Death and the King's horseman Flashcards
“I am…”
I am the king’s horseman, and I must die to join him. But for now, let us celebrate, for life is but a brief passage.
They love
They love to spoil you but beware. The hands of women also weaken the unwary
Let me
Let me savor this moment, for it is the last of its kind. I will dance and enjoy the pleasure of the flesh
perhaps your
perhaps your warmth and youth brought new insights of this world to me
I am
theme: Elesin indulging in life’s enjoyment near the end where hes getting ready to leave
I am a man who has lived and enjoyed life’s pleasures. Now I am ready to go, but let me revel in this last moment of joy.
Life is
Life is honour. It ends when honour ends.
I am
Theme: Pilking disrespecting native music
I am getting rattled. Probably the effect of those bloody drums.
Don’t tell
Don’t tell me all that holy water nonsense also wiped out your tribal memory.
Amusa, you
Amusa, you don’t believe in that mumbo-jumbo do you?
Some strange
Some strange custom they have sir. It seems because the King is dead some important chief has to commit suicide.
Through ritual
Through ritual suicide? Is that worse than mass suicide?
This affair
This affair for instance, we didn’t know they still practised the custom did we?
Bastard
Bastard isn’t just a simple swear-word in these parts, you know.
As it
As it called out to his father before him and will to his son after him
Never known
Never known a native to tell the truth
We don’t
We don’t want the eater of white left-overs at the feast their hands have prepared.
If we
If we all let these little things slip past us where would the empire be eh?
I don’t
I don’t find it morbid at all. I find it rather inspiring. It is an affirmative commentary on life.
What can
What can you offer him in place of his peace of mind, in place of the honour and veneration of his own people?
You’re a
You’re a savage like all the rest.
Well, I
Well, I did my duty as I saw fit. I have no regrets.
Who would
who would have known that the white skin covered our future, preventing us from seeing the death our enemies had prepared for us.
It rides
It rides ahead of your laggard will.
“Ghostly one”
Insult to the white people to show their lack of respect as a defence mechanism
I have
I have no father
To entertain the prince
Why Jane wears ancestral mask
Umbilical cord
The cord that links us all
Not-I bird
symbol and a servant of death, and Elesin uses his welcoming of this bird to prove to the Praise-Singer and Iyaloja that hes ready
The captain and the ship
The captain and the ship symbolize the sacrifice the king’s horseman will make for his people.
Dancing
Dancing permeates the text. It is part of the ritual, and is directly connected to Elesin’s suicide. Elesin, the women, and the praise-singer dance to enact the ritual. However, Pilkings and Jane also dance, but their dance is awkward and representative of their outsider status.
Rule Britannia include one line
Motif for British imperialism
“Britons never, never, never will be slaves.”
Inappropriate as British made Nigerians slaves and it was played badly to show people’s resistance
Act 1 summary [3]
1) Elesin rushes to the market for the women but the praise singer warns him of his duty
2) Elesin fetches a young woman and plans to get married to her
3) Elesin uses motifs like “Not-I bird” and “honor” to reaffirm his duty to commit suicide as proof he won’t be distracted
Act 2 summary [3]
1) Pilkings dances in egungun costume and Amusa is disgusted
2) Pilking is given a note that Elesin will commit ritual suicide at night
3) Pilkings disrespect native customs and religion
Act 3 summary [3]
1) Opens in the market where Amusa returns to his people to be teased as he is considered a left-over eater of the white
2)Elesin marries his bride and left his seed on earth
3) Praise singer speaks to Elesin as if he is the ancestors and prepare for Elesin’s death
Left-over eater
Insult to someone who eats the trash of other, a lower being
But this
But this young shoot has poured its sap into the parent stalk
The world
The world is set adrift and its inhabitants are lost.
Act 4 summary [3]
1) Rule Britannia is played in contrast to the indigenous drums we hear through the play it is played poorly
2) Olunde comes back to honor his father and explains why it is important (cultural clash)
3) Olunde lost respect for Elesin as he sees he is still alive
Act 5 summary [3]
1) Elesin makes up excuses and blames Pilkings, Iyaloja breaks the excuse by admonishing his weak will and showing the dead body
2) The praise singer chants about the broken order and the lost of cycle of life while showing the dead body of Olunde
3) Elesin kills himself, simon tries to save him but stopped by Iyaloja as it is Elesin’s responsibility
Classic tragedy [3]
1) Death and the King’s Horseman explores themes of life and death in an intensely emotional story about a ritual suicide
2) the idea of fate:
It is Elesin’s destiny as king’s horseman to follow the king to the afterlife
Elesin understands this finally when he is jailed and unable to carry out his duty. “I am stopped from fulfilling my destiny”
Fatal flaw in Elesin
Revels in attention from women and asks to have sex with a bride as his last act
Soyinka’s purpose [3]
theme : Power and influence
1)effects of imbalanced power structures
2) how abusive and oppressive authorities can disenfranchise those under their control and influence
3) Soyinka speaks for ones with weaker power
Soyinka’s purpose [4]
Theme: life and death
1) Makes a Yoruba custom to commit ritual suicide as the focus to challenge attitudes to death
2) By setting the play at the time of British rule and World War II he is able to highlight hypocritical reactions to cultural beliefs about death
3) Soyinka uses the form of a tragedy to raise questions about honourable deaths and dishonourable lives
4) His sympathetic tragic hero examines the human instinct for life
Soyinka’s purpose [3]
Theme: culture and religion
1) The play presents a native culture and religion as a threat to colonists
2) Soyinka raises the profile of oppressed cultures through the play’s focus on the Yoruba tribe and their religious beliefs
3) Through the form of tragedy, Soyinka implies ignorance and intolerance is disastrous for a community
Soyinka’s purpose [3]
Theme: duty and responsibility
1) The play is an examination of shared responsibility
2) dangers of self-interest
3) consequences of an individual’s disregard for their duty
Opening of act 1 vs act 2 and its effects [3]
1) Act 1 opens in the busy and vibrant Yoruba market where Elesin revels in women
2) Act 2 opens in the home of the Pilkings dancing tango to an old gramophone
3) these two scenes effectively foreshadow conflict as audiences see barriers between the local people and the British residents
ending of act 1 vs act 2 and its effects [3]
1) Act 1 ends with Iyaloja’s earnest words, “Prepare yourself Elesin”, leaving his future in the balance:
2) The sombre mood is emphasised with lighting: “lights fade out on the scene”
3) Act 2 occurs in the Pilkings’ home and audiences are left unaware, like the British residents, of progress outside
Opening of act 3 vs act 4 and its effects [3]
1) Act 3 opens in the market with a “swelling, agitated hum of women’s voices” as they attempt to protect Elesin and their community
2) This contrasts the opening of Act 4 in the Pilkings home of “tawdry decadence” where a band “plays ‘Rule Britannia’, badly”
3) The incongruity of this is designed to highlight the weak leadership of the British and the shared bond and spirit of the Nigerian community
because he
because he could not bear to let honour fly out of doors, he stopped it with his life.
The passage
The passage is clogged with droppings from the King’s stallion; he will arrive stained in dung
Now forget
Now forget the dead, now forget even the living. Turn your mind only to the unborn
