Iyaloja The Characters and Their Characteristics

a. Obedient The Women of the Market have highly respect to Iyaloja and believes that his knowledge is far beyond them so it is justified for Iyaloja to make decisions and so they do what she says. WOMEN. What does he mean Iyaloja? This language is the language of our elders, we do not fully grasp it. … IYALOJA. The matter is no longer in our hands. WOMEN. But she is bethroted to your own son, tell him. IYALOJA. … but who will remedy the blight of closed hands on the day when all should be openness and light? … would you rather it was my hand whose sacrilege wrenched it loose? Soyinka, 1986: 20-21 Besides of the characteristics above, the Women of the Market are also portrayed as talkative. Talkative here can be in positive and negative side as Pilking a character in the play define them as people who will talk about their own and other people secret family affairs to others. But in the other side, they would be described as brave for how they dare to stand speak against things they find unnecessary. b. Brave The women of the market dare and also are brave in conveying their thoughts. They are also portrayed to love telling others about how is their daily life and even other people’s. Simon Pilkings mentions when he recalls his impression about them. PILKINGS. These natives here? Good gracious. They’ll open their mouths and yap with you about their family secrets before you can stop them. Soyinka, 1986: 29 In spite of it, they are brave to voice what they think is wrong. There are several scenes when they urge Iyaloja and even another male character named Amusa. IYALOJA. … I dare not refuse. WOMEN. But Iyaloja… IYALOJA. The matter is no longer in our hands. WOMEN. But she is betrothed to your own son. Tell him. Soyinka, 1986: 21 The mothers have a feeling that there is something wrong with this issue, that they are triggered to stop it. Not only have the mothers, the girls also had some gut in them when Amusa tries to stop the ritual. They prevent Amusa even though he gives them some threats. AMUSA. … If I hear dat kin’ isult once more… GIRL. Pushing her way through. You will do what? GIRL. He’s out of his mind. It’s our mothers you’re talking to… How dare you intrude here anyway? Soyinka, 1986: 36-37 Their braveness is praised by the mother as a “defender”. 4. The Bride The bride actually appears in many scenes in the play but she does not really join any conversation even though it is related to her. The author Wole Soyinka describes here to be “motionless”. She appears in several scenes along with Elesin however she does not intervene in any conversation and just stand still. It can be said from there that she has a very obedient characteristic. She is being present at the events, but she does not speak anything, let the people make the decisions to her and just follow the decisions. B. The Ambivalent Attitude that appears through the Disclosure of the Character in the Play The ambivalent attitude refers to the conflicting concepts or views toward persons, groups, etc. Rozensweig, 1938: 223. In the play Death and the King’s Horseman, the attitudes are derived from Elesin towards the Yoruba female characters in the play. In analyzing the ambivalence, this section is divided into the negative and the positive attitudes towards Yoruba female characters.

1. The Negative Attitudes towards Yoruba Female Characters

Since their childhood, boys and girls have already been taught what to do to be a man and a women. There is this huge barrier that differs the life of women and men. Boys were prepared to go working outside. They were given proper education and training about business and others, while women were trained how to do housework and to look pretty Showalter, 1971:3. Living in a patriarchal society has shaped Elesin mind about women like what their position in politics, economy and culture are. The main value of these attitudes is that women’s position is basically lower than men. The concept believes that men’s matters are different with women’s and so, women are not supposed to intervene in any “men’s business”. The value that appears in the play concerns ma ny aspects of women’s lives including but not limited to marriage and workplace. Men does always occupy the first place while women are forced to be in the secondary position Beauvoir, 1989: 39. JANE. Please, try and understand. Everything my husband did was for the best. ELESIN. You are the wife of the District Officer? JANE. Yes. My name, is Jane. ELESIN. That is my wife sitting down there. You notice how still and silent she sits? My business is with your husband. Soyinka, 1986: 66 The conversation above shows that Elesin does not want women to interfere with “men’s business”. He compares Jane to his wife; women, and tell her to stand still, like his wife, because this is a business with her husband; between men. In Elesin point of v iew, women’s opinions do not really matter for this is a business between men so women opinion does not necessary. Elesin statement in this conversation shows how limited is the right of women in Yoruba Society. Since the female Yoruba characters mentioned above are Iyaloja, The Bride and The Women of the Market, so the attitudes will be analyzed based on those three characters.