The Female Ghost Figure in Wole Soyinka’s Play A Dance of the Forests

Abstract

Soyinka’s first metaphysical drama, A Dance of the Forests (1960), employs ghost narrative to portray a pregnant female dead spirit as its central figure. However, the play has often been subject to scholarly neglect due to its enigmatic language and nonlinear narrative. Despite being labeled as the most uncentered among Soyinka’s works, this paper posits the play as a seminal piece that presents Soyinka’s profound disquiet about the African problem. By focusing on the pregnant female ghost as a central figure, this essay employs a postcolonial African feminism lens to analyze her dual predicament: as an ancestor devoid of respect and as a mother unable to deliver. This essay concludes that Soyinka’s portrayal of the spectral feminine, particularly through the plea “Will you take my case?”, serves to highlight the marginalization of women and critique the historicity of injustice. Soyinka’s trenchant critique ultimately targets a modern Nigerian society ensnared in the superficial trappings of independence.