WOMEN OPRESSION AS SEEN IN THE AMBIVALENT
ATTITUDES OF THE YORUBA SOCIETY IN WOLE
SOYINKA’S
DEATH AND THE
KING’S HORSEMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WENSISLAUS NOVAL RUMANGUN
Student Number: 124214078
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
WOMEN OPRESSION AS SEEN IN THE AMBIVALENT
ATTITUDES OF THE YORUBA SOCIETY IN WOLE
SOYINKA’S
DEATH AND THE
KING’S HORSEMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WENSISLAUS NOVAL RUMANGUN
Student Number: 124214078
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vii
The simple things are also the most extraordinary things,
and only the wise can see them.
viii
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would love to thank our God, Jesus Christ, for giving me a
chance so that I can finish this research. God has been a very great friend for me
for he always be there when I am alone and in need of help. My next great
acknowledgement is given to Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. and Dr. G. Fajar
Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. as my thesis advisor and co-advisor. I am so thankful
to be guided patiently even though most of time I was being reckless. Thanks very
much madam Putu for her patience during the seminar classes.
I would also love to give my deepest gratitude to my mother. If the biggest
love is as the size of earth, then my mother’s love would be the universe. I love
you mom. The next thank is for Gandroengers and EMC. Thank you for being my
family for the last four years. I am hoping for the best in this New Year.
The next gratitude is presented to my dear lecturers who, I believe, are
never tired of guiding me during those “dark days” of my life and of course to the
hero of all English Letters student, Ms. Ninik.
Lastly, to my fellow friends from 2012 and 2013 batch, Yanser, Ayun,
Aldwin, kaka Nita, and many more, thank you so much for being there for me.
Thank you.
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……….. ii
APPROVAL PAGE ……… iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……….. iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ………. vi
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ………... 10
2. Theory of Feminism ………. 12
3. Theory of Patriarchy ………. 15
C. Yoruba: The History and Women’s Position ….……… 16
1. History of Yoruba ………. 16
2. Women in Yoruba ………... 18
3. The Role of Yoruba Culture in the Play Death and The King’s Horseman ……… 19
xi
1. The Negative Attitudes towards Yoruba Female Characters …... 36 2. The Positive Attitudes towards Yoruba Female Characters ……… 43 C. The Ambivalent Attitude as another Form of Oppression towards
Women…………...………... 47
The Positive Attitudes towards Women as Oppressions ………….. 48
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………... 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 59
xii ABSTRACT
RUMANGUN, WENSISLAUS NOVAL. Women Oppression as seen in the Ambivalent Attitudes in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2017.
Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman which was published back in 1975 tells a story about a true event during the British colonialization. The issue brought in this research concerns the story lines of the play that exhibit the life of the women in Yoruba culture. Uniquely, not like other patriarchal cultures, the women in Yoruba culture had a complex situation. The complexity in the play leads to several ambivalent attitudes towards women. The researcher then aims to analyze what the effect of the ambivalent attitude towards women whether it will put women in neutral position or put women in miserable condition.
In order to find the answer, the analysis is divided based on three research problems. The first problem is to analyze the characteristics of each character involved in the issue. The second is to understand what the ambivalent attitudes the women face in the play. The third problem is to understand how the ambivalent attitudes play their role in oppressing women in Yoruba Society.
The approach of feminism is used to analyze the problems formulated. The first step is to do close readings in order to understand each character well. The second step is to find the interaction between the male and women characters. The last step is to make the analysis and conclusion based on the interaction in the play.
The result of the analysis shows that the complex views of women in the Yoruba Society which cause several ambivalent attitudes done by Elesin end up as oppressions for the female characters. Three problems are answered in this chapter. On the first problem, Elesin is portrayed as an honored, inconsistent, and arrogant person; Iyaloja as an obedient, traditional, honored, and powerful woman; the women of the market as obedient and brave; the bride as obedient. In answering the second and third problem, the analysis is divided into three parts: Iyaloja, the women of the market and the bride. It is found in the second problem that Iyaloja gets power abuse and her opinion is ignored. However in the other side, she is given position in the hierarchy. The women of the market are given negative stereotypes but also seen as mothers; honored and important figures. The bride is praised as an important and honored figured in the end but her right to choose is limited. In the last problem it is found that the positive attitudes the female characters get in fact are just another form of benevolent oppressions.
Iyaloja’s position as mother of the market forces her to follow the rules that favor
xiii ABSTRAK
RUMANGUN, WENSISLAUS NOVAL. Women Oppression as seen in the
Ambivalent Attitudes in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman.
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.
Drama Death and the King’s Horseman yang dipublikasikan pada tahun 1975 diangkat dari kisah nyata pada saat kolonialisasi Inggris. Isu yang dibahas dalam penelitian ini mengenai kehidupan perempuan dalam budaya Yoruba. Uniknya, tidak seperti budaya patriarki lainnya, perempuan dalam budaya Yoruba menempati posisi yang kompleks. Keeadaan ini menimbulkan beberapa sikap yang ambivalen terhadap perempuan di dalam drama. Peneliti bertujuan untuk menganalisis apakah akibat dari sikap-sikap ambivalen terhadap perempuan tersebut berdampak netral ataukah menempatkan perempuan pada kondisi yang tidak menguntungkan.
Untuk mendapatkan jawaban, analisis ini dibagi menjadi tiga masalah. Masalah pertama menganalisis karakterisasi dari tiap karakter yang terlibat. Kedua adalah untuk memahami apa saja sikap ambivalen terhadap perempuan yang ditunjukkan di dalam drama dan masalah yang ketiga adalah untuk memahami bagaimana sikap ambivalen terhadap perempuan yang dianalisis sebelumnya berperan dalam penindasan terhadap perempuan dalam masyarakat Yoruba.
Pendekatan Feminism digunakan untuk menganalisis masalah. Langkah pertama adalah pemahaman karakterisasi dengan membaca teliti. Langkah kedua adalah menemukan interaksi antara karakter laki-laki dan perempuan dalam cerita. Langkah yang terakhir adalah menganalisis dan membuat kesimpulan berdasarkan interaksi yang di temukan di dalam drama.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The struggle of women in a patriarchal society is one of the interesting but
concerning issues to discuss. Since the very old times, women have always been
the inferior counter part of men in the society. Men exploits it by treating women
as what they want. Wollstonecraft mentions one of the examples is how man can
justify their action by paying women for providing sex for them. This shows how
men insultingly support their superiority. Men think that desire or pleasure is just
a relaxation for their focus has been given to their business while women see
pleasure as a way to prove their existence (Showalter, 1971: 2).
A patriarchal society does not care much about women. It is because
patriarchal society sees men as the one that will continue the progeny of family.
“Patrilineal” is considered as men’s prerogative. This is why in a patriarchal
society, a family rather gives its major attention to the sons who will continue the
family line rather than the daughters who will follow their husband and become
the part of other’s family. The huge attention is given towards men who are
expected to run the economics of the family and the community. Since their
childhood, men have been prepared for professions while women have been
prepared to do the house chores and marriage (Sultana, 2011:1).
The situation that the women have been undergoing in fact does not only
happen in the first or second world countries but also happens in the third world
in the worldwide. African society gets the lowest rank in the global gender
equality index and has some of the highest numbers of domestic violence (Salami,
2013). The movement showed its claws in the beginning of 19th century. In this
era African women try to expand their movement to not only in the domestic
context but also to the politics; to the legislation.
Wole Soyinka as an African exposes the situation of the women at that
time through his writing. Soyinka was born on July 13th 1934 in Abeokuta,
Nigeria. He is known for his famous dramas and plays that being performed for its
message and cultural experiences contained. In 1986, he became the first black
African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, just 11 years after his play
publication Death and The King’s Horseman (The Editors, 2015).
Death and The King’s Horseman is known as one of the notable plays by
Soyinka for it presents a rich experience of the root of Yoruba society culture in
the era of colonialization. This work has been considered to be a masterpiece
together with Oedipus Rex and Hamlet.
One of the issues found in the play is the issue of women struggle towards
patriarchal system of Yoruba culture. The main characters involved in this issue
are Elesin, Iyaloja, the bride, and the women of the market. As the second person
to the throne, Elesin has power in the society. During the ritual of his death, Elesin
decides to take a wife which is not a part of the ritual ceremony. Regarding this
proposal, Iyaloja as the mother of the market, together with the women of the
market try to refuse the proposal but with his power, there is nothing he cannot
towards women. In order to understand further, this research analyzes the
ambivalences that appear throughout the play. The outcome of the research is to
find whether the ambivalences results to favor or against women.
The big issue of Death and The King’s Horseman is the clash between
Yoruba and British culture. There, most researches that have been produced were
focusing in determining and comparing both culture using post-colonialism
approach. However, despite of the main issue of the story, the researcher tries to
deepen the research by not focusing on things that has been researched by many
other researchers. This research uses the feminism approach to see and unveil the
women subordination happened in the culture of the Yoruba land.
In the play, the researcher analyzea the contribution of the main characters
including Iyaloja, Elesin, the bride and the women of the market to understand
more about the subordination and oppression that appear in the play. In brief, it is
shown that the women at that time had already been given a chance in the politics
and community. The society also give a huge trust to women. However whether
the trust given is along with the full rights or not is analyzed in the later chapters.
B. Problem Formulation
1. What are the characteristics of Elesin, Iyaloja, the bride, and the Yoruba
women of the market in the play?
2. What ambivalent attitudes appear throughout the disclosure of the character
3. How do the ambivalent attitudes expose the oppression towards women in
Yoruba culture?
C. Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to answer the questions in the problem
formulation.
The first objective is to understand how the characters are described. The
main idea of this objective is to understand deeper about the characters and their
significance in the play.
The second objective is to describe the ambivalent attitudes towards
women. This section analyzes the positive and negative view of the women of the
market, the bride and Iyaloja in the Yoruba Society.
The third objective is to understand how the two contrast point of views of
the women in the Yoruba Society in the end create a chance to oppress and harm
women.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Ambivalence
Ambivalence is a term used to describe “the existence of two opposite
feeling” in an object (Rozensweig, 1938:223). It appears in a contradictorily
“attitudes or feelings towards an object, person or action” (Merriam-Webster
2. Attitude
“A relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings and behavioural
tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols”
(Vaughan and Hogg, 2011:150).
3. Ambivalent Attitude
Referring to the definitions above, ambivalent attitude can be defined as
conflicting feelings or concepts or behaviors towards objects, groups, events or
6
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
The first study used in this discussion is from the research by Taiwo
Makinde who writes about the life of women in the Yoruba society in Nigeria. In
his paper, he describes the role of women in the society of how women role in
conveying their suggestion, and other things compared to men. He finds out that
women in Nigeria at that time has already been given a ‘place’ in the society.
Makinde writes “A woman in Yoruba Culture occupies various positions – a
mother, a wife, a daughter, a priestess, or even a withch. The way she is perceived
depends on the position she occupies” (2004 : 165).
However women also can be seen in a very bad way; as the “eru” (slave).
When a woman become a wife, she will be seen as the slave of her husband.
However the society’s attitude towards her will change after she has baby(-es). In
Yoruba culture, a woman who become a mother will be praised highly (2004:
166). This research will help the researcher in understanding the action done by
Elesin to his new bride before and after their wedding night. However Makinde’s
research and this present research is different on the object and the analysis. The
researcher uses Makinde’s research as a reference to understand the Yoruba
Society in Death and the King’s Horseman’s context. Makinde focuses more on
focuses not only for the marriage affairs but also in political affairs in relation to
the support of the culture.
The second study is O.O. Familusi’s research which talks about the
negative and the positive impacts of the woman status in the society in Yoruba.
His research described that women at that time in Nigeria had advantages and
disadvantages by using their gender to survive in the society. Familusi also
emphasizes few ideas about women’s position in the society as mothers and how
the society reacts to them.
“ Immediately a child is born, the question that will be posed will centre on sex, not minding of health of the mother. If the baby is a female, the mother will be scolded and treated as a lazy, good for nothing woman. On the other hand if the child is a male, praise will be showered on the mother, not considering the fact that Biology has shown that it is the
father who determines the sex of an offspring. “ (2012: 300)
The society of Yoruba in fact puts the women in a very low place besides
the fact that they will be put in a high place only if they have become a mother
and had a son(s). There are some cases when women are being put in a lower
place than the men. First is in the case of inheritance. When a husband dies, the
one who will be trusted to rule the family is the male child, no matter how young
the son is or that he has other sisters. The property then will be given to the sons
not to the daughters. In some cases, the daughter will not be given anything. One
thing that is becoming the problem is the mother will be considered also as a
property. So in the end, when a husband die, the wife will be counted as a
property that is freely given to the next owner. This research will help me to
women in the story of Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horseman (2012:
301-303).
The third study is Ikfina Maufuriyah on her undergraduate thesis “The
Native’s Resistance against Colonialism in Wole Soyinka’s Death and The King’s
Horseman”. Using the colonialism approach, Maufuriyah tries to analyze what
form of resistance that the native people of the Yoruba society tried to protect
their culture from the intervention of the colonialism. There are two problems she
analyzed. The first problem discusses the different point of view of cultural
practice in Yoruba between the white and Yoruba people. The second problem
discusses the resistance the local people do in preserving the practice.
The main issue Maufuriyah brings in her analysis is the existence of
cultural oppression. She analyzed how the oppression can be seen through
Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horseman. Her focus is on the cultural relation
between the Yoruba people and the colonizer; how the relation impacted on the
local cultural believe. Compared to the analysis conducted in this research, the
main focus will be how the local culture see the women of the local in the public
and domestic sphere. Even though the point of this research and Maufuriyah’s
research are two different issues, but the researcher will use Maufuriyah’s analysis
on the society background.
The fourth study is Abeda Sultana’s research. In his journal, he analyzed
the root of patriarchy and some theories that support and backlash it. Sultana
As stated in the opening of his journal that “patriarchy is the prime obstacle to
women’s advancement and development”, Sultana tried to see the existence of
women’s subordination in one of the third world countries: Bangladesh. He
argued that in the development of civilization, the level of male domination in the
society may be different from the nature of men’s control in the past but does not
mean that men are not in power anymore. He brings the example of how
nowadays people may have Queens and women Presidents and Prime Ministers
but it does not cover the fact that besides there are indeed women in power, the
rights of women are still not fully covered yet (Sultana 2011: 1-2).
Sultana believes that the development of a nation could not be as modern
as now without the contribution of women, which is why he said that “no nation
can progress without the help of women”. He argued that not only men who take
the world in the modernization alone but both men and women joint together to
make it real (Sultana 2011: 1).
He wrote on his journal about the root of patriarchy, there are two big
groups conveying their thoughts. The first group, the traditionalists, values the
existence of men to dominate the world including women. The group believes that
the male dominance is a “rule of nature” that has already been there and therefore
could not be changed. However, another group believe that the idea and the
existence of patriarchy are merely “man-made” and further it still can be changed
Sultana also quotes from Lerner about how Aristoteles, shared the same
idea with the traditionalists, proposes about the root of patriarchy lies in the
description of women as ‘mutilated male’. Therefore as they are biologically
inferior, the same thing goes for their capability and ability to work things and
create rational reasons. The extreme feminists supports this idea by claiming that
biological features of both men and women do not have anything to do with
women’s capability, however the idea of ‘male-ness’ and ‘female-ness’ do exist
merely as the result of a long historical process. The process itself is not new. It
has been at work for about 2,500 years (Sultana, 2011: 4-6).
In conclusion, this research analyzes conflicting attitudes towards
women. The further research is to find how these ambivalences in the end propose
the same idea which is to oppress women.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Characters are persons who appear and are presented in the works. They
are the ones who make the story runs. Characters in a work could be dynamic or
static, depending on their development throughout the story (Abrams, 1985: 23).
Most of the characters made in the story are fictional. Even though made
according to the author’s imagination, the characters are made as human as
possible so that the reader will feel as if the character in the story can represent the
reality (Holman and Harmon, 2009: 95).
According to Christopher Russell Reaske there are six ways in
a. The appearance
Reaske believes that characters can be characterized from the way they
are portrayed in the play. The playwright usually gives descriptions about how the
characters look like, how they behave, etc. The appearance of a character can be
in the form of how she/he walks, dresses, etc. These can show age, possible
behaviors whether she is a good or evil, etc.
b. Asides and soliloquies
There are moments in a play which a character will speak to him/her
own self, or murmur about something. It is believed that through asides and
soliloquies, characteristics of a character can be disclosed. Sometimes they speak
about their intents towards an object. From this short or long speech, the character
can be analyzed whether she/he is good or evil.
c. Dialogues
When a character responds to other characters, there can be analyzed the
characteristics of him/her. The way the character reacts and responds in dialogues
can show the other side of him/her.
d. Hidden narration
Another way in finding the characteristics of characters in a play is by
analyzing carefully the speech of other characters. Reaske believes that it is
possible for other characters to mention the characteristics of another character on
their speeches whether in the form of opinions, thoughts, etc. The idea of hidden
in hidden narration could mean that the characteristics are not directly mentioned
e. Language
From speeches, characteristics of a character can be inferred. When a
character speaks, she/he will have a different way of speaking whether in the form
of dictions, intonations, etc. Through language it can be seen whether a character
is intelligent or not, what background she/he probably comes from.
f. Character’s action
Actions of a character do not appear in a play randomly but there are
reasons that trigger that to happen. In order to make an action, characters will
have motivation coming from their inner side suggesting and sometimes forcing
them to take such actions. Besides that, the pattern of the actions done by a
character can show his/her identity or true characteristics. The more a character
acts the more it can be seen naturally how his/her character really is.
In short, Reaske proposes six ways of analyzing a character:
appearance, asides and soliloquies, dialogues, hidden narration, language and
actions (Reaske, 1966: 46-48).
2. Theory of Feminism
History records that women have been treated unequally for ages.
Despite that women’s population is more than the half of human population, they
were always being forced to occupy a secondary place in the world’ while men
have been always considered to get the first position (Beauvoir, 1989: 39).
Concerning this situation, women try to seek for the betterment which is the equal
from the injustices that they have had (Humm, 1995: 94). The efforts and struggle
in voicing women’s idea are conceptualized in what we call feminism.
Feminism is defined as “the ideology of women’s liberation… that
women suffer injustice because of our sex” (Humm, 1995:94). In its development,
many theorists come with their new ideology that enrich the branch of feminism.
This research will specify to use liberal feminism.
Liberal feminism “aims to achieve equal legal, political and social rights
for women” (Humm, 1992:181). Liberal feminist believes that patriarchal society
plays important role in women subordination concerning the oppression and the
limitation of rights. They also propose that there should be a fair legislation to
both women and men. The legislation should guarantee the equality not only in
term of race, culture, work place etc (humm, 1990:119).
Men are believed to be favored by patriarchal society. Men tends to have
more job opportunities or even be favored regarding the law matters. In Sex from
Plato to Paglia, Alan Soble argues that Liberal feminism tends to criticize the
unfair treatment and promotes “equal protection under the law”. Liberal feminists
believes that women has their right to have “personal privacy”, “autonomy” and
“consent” therefore it is in their (women’s) capacity to choose what they want to
do with their live. Alan brings Wollstonecraft’s argument that men and women
are different solemnly because of their sexes is “either fabricated or exaggerated
and therefore could not be used as the basis for differential rights and roles”.
fields such as education. She believes that education is important for one to be
rational in reasoning (Alan, 2006:334).
John Stuart Mill also believes that sex roles is a kind of “caste system”
which women are placed lower than men and restricted to only several rights. His
wife Harriet Taylor Mill then adds that if women get proper education as men,
“women would choose to become the partners of men” in the workplace (Alan,
2006: 334).
The same ideas about self-autonomy and consent are also brought into
marriage, sexuality and prostitution issue. Marriage should happen when there are
consents from both parties. There should be consent without coercion to
participate (Alan, 2006: 336). In the marriage later, “sex roles within the family
has to become androgynous” where both couple has the same position in nurturing
the children to gain equality in family.
Liberal feminists believe that there are times when the sexual interaction
happened because they are “violently forced or coerced into it”. Some factors that
coerce them in ‘consenting’ such as “childhood sexual abuse, drug dependency
and poverty”. They believe that women have the right to “free to reject the norms
and that any legal arrangement” that harms them (Alan, 2006: 337). In conclusion,
Liberal feminists propose the idea that women have rights to choose and decide
3. Theory of Patriarchy
Patriarchy in the past is used to describe a household in which is ruled by
the father. Patriarchy itself means “the rule of the father”. The term then
developed to the modern era to show a community or society dominated by male.
Domination here refers to the power in the society in a small community like
family to big community like nation. In maintaining their power, men then have to
limit women’s accesses and rights (Bhasin, 2006:3).
In using their power, men dominate woman in every aspect. In the
households for instance, women would be the one who take care of the children
and do the houseworks. Men also control women in many aspects. Men have
power to use women body to fulfill their desire. Women are also confined in the
economical access. In this ideology, women are the one who works and men are
the one who enjoy the products. (Hartmann, 1993: 13). Besides in economy and
society, men also dominate women in the culture (Lim, 1997:220).
In order to keep things in order, in patriarchal way, “masculine and
feminine characteristics, private-public realms” (Sultana, 2010:8) were created.
This idea is then introduced since the childhood age; which toys are for girls and
for boys, what acts should one does, etc. At the end, the patriarchal system in
society will always be there. Male in their adult age will acknowledge their
dominance towards women and then they have control upon women not only in
the economic sphere but further to the women’s reproduction, mobility and
C. Yoruba: The History and Women’s Position
1. The History of Yoruba
Among the states in Africa, Nigeria is more distinguished compared to
other states. Before gaining the world acknowledge of its capability of
maintaining its own economics and politics, Nigeria has been through a distinct
change of cultures, politics. Talking about Nigeria, we cannot silence the facts of
its glorious past of its ancient cultures as Ife, Benin and Nok (Fayusi,
1973:11-13).
According to its administrative development, Nigeria can be divided into
three era, pre-colonial in which the ancient kingdoms were still in its glorious
time, the colonial era in which it was under the rule of the monarchy of England,
and lastly the current era. Concerning the object of research Death and The King’s
Horseman, the era that contributes a lot in this research would be the pre-colonial
and the beginning of the colonialization era (Fayusi 1973: 9).
In the pre-colonial era, there were few huge kingdoms that ruled the land
with its people in its own cultural policy. One land is the Ife land that is believed
to be the origin land of the two big empires. One of the empire is the Kingdom of
Yoruba. It is believed that the sons of the founder of Ife later found the seven
lands of seven crowns and make it an empire. Basically at this time, the
administrative and the politics has been established quite well seen through how
each of the land have their own leader or chief to make sure the stability of each
sure that each chief will lead the land accordingly to the king vision. The council
consists of “heads of various cult societies, outstanding warriors, religious and
political leaders” (Fayusi 1973: 12).
Each chief of the land has the duty to create peace by putting things in
order of how they work and how the talent is being past to the next generation.
The sons of a family will then have to learn how to inherit his father’s talent. For
example, if the father is a carpenter so in the young age, the son will have to
follow his father wherever he goes in order to learn the pattern of work so that he
can later continue his father work when his father passed away and can keep
contributing to the community. In the other hand, women will be in home
preparing for the needs of the men working outside (Fayusi 1973: 17-19).
When the British arrived at the land of Yoruba, they forced the people to
join their belief and their political way of thinking. While the power of the ancient
empire was already weaken added with the influence from the British, some lands
that tried to free themselves from the power of the old empire and swear
allegiance to the monarchy of England. Some lands where still had no or less
intact with the colonizer and lands that still has kings kept practicing their rituals
based on their own cultural policy.
Interestingly, with or without the existence of the British, the existence of
women in the society was still getting no improvement. In most of the African
Women were seen as properties that could be given to anyone (O.O Familusi,
2012:301).
2. Women in Yoruba
Women have never been given a fair judgement and treatment of the
society. In Yoruba culture there is an ambivalent position of women. Women in
the Yoruba culture are categorized to daughter, teenager, wife and mother. From
those stratas, only the mother is the one that is put in the higher place. As it has
been stated that only a mother will be treated differently, however when the
husband is passed away, the mother will be treated as a furniter of the house
which could be given to anyone according to the husband’s will.
One of the most nightmare of the women in Yoruba culture is the issue of
virginity. In that culture, a girl should be a virgin until the day she married. The
husband of the women can sue the family if he found out that his wife is no longer
a virgin. The society however does not care whether the husband has slept with
other women or not. When this situation happens, the society will justify any
action of punishment given to the wife. When a couple is found out doing the
adultery, the women will be judged as murderer and will be punished however
there is no any punishment given to the male partner.
A wife will be seen as a slave of their husband. She will be forced to do
everything the husband ask her to do. Even she is seen as the property of the
husband. A woman no matter she is single or married does not have any right to
tresspass this and will be punished according to the culture. Women are
responsible for the behaviour of the children. When a child acts unaccordingly,
the mother will be the one to be blamed. Besides that, they are not trusted. There
is an expression “obinrin koni gogongo” which means women can not be trusted
because they have no adam apple. This can be seen as a very illogical things
because the society is using the biological feature to go against women in which
does not have any relation at all (familusi: 305).
3. The Role of Yoruba Culture in the Play Death and The King’s Horseman
Values and attitudes are closely related. Values are abstract therefore it is
believed to be able to affect one’s attitudes in many ways (Maio and Olson,
1994:268).
Yoruba Society is one of the ancient culture that holds on to patriarchal
system. One of the characteristics as depicted in the play is the hereditary that is
passed from one to another generation through the male heir. It is the men then are
sit as the authorities to both domestic and public spheres.
PRAISE-SINGER. … a man is either born for his art or he
isn’t.
(Soyinka, 1986: 10) ---
PILKINGS. … The old pagan wanted him to stay and carry on
some family tradition or the other. (Soyinka, 1986: 28)
----
WOMAN. … It is not he who calls himself Elesin Oba, it is his
blood that says it. As it called out to his father before him and will to his son after him.
The value that family tradition should be passed to the next male in blood
line shows a significant position of men in the society and also justify the society
as a patriarchal society. Like other patriarchal societies, the lives of women in the
society are concerning.
Yoruba culture plays a very important role in shaping the mind of its people
and how they act. The myth about the other life, curses, legends are believed to be
true and have impact on the livings. The culture also embodies the idea of women
subordination. Women become less active in the society because of many
restriction of rights that is held on by the society. Furthermore, the subordination
towards women could be in a position to oppress them. Elesin in the play becomes
the capable character in representing the issue.
Elesin who is introduced in the play as the horseman of the king plays a
role as the representative of the culture. As holding the second most important
position in Yoruba society, Elesin is known as the “man of honour”. The title
according to the play is derived from his past achievements with the previous
king. His achievements strengthen the honor and respect of the people to him.
Besides the title, Elesin is also believed to have more ability and knowledge about
the culture. His position as the right hand of the king also appoints him naturally
as the implementer of the cultural rituals. His action is believed to bear a direct
relation to the culture. That makes people trust him about the decisions he made.
As someone who preserves the continuity of the culture, is the second in line to
the monarch, and plays a crucial part in the cultural rituals, Elesin is necessary to
Yoruba people highly respect the culture. The subordination seems to be
something natural to be embraced and practiced in everyday life. The examples of
the subordination of women in Yoruba culture are such as the inferior position,
the restriction of rights like right to make own decision, little access to resources,
etc. Some women might voluntarily accept the “subordinate status in
exchange of protection and privilege, a condition which characterizes
so much of the historical experience of women”. However in many cases like in
the play, the male character uses this privileges to fulfil their “evil intent” toward
the submissive (Learner 1989:234-235). Aristotle said “the courage of man is
shown in commanding of a woman in obeying” (Learner1989:8-11).
There are various examples in the play that shows how the trust that
Yoruba women gives to the males is not used properly. The first and obvious
example is polygamy. Yoruba Society does agree in polygamy. Men can have
many wives for many reasonable reasons. One of the reasons mentioned above is
to have protection. However in the play, the idea of women seeking for protection
and other needs does not appear.
ELESIN. … I deserve a bed of honour…
WOMEN. But she is betrothed to your own son (Iyaloja). Tell him.
(Soyinka 1986: 21)
ELESIN. … oh little mother, I have taken countless women in
As stated above, the bride is not in a state where she needs any needs from
Elesin. She is betrothed to Iyaloja’s son which means that she lives a proper live.
However the culture believes that the man who is going to face death especially a
king’s horseman’s wish is a must to be fulfilled otherwise there is something bad
is going to happen. As culture’s role in the Yoruba’s lives is very crucial, there is
nothing they can do than let it happen for a good reason, hopefully.
Despite of putting women in a lower position, Yoruba culture shows its
complexity in placing women in hierarchy. Iyaloja’s position as “mother of
multitude” which is equalized to Elesin’s position as “father of multitude” shows
that the culture in fact also empowers women. It shows that the culture in the very
first place tries to protect both men and women however sometimes in the
implementation men tends to overpower and use the chance to overcome women.
D. Theoretical Framework
There are three theories used in this discussion which will be used as the
foundation to answer the questions mentioned in the problem formulation.
The first theory, the theory of character, is used to identify Elesin and
Yoruba female character in the play. The women here are categorized to three
parts. The first is to analyze Iyaloja, the second is to analyze the bride and the last
is to analyze the general women. From the characterization of the characters we
can understand how the characters are and what position they are in the society.
The second theory, the theory of Feminism, will be used to show the
on their position in the society and knowledge of culture. The theory also can be
used to identify the women situation at that time. Iyaloja’s reaction as the ‘mother
of market’ will show us how the surroundings force women to bow under the
male domination while the bride and the women of the market reaction towards
the opression supported by the culture is also analyzed in this research.
The third theory, the theory of Patriarchy, is actually the extension of the
second theory. By using this theory, the male character will be analyzed so that
the reasons behind his action in oppressing the women could be dissected even
24
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of Study
Death and The King’s Horseman was written by Soyinka in 1975 based on
an event happened in 1946. It consists of five scenes tell a story about Elesin who
was in the process of doing a suicide ritual in order to accompany the king who
had just died. The ritual required Elesin to die to be the partner of the king to find
the utopian world. At the same time, a british colonizer named Simon Pilkings
tried to stop Elesin to do suicide. He then had Elesin jailed as an action to prevent
Elesin to kill himself. Elesin’s son who had just come back from England saw that
his father had already failed to do his duty to join the king in death decided to kill
himself as the offer to replace his father position.
In some specific parts of the drama, the author points out a lady named
Iyaloja as the ‘mother of market’. ‘Mother of market’ here means more like the
one who lead the women in that place. Even though being put as a ‘leader’,
Iyaloja has no power to go against the power of man in this drama represented by
Elesin.
Before facing his death, Elesin proposes his willingnes to have a night
with a girl to be his bride. After the bridal night, he said he will be ready fo the
riual. This play also shows us about the live of women in Nigeria at the moment
The play itself has been performed many times by notable theatres in
Chicago in 1976 and at Lincoln Center, New York, in 1987. The play is believed
to be a great sample for people outside of Africa to study Nigerian society.
B. Approach of the Study
To find the answer of the problem formulations and to conduct the
discussion, the researcher decides to use feminism approach. It is the feminist
approach because basicaly, this discussion focuses on the life of the women in
Yoruba in facing the oppression given by men and struggling to voice their
thoughts and right to choose.
C. Method of the Study
In conducting this discussion, the researcher used a library research. There
were two sources used to find the information about the topic. First is the primary
resource which is the play itself why the second is the secondary sources which
are books, journals and internet sources.
These are the steps the writer used to reach the end of discussion.
Firstly, the researcher chose the work used to analyze in this case Wole
Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horseman.
Secondly, the researcher applied close reading to find the important parts
that will be analyzed later. The researcher found out that the life of the woman at
the moment in Yoruba society was having a depression caused by the opression
Thirdly, the researcher looked for some books that define the theories that
could be used to define the life of women. There were some books found that
talks about the women struggling to find their justice in the patriarchal societies.
The researcher also found jurnals that describes the society of Yoruba at that time.
Fourthly, the theories that had been found were applied to analyze the
problems that had been firstly formed in the problem formulation. The researcher
used the theory of Characterization to analyze the characteristics of the women of
the market, the bride, Iyaloja and Elesin. It then moved forward to use the theory
of Feminism and Patriarchal to understand the background and reasons behinds
the oppression felt by both the oppressed and the oppressor. Lastly, using the
background of the story emphasized by the custom of Yoruba that is kept repeated
throughout the story, the writer then could finally see how the society actually see
the women of Yoruba.
Lastly, after analyzing the story, the researcher then could make a
27 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter answers the problems stated in the Problem Formulation.
Since there are three problems, this chapter is divided into three main sections.
The first section talks about the first problem formulation, the characteristics of
Elesin, Iyaloja, the bride and the women of the market. The writer used the theory
of characterization mentioned in the Chapter II to analyze each of them. The result
of the first problem formulation is used to analyze the ambivalent attitude that
appears in the play. The last section then talks about how the ambivalence in the
end harms women and the role of the culture in this issue.
A. The Characters and Their Characteristics
There are four characters analyzed including the two main characters in
the play, Iyaloja and Elesin. However, the existence of the bride and the women
of the market is also crucial in understanding and dissecting this analysis because
they appear in most of the scenes that are going to be analyzed. This is why it is
justified to place them in the character analysis.
1. Elesin
Elesin Oba is introduced as the right hand of the previous king. As the one
that has stood beside the king ruling the kingdom together, he then has duties to
perform his own death ritual to join the death king in another world. Elesin is
However his remarkable achievements resulted in his being overreact and
stubborn towards the people in the lower rank then him.
a. Honored
Elesin’s past moments with the dead king about how they rule the kingdom,
create peace and prosperity and conquering the villages near the kingdom create a
great impression for the people of his success in accompanying the king.
ELESIN. I go to keep my friend and master company.
… our joint hands
Raised houseposts of trust that withstood The siege of envy and the termites of time. WOMEN. The town, the very land was yours. (Soyinka, 1986: 14-15)
The Yoruba people acknowledges his achievement by praising him and the
dead king as “a man of honor”. The play mentions several times about Elesin past
achievement and why his position affects the life of the people at the time the
dead king ruled the kingdom.
b. Inconsistent
Set aside his position as the hand of the king and also known as a man of
honour, Elesin is introduced also as an inconsistent men. This is a scene which he
confesses how he feels about leaving the livings and joining the deaths.
ELESIN. …there was also a weight of longing on my earth -held limbs. I would have shaken it off, already my foot had begun to lift but then, the white ghost entered and all was defiled.
(Soyinka, 1986: 65)
This confession of him contradicts with his thought in the beginning of the
WOMEN. Nothing will hold you back?
ELESIN. Nothing. I go to keep my friend and master company.
(Soyinka, 1986: 14)
c. Arrogant
Being acknowledged as the man of honour, Elesin shows some arrogances
in several scenes of the play.
IYALOJA. But you, husband of multitudes? ELESIN. I, when that Not-I bird perched
Upon my roof, bade him seek his nest again, Safe, without care or fear. I unrolled
My welcome mat for him to see. Not-I
Flew happily away, you’ll hear his voice
No more in this lifetime –You all know What I am.
(Soyinka, 1986: 14)
Elesin tells a story to the entourage about the Not-I bird which is a symbol
of death. The stories says that the Not-I bird came and visited several people in
different places but they refused it. But when it came to Elesin, he unrolled his
“welcome mat for him to see”. He ends his story buy saying “you all know what I
am” which shows a slight proud but also a sense of arrogance for he believes he is
different with other people. He did not run when the death came calling, instead
2. Iyaloja
Iyaloja is introduced in the story as the “Mother of the Market” which
refers to her being given an authority to organize the market and as the leader of
the women in Yoruba. Having that position, she then has the power higher than
other women in the market. There are four characteristics she portrays in the play.
a. Obedient
As the Mother of the Market appointed by the authorities, Iyaloja has duties
to obey the laws, culture and the ruler of the kingdom. The obedient of Iyaloja is
proven in several scenes of the play.
When Iyaloja and the women of the market asked Elesin about his readiness
to face death, Elesin got “bitterly offended” and strongly urge for the apology.
Iyaloja got the message and ‘ask’ the other women to kneel and ask for
forgiveness.
ELESIN. I am master of my fate WOMEN. Nothing will hold you back?
ELESIN. Nothing. What! Has no one told you yet?... I am bitterly offended
IYALOJA Our unworthiness has betrayed us. All we can do is
ask your forgiveness. …
(She kneels, the other women follow) (Soyinka, 1986: 14-16)
The power of hierarchy, rank, in the society play a big role in Iyaloja’s act to
Elesin as her superior no matter the issue does make sense or not. The next scene
that shows Iyaloja’s obedience to the upper rank is shown by how she agreed to
Elesin’s proposal to marry one of her “daughters” while in fact that girl is already
ELESIN. … Iyaloja, who is she?
IYALOJA. Has one step already in her husband’s home. She is
betrothed.
Due to her strong belief into the ancient faith that has become the core of the
culture, every action that Iyaloja took has been passing consideration concerning
the faith itself. Lot of scenes when she has to make decisions, she will refer back
to the culture, the faith that people believe and then make the decision. The scenes
including the part shown in letter a when she agreed to make the girl a bride for
Elesin is one example.
IYALOJA. The matter is no longer in our hands.
… Only the curses of the departed are to be feared. … be sure the seed you leave in it attracts no curse. (Soyinka, 1986: 21)
Iyaloja believes in the idea that if she does not follow what the culture tells
her to do, there might be something bad happened; a curse. In the scene when
Elesin gave his forgiveness to Iyaloja and the women of the market, she was so
happy that nothing bad will happen concerning this issue.
What a fearful thing it is when The voyager sets forth
But a curse remains behind. (Soyinka, 1986: 16)
c. Honored
Her actions and decisions that are seen right by the women of the market
make them, the women, to give her respect and honor her for that and her
respective position in the market.
When Amusa ask Iyaloja to tell the other girls to not insult him any longer
and throw some kind of threats, the girls then approach him believing that he has
insulted them by acting carelessly towards Iyaloja.
AMUSA. Iyaloja, make you tell dese women make den no
insult me again. If I hear dat kin’ insult once more… GIRL. He’s out of his mind. It’s our mothers you’re talking to,
do you know that? Not to any illiterate villager you can bully and terrorise.
(Soyinka, 1986: 36-37)
The way Iyaloja is addressed is also different. While talking to the other
women, they are addressed as “women” but when Iyaloja comes, she is addressed
as “Madame Iyaloja”.
The two scenes above show Iyaloja as someone believed by the common
d. Powerful
The fact that Iyaloja gets honored by the common villagers affects her
authority towards the women of the market. She then becomes role model of the
women.
IYALOJA. …(She kneels, the other women follow.)
(Soyinka, 1986: 16)
She is believed to be more powerful and to know more than them.
WOMEN. What does he mean Iyaloja? This language is the language of our elders, we do not fully grasp it.
(Soyinka, 1986: 20-21)
This examples, added with the praise from the Praise-Singer about “how
wisdom she is” show the women’s trust and ‘dependency’ towards her words. In
the end Amusa’s speech about her implies the power of her authority.
AMUSA. Madame Iyaloja, I glad you come. … Tell these women to stop obstructing me…
Make you tell dese women make den no insult me again. (Soyinka, 1986: 36)
Amusa’s speech implies that Iyaloja position is believed to control the other
women of the market which is why she can “tell the women” what to do for they,
the women, have trust and honor in her.
3. The Women of the Market
Here, the writer combines the women and the girls of the market into The
Women of the Market. They are portrayed in the play to trust and have high
a. Obedient
The Women of the Market have highly respect to Iyaloja and believes that his
knowledge is far beyond them so it is justified for Iyaloja to make decisions and
so they do what she says.
WOMEN. What does he mean Iyaloja? This language is the language of our elders, we do not fully grasp it.
…
IYALOJA. The matter is no longer in our hands.
WOMEN. But she is bethroted to your own son, tell him.
IYALOJA. … but who will remedy the blight of closed hands
on the day when all should be openness and light? … would you rather it was my hand whose sacrilege wrenched it loose?
(Soyinka, 1986: 20-21)
Besides of the characteristics above, the Women of the Market are also
portrayed as talkative. Talkative here can be in positive and negative side as
Pilking (a character in the play) define them as people who will talk about their
own and other people secret family affairs to others. But in the other side, they
would be described as brave for how they dare to stand speak against things they
find unnecessary.
b. Brave
The women of the market dare and also are brave in conveying their
thoughts. They are also portrayed to love telling others about how is their daily
life and even other people’s. Simon Pilkings mentions when he recalls his
PILKINGS. These natives here? Good gracious. They’ll open
their mouths and yap with you about their family secrets before you can stop them.
(Soyinka, 1986: 29)
In spite of it, they are brave to voice what they think is wrong. There are
several scenes when they urge Iyaloja and even another male character named
Amusa.
IYALOJA. … I dare not refuse.
WOMEN. But Iyaloja…
IYALOJA. The matter is no longer in our hands.
WOMEN. But she is betrothed to your own son. Tell him. (Soyinka, 1986: 21)
The mothers have a feeling that there is something wrong with this issue, that they
are triggered to stop it. Not only have the mothers, the girls also had some gut in
them when Amusa tries to stop the ritual. They prevent Amusa even though he
gives them some threats.
AMUSA. … If I hear dat kin’ isult once more…
GIRL. (Pushing her way through.) You will do what?
GIRL. He’s out of his mind. It’s our mothers you’re talking to… How dare you intrude here anyway?
(Soyinka, 1986: 36-37)
Their braveness is praised by the mother as a “defender”.
4. The Bride
The bride actually appears in many scenes in the play but she does not
really join any conversation even though it is related to her. The author Wole
Soyinka describes here to be “motionless”. She appears in several scenes along
still. It can be said from there that she has a very obedient characteristic. She is
being present at the events, but she does not speak anything, let the people make
the decisions to her and just follow the decisions.
B. The Ambivalent Attitude that appears through the Disclosure of the
Character in the Play
The ambivalent attitude refers to the conflicting concepts or views toward
persons, groups, etc. (Rozensweig, 1938: 223). In the play Death and the King’s
Horseman, the attitudes are derived from Elesin towards the Yoruba female
characters in the play. In analyzing the ambivalence, this section is divided into
the negative and the positive attitudes towards Yoruba female characters.
1. The Negative Attitudes towards Yoruba Female Characters
Since their childhood, boys and girls have already been taught what to do
to be a man and a women. There is this huge barrier that differs the life of women
and men. Boys were prepared to go working outside. They were given proper
education and training about business and others, while women were trained how
to do housework and to look pretty (Showalter, 1971:3). Living in a patriarchal
society has shaped Elesin mind about women like what their position in politics,
economy and culture are.
The main value of these attitudes is that women’s position is basically
women’s and so, women are not supposed to intervene in any “men’s business”.
The value that appears in the play concerns many aspects of women’s lives
including but not limited to marriage and workplace. Men does always occupy the
first place while women are forced to be in the secondary position (Beauvoir,
1989: 39).
JANE. Please, try and understand. Everything my husband did was for the best.
ELESIN. You are the wife of the District Officer? JANE. Yes. My name, is Jane.
ELESIN. That is my wife sitting down there. You notice how still and silent she sits? My business is with your husband. (Soyinka, 1986: 66)
The conversation above shows that Elesin does not want women to
interfere with “men’s business”. He compares Jane to his wife; women, and tell
her to stand still, like his wife, because this is a business with her husband;
between men. In Elesin point of view, women’s opinions do not really matter for
this is a business between men so women opinion does not necessary. Elesin
statement in this conversation shows how limited is the right of women in Yoruba
Society. Since the female Yoruba characters mentioned above are Iyaloja, The
Bride and The Women of the Market, so the attitudes will be analyzed based on
those three characters.
a. Iyaloja
The idea above results in the first attitude of Elesin being ignorant and
even results further to abuse of power towards Iyaloja. In the play Elesin asks
the offer. As depicted before, Elesin is described as an arrogant person. His
characteristics of being superior is harmed by the refusal coming from Iyaloja, his
subordinate and a woman. As what Wollstonecraft argues, mankind favors respect
from other including women. Men believe that they should get rewards when
achieving accomplishments. They tend to do anything to get the recognition in
their competitive world (Showalter, 1971:2). So, despite of hearing her
explanation, Elesin keeps insisting to marry the girl. He believes that he is “a man
of honour” so that he deserves “a bed of honour to lie upon”. He uses his position
in the hierarchy to achieve his willingness which is to marry the girl.
In the first place, the act of asking permission to Iyaloja in fact is just as a
form of formality since Iyaloja is Mother of the Market. However, her opinion
and decision does not matter since Elesin has stated his opinion and so be it.
Elesin uses his position in hierarchy to emphasize that his position in giving the
offer is not to be refused. As what Lerner argues that Patriarchal society is a
“manifestation and institutionalization of male power”, the hierarchy is filled with
men to show to the society, women and children, which in their society men are
the one in charge (Lerner, 1989:239). Even though in the case of Death and the
King’s Horseman this theory deviates a little bit since Iyaloja is given an
important position, the patrilineal system is still very strong that the positions
above her is seated by men. The fact that Elesin is one of the men seated on those seats, he uses it to oppress the Women of the Market by referring his proposal to
his position in the institution. He mentions several times about his position as the
conquer the world. He knows that he is in a ritual that will grant all of his wishes
but he does not stop there, he continuous to remind the female character about his
power and position.
b. The Bride
The second attitude is concerning the marriage. As it is portrayed in the
play that at the end of Act One, Elesin has his bridal night. However, the process
of the marriage is not based on both parties consent. It is shown in the play that
Elesin feels attracted to the girl and wants to marry her however there is no any
further details whether the girl agrees to marry him or not. Alan believes that
Elesin action has proven the restriction of women’s right. Alan believes that
women should have right to refuse any action that could harm them or approve
any action that favor them. In the case of the Elesin’s marriage, there needs to be a
consent without coercion to participate (Alan, 2006:336).
ELESIN. Tell me who was that goddess through whose lips I saw the ivory pebbles of Oya’s river-bed.
Iyaloja, who is she? I saw her enter Your stall; all your daughters I know well. (Soyinka, 1986: 19)
After the conversation Elesin asks Iyaloja to let him marry her and then
they have the marriage. The fact that the marriage happens without the girl’s
consent even though she is present there in the scene and solely because of the
willingness of the men shows how girls’ lives and future is not in their hand and it
without their consent shows the limited power for women to decide their own fate
and to do what they want solely because they are not men in charge.
Regarding this incident, Alan believes that women, including the bride,
have rights of “personal privacy”,“autonomy”, and “consent” therefore the bride
basically has the right to decide whether to accept or refuse the offer (Allan,
2006:334). The matter here is that the general understanding of the society is
heavily spoiled by the patriarchal stigma. Wollstonecraft argues that one of the
stigma believed by the majority of the society is that the ordinary ordinary
women, excluding Iyaloja in this play, are not capable of deciding for their own
problems therefore they need men to advice what to do and not to do.
The bride herself portrays the idea that women presence in the story is
important but got no recognition. The most visible way is that there is no names
for the Yoruba female characters besides Iyaloja. We have some servants name
like Amusa, Joseph but we get no any names from the bride. In fact she is
addressed in the beginning of the play as “she” and after the marriage she is
addressed as the “wife” and “young bride”. The importance of names in the story
shows that her presence in the story is not important in fact the bride gives some
significance improvement in the story line.
Concerning the marriage, the Mother of the market have tried to stop the
marriage by urging Iyaloja that the girl has been ‘betrothed’ to another men.
However even though Iyaloja also knows that, she can do nothing for her strict
