Bibliography:

Death and the Kings Horseman by Wole Soyinka

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
https://mrs-murray-class-wiki.wikispaces.com/share/view/37433432
http://www.scribd.com/doc/202315247/Function-of-Female-Characters-in-Death-of-a-

Salesman#scribd
http://christinathought.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/feminism-critic-of-death-ofsalesman.html

Word Count: 1467

'These plays both demonstrate how women are marginalized in Society.
Compare and contrast the ways in which Miller and Soyinka present their female
characters in the light of the opening statement.
Both tragedies have contrasting elements in regards to how women are received and treated
in their society. Miller portrays women as side-lined and unheard using them as a supporting
element to their male counterpart. Soyinka depicts two sides to women in society, both
strong and influential whilst also showing them to be submissive and respectful towards
men. However the time periods in which both plays are set in, both being set in the 1940's
but Soyinka's written in the 1970's, would have to be taken into consideration when
analysing the way these plays demonstrate how women are marginalized in society, as
culture and the wide spread of feminism would also have to be taken into account.
Miller often presents his female characters as 2 dimensional, flat and conformed to the
stereotype of women during the 1940's. Linda is presented as the typical 1940's housewife
supportive, caring and loving 'LINDA: "Maybe things are starting to- WILLY: [Wildly enthused
to Linda] "Stop interrupting!" Miller presents Willy as the typical misogynistic, patriarchal
husband always dismissing Linda as if she is not in the room. The use of the stage direction
[Wildly enthused to Linda] reiterates his blatant disregard of his wife and her feelings. Later
Linda shouts at her sons, could be Millers weak attempts to create a character who is not
completely flat, the same could be said when giving her monologues still interrupted shown
by monologues where she speaks to her sons yet she is still interrupted. Many modern day
audience members would be appalled by the lack of equality respect portrayed in Linda's
and Willy's marriage as it is now uncommon for women to be disregarded and ignored in a
relationship especially as we are now in what is considered by many to be the third wave of
feminism as women reinstating what they believe is right. However audience members
during the mid-20th century may have thought differently as it would have been a normality
for a woman to be subservient towards her husband in this period as it was nearing the end

of the 1940's and many woman would have lost jobs gained during the war therefore
returning back to housewife roles, no longer the dominant paradigm.
Like Miller, Soyinka presents some female characters as bland and unresponsive 'ELESIN:
That is my wife sitting down there. You notice how she is still and silent she sits. My business
is with your husband' Soyinka does not even give name to bride perhaps showing typical
treatment of women in Nigerian society at the time contrasts this with Jane who seems to
believe it is with in her right to speak as he pleases, shows development of feminism in both
cultures. Use of the words 'sitting down' plays into the idea that women are lower than men.
Soyinka's choice of the words 'still and silent' also lends to the fact that women were in fact
marginalised by society, as it is suggested that wives may be seen but not heard. Soyinka
successfully juxtaposes two cultures by presenting Jane, who as a British woman in the
1940's clearly believed it in her rights and to be able to speak to Elesin 'My name is Jane'.
This shows the growth that the British culture had in comparison with the Nigerian culture in
terms of feminism and also shows that it was not in all societies that women would be
marginalised.
We are not told the name of 'The Woman' in Miller's tragedy. This once again shows how
women were side-lined in society, perhaps because women were thought to be nothing more
than distractions. Millers use of a non-linear structure, which helps to incorporate 'The
Woman' into present moments in act 1. 'The Woman' acts as nothing more than an ego
booster for Willy 'THE WOMAN: ...you're a wonderful man.' lending to his idea of him being
an all-powerful business man. The woman holds no respect for herself and she is not given
a large speaking role. Miller presents The Woman as a prostitute. It is insinuated that she
sleeps with Willy because of the promise of new stockings Where are my stockings. Miller
also presents them to be the downfall of most families. However Biff does not blame woman
as many men would have done as it was common practice back then as the belief was that
women were the ones always to blame as they seduced the men. Instead Biff assigns blame
where it is due, Miller trying to show evolving attitudes of men towards women in the
younger society.

Miller presents empty female characters. Use of character Happy

emphasizes this as he talks about women abrasively as if they are just objects. Happy
mentions handing one to Biff as if they are just possessions 'HAPPY: 'You want her?' Miller
presents women as measures of success in a man's world 'HAPPY: It's what I always
wanted... plenty of women', showing how women were treated at that time.
Whilst Soyinka also does not name his chorus of girls individually this is perhaps more
towards the fact Soyinka was blending Nigerian techniques with Ancient Greek Theatre.
Soyinka places women front and centre in scene 3 where they tease Amusa. The fact that

Soyinka gives women a huge role in scene 3 which is a pivotal point in the play, suggests
that he is proposing a new stance for women of Nigeria to take. The girls emasculate Amusa
by removing his baton which is used for phallic imagery, '[They snatch the batons]'. This
places them as dominant over Amusa which would have been unusual in a society which is
highly patriarchal. Iyaloja, is 'mother of the market' and is a powerful woman as she has
political post in Yoruba culture, under the decision of the market women. She works and
holds large authority, which places her among some of the high-ranking members in the
society 'PRAISE SINGER: Iyaloja...how your wisdom transfigures you! Iyaloja is used to
present Soyinka's view on what he hopes for women in the future. Iyaloja has the last line in
the play 'Turn your mind to the unborn'. In Greek tragedy most important person has the last
line in the play. Feminist would be impressed by the amount of power that a woman held
amongst men, in such a male dominated society. However a mid-20th century Western
world audience may have been shocked by the fact that a woman had so much respect and
authority as they themselves would be living in a patriarchal society.
Soyinka also presents women as nothing more than sexual objects through the character
Elesin who cheapens them in the song of the Not-I-Bird which is a male dominated song
which only has one verse in which a woman is mentioned and when she is mentioned it is
with crude, degrading imagery 'The mouth of the courtesan barely opened wide enough to
take a ha'penny robo'. Elesin tries women on like pieces of cloth very casually and expects
to receive women at his demand showing that he views them as property. Women are sidelined to be considered nothing more than. Does not take into accounts the opinions of
Iyaloja, shows once again how women are marginalised by society. A Nigerian audience in
the 1970's would have still accepted this as normal treatment of a woman as feminism had
not developed greatly and it was common for women to be treated as the weaker and
submissive sex which never received a good centre position in society. However feminists
during the 1970's and today would not have received this portrayal of women warmly as this
was a period right after the first wave of feminism where women had fought for the right of
equality and not to be treated as the lower counterpart to men and to remembered as
nothing more than as marginalized members of gender bias society.
To conclude, both plays demonstrate how women were marginalized in society, however this
is only to a certain extent as Soyinka still manages to show the audience what he hopes for
the future of women and perhaps only has weaker females to aid Elesin's persona of high
strung tragic hero, which may not have been possible if Soyinka placed too large a focus on
women. Miller may have also had to create flat female characters on the fringes of society
as he needed to maintain the fact that the play is a tragedy and having women at the centre
may have taken away from this and instead left him with a play which battled gender issues

in the 1940's. Therefore a split decision could be made that whilst Miller's and elements of
Soyinka's tragedies do in fact demonstrate how women were marginalised in society,
Soyinka still manages to include some central female characters who go against the
statement.