasion, which ties individual communities together as

vitally agricultural and dependent on Yam.

The Yams are the first crops to be harvested in Africa. The festival is a celebration

which depicts the prominence of Yam in the socio-cultural life of the native people. One of

the hallmarks of the festival is the first Yams are offered to god’s and ancestors first before

being distributed to the villages. The ritual is performed either by the oldest man in the

community or by the king or some eminent title holder. As a symbol of thanksgiving, the

kings or superiors to whom the first yams are offered,eat the first Yam and this symbolizes

their position which bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between their communities

and the god’s of theland.

The ritual signifies the expression of gratitude of the community to the god’s for

making the harvest possible. So the New Yam festival is a symbol of harvest which embodies

fertility of the tribe and guarantees continued procreation through harmonies interaction with

the nature. It is an occasion for cleansing and symbolizes the purgation of the clan’s sins. The

feast of the New Yam is an indispensable ritual of celebration in traditional black Africa.

Thus the Yoruba festivals particularly the Yam festival symbolizes three things to the African

world view-pragmatic, religious andappreciative.

Kongi, the president of Isma attempts to modernize the land through his dictatorship.

He tries hard to dethrone Oba Danlola, the traditional ruler, who is being held in detention by

Kongi. A demand was made by Kongi that Danlola should present him with the ceremonial

Yam, at a state dinner to symbolize his abdication. So Daodu, Danlola’s nephew and heir,

cultivates prized Yams on his farm. Kongi’s former lover Segi owns a bar where Daodu

spends most of his time. Both Daodu and Segi plan a conspiracy to take revenge on Kongi

because he has kept Segi’s father in detention. Along with these two characters, the different

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tribes object unification but Kongi tries to attain his goal by fair or foul means to the extent

that he forces government officials to wear traditional African outfits and seeks advice from

Danlola whom he has deposed. However, ironically at the end of the play during the state

dinner, Segi presents Kongi with a head of her decapitated father in a platter. This symbolizes

the future death of Kongi and it is a sign that he is in his degenerate state. Thus the title is

ironic and paradoxical since it represents Kongi’s downfall and death and not the realharvest.

It is clear in the play that in the planned harvest final by Segi and Daodu, president

Kongi must preside as the spirit of the harvest in pursuance of his Five years’ development

plan and so he insists that Oba Danlola should bring to him the New Yam with his own hands

as performance of customary spiritual function. Hesees himself as the spirit of planting, of

harvest, of victory and also as possessor of the collective spirit of the people.

Kongi: the spirit of resurgence is cleansed in the blood of the Nation’s

enemies, my enemies, the enemies of our collective spirit,the spirit of planting, the spirit of

Harvest, the spirit of inevitable history and victory all of which I am. Kongi is every

Ismite. (Kongi’sHanvest,81). This is a clear identity of a dictator who loves to hear his

subjects affirming his superior position in the society. He breaks out shouting slogans of

praises of himself. He says: Kongi: I am the spirit ofHarvest.

So Kongi is a character who loves ceremonies and that is how he requires one to

make Danlola submit openly to him and also his enemies psychologically to him. The

ceremony is an outlet for him to advertise government. This again symbolizes the passing

over of Danlola’s kingship to Kongi but the irony is that Danlola, the rebel leader is resistant

and unwilling to offer the Yam to Kongi and difficult to break with all forms of requests and

orders. For him the giving of the Yam during the harvest festival symbolizes the supremacy

of the state power over his traditional authority and culture. Though democracy may become

more vibrant, commanding greater legitimacy than the traditional systems, yet cleverly it

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signifies the relevance of the traditional rulers and their power is not to be taken for granted

and shaken off as a man brushes off cob web.

The play is divided into four sections; ‘Hemlock’ is the prologue. It tells how Oba

Danlola tries to save Ismaland and the people from Kongi’s anarchy. It also warns of future

political instability and the despondency the people would face in Kongi’s regime. The first

section leads into the center of the play; it unveils the story in stages while the hangover is

theepilogue.

The play is a satire on contemporary political situation in most African countries,

including Nigeria, where most political office holders, rather than serve the people, see public

funds as private treasures to be looted. They steal and enrich themselves and their family

members with public funds at the expense of those who put them to power.

Projecting multi faceted themes such as intrigues, corruption, statesmanship, putting

self above the state, ego and other devious human frailties, Kongi’s Harvest depicts Kongi as

a modern dictator suffering extremes of paranoid. Like all dictators, Kongi engenders and

spreads destruction; he decapitates his opponents and shows no genuine interest in the New

Yam festival, the fertility rites of passage for all flora and fauna, including man in the land of

Isma.

Characterization is explained as the art of presenting characters in a way that the

audience and reader’s attention is captured by the playwright or novelist. Different

playwrights present characters in such a way that they are realistic portrayals and true

representative of life. Soyinka’s art of characterization is exceptionally distinguished as he

makes use of the traditional figures to capture the essence and vitality of native atmosphere.

In Kongi’s Harvest he has presented characters so meticulously that they come alive in every

page of the play.Forinstance,ObaDanlola,the traditional ruler is presented as a symbol of

natural governance, custodian of native customs, a spiritual father and an enduring part of a

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people’s heritage. For Soyinka, the traditional rulers in African countries still hold power

over economic and financial resources like land and forestry. The traditional rulers promote

supremacy of one man lording over the affairs of all. Their shielded style of leadership has

been an instrument of oppression and capitalism, aiding and abetting all sorts of crimes and

corruption. Though their leaderships in the past gave way to colonialism and exploitation, yet

their prestige tells that they must exist outside of present times and operate outside the formal

structures of modern state power.

Thus Soyinka effectively presents portraits of characters illustrating the theme of the play and

leaves a central message that mankind especially in Africa exchanges one form of tyranny for

another.

The use of traditional African culture is another important aspect of Soyinka’s plays

and is a fine illustration of his mastery over language and technique. Though Soyinka’s

medium is English Kongi’s Harvest breathes the very spirit of the native soil. Biodun Jeyifo

explainsthat;Soyinka’s dramaturgy expresses itself with great variation in technique, idiom

and tone. The “Kongi” of the title of the play, Kongi’s Harvest is a widely paranoid dictator

of the imaginary state of Isma……. (Jeyifo, 2004:94).

Two contrasting worlds of Danlola and Kongi are explored in juxtaposition through

ritual, music and language styles, purposes and effects respectively. So the two opposing

worlds form two distinctive languages. Danlola’s language is associatedwith

proverbs and poetry taps into folkloristic wisdom and knowledge. Danlola’s use of

purposeful language earns him respect as witnessed in the following lines: The rude shanks

of a king Is not a sight for children It will blind them.

Here Soyinka uses language both literally and metaphorically to illustrate Danlola’s

loss of status as a king as well as the loss of his royalty. Images of nature are also used by

Soyinka drawn from the cultural world of the characters. For instance, Kongism is associated

with abstract language separated from the reality and ignores the values of the people.

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 To demonstrate the tree of life; is spring from broken peat: and we the rotted bark,

spurned; when the tree swells its pot; The mucus that is snorted out…. oh there’s a harvest

of words (kongi’s hasvest,61).

Here language is used both metaphorically and literally to illustrate Danlola’s loss of

status as a king as well as the loss of his royal regalia.

The playwright also uses realistic and non-realistic aspects of drama as well as

mythology through the exploitation of motifs, themes, imagery, language and symbolism.

The New Yam Festival is symbolic of the traditional values celebrated by Soyinka’s society.

Thus, the element of beauty or what constitutes the beautiful as depicted in the play has a

great bearing on African drama. However, in a multi-tribal society like Nigeria, the use of

mythology specific to one tribe like Yoruba may have limitations, as Ogun, the Yoruba god

of iron and war may not be seen in that light by other tribes.

The use of mythology limits the universality of drama because Africans share

different mythologies. Little wonder why Steve Chimombo’s poetry which draws inspiration

from an oblique style exploiting Malawian mythology is said to be intensely private.

Although language is distinctively used to effect in “Kongi’s Harvest”, it is, however, non-

realistic and does not conform to realistic speech patterns.

Ideologically and aesthetically Soyinka contributes remarkably to African drama but

the traditional elements that he incorporates have an artistic intention which is questionable

and seems to be inspired by non-African aspects.

The ideological conflict which drives the play remains unresolved, as it tilts in

Kongi’s favour. Kongi is a modernist whose dictatorial inclinations are a bane on

regeneration, legitimacy and progress, therefore the tilting of the scale in his favour suggests

the futility of traditionalism and all that it stands for; thus, betraying society.

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 The play also contributes immensely to drama in general and exhibits elements of

ritual. Soyinka uses traditional music to examine ideological conflict that affects African

societies. By using a dramatic structure to the play and employing a basic plot-Hemlock,

Exposition, first part and second half of second part, complication, second part, and Hangover

which is the resolution. African drama is characterized by dance, ritual and music which is

manifest in the everyday life of Africans because societal mores and values are usually

displayed in specific genres of music. The poetry and dance creates a renewed mythic

awareness in the plays of Soyinka.

The atmosphere in Kongi’s harvest is steeped in traditionalism. As part of his

language, Soyinka made use of proverbs in the play. For the Nigerians ‘proverbs are the

palm-oil with which words are eaten’. The use of proverb can be witnessed in the very

opening of the play:

The pot that will eat fat; Its bottom must be scorched. The squires that will long crack

nuts; Its foot pad must be sore. The sweetest wine has flowed down; The tapper’s

shattered shins. Music also enhances the dramatic aspect of the play as it reinforces the thin

plot in creating dramatic effect. Song accentuates the depiction of Segi as a ‘’femme fatale”

of the play as captured in the following: “Do not stay by the sea/At night…/Do not play/With

the daughter ofsea…”

Music provides and accentuates the contrasting styles of Kongi and Danlola.

Danlola’s music is melodious and serves a social function whereas Kongi’s is discordant;

hence it proffers no social purpose. The music of the Carpenters’ Brigade is offensive to the

ear and does not celebrate communal interests, but encourages deification and personal cults

embodied in Kongi. The discordant music is ironically picked out by the Reformed Aweri

Fraternity. Ideologically, scenes are sharply contrasted not only by ritual and music but also

through language styles, purposes and effects. The two contrasting worlds which are explored

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in juxtaposition conform to distinctive languages. Danlola’s language which is associated

with proverbs and poetry taps into folkloristic wisdom and knowledge.

"Like much of Soyinka's works, Kongi 's Harvest is a great deal more subtle then it

appears. It is a perfectly satisfactory play, even if it is taken only as the representation of clash

between a modem dictatorship and the traditional system which it has effectively replaced. It

is ultimately a representation of clash between the life - giving forces and death - producing.

(Eldred D. Jones, The Writing of Wole Soyinka, Heinemann, London, 1973,p.73.).

The language used in the play constantly links some characters with life and growth,

others with death in a way which makes the representation to Kongi of the head of Segi's

father a fitting symbolic climax of this more fundamental struggle. The Yoruba proverbs

convey the significance of the play. One has to pay the price to attain a goal. The final

couplet means much more. It refers to the sweet wine that has flowed away in mockery of the

tapper's efforts - the colossal waste of human energy, while no purpose has been served. Even

the satirical opening of the play has obliquely presented in imagery a situation of fruitless

labour. The jingling anthem goes on further to portray the prevailing political situation.

The new regime survives not on any positive contribution, but on its propaganda

machinery. The 'Government Loud Speaker' occupies the central position in the political

framework. The Reformed Aweri Fraternity, a modification of the old Fraternity is in fact, a

parody. They manufacture 'words' which go into the talking boxes. The repeated use of

'words, signifies sound and very little else. The credentials of the new regime rest on nothing

else. Kongi's word factory is closely reminiscent of the high level research undertaken by

Professors in the Grand Academy of Lagado in Laputa, a country visited by Gulliver during

one of his voyages subsequent to hisadventures in Lilliput Brobdingnag.

Danlola’s purposeful language earns him respect as illuminated here: “The rude

shanks of a king/Is not a sight for children/It will blind them.”

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 Here language is used both metaphorically and literally to illustrate Danlola’s loss of

status as a king as well as the loss of his royal regalia. Images of nature are also drawn from

the cultural universe of the characters. Kongism is, however, associated with abstract

language divorced from reality and ignores the values of the people.

The playwright also uses realistic and non-realistic aspects of drama as well as

mythology through the exploitation of motifs, themes, imagery, language and symbolism.

The New Yam Festival is symbolic of the traditional values celebrated by Soyinka’s society.

Thus, the element of beauty or what constitutes the beautiful as depicted in the play has a

great bearing on African drama. However, in a multi-tribal society like Nigeria, the use of

mythology specific to one tribe like Yoruba may have limitations, as Ogun, the Yoruba god

of iron and war may not be seen in that light by other tribes.

The use of mythology limits the universality of drama because Africans share

different mythologies. Little wonder why Steve Chimombo’s poetry which draws inspiration

from an oblique style exploiting Malawian mythology is said to be intensely private.

Although language is distinctively used to effect in “Kongi’s Harvest”, it is, however, non-

realistic and does not conform to realistic speech patterns.

Ideologically and aesthetically Soyinka contributes remarkably to African drama but

the traditional elements that he incorporates have an artistic intention which is questionable

and seems to be inspired by non-African aspects.

The ideological conflict which drives the play remains unresolved, as it tilts in

Kongi’s favour. Kongi is a modernist whose dictatorial inclinations are a bane on

regeneration, legitimacy and progress, therefore the tilting of the scale in his favour suggests

the futility of traditionalism and all that it stands for; thus, betraying society.

Modernism can flourish only in the soil of tradition. Success of any government

depends on just matching of tradition and modernism, and not on the elimination of one by

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the other. Many critics have identified Kongi as Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of

Ghana. Many aspects of Kongi's personality like his habit of retiring to the seclusion of the

mountains and posing as a Messiah and his hysterics, especially his gimmick of speaking in a

strained emotional tone, remind the people of Nkrumah. He was the first African dictator

showing totalitarian tendencies like announcing detention act, curbing of traditional

authority, a systematic indoctrination of the youth, and posing as a saviour. Soyinka has made

a very strong point: In the words of Gibbs, "The play is not a political thriller, or a protest

play, it is a poetic drama which seeks to penetrate the ephemeral surface lo reach eternal

essence... In a sense, Kongi can be seen as a Power, Donlola as Pomp, and Segi and Daodu

with their love of music and poetry - asEcstasy".

The plays of Soyinka are the creative fusing of Yoruba rituals, dramatic techniques,

music and dance with the imperial language, English. To achieve his dramatic effect, Soyinka

makes use of nonverbal techniques and traditional elements such as rituals, gestures, music

and songs. (to quote from the play). At a very young age Soyinka had an exposure to many

different cultures in Africa. Each of these are infused into his playwriting style to form a

unique whole and distinct status. He had the ability to give new life to old ways. Young

people who watched his plays would see relevance in the traditions they considered to be

primitive. Femi Osofisan, a former friend of Soyinka’s, on his impression of Kongi’s harvest

writes;

Theatre was no longer Shakespeare alone any more, or Shaw, it was now also

Soyinka’s. The function of his place was to instruct and delight. His plays were not devoid of

light hearted moments but provoked the audiences to think about important issues. Soyinka

had the technique of using the language to illustrate the social class of a character through

dialect. Though he wasn’t a native English speaker, yet he could still employ the language

and African dialect with ease and continuity.

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 Soyinka employs various theatrical and dramatic devices in a perfect manner and

brings about a synthesis between the regional and the universal elements. The use of such

elements highlights his plays and they are internally and inextricably woven into the plot of

the play. The various devices are rituals, festivals, metaphors, symbols, satire, flashback,

traditional music, biblical parallels, masquerades, etc., For Soyinka all these techniques are

extremely vital on the stage. He stated in one of his interviews that:

“…….. one must make sure that one talks relevantly to his prospective audience………

relevant in terms of structure, forms, symbols, metaphors. You must be able to engage them

in a mutually creative way. They must themselves feel that they are part and parcel of the

creative process ” (The Literary Half Yearly,68).

In conclusion we can certainly say that Soyinka took one of two thematic dimensions

in his plays-one a simple play layered with Yoruban culture, two an ambiguous play dealing

with metaphysical issues and Kongi’s harvest is a very good example of the first aspect.

Through this Soyinka drives home the message that man’s semi-autonomous will is at the

fore and man is responsible for his actions. “The final triumph of African tradition over

modernity and westernization is obviously an objective correlative of Wole Soyinka's

philosophy which recognizes the postcolonial need for nativization or reculturation and

rediscovery of the past glory and grandeur". (Basavaraj S.Naikar, 'The Conflict between

Tradition and Modernity in Wole Soyinka The Lion and the Jewel'-The African Poetry and

Drama ed., by ShymS. Agarwalla. Prestige Books, New Delhi,2000)

Therefore, the inspiration behind the crafting of Kongi’s Harvest stems from

Soyinka’s interest in tackling issues of human rights and political liberties, his apparent

concern in the importance of politics and the need for his theatre to gourd from the idioms of

African festival performances.

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