The Egungun: The Costume and the Ritual in Death and The King’s Horseman
In Wole Soyinka’s play Death and the King’s Horseman, the reader is immersed into Yoruba culture and traditions from the Yoruba mindset, and how it differs from the colonial district officer side. The play describes the struggle of Elesin, the king’s horseman with suicide. According to Yoruba culture, Elesin must follow the king after his death by taking his own life. Elesin goes through the marketplace being praised by the people around him, and delays his death by taking a wife. On the flipside, we have Simon and Jane Pilkings, the husband and wife duo that is responsible for taking care of the colony that the play takes place in. They try to steer everyone away from the original culture of the land. In some ways they do not succeed though, because their serjeant, Amusa, refuses to talk to them while they are in ritual costumes called egunguns. Amusa fears the ramifications of talking about the dead to the dead. The egungun represents death in a way to the Yoruba culture. The Yoruba material culture of the play helps illuminate why the egungun is so significant to Amusa and others that see the Pilkings couple wear the masquerade like it’s any old costume with no sacred value or meaning. The importance of physical culture remaining while another culture is trying to take over is questioned in the play as well.
Part two of the play is the scene in which Srgt. Amusa tries to talk to the Pilkings about Elesin’s ritual suicide that is coming soon. As part of the notes of what the character is doing Amusa “retreats slowly, open-mouthed as Pilkings approaches the verandah” (Soyinka 24). The Pilkings are wearing the egungun, which Amusa states that “it belong to death cult, not for human being” (Soyinka 24). Pilkings lacks the understanding that Amusa has that the egungun should be treated with respect. Amusa asks “How can man talk against death to person in uniform of death?” (Soyinka 25).
The egungun in the play showcases the religious nature of the Yoruba people. The egungun is a visible representation of spirits or ancestors (Egungun Masquerade). It is made up of many different materials like cloth, beads, and shells (Egungun Masquerade). Only the best materials are used for the costume as the costume is to include “potent empowering materials” (Egungun Masquerade). The purpose of the egungun masquerade to have those from heaven come down and bless the living, hear grievances, and give them general prosperity as well (Aremu 6). The appearance of the egungun was a sign of celebration that goes on for several days (Egungun Masquerade). The goal of the egungun is to unite those who have departed the earth with those who still inhabit it. This costume is a lot more important to the Yoruba people than to the Pilkings. To them, it is a representation of their take over of the land. Jane Pilkings states “you saw it confiscated last month from those egungun men” (Soyinka 25). Jane believes that because Amusa is fulfilling his job, that he has let go entirely of everything in his culture that he grew up in.
The background of the egungun is helpful to any reader to have a level of understanding of the Yoruba material culture. Understanding what the egungun represents, what it looks like, and how it is used helps the reader imagine the place it holds in the play. The egungun plays a small part in the overall play, but the Yoruba material culture in a general sense is covered from the scene the play opens up with in the marketplace with all the different fabrics. This makes it essential to the reader to understand the different world that Soyinka introduces. Tanure Ojaide states that the reason the play is so difficult to understand is because usually the readers have no understanding of the Yoruba culture or a similar culture before reading the play (Teaching). Some information taken in prior to reading the play would go a long way in understanding the play as a whole.
Works Cited
Aremu, P. S. O. “Between Myth and Reality: Yoruba Egungun Costumes as Commemorative Clothes.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 22, no. 1, 1991, pp. 6–14. JSTOR,
JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2784493.
Egungun Masquerade Dance Costume: Ekuu Egungun, africa.si.edu/exhibits/resonance/44.html.
Soyinka, Wole. Death and the King’s Horseman. W. W. Norton & Company, 2002
“Teaching Wole Soyinka’s ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ to American college students..” The Free Library. 1992 West Chester University 13 Dec. 2017 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Teaching+Wole+Soyinka%27s+%27Death+and+the+King%27s+Horseman%27+to+American...-a014505621
