The Women of the Market
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.
a. Iyaloja The idea above results in the first attitude of Elesin being ignorant and
even results further to abuse of power towards Iyaloja. In the play Elesin asks Iyaloja to let him marry one of her girls but Iyaloja indirectly shows her refusal to
the offer. As depicted before, Elesin is described as an arrogant person. His characteristics of being superior is harmed by the refusal coming from Iyaloja, his
subordinate and a woman. As what Wollstonecraft argues, mankind favors respect from other including women. Men believe that they should get rewards when
achieving accomplishments. They tend to do anything to get the recognition in their competitive world Showalter, 1971:2. So, despite of hearing her
explanation, Elesin keeps insisting to marry the girl. He believes that he is “a man
of honour” so that he deserves “a bed of honour to lie upon”. He uses his position in the hierarchy to achieve his willingness which is to marry the girl.
In the first place, the act of asking permission to Iyaloja in fact is just as a form of formality since Iyaloja is Mother of the Market. However, her opinion
and decision does not matter since Elesin has stated his opinion and so be it. Elesin uses his position in hierarchy to emphasize that his position in giving the
offer is not to be refused. As what Lerner argues that Patriarchal society is a “manifestation and institutionalization of male power”, the hierarchy is filled with
men to show to the society, women and children, which in their society men are the one in charge Lerner, 1989:239. Even though in the case of Death and the
King’s Horseman this theory deviates a little bit since Iyaloja is given an important position, the patrilineal system is still very strong that the positions
above her is seated by men
.
The fact that Elesin is one of the men seated on those seats, he uses it to oppress the Women of the Market by referring his proposal to
his position in the institution. He mentions several times about his position as the Horseman of the king and how close he is to the king and how he and the king
conquer the world. He knows that he is in a ritual that will grant all of his wishes but he does not stop there, he continuous to remind the female character about his
power and position. b. The Bride
The second attitude is concerning the marriage. As it is portrayed in the play that at the end of Act One, Elesin has his bridal night. However, the process
of the marriage is not based on both parties consent. It is shown in the play that Elesin feels attracted to the girl and wants to marry her however there is no any
further details whether the girl agrees to marry him or not. Alan believes that Elesin action has proven the
restriction of women’s right. Alan believes that women should have right to refuse any action that could harm them or approve
any action that favor them . In the case of the Elesin’s marriage, there needs to be a
consent without coercion to participate Alan, 2006:336. ELESIN. Tell me who was that goddess through whose lips
I saw the ivory pebbles of Oya’s river-bed.
Iyaloja, who is she? I saw her enter Your stall; all your daughters I know well.
Soyinka, 1986: 19 After the conversation Elesin asks Iyaloja to let him marry her and then
they have the marriage. The fact that the marriage happens without the girl’s consent even though she is present there in the scene and solely because of the
willingness of the men shows how girls ’ lives and future is not in their hand and it
is in the elder, in this case in the men ’s hands. These process of choosing the bride
without their consent shows the limited power for women to decide their own fate and to do what they want solely because they are not men in charge.
Regarding this incident, Alan believes that women, including the bride, have rights of “personal privacy”, “autonomy”, and “consent” therefore the bride
basically has the right to decide whether to accept or refuse the offer Allan, 2006:334. The matter here is that the general understanding of the society is
heavily spoiled by the patriarchal stigma. Wollstonecraft argues that one of the stigma believed by the majority of the society is that the ordinary ordinary
women, excluding Iyaloja in this play, are not capable of deciding for their own problems therefore they need men to advice what to do and not to do.
The bride herself portrays the idea that women presence in the story is important but got no recognition. The most visible way is that there is no names
for the Yoruba female characters besides Iyaloja. We have some servants name like Amusa, Joseph but we get no any names from the bride. In fact she is
addressed in the beginning of the play as “she” and after the marriage she is addressed
as the “wife” and “young bride”. The importance of names in the story shows that her presence in the story is not important in fact the bride gives some
significance improvement in the story line. Concerning the marriage, the Mother of the market have tried to stop the
marriage by urging Iyaloja that the girl has been ‘betrothed’ to another men.
However even though Iyaloja also knows that, she can do nothing for her strict believe to the culture. She believes that Elesin’s wish at this moment is something