Thinking Activity: A Dance of the Forest
Hello Everyone! This blog is a response to the thinking activity assigned by Megha Ma'am from the Department of English, MKBU. I will delve into the paper of African literature, focusing on Wole Soyinka's most renowned play, 'A Dance of the Forests'. African literature can be challenging to grasp initially, so first I will start by discussing Wole Soyinka, followed by an overview of the play's plot. Additionally, I will provide answers to two questions from the play.
Introduction of Writer: Wole Soyinka
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Nigerian Playwright and Political activist Wole Soyinka received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He was born in 1934 in Abeokuta, near Ibadan, into a Yoruba family and studied at University college in Ibadan, Nigeria and the University of Leeds, in England.
Upon his return to Nigeria, he founded an acting company and wrote his first important play, 'A Dance of the Forests' ( Produced 1960 and Published 1963) , for the Nigerian independence celebrations. The play satirizes the fledgling nation by stripping it of romantic legend and by showing that the present is no more a golden age that was the past.
An outspoken opponent of oppression and tyranny worldwide and a critic of the political situation in Nigeria, Soyinka has lived in exile on several occasions. During the Nigerian civil war in the 1960s, he was held as a prisoner in solitary confinement after being charged with conspiring with the Biafrans. In 1997, while in exile, he was tried for, convicted of, and sentenced to death for antimilitary activities, a sentence that was later lifted. Soyinka's poetry draws on Yoruba myths, his life as an exile and in prison, and Politics.
His more serious plays, such as The Strong Breed (1963), Kongi’s Harvest (opened the first Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, 1966; published 1967), The Road (1965), From Zia, with Love (1992), and even the parody King Baabu (performed 2001; published 2002), reveal his disregard for African authoritarian leadership and his disillusionment with Nigerian society as a whole. From 1960 onward he taught literature and drama and headed theatre groups at various Nigerian universities. Soyinka has taught at a number of universities worldwide, among them Ife University, Cambridge University, Yale University, and Emory University.
Though he considered himself primarily a playwright, Soyinka also wrote the novels 'The Interpreters' (1965), Season of Anomy (1973), and chronicles from the Land of the Happiest people on Earth (2021), the latter of which drew particular praise for its satirical take on corruption in Nigeria.
He wrote a good deal of Poems from Prison while he was jailed in 1967–69 for speaking out against the war brought on by the attempted secession of Biafra from Nigeria. Wole Soyinka was long a proponent of Nigerian Democracy. His decades of political activism included periods of imprisonment and exile, and he founded, headed or participated in several political groups.
About the Novel: A Dance of the Forest
Wole Soyinka's theatrical debut, ‘A Dance of the Forests’ was presented at the Nigerian Independence celebrations in october 1960. In it, Soyinka reveals the rotten aspects of society and demonstrates that the past is no better than the present when it comes to the seamy side of life. Soyinka lays bare the fabric of Nigerian society and warns people as they are on the brink of a new stage in their history.
‘A Dance of the Forests’ is considered one of Soyinka's early and significant works. The Play is known for its complex and Symbolic narrative, which explores themes related to Nigerian identity, the impact of colonisation, and tension between tradition and modernity. It delves into the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria, drawing on Yoruba mythology and symbolism. The entire Play revolves around a community and gathers in the forest to perform a ritual dance. Throughout the Performance, various characters embody different aspects of Nigerian society, and the narrative unfolds through a series of symbolic encounters and dialogues. Wole Soyinka uses traditional African elements such as Dance, and music to convey the deeper meanings of messages.
As With many of Soyinka's works, ‘A Dance of the Forests’ reflects the complexities of post colonial African identity and the challenges faced by a nation transforming from colonial rule to independence. It is a layered and thought provoking Play that invites readers and viewers to engage with its themes and interpretations.
Plot Overview:-
During Yourba festival, known as the 'Gathering of the Tribes' , A Dead man and Dead woman come out - from their burial ground. They are sent by Aroni - A God, with Permission from the Forest Head. Four villagers now come to the forest - Rola ( A Prostitute), Adenebi ( A court Historian) of the emperor ; Mata Kharibu. Agboreko ( who was a soothsayayer to Mata kharibu and plays the same role in his life, and finally Demoke ( who is now a wooden carver but, was once a poet in the court.
Aroni has selected these four in order for them to gain knowledge about their past lives and to atone for their sins. Obaneji ( The Forest Head) disguised in human form, invites the characters to Join in a welcome dance for the Dead woman, and Dead woman. But, Eshuorou ( A Spirit of tree) comes and interrupts the proceedings.
He is seeking Vengeance for the death of Oremole [ Demoke's apprentice], whom Demoke killed by Pulling him off. The top of an Araba tree they were carving. Yourba God - Ogun ( Gurdain of metal workers and artisans) wants to protect Demoke from Eshuoro, so he tries to distract Eshuoro.
Aroni and the Forest Head now transport the characters back in the time into the court of Mata Kharibu, where the Dead woman was a soldier. He refuses to go to war against another tribe. Because, Kharibu has taken by force one of the tribe leader's wife - Madame Tortoise. None of the courtious help the soldiers, who is castrated and given to a slave dealer. The soldier's wife comes in, pregnanat and it is left up to the audience to determine how she is killed.
The last section depicts the meaning of the last human and the natural worlds. One by one, varoius natural elements, earth, the sun, the water, the ants awaken and address the Forest Head. The Dead woman appears holding the hands of a half child. A figure is red also appears luring the child away with its games.
The Spirit of Darkness speaks, than the Spirit of Precious Stones, than the Spirit of Pachyderms, than the Spirit of the rivers. They all move, and speak in a large chorus, when suddenly they all stop. The figure in red rips off his mask and reveals himself to be Eshuoro. Demoke succeeds, in taking the child to the Dead woman, and Aroni leads the mother and the child off.
The Dance of the unwilling sacrifice begins, and Eshuoro pushes Demoke towards a totem. Demoke climbs it and as he gets higher, Eshuoro lights the totem on fire. Ogun enters to catch Demoke, when he falls. As Igbale music plays, Demoke, Agboreko, The old man, Rola and Adenebi speak an epilogue.
The Play ends with the mortal characters, who experienced rebirth, learning the lessons of their former ( Past) lives and evolving into new people.
In characterisation too Soyinka uses the method of contrast. In all his plays there are characters who are strong, fecund, full of spirit, never at a loss for words, and not always moral or trustworthy. They defend the right to life and to joy. They are Ogunian characters, "alloys of contradictory essences" like the god Ogun as Femi Osofisan puts it, who are both creative and destructive, both unscrupulous and brave, both fierce and gentle. Demoke, Rola and to a lesser, degree Murete fall into this category.
This Play - A Dance of the Forests contains three divisions of the characters.
In opposition to this group are the more stuffy, serious characters. completely lacking a sense of humour, and often full of the sense of their own iiportance. They are the embodiments of sterility, emptiness, parsimony. They are men of order, order that stunts, curbs and cripples. Invariably these characters are outwitted by the former group. Agboreko and Adenebi and even the Old Man to a certain extent fall into this category.
Lastly there are the demagogues who are obsessed and blinded by a lust for power, power at all costs. Mata Kharibu is the obvious example of this, as is Eshuoro.
Apart from Ogun representing the artist, Demoke , who is protected by Ogun also has the qualities of the artist in him and like the artist has to undergo experiences which will leave him a new and more enlightened person. Thus he undertakes the challenge of saving the Half - child.
● Structure of the Play :-
The structure of this play has nothing in common with the usual five-act structure of traditional western drama. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the adventures of the characters as they get to know one another and, led by Forest Father himself, disguised as Adenebi, move towards the forest and the celebration of the gathering of the tribes. At the same time Ogun and Eshuoro are on the lookout for Demoke. Murete is forced by both to reveal all that he knows. The Old Man, Demoke's father, and Agboreko, both try to find Demoke and save him. In this scenario. the invited guests from the past, the Dead Man and the Dead Woman, are ignored by all the characters.
The second part takes us in a flashback to the court of Mata Kharibu where the characters we have already been introduced to double up as characters from the past- apart from, of course, the Dead Man and the Dead Woman, who play themselves as they were when they lived, the brave warrior and his pregnant wife. However, after the scenes from the court of Mata Kharibu, the dramaturgy becomes a little confused as we have a succession of different choruses, the spirits, the ants, and the masque of the Triplets. Disguise and masquerade take the place of regular story telling, and the story does not really move forward. The tempo relaxes, only to pick up again as Demoke intervenes in the game of ampe to restore the Half-Child to its mother and to undergo the expiation ritual of climbing the totem pole. Dawn breaks, Ogun leaves, Eshuoro and his jester flee, and Agboreko and the Old Man come across Demoke and hear a little of the happenings of that strange night. The play is thus part reality, part something beyond material reality as we know it, part ritual, part straightforward narrative. The movement is circular, to a certain extent, to suggest the cycle of sin that is carried on from the days of Mata Kharibu to the present and which is hopefully broken by Demoke's selfless act of expiation on behalf of the entire community.
The structure of the play highlights the contrast Wole Soyinka sets up between the past and the present, between the llving and the dead, between sombre or chilling moments and between moments of light-hearted tomfoolery.
Such contrast may be seen in Part One of the play. In the juxtaposition of the comic scenes of Murete and Ogun with the anxiety of the Old Man searching for his son and the darker and more secretive interaction of the four characters, Demoke, Rola, Adenebi and Obaneji, in the forest.
● Language :-
There are many different kinds of speech employed by Wole Soyinka in this Play. Agboreko speaks like a typical village elder, relying on his proverb-filled utterances to suggest the gravity and wisdom that he sorely lacks: "proverbs to bones and silence" is a particular favourite.
Rola and Madame Tortoise's speech is coquettish, swiftly changing to a vicious vulgarity when they are spumed or thwarted. Murete's speech is imaginative, filled with vivid insults.
Towards the end of the play the language takes on a heightened poetic quality, befitting the dignified anguish of the Spirits of the Rivers, Volcanoes, Precious Stones, Palm, Darkness and others. Even the ant leader and his followers are given considerable time to speak of the way in which their species has been decimated. Wole Soyinka also used non - verbal elements enhances the theatrical impact.
● Issues :-
Some of the issues of this play are - Nigerian Independence , the relation of tradition to history and the relation of the artists to Politics.
(a) Nigerian Independence :- This play was performed as part of the celebrations of Nigerian Independence. In the beginning of the play we are told that all the people are going to an important festival, the ritual gathering of the tribes. This play, as mentioned earlier, is modelled on the Yoruba New Year festival which takes place in March and which includes purificatory rites in which people help one another to confess and to begin the new year afresh. The occasion of Nigerian independence would also be the beginning of a new era, a fresh start.
This play was first performed as part of the Nigerian independence celebrations. This celebration is one in which people from , the past have also been invited. As mentioned in the earlier section on Yoruba religion, ancestors are crucial to the Yoruba world view because they are seen as : links between the mortal and the immortal gods. They can intervene on behalf of the mortals. However, in this play, the living characters neither recognise nor offer help to the Dead Man and the Dead Woman who have invited to the festivities. In fact, a number of characters say that the wrong people have been invited to the festival. In fact, they reject them outright. This shows that the living characters are unable to distinguish between the good and the evil characters in history and that they do not want to accept their contribution in the cycle of historical injustice. The brave warrior who fought against the tyranny of Mata Kharibu (who reappears as the Dead Man) and his helpless, pregnant wife (who reappears as the Dead Woman) can hardly be termed thieves and traitors.
(b) The relation of tradition to history :-
By having the four living characters double as in the play-within-a-play in Part Two, Soyinka is perhaps saying that history repeats itself in the most distressing way. Human nature is only fitfully able to ameliorate itself, to learn from its own mistakes.
The warrior and his wife who made the supreme sacrifice of their lives are not welcomed or celebrated in the new age--they are treated with suspicion or indifference or their identity is misrepresented. Madame Tortoise is a type of shallow and flirtatious woman who uses her sexual charms in a completely ruthless and self-seeking way- she is quite content to let men risk their lives trying to rescue canary from a rooftop. The absurdity of the request- canaries are birds and so have no need of being rescued from heights; a bird's life is far more important than a human being's- underlines the callousness of the character. Rola, among the living characters, displays the same self-seeking ways. She feels she is irresistible to all men-any man who resists her must necessarily be less than a man.
(C) The relation of the artist to society :-
In a number of Soyinka's plays there is an artist or a craftsman figure. In A Dance of the Forests this figure is Demoke. We are told that he is a carver (and in the court of Mata Kharibu he appears as a poet) -he has been responsible for carving the totem pole for the festival of the gathering of the tribes. Demoke has pushed his apprentice Oremole to his death from the top of the pole. This act has come about partly because of the vertigo Demoke feels once he climbs high. However, at the end Demoke pays the price for his deed by trying to save the Half-Child from Eshuoro.
Question 2 :- Write a Proposed alternative end of the Play - 'A Dance of the Forests' by Wole Soyinka.
Answer :- □ Actual end of the Play
In "A Dance of the Forests" by Wole Soyinka, the play concludes with a symbolic dance of rebirth and renewal, celebrating the potential for positive change and transformation in society. The specific details of the ending can vary depending on the production and interpretation of the play, but it typically emphasizes themes of hope, renewal, and the possibility of a better future.
It is like a celebration of the possibility for things to change for the better in society. Overall, it is about hope and the belief that we can make things better if we can work together. It is a hopeful and optimitic way to conclude the story, leaving the audience feeling inspired and uplifted.
□ Proposed Alternative end of the play :-
In an alternative ending to "A Dance of the Forests" by Wole Soyinka, the play could culminate in a moment of introspection and realization rather than a celebratory dance. As the characters confront the issues and conflicts presented throughout the play, they could come to understand the gravity of their situation and the urgency of taking action. Instead of a joyous conclusion, the ending could evoke a sense of somber determination, highlighting the challenges that still lie ahead and the sacrifices that may be necessary to bring about meaningful change.
In this alternative ending, rather than resolving all conflicts neatly, the characters might acknowledge that the journey toward transformation is ongoing and fraught with difficulties. There could be a sense of uncertainty about the future, tempered by a newfound resolve to confront injustice and oppression. The play could conclude with a powerful speech or exchange between characters, emphasizing the importance of unity, resilience, and perseverance in the face of adversity.
Ultimately, the alternative ending would leave the audience with a sense of urgency and a call to action, challenging them to reflect on the themes and messages of the play and consider how they can contribute to positive change in their own lives and communities. While it may lack the overt optimism of the original ending, this alternative conclusion would offer a more nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on the complexities of social transformation.
Conclusion :-
The Play - A Dance of the Forests uses humour and irony to criticize the idea of contemporary society and dangers of avoiding or neglecting cultural heritage. This play is very much powerful that continues to inspire new generations and will teach also that how one can learn from his past and moves on in life. Along with that, Wole Soyinka's mastery of narrative technique is also very evident and thought-provoking in this powerful play.
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