Plays of Wole Soyilka
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All forms of drama exist in Africa today, including drama from past and present, ritual and ceremony, dance mime and modern play. These forms can be found throughout the continent where traditional drama in the villages and imported amusements in films and television are found side by side. Traditional African drama is so tightly integrated into African religion and customs that identifying "theater" as a separate entity is unrealistic. There is a wide variety of staged theater in Africa, including not only written plays but also storytelling, puppetry, and ritual drama. The plays of Wole Soyinka show how traditional forms and modern forms are fused in plays that openly compare traditional culture to the culture of Europe as introduced in the age of imperialism. In the play "The Lion and the Jewel" by Wole Soyinka, the author addresses issues of love in terms of cultural differences, comparing and contrasting Yoruba ways with those of Europeans, a comparison made more cogent by the colonial experience of Africa and the way Europeans tried to foist their ways on the indigenous population. Wole Soyinka clearly knows both his traditional culture and Western culture first-hand and makes use of this knowledge in this play. The play is set in the village of Ilujinle, and the main character is a young man named Lakunle. He has been much influenced by European ideas of how young men should behave, which causes him to try to help Sidi by carrying her water bucket, though th
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of life that has sustained this particular community for some time. Lakunle seems more attuned to what the west would view as the proper way to treat women, but the women themselves acquiesce in such treatment and in their role in this society. Lakunle again and again acts contrary to the role expected of him. This occurs again in the third pantomime, which is ironic in that it depicts the triumph of women over a man just as the Bale is triumphing over a woman. Lakunle is expected to tip the mummers, just like others in the community do, but here again he adheres to the beliefs he has gained from the West, just as he refused to pay a bride price. Had he been willing to pay that price, he would have married Sidi as he wanted. His refusal to live by the traditions of his society shows that those traditions are stronger than love in this society. Lakunle wants to marry and be part of the community, but he is not willing to adhere to the customs of that community in order to accomplish this task.
Lakunle indeed suggests that he is the future, though this also means that he is failing to live in the present. He suggests this when he speaks about his vision for his society, as if it were a foregone conclusion:
Within a year
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1741
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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