RITUALS IN AFRICAN TRAGEDY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SOYINKA'S DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN AND EBRAHIM HUSSEIN'S KINJEKETILE.

This study investigates how ritual has been overlooked or misunderstood in African tragedy and seeks to clarify its essential role in shaping African dramatic narratives. Using Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman and Ebrahim Hussein’s Kinjeketile as case studies, the research examines how ritualistic acts function not merely as cultural elements but as foundational structures for African tragic drama. The plays are analyzed through theoretical frameworks such as Soyinka’s fourth stage, Victor Turner’s concept of liminality, and Richard Schechner’s performance theory to highlight how ritual drives character motivation, community values, and metaphysical balance. The study identifies specific ritual practices within both plays such as Elesin’s ritual suicide and Kinjeketile’s spiritual possession and demonstrates how their disruption leads to both spiritual and social conflict. Through close textual and cultural analysis, the research emphasizes the consequences of disregarding ritual, particularly the tension between tradition and modernity, and the resulting psychological, cultural, and communal breakdown. By addressing the questions of how ritual is portrayed, misunderstood, and disrupted in African tragedy, this study provides a deeper understanding of its role not only in the narrative structure of African plays but also in African societies. It concludes that ritual is central to African tragic expression, serving as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms, and as a vital force in maintaining cultural identity and cosmic order.