Death And The King's Horseman Play Analysis

The male characters in Death and the King’s Horseman had a very strong clash throughout the play and played very important roles but the female characters also played a very pivotal role in the outcome of the play as well. The female characters play a very important role in the ritual and cultural aspect of the play Death and the King’s Horseman. Iyaloja and Jane Pilkings both play very important roles in the play to help aid that the messages being portrayed about the culture, ritual, modernity and the civilization differ from the different situations in which both the woman are placed in. While Iyaloja supports the fact that Elesin has to commit suicide as a part of the rituals of his culture, Jane Pilkings doesn’t exactly agree with the decisions that her husband, Simon Pilkings has been making which may cause the message in the plot to be modifed throughout the play.
Throughout the play the author uses the role of the women to display the potential that woman may be starting to take on larger roles in their own societies.
The roles that the women play throughout Death and The King’s Horseman have very important factors that should be noted as the play develops. Two of the three primary women Iyaloja and Jane Pilkings, in the play have a very large impact on the outcome of the play and in their own way these women impact the conclusion of the play and have large impacts on the male characters of the play. Iyaloja is the best example of the women who has a large impact on the play she is a very prominent female figure within the Yoruba culture and aside from the role Elesin plays Iyaloja is the second most influential character in the Yoruban culture that is discussed throughout the play. The differences in the way the women react to certain situations also shows how the cultures differ from the roles the Yoruban women and the British women and how they interact in their cultures and
civilizations.
Iyaloja being the seen as the leader of the marketplace supports the message being portrayed that Elesin needs to follow through in the fact that he needs to be the one to surrender himself following his king’s death because he is the king’s horseman and that his son should not have to make that sacrifice. The fact that she is seen as a higher powered woman in the marketplace she has the responsibility of aiding Elesin along in his passage. She does this by ensuring that Elesin gets all of his final wishes such as his receiving his last air to breathe as he goes to meet his great forebears. Iyaloja even goes to the extent to show her support for the society and to maintain the balance by allowing Elesin to marry his new bride even though she was previously to be married to Iyaloja’s son. The power that Iyaloja carries shows that within the Yoruban culture it is acceptable for women to carry a nearly equal social status as the males in their culture.
Aside from Iyaloja, Jane Pilkings who plays the role as the District Commisioner’s wife also plays a very supportive role in the play. As far

Jane Pilkings at one point in the text laughs along with her husband Simon, but in other instances in the text seems to be frustrated with her husband’s rudeness. Jane is more individualized and It seems that she is seen to ne more humane and sensitive in the aspects of womanhood that are lacking in Simon. She cautions Pilkings not to be rash in concluding Elesin is guilty, and she urges him to be kinder to Joseph, and defends the Nigerians’. Overall, Jane is more nuanced and capable of thinking more deeply about the relationship between the English and Nigerians, although it would be a mistake to claim that she is not still a product of the dominant race. Jane tends to attempt to modify the message being sent by Simon that he may not completely understand the Nigerians’.