Death and the King's Horseman

Premiering in 1975, Death and the King’s Horseman is a play written by Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. Soyinka is known for his plays, including A Dance of the Forests (1963) and The Lion and the Jewel (1962). Death and the King’s Horseman is set in Oyo, Nigeria, during World War II and tells the story of Elesin Oba, the titular king’s horseman who must die by ritual suicide after the Yoruba king dies. The colonial government stops Elesin’s suicide, but the text also suggests that Elesin, a robust man full of life, might not have fulfilled his duty even without interruption. Based on true events, Death and the King’s Horseman explores the tensions between British and Yoruba cultures in colonial Nigeria. However, the heart of the play lies in exploring Elesin’s relationship with death as he comes to terms with his mortality and the reality of completing his duty. The play consists of five acts and is performed without an intermission.

This guide uses the 2002 Norton paperback edition of the play.

Content Warning: Death and the King’s Horseman and this study guide repeatedly reference ritual suicide and death by suicide. 

Plot Summary

Death and the King’s Horseman opens in a Yoruba market. A month has passed since the king’s death, and the time has come for Elesin Oba, the king’s horseman, to follow his master to the afterlife. According to Yoruba tradition, the king’s dog, horse, and horseman must die with the king to help him travel to the afterlife and avoid disrupting the course of the universe.

Although Elesin is a strong and joyous man, he is prepared to fulfill his duty. In the market, he exchanges words with the Praise-Singer, who questions Elesin’s resolve. Elesin assures the Praise-Singer that he will complete the ritual, and a group of women gather to dress Elesin for the ceremony. They sing the horseman’s praises, remarking on what an honorable man he is, while Elesin relishes the attention.

However, the horseman is soon distracted by the appearance of a beautiful woman. He asks Iyaloja, the “mother” of the market, who the young woman is, hoping to marry and have sex with her before he dies. The woman is betrothed to Iyaloja’s son, so she is hesitant to grant Elesin’s wish. However, Elesin will soon make a great sacrifice for the good of the community, and Iyaloja worries that upsetting him will undermine the ritual. She agrees to give him the girl but warns that he must complete his duty. 

The action shifts to the home of district officer Simon Pilkings. Pilkings and his wife, Jane, are dancing, dressed for a party, when Amusa, a Yoruba police officer, interrupts them. Amusa informs Pilkings about Elesin’s intention to die by suicide, and Pilkings decides that the ritual must be stopped. He sends Amusa away to arrest Elesin, and he and his wife leave for the ball. Amusa attempts to stop the ritual in the market, but he is thwarted by a group of women who block his way and tease him and his other officers. He is forced to turn away, and Elesin, having consummated his marriage to the young woman, begins dancing and falling into a trance.

At the ball, Amusa interrupts Pilkings’s evening to tell him that the ritual is still underway. Worried about a riot while the guest of honor, the British prince, is in town, Pilkings heads off to the market to stop the ceremony. While he is gone, Elesin’s son, Olunde, appears and begins talking with Jane. Pilkings helped Olunde attend medical school in England against his father’s wishes, but when Olunde heard about the Yoruba king’s death, he returned immediately to be present at Elesin’s funeral. Jane is horrified by Olunde’s calm acceptance of his father’s death, and the two converse about Elesin’s duty and Olunde’s experiences in England.

When the beat of the drums from the market changes, Olunde is sure his father is dead. He asks Jane to excuse him and begins to leave. However, Pilkings arrives and stops Olunde. Before Pilkings can explain, Elesin runs in, handcuffed. The ritual has been prevented, and Elesin is still alive. Olunde shames his father for not fulfilling his duty and accuses him of eating “left-overs.” 

Pilkings locks Elesin in a cell and watches over him, determined that he will survive the night. Iyaloja comes, and grudgingly, Pilkings allows her to speak with Elesin. Iyaloja berates Elesin for failing in his duty, accusing him of losing his will to die. Elesin is ashamed but believes he would have completed the ritual without Pilkings’s interruption. Iyaloja tells Elesin she has brought him “a burden,” and a group of women enter with a large object swathed in cloth. She reveals the body of Olunde, who died by suicide in his father’s stead to restore order to the universe and honor to his family. At the sight of his son’s body, Elesin strangles himself with his own chains and dies before the guards can stop him.