Death and the King's Horseman

Based on real events that took place in Oyo, the ancient Yoruba city of Nigeria, in 1946, Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka's play tells how Simon Pilkings, a well-meaning District Officer, intervenes to prevent the ritual suicide of the Yoruba chief, Elesin. This Student Edition includes a full introduction, commentary and questions for study.

"The action of the play is as inevitable and eloquent as in Antigone: a clash of values and cultures so fundamental that tragedy issues: a tragedy for each individual, each tribe" Daily Telegraph

"This play, by the winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature, asks: ''On the authority of what gods'' the white aliens rupture the world. It puts exciting political theatre back on the agenda. . . a masterpiece of 20th century drama" Guardian

Elesin Oba, the King''s Horseman, has a single destiny. When the King dies, he must commit ritual suicide and lead his King''s favourite horse and dog through the passage to the world of the ancestors. A British Colonial Officer, Pilkings, intervenes.

This edition features an interview with the author.

Commentary and notes by Jane Plastow

• | Author: Wole Soyinka
• | Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• | Publication Date: Jul 02, 1998
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9780413695505
• | ISBN-10: 0413695506