Hello readers...
This blog is in response of the thinking activity in our department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. This activity is based on unit -3 of our paper which is A Dance of the Forest. Before we go deep into the major themes lets get some important imformation about the writer and the play itself.
A Dance of the Forests
One of Wole Soyinka's most well-known pieces, A Dance of the Forests, was commissioned as part of a bigger celebration of Nigerian independence. It was a divisive play that enraged many Nigerians at the time of its premiere, owing to its condemnation of political corruption in the country.
Soyinka returned to Nigeria in 1959 after attending university in England to compose this play, immersing himself in Yoruba tradition as a method of reconnecting with his roots. The play follows a group of mortals who summon the spirits of the dead in the hopes of receiving guidance from these wiser spirits, only to learn that the spirits are just as petty and imperfect as they are.
Many have viewed the play as a cautionary tale for Nigerians on the eve of their newfound independence, reminding them to be critical and seeking, and cautioning them against growing complacent. It also serves as a symbol for being cautious while not romanticising pre-colonial Africa. A Dance of the Forests was deemed one of Soyinka's crowning works when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, and he was described as "one of the finest poetical playwrights that have written in English."
Following are the major themes of the novel :
Atonement
The play's central theme is atonement. The Dead Man and Dead Woman are brought back to life in order for the four mortals who mistreated them in the past to realise and atone for their wrongdoings. While the mortals are clueless for much of the play, they finally learn that the Dead Man and Dead Woman's visitation is to teach them a lesson, and by the end, they have experienced a form of conversion, realising that they had sinned before.
Power that is tainted
Another prominent issue in the play is tainted power, as exemplified by the characters of Mata Kharibu and Madame Tortoise. As we return to the king's palace, we observe how Madame Tortoise uses her beauty and power over men to sow dissension. Mata Kharibu has also been corrupted by his tremendous power, as seen by his insistence that his warriors battle against their better judgement and his ruthless punishment of free thought. Wole Soyinka recounts a storey that teaches the reader that all power is corruptible, and that just because someone is given authority does not guarantee they are moral or ethical.
Trauma & Wounds
The play portrays how people carry trauma and wounds from the past around with them, and how everyone has a sensitive part of their past that haunts and affects them. The Forest Head is aware of this and tries to bring these wounds to light in the hopes of allowing those who have been injured in the past to heal.
The Previous Era
Despite the fact that it takes place over the course of a single day, the play does not have a strictly linear structure. As we rapidly learn, the storey is about previous transgressions, and each mortal character has numerous identities, symbolising both who they are now and who they were in the past. The present is stacked on top of the past, as if to emphasise that nothing from our past is ever truly gone, that we are descendants of patterns and events that came before us and still effect us now. The play's plot is around how people must overcome and learn from their past experiences.
Nature
The drama takes set in a forest, and throughout it, various parts of the natural world come to life to participate in the mortals' reckoning. The Forest Head is a ghost who rules the forest, and during the greeting of the Dead Man and Dead Woman, various spirits representing various natural elements are summoned to speak. Spirits of the Rivers, Spirits of the Palms, Spirits of the Volcanos, and others are among them. All of these natural elements are personified in poem, demonstrating the link between the human and natural worlds.
The fact that the Dead Woman was killed when pregnant with a child is one of the unanswered aspects of her storey. She returns to the living world with a pregnant belly, and the foetus appears as a Half-Child during the welcome ritual, torn between being influenced by the spirit realm and remaining with his mother. "I who yet await a mother/Feel this dread/Feel this dread,/I who run from womb/To branded womb cry it now/I'll be born dead/I'll be born dead," the Half-Child says when granted the chance to speak. The child is a tragic figure, assuming the role of the victim.
Ritual
Ritual and tradition are another key motif as well as a formal element of the play. Throughout the film, we watch the characters going through the motions in order to gain a better understanding of their situation. The ceremony for the mortals' self-discovery, in which the mortals must relive their misdeeds, the Dead Man and Dead Woman must be questioned, and the mortals must divulge their secret wrongs, is one of these rites.
The Dance of Welcome, in which the spirits of the forest perform and deliver monologues, is another rite that takes place. The Dance of the Half-Kid then decides who the unborn child will travel with. Rituals, dances, and formal representations frequently serve as stand-ins for actual events. In fact, the entire play can be viewed as a stringing together.
Thank you...
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