Ritual, cultural politics and the suicides in Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman

Abstract

This study positions itself towards a critical interpretation of suicide in Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman (1975) and its reception in the traditional Yoruba culture of South West Nigeria. Its central thesis is that ritual and culture significantly influence suicide in traditional African society and Yoruba society in particular. This study uses textual analysis as its methodology to probe the historical, cultural and social context of the play. The approach is analytic and interrogative as it illuminates the circumstances that surround the suicides in Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman as well as how the play mediates the reality of suicide as perceived in Yoruba tradition as against Western epistemology. In addition, the study suggests that the suicide in Soyinka’s play is not mainly an escape from shame but a necessary and pragmatic step consonant with the Yoruba belief system and mythical tradition. Finally, the study explores yet another caveat, the use of the Yoruba mythical tradition for personal gain. It concludes by determining that the failure of traditional elites to manipulate culture and tradition for their political interests leads them to frustration, and subsequently motivates suicide as a form of escapism.