ZULU SOFOLA'S TRAGIC VISION

ZULU SOFOLA’S TRAGIC VISION

ODIRI SOLOMON EJEKE, Ph.D

ZULU SOFOLA’S TRAGIC VISION

BY

ODIRI SOLOMON EJEKE

DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS

DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY

ABRAKA – NIGERIA

BEING THE TEXT OF THE FIRST PROF.

(MRS) ZULU SOFOLA MEMORIAL

LECTURE, ON FRIDAY 29, OCTOBER 2010

AT THE NEW ARTS THEATRE, UNIVERSITY

OF ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA.

ZULU SOFOLA’S TRAGIC VISION 2


Introduction

`Zulu Sofola was a foremost Nigerian playwright. She is credited as the first published

Nigerian female playwright of note and the first Nigerian female Professor of Theatre Arts.

According to Akinwale (1999: 67-68), in terms of dramaturgy, Sofola’s plays span over two

different periods of our society’s development – the traditional and the modern. Some of her

plays include Wedlock of the Gods, Old Wines are Tasty, The Sweet Trap, Memories in the

Moonlight, The Disturbed Peace of Christmas, Song of a Maiden, The operators, The Wizard of

Law, The Ivory Tower, and so on. `Zulu Sofola was also a great theoretician and practitioner of

the theatre. This discourse focuses on her concept of tragedy in the African dramatic scene. It

would be recalled that the concept of tragedy is also the core of her Inaugural Lecture in 1991.

This is done against the backdrop of the Aristotelian classical theory of tragedy. Two of her

plays, Wedlock of the Gods and King Emene supremely illustrate the phenomenon.

The African Concept of Tragedy and Worldview

Zulu Sofola’s tragic vision is anchored on the African’s perception of reality, which is

quite different from the Western and Oriental modes of perception of the world. This necessitates

an understanding of the African worldview or philosophy. The content of modern African drama

reflects this African mode of perception of reality. Our playwrights suffuse their plays with this

worldview (Ejeke, 2000:36). In Sofola’s plays, the cultural and social trends affect or colour the

dramatic action. The interplay is such that the dramatic events reveal aspects of the people’s

culture. This calls to mind Soyinka’s (1982:237) postulation:



… that drama … is created and executed within a specific

environment. It naturally interacts with the environment, is

influenced by it, influences that environment in turn, and

acts together with the environment in the larger and far

more complex history of society. Moreover, when we

consider art forms from the point of view of survival

strategies, the dynamics of cultural interaction with society

become even more aesthetically challenging and fulfilling.

Now, the African view of life is essentially positive; it thrives on harmony. All aspects of

the universe converge in one. That one whole is the centre of life. From this centre, all forms of

life emanate and are animated. They also return to this source in the final analysis. This view of

life is cyclical. It recognizes, according to Wole Soyinka (1976) and John Mbiti (1969), a

tripartite world: the worlds of the unborn, of the living, and of the dead. In other words, the

African philosophy or worldview revolves around the present, the past, and the future (Ejeke,

2000:36). A Yoruba scholar of note, Wole Soyinka (1988: 26 – 27), with specific reference to

Yoruba cosmology, outlines the African metaphysics clearly thus:

The past is the ancestors’; the present belongs to the living

and the future to the unborn. The deities stand in the same

situation to the living as do the ancestors and the unborn,

obeying the same laws, suffering the same agonies and

uncertainties, employing the same Masonic intelligence of

rituals for the perilous plunge into the fourth area of

experience, the immeasurable gulf of transition….

It is necessary to recall again that the past is not a

mystery and that although the future (the unborn is yet

unknown, it is not a mystery to the Yoruba but co-existent

in present consciousness).

There is no demarcation between where life begins and where it ends. It is an endless continuum.

The African idea of the universe is that every creature belongs to the universe without dislodging

the other. Not a single person’s existence poses a threat to another because the universe is



considered large enough to accommodate all its inhabitants (Ejeke, 1988:46). Because in the

African cosmology each creature exists for the other, they strive to preserve the universe for their

common good. The doctrine of the survival of the fittest does not arise here since the strong

supports and protects the weak. Hence, as Soyinka (1976:53) surmises, “Because of the visceral

intertwining of each individual with the fate of the community, a rupture in his normal

functioning not only endangers this shared reality but threatens existence itself”. The philosophy

of the African being his brother’s keeper is derived from this symbiotic relationship. In fact,

there is a healthy feeling of mutual goodwill among all except when one proves to be lacking. It

is this evil element that the African worldview demands to be destroyed and not the society. This

is rooted in the African metaphysical explanation of the origin of the essence of being (Ejeke,

1988:47-48).

The dramatic action of the plays of Zulu Sofola evolves from such a complex worldview

as outlined above. The two plays chosen; Wedlock of the Gods and King Emene supremely

demonstrate this philosophy. These plays are quite complex artistic creations in their own right.

Informed by her understanding of African metaphysics, `Zulu Sofola (1994:5) describes and

captures this essence when she states:

Art, in the African worldview, may be defined as an artistic

realization or manifestation of the powerful stirring in the

divine essence within the artistic in reaction to the

disequilibrium created in the universal order by the

negative force in the cosmos that threatens existence,

particularly human existence. The artist, thus propelled,

creates for the following reasons:

1. To heal and restore the life of a sick and battered humanity;

2. To create a new vision for growth, renewal regeneration and

edification of man for a wholesome life and a better community;



3. To mobilize a collective conscience for a particular desired

objective.

Her tragic vision springs from the above ideology.

`Zulu Sofola (1994:11) defines tragedy broadly as

a situation within the human condition wherein the spiritual

and moral essence of a people, a family, or an individual, is

disrupted adversely to a point where its consequences

propel an individual or a group of individuals into a life-

saving action volitionally entered into, but whose

consequences in the course of action, overwhelm the tragic

hero, causing him great suffering, even death, that the

ailing humanity within that experiential context may be

preserved and live.

She further explains this concept, citing Collon, who defines tragedy as a metaphysical

experience in which the odds of life overwhelm and even destroy the tragic hero, whose

commitment to the salvation of a morally, spiritually and physically disoriented society brings

him face to face with a catastrophe he never envisaged but which the Supreme Deity is not

obliged to explain. Sofola goes on to analyze tragedy as an experience which at its outset is

morally admirable and spiritually worthy, but which towards its close, is physically shattering,

morally baffling, spiritually inexplicable and mentally incomprehensible. However, at the end of

it all, man through the tragic hero, recognizes his finitude, accepting the verdict of Providence,

believing strongly that his decision to save his people was correct in spite of all odds (Sofola,

1994:11-12). She weaves this concept around the African cosmic perception of life, which is a

cyclical continuum and states that there is a fourth level of reality, what Soyinka refers to as the

fourth dimension in “The Fourth Stage”.

A comprehension of the African philosophy is important here since

Greek based Western perception of life is too

individualistic, if not Narcissistic, for the African



worldview whose emphasis is holistic rather than

exclusionist individualism of the European that tended to

make art in that part of the world to be entirely an

individual affair which Plato and his Western successors

articulated as idiosyncratic artistic “mania” or “madness”,

culminating in impressionistic and escapade of “art for art’s

sake syndrome (Sofola, 1994:3-4).

Let me make the point here that scholars “trained in the Western analytical mode of perception

of reality must recondition their imagination whenever they are confronted with a play based on

African sentiment” (Ejeke, 2000:3-7). Sofola creates her major plays around the African

worldview briefly outlined above. This means that this philosophy sheds light on the meaning or

interpretation of her plays and other African plays, for instance, Wale Ogunyemi’s Langbodo,

Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests, Ola Rotimi’s Kurunmi, J.P. Clark’s Ozidi, Kalu Uka’s

Ikhama, Gabre Medhin’s Oda Oak Oracle, Amadu Maddy’s Gbana Bendu, and so on.

The Nigerian world for which Sofola creates her plays is heterogeneous and quite different

from the Europeans’. Sofola (1986:108) describes it in this vein:

The Nigerian world for the artist… is heterogeneous in its

multiplicity of ethnic and sub-ethnic groupings even within

the same country. Hence, unlike the European

homogeneity, the complexity created by such heterogeneity

poses a serious problem for the play director who must

unravel and interpret clearly to the audience the heart of the

human problem in the action of the play. Granted that there

is a common denominator to African humanity and

worldview, yet the various groups’ experience leave their

marks on the common base. This complicates the ultimate

objective of communicating to the audience through the

stage and making impact.



In Sofola ‘s plays such as Old Wines are Tasty, Memories in the Moonlight, Song of a Maiden,

The Ivory Tower and even The Sweet Trap, and so on, this heterogeneity is manifested.

In her discourse on The Artist and the Tragedy of a Nation, Sofola explains that African

theatre addresses the audience directly through the traditional worldview of the people. As a

result, the audience recognizes, understands, identifies with, and participates in the experience

unfolded before it in the performance. Let me state here that the question of psychological

detachment, alienation or separation between the performer and the audience or theatre event and

the audience commonly present in the Western plays is absent in modern African plays due to

the sentiment and worldview expressed in the plays. Sofola contends that the African theatrical

event is communal and participatory in nature and content (Ejeke, 2000:37-38).

Sofola makes the important remark that African tragedy contrasts with the views of

Western theoreticians such as Aristotle, Hegel, Edith Hamilton, Joseph Wood Krutch, Arthur

Miller, and John Gassner, since each of these scholars are influenced by their people’s

cosmology and their “understanding of human destiny, and how the society seeks to achieve and

sustain metaphysical equilibrium and cosmic attunement” (Sofola, 1994:12-13). She states that

since in the Western world of Greek orientation not all men are created equal; in essence, only

aristocrats and people of noble background can serve as a link between the created universe and

the Supreme Deity and consequently are the only ones fit to be tragic heroes. According to her,

this contrasts sharply “with African cosmology where all beings are created equal in destiny

from the same Supreme Essence, hence tragic heroes can emerge from any level of the social

ladder”. She explains that the “African is aware that station in life is not primary, it is the degree



of divine presence in the individual that matters. A king may be spiritually barren while a beggar

may be a spiritual bombshell”.

To `Zulu Sofola, tragedy, as has been noted above, is a situation/condition that leads to the

disastrous end or unpleasant consequences for an individual or persons in the community. It

comes about due to moral or spiritual decadence in the society. Hence, the society must be set

right in all ramifications to avoid mishaps that can lead to the tragic ends and this requires artists

in the society to work hard to reflect this in their creative art. She preaches that for an artist to be

able to do this, he must live an exemplary life and be close to his creator, the source of his

creative Essence. This attunement with the source of his creative Essence needs discipline and

commitment on the part of the artist. It is in this light that Sofola portrays her tragic vision in her

plays. She sees the society as being capable of experiencing a tragic end when things are not set

right in their appropriate places in life

Moral and Spiritual Decadence in Wedlock of the Gods

Sofola sees tragedy as a collective affair and not as an individual experience because it

results from ignorance or abuse of culture, which affects the whole society. For instance, in

Wedlock of the Gods, we could see that at the end of the play the death of Ogwoma, Uloko and

Odibei shook the entire community. It is a collective or societal tragedy stemming from the

abuse or ignorance of culture.

Sofola believes that the degeneration of the culture of the people, which leads to moral and

spiritual decadence, is the beginning of tragedy. Here, Ogwoma and Uloko are aware of the



custom of their people and the tradition of a woman to mourn her dead husband but deviate from

it. This is an example of moral decadence. We also see how this moral decadence leads to

spiritual decadence and later on, the death of the two lovers. If they had not abused their culture,

the tragedy would have been averted. However, how could it be when an abominable action of

adultery is committed? The gods of the land, the ancestors, and the people frown at such a taboo.

In the “Production Note” to Wedlock of the Gods, Sofola (1972:1) describes the play as:

a tragedy, which finds its roots in the ritual of death and

mourning. The traditional solemnity of the ritual is

distorted however, for rather than engaging in the normal

funeral rites and rituals which should have cleansed her and

set the spirit of the deceased to the world of the gods, the

widow expresses a sense of liberation from unwanted

marriage, while the mother of the deceased performs rites

meant to destroy her son’s widow as an act of vengeance

for supposedly killing her son.

Although the people believe in diabolism, Odibei’s spiritual decadence leads her into killing

Ogwoma diabolically instead of waiting for tradition to take place and let the two lovers bear the

consequences of violating the custom or committing a taboo. In spite of the advice of her

neighbour, Odibei goes ahead to kill Ogwoma because she (Odibei) feels her (Ogwoma’s)

extramarital affairs are responsible for her son’s death. From her belief, it would have been right

for Odibei to wait, watch, and see Ogwoma suffer the consequences of her abominable act with

Uloko. However, she also knows that the African gods, unlike their Greek counterpart, can be

appeased and therefore sees Ogwoma’s death as a form of revenge on her late son. In a post-

humously published essay, “The Theatre in the Search for African Authenticity”, Sofola

(2001:8-9), states that:

In Wedlock of the Gods, the themes are adultery and

its punishment. A young woman Ogwoma, forced to marry



against her will, resorts to adultery in a desperate attempt to

avoid Leviration and has illicit relations with the man she

desired to marry. The sin must be punished to propitiate the

dead, the living, and the unborn…

The worst form of adultery is that which takes place

while a woman is still in mourning for her dead husband.

This type of adultery has grave repercussions on the living,

the dead, and the unborn members of the family. Severe

disorganization is introduced into the family: the dead

husband’s spirit cannot return to the world of the ancestors;

his reincarnation is dreaded for it would disrupt the

destinies of the one in whom he were reincarnated; indeed

the entire system of transmutation is put in jeopardy: this is

the type of illicit affair treated in Wedlock of the Gods.

Ogwoma’s act emanated from her protest against an

unwanted marriage and from her desire to be united in

marriage with the man she loved. According to the customs

of the people, no pardon was possible, so her mother-in-law

acted rightly in avenging the wrong done to her dead son.

To propitiate the living, the ancestors, the gods, and the

unborn, Ogwoma had to be killed and thrown, together

with her unborn child, into the forbidden forest, unburied

and unmourned.

Uloko too, knowing that the gods can be pacified plunges into the affair with the widow,

Ogwoma. This is part of `Zulu Sofola’s view of the tragic hero. For, to her, the tragic hero is

aware of his condition but feels what he does is right. He is strong-willed and has no fear of

anything because he feels he can overcome his problems but plunges into more problems

consciously or unconsciously and encounters insurmountable forces, obstacles, visible and

invisible, and at the end sees himself in a world of his own, a world that he thinks he understands

but to his chagrin. This is exactly what happens in the case of Ogwoma, Uloko, and even Odibei,

to some extent, whose actions propel the dramatic conflicts/events in Wedlock of the Gods. The

two lovers were aware of their condition and the consequences of what they have done but are

blind to the truth by their deadly love and continue to wallow in their sin until Odibei catches



them. From this point in the play, trouble steamed everywhere. In fact, Odibei’s statements:

“One does not play with Odibei like that” (p.10) or “We will see” (p.10) are charged with tragic

foreboding.

Although the major dramatic conflict revolves around two families, we see that the tragic

event is a communal affair involving the whole community and everybody therein. The death of

Ogwoma, Uloko, and Odibei stuns the entire community. Sofola succeeds in portraying to the

audience the consequences of committing such offences and thereby providing an alternative line

of action should they encounter such a situation. She therefore, supposes through Wedlock of the

Gods that such actions should be avoided to let sanity reign in the society.

In this play, Sofola’s tragic vision is clear. The spiritual and moral essence of a people (the

community in general), a family (Ogwoma’s, Uloko’s and Odibei’s families), or an individual

(Odibei, Nneka, etc), are disrupted through the abominable act Ogwoma and Uloko have

committed by Ogwoma being pregnant for Uloko while still in mourning. Then knowing the

consequences of this sacrilegious act - which is the swelling of the body with water leaking from

everywhere, and even when such an offender dies, no forest will accept his body – propels the

individual or group of individuals (Uloko, Odibei, Ogoli) into a life- saving action (where Nneka

struggles to save her daughter from Odibei’s hands; Ogoli tries to protect her son, Uloko; then

Uloko runs helter skelter to save his beloved Ogwoma from Odibei’s evil and wicked hands).

This is a real dramatic conflict. The process consumes Ogwoma, Odibei, and Uloko.

Thus, there must be some people left to carry the nation or community along after a

shipwreck (Sofola, 1994). The remaining people will build up the nation. In addition, as it is,

Ogwoma, Odibei and Uloko die so that others may live and carry the society forward-



Ogwoma’s, Uloko’s and Odibei’s families. In fact, the entire community feels the tragedy here

and those left behind must ensure that the appropriate cleansing rites are performed for cosmic

harmony to reign again.

The Tragedy of King Emene

The story of King Emene centres on Ogugua, the King of Oligbo. As tradition demands,

before the King enters the Peace Week – the week when the King carries the problems of his

people to their gods- he must cleanse the land, ensuring that all is normal and well. Meanwhile,

all is not well in Oligbo and the King wants to enter the Peace Week without cleansing the land.

The several warnings of the Olinzele Council and the elders that the King should purify the royal

household before entering the “Holy Week” all fall on deaf ears. The King’s mother, Nneobi, has

secretly committed a sacrilege - killing Chibueze, the son of Obiageli and the heir-apparent to the

throne of Oligbo to prevent him from ascending the throne so that her son, Ogugua will be

crowned King after his father’s death.

The young King commits more sacrilege through the exile and desecration of the sacred

Omu and replacing her with Nwani- this has never happened before in Oligbo. The sacrilege by

the King and his mother create uproar and pandemonium in Oligbo yet the King resolves to enter

the Peace Week despite the disagreement between him and the elders. Says he; “What I will do, I

will do” (p.25).

Nneobi foresees the aftermath of these actions and pours libation every morning, a duty

usually performed by the King’s wife, to seek the protection and guidance of her son from their

ancestors:



Nneobi: Water of life, shower us with blessing;

Water of Peace, give our hearts rest;

Goddess of Grace: shine forth and bless my son;

Oh, God of all bless this palace, keep evil

without... (King Emene, p.1).

The King enters the sacred shrine and runs out, screaming that he has seen a very big snake. At

this point, Nneobi confesses her crime and the king runs into the inner chambers of the palace

and stabs himself dead.

The King, Ogugua, has to die so that the people (the elders and other villagers) that he has

caused great trouble might live to carry the nation forward. Nneobi engages on this life saving

action on the part of her son by pouring morning libation in the palace, seeking the protection of

the gods for her son. The king with his mother disrupts the spiritual and moral essence of the

people of Oligbo, by not heeding the warning of the Olinzele Council to cleanse the royal

household before entering the Peace Week and by the excommunication and desecration of the

sacred Omu, which has never happened in Oligbo since the emergence of that community. In her

agony, Nneobi, as Sofola (1994:15-16) states,

mourns as her act of moral violence blows into her face.

The violence, which she had thought Providence, would

help to successfully conceal for her in her honest bid to

raise her long-suffering family from the squalor of poverty

to the grace of royalty, exploded, with the life of her son in

danger. Frightened and distraught, she groans:

Oh God, the deed is known!

I am sealed in like a sick hen

Covered on the ground with a gourd,

The world has sealed me in.

She learns at the death of her son and the loss of the

kingdom, that the pursuit of a desire through the violation

of Eternal Moral Order engulfs both the guilty and the

innocent.

Essentially, King Emene dramatizes the story of Emene who, due to his youthful

exuberance, pride, raw determination and, perhaps, destiny, to do what he wants, leads him to his



sudden death. The Aristotelian principle of tragedy is followed here where tragedy affects a

character of noble background, or the aristocratic class, bringing about the tragic hubris with its

concomitant purgation of emotion. It is customary for the people of Oligbo to enter the Peace

Week being ushered in by the King. The Peace Week is a holy period, a purifying ritual or meant

to take away the evils and bad omen of the previous year and usher in blessing, good health,

abundance, goodwill, and happiness to the people. Unfortunately, the King is advised by the

Omu not to perform this important ceremony until he cleanses the palace or the royal household

of an evil, which would require the offender to make a public confession of the heinous crime

committed and the necessary propitiating rites performed to placate the gods of the land.

Regarding the warnings of the Omu and the Olinzele Council as an attempt to frustrate his reign,

the King exiles the Omu and made her not to carry out the mediation between Mkpitime and the

King.

Consequently, the new Omu consults the goddess of the land and comes back with a

message not entirely different from the last one: that the King must purify the palace. The King

takes the message at its face value and seems not to really comprehend it. He, therefore, goes

ahead with the ceremony spurred on by his mother, Nneobi, who does not want any obstacle or

anybody to stand on the way of her son and his throne. On the day of the major rite, things go

terribly wrong compelling Nneobi to confess her crime shamefully. Dazed by the terrible

confession of his mother, King Emene eventually dies by committing suicide, thereby defiling

the Peace Week. For, with his death, the King has not only brought a curse, as it were, on the

royal house but also upon the entire community; for instead of chasing away evil so that things

will be well with the people, evil is brought directly to their doorsteps.



This unfortunate situation could have been avoided had King Emene listened to the several

warnings and counsels. Besides, it can be said that it is his fate or destiny to be stubborn and

proud and then die, for the gods have a hand in it, defining his destiny so that no amount of

pleading or talking can change his fate as designed by the gods.

From the foregoing, it is clear that in King Emene tragedy too is a collective affair

although the dramatic events revolve around the King and the royal household. From the

beginning of the play, we could see that things are not done in the proper way, for example, the

pouring of libation by the Queen mother instead of the Queen herself. This marks the genesis of

the chaos in the play, which culminated in the tragedy at the end of the play.

Sending the Omu to exile by the King and replacing her with someone else is also wrong

because the King does not understand their tradition very well, else he would have listened to the

advice of the elders or the Olinzele Council. His refusal to listen to these people is due to his

vision and ambition. He wants to be esteemed and does not care whether affairs are conducted

correctly or not. He is aware of the consequences of his act but believes that in his case,

everything is right and he will enter the Peace Week without their advice because he blames his

father’s death on the fact that he listened too much to the advice of the Olinzele Council.

Although the King is not the rightful heir of the throne, he would have been saved from the

doom that overtook him if he had listened to the Omu and worked with her to cleanse his

household. This also stems from the fact that he believes that his family cannot be polluted. This

stubbornness leads to his tragic end. Consequently, the Peace Week cannot be ushered in. This is

tragic enough since the villagers would have to look for means of purifying the King’s household

and the entire village in order for them to enter into the Peace Week.



While delineating her characters, Sofola is able to show the propelling force behind her

tragic characters who can be said to be prototypes of Aristotelian tragic heroes, for instance,

Ogugua in King Emene. As a King, Ogugua is depicted to be very altruistic, he has the interest of

the people at heart, but the way, or manner he goes about carrying out his will is his undoing.

The same thing applies to Uloko in Wedlock of the Gods and Okebuno in Old Wines are Tasty.

These characters have admirable qualities; Okebuno is of high reputation even.

According to Aristotle, tragic heroes ought to be people who are highly respected in the

society and whose fall precipitate the purgation of emotion of pity and fear. Sofola has followed

this tradition in the creation of King Emene and Old Wines are Tasty. In these two plays, the

major characters meet their waterloo for a fault that is actually not theirs. This attribute is fuelled

by their tragic flaws. Here, Sofola exploits the tragic potentials of an African character, using

classical principles of tragedy.

In both King Emene and Wedlock of the Gods, the introduction of tragic flaws, which is the

nagging clog in the life of tragic characters, is commendable. Sofola makes the world to see that

Africans feel and react like the Westerners when confronted by situations adequately weighty for

such reactions. Uloko and Ogwoma are portrayed as being rash and uncompromising while King

Emene is headstrong. The stubbornness of King Emene can be equated to that of Sophocles’

King Oedipus or Ola Rotimi’s King Odewale of The Gods are not to Blame. King Emene is

actually a great man. He wants to rule his people but there is a clause from the gods who insist

that he must cleanse his household before entering the Peace Week. If King Emene had listened

to good counsel and not allowed his weakness (flaw) to overwhelm him, definitely, he would

have been able to thoroughly examine his palace and fish out the “aching tooth”.



`Zulu Sofola carries her audience along into the direct reality with human struggles. She

portrays her tragic heroes in a way that the African audience would always see the struggle as

something domestic or “common place” enough to happen to them as is quite evident in Wedlock

of the Gods and King Emene.

In line with the sole essence of purifying the decaying society and correcting humanity

from his excesses, which is the pivot of most tragic works, Sofola brings reality close to man,

giving him an option, either to choose to compromise and be saved or be uncompromising and

then end up in doom. This brings us closer to the fate of Ogwoma, Uloko, Odibei, and King

Emene. These characters die due to their defiance of natural law around which African

traditional laws and customs are constructed. The life and destiny of man lie with the gods but

unlike Shakespearean tragedy, the African gods do not treat humans as mere puns in a grand

game of chess; rather they leave man to grapple with his own fate and if at the end, man’s search

for the ultimate truth deepens so much that he makes a mistake, he pays dearly for it.

In Wedlock of the Gods, Uloko goes against the gods despite the fact that he has the

wherewithal to keep out of the way of the gods by giving what “belongs to Caesar to Caesar and

that of the gods to them”. He would have achieved this by allowing Ogwoma to be free from her

mourning rites before mating with her. This accounts for their tragic end.

As a playwright with an abiding sense of the function of the theatre, `Zulu Sofola’s plays

always end with a soul-edifying message. In her tragic works like King Emene, Wedlock of the

Gods, and Old Wines are Tasty, the audience would always feel a deep (sense of) purgation of

emotions of pity and fear for the tragic characters. They would ask themselves questions relating

to human existence and the mysteries surrounding life. Questions like: “Who actually dictates the

affairs of the world?” or “Why does man suffer for what he does not know.” These questions are



answerable depending on the way one looks at it. For the world is a cosmic cycle with everybody

and everything revolving in it at the supervision of the gods. Anybody whose hubris or pride

pushes him into taking the gods for granted has breached the law of the cosmic cyclic motion. At

such a point, it is only rituals of atonement that can appease the gods and bring man back to his

exalted position in the scheme of things. Because this struggle is metaphysical in nature, one will

always be confused by the rationale behind the activities of the gods. For instance, King Emene

suffers and dies because of a crime committed by his mother; can everybody not bear his own

cross? Only the gods know why. Interestingly, Sofola’s intermingling of the ideal/classical tragic

concepts into her domestic society makes her work universal and understandable to scholars the

world over.

Conclusion

Overall, `Zulu Sofola theorizes that tragedy is a social condition that affects all in the

society. Believing that it is a means of examining the ills of the society in the bid to correcting

them, she anchors some of her seminal plays like King Emene, Old Wines are Tasty and Wedlock

of the Gods, for instance, on this fascinating dramatic form. Unlike comedy, which lampoons the

people and the society, tragedy attacks the sensibility of the people, forcing them to rise up to the

tragic situation in order to proffer an enduring solution to the problems of the time. Her vision of

tragedy in the African society stems from her characters’ deviation from the normal social code

and ethics and therefore negative with respect to growth and development in the society. Her

tragic vision revolves around the hero who stirs the hornet of bees, which will not only affect the

protagonist but also the entire society – which makes it communal, not individualistic. For

example, Ogwoma and Uloko’s romance is a deviation from the normal and hell is let loose



since the society frowns at this abnormal behavior. This society is cautious of the action that

follows such acts even when the gods streamline what must be done to avert the consequence or

calamity.

REFERENCES

Aristotle, 1965. “Poetics” in Dorsch, T. S. (trans. and ed.). Aristotle,, Horace, Longinus:

Classical Literary Criticism. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Dunton, Chris, 1992. Make Man Talk True: Nigerian Drama in English Since 1970. London:

Hans Zell Publishers.

Ejeke, Odiri Solomon, 1988. “A Stage Direction of Joe de Graft’s Muntu: A Creative Thesis.”

MFA Thesis, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Calabar, Calabar.

Ejeke, Odiri Solomon, 1998. “Aesthetic Theory in Script Interpretation: A Directorial Analysis

of Ola Rotimi’s Theatre”. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Theatre Arts, University

of Calabar, Calabar.

Ejeke, Odiri Solomon, 2000. “Play Analysis for the Director in African Theatre” in Journal of

Creative Arts, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 35-40.

Kennedy, Scott, 1973. In Search of African Theatre. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Mbiti, John S. 1969. African Religious and Philosophies. London: Heinemann.



Pronko, Leonard C., 1974. Theatre East and West: Perspectives Towards a Total Theatre.

Berkley: University of California Press.

Sofola, `Zulu, 1972. Wedlock of the Gods. Ibadan: Evans Brothers (Nigeria Publishers) Ltd.

Sofola, `Zulu, 1986. The “Director in the Nigerian Theatre” in Nwamuo, C (ed.) Theatre and

Drama in National Development. Calabar: MAP and SONTA.

Sofola `Zulu, 1994. The Artist and the Tragedy of the Nation. Ibadan: Caltop Publications

(Nigeria) Limited.

Sofola, `Zulu, 2001. “The Theatre in the Search for African Authenticity” in The Performer,

Vol.3, pp.1-12.

Soyinka, Wole, 1976. Myth, Literature and the African World. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Soyinka Wole, 1982. “Theatre in African Traditional culture: Survival Patterns” in Olaniyan, R.

(ed.),

African History and Culture. Ikeja – Nigeria: Longman.

Soyinka, Wole, 1988. “The Fourth Stage” in Art, Dialogue and Outrage. Ibadan: New Horn

Press.

Documents

ZULU SOFOLA'S TRAGIC VISION