Iyaloja in Death and The King’s Horseman

In Wole Soyinka’s play write, Death and The King’s Horseman, he makes the play about a clash of two cultures and the constant battle between the both. Such as one the two huge main characters Simon Pilkings a white officer of the land is trying to stop Elesein a black man who’s the other main character from committing suicide to complete his culture’s custom to have good favor with their Gods. But Pilkings feels that this act is inhumane and tries to stop Elesin from completing his people’s custom, in doing so Pilkings causes a variety of complications for Elesein. Such as his own talking horrible things about him, how he’s failed his culture, how he is betrayed and destroyed them all, and Elesin’s own son kills himself trying to atone for his father’s lateness of completing the custom. So all of this turmoil and misfortune they encounter is a ripple effect of a clash of cultures and the confusion of not really knowing the others culture and basis of it. Gender is important to study in Wole Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman”, because we see how big of role women play during the play, in their culture, and how different women are in another culture compared to our females standards. In particular, it is interesting to see how women subvert men’s power in the play, particularly. Elesin’s and Simon’s. By exploring Iyaloja’s challenge to these “alpha” characters by not only standing up to these men’s manhood, but she challenges their authority and significance by not being scared of their facades of power. Then we discover that the male characters in this play have their pride and manhood shatter when a female stands up challenge their authority. In the play the main male characters Elesin and Simon Pilkings are looked upon as the play’s main Alpha male characters just solely based off the roles they play in the play; the quantity of lines they have in the play; and the message their characters portray to the crowd. For instance, Simon Pilkings is looked upon as a Alpha male in the play because of the authority he has over others as a high ranking officer of the law. Him being an Alpha male in his society he has requirements he has to meet such as being head strong and non moving in which the shows during the whole play when he doesn’t change his opinion on being against Elesin and his people’s ritual of suicide.

In the play, Elesin the King’s Horseman is viewed as a star in sense, a significant person well known through the community. This only boost what he already has in the play, power, his power comes from being a man and being entitled to already any and everything. Elesin uses his platform of being the King’s right hand to obtain his true and only joy in life, “women”. He lusts after them all throughout the play, and this in turn is what creates his drawbacks in the play. Simon on the other hand uses his manhood and power as an officer to not only control females, but put fear and anxiety into other males . Simon is constantly measuring up his manhood to other males to see is he the constant Alpha in all scenarios. This is just the things the so called “Alpha males” Elesin and Simon do in the play to showcase their manliness.

However, in the play Iyaloja subverts their supposedly power and authority and make them really show the audience their true forms once you remove their facades of manliness. She does this to Elesin in the scene right before his official suicide , by scolding him with her words on how the has failed his culture , his people, and how with his fear to die for his honor and culture. Simon on the other hand she ridiculed him throughout the play at the marke and in the ending scene after Elesin’s death. She let him know even though he prolonged the ritual and he was trying to do what ghe saw fit, but ultimately it doesn’t matter what a “white” has to say in her book.

I feel like this play was a great diagram on how women can have more or equal power than men can at times and visa versa. The play made us realize what mask men put onto showcase this expected facade of authority power, manliness and much more to be this expected Alpha male. I feel as society puts these pressures and expectations on men and they(society) create this gap that is power between males and females. But the play defeats this idea and concept and shows that females can have the same amount of power and authority that any male can.