Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests is one of the most complex, symbolic, and multi-layered plays in modern African drama. It was written as a critique of post-independence Nigeria at the time of the 1960 independence celebrations. Through a mystical and allegorical journey, Soyinka questions whether the new nation is ready to confront the darkness of its past, and whether it can build a future without first addressing its deep-rooted moral failures. The play ends on a somewhat ambiguous and pessimistic note. However, what if Soyinka had imagined an alternative ending one that provided a spark of genuine transformation rather than cyclical repetition?
To appreciate a meaningful alternate ending, it is essential to briefly revisit the play’s beginning, middle, and original ending.
A Nation in Celebration and Denial
The play opens in a forest on the eve of a festival celebrating a new age. The townspeople, under the leadership of the Old Man (later revealed as the Forest Head), are participating in festivities. They expect the arrival of illustrious ancestors from the spirit world. However, instead of noble spirits, they are sent two figures: Dead Man and Dead Woman, tortured souls from the past. This unexpected turn disturbs the townspeople. These two spirits are actually the reincarnations of past selves of current characters demonstrating how history continues to haunt the present.
The key symbolic figures include Demoke, the carver torn between creative integrity and guilt; Adenebi, the court historian who distorts history; and Rola, a dancer with a past of prostitution. Each character is forced to confront the moral failures of their past incarnations.
Confrontation With the Past
As the characters interact with these spirits, they begin to relive forgotten or suppressed parts of their former selves. This part of the play emphasizes Soyinka’s belief in the Yoruba concept of the "continuum" between the living, the dead, and the unborn. The forest becomes a space of revelation, not celebration. The egotism, lies, and injustices of the past echo painfully in the present, and characters are shown to be unwilling or unprepared to confront these truths. The play thereby critiques the hypocrisy of postcolonial leadership, which celebrates independence without truly reckoning with the past.
The role of the Forest Head (Aroni), who embodies both wisdom and neutrality, becomes central. He orchestrates the dance of the forests not for amusement, but for reflection. Aroni does not moralize, but invites introspection.
Original Ending: The Cycle Continues
In the original ending, the forest slowly clears. The spirits disappear. The characters leave with little changed within them. Demoke returns to his carving, but without clear redemption. Rola flirts with the idea of change, but not with commitment. Adenebi continues to defend his historical distortions. There is no grand catharsis. Soyinka seems to suggest that even with all this mystical intervention, humanity remains resistant to learning. The dance, like history, is a loop.
Now, imagine a different closing scene one that retains the complexity of Soyinka’s vision but allows for transformation, however tentative.
As dawn breaks in the forest, the two Dead Spirits Man and Woman do not simply vanish. Instead, they speak directly to the gathered community, narrating the full truth of their tragic past. They recount how betrayal, lust for power, and lack of compassion led to their destruction. Their story becomes a mirror held up to the present.
Moved by the revelation, Demoke publicly confesses to the murder of Oremole, the apprentice who challenged his ego. He smashes his ceremonial carving in front of the village, denouncing it as a false symbol of beauty created out of guilt. This act shakes the community. The villagers are stunned this is the first moment of raw, unfiltered truth in the play.
Rola, hearing Demoke's confession, is inspired to reveal her own story. She confesses to her past as a prostitute, not in shame, but as a testimony to resilience and the power of transformation. She proposes to start a school for young girls, hoping to offer them choices she never had.
Then, in a dramatic twist, Adenebi the most stubborn and arrogant of all attempts to flee. But the Forest Head stops him. Instead of punishing him, Aroni asks him to rewrite the community’s history, this time including the tale of the Dead Man and Woman. Adenebi is forced to use his talent to serve truth rather than vanity.
The Forest Head addresses everyone. Instead of disappearing as in the original play, he leaves behind a “Tree of Memory”, a symbolic sacred tree where people can hang stories both painful and beautiful so the future generations may never forget.
The villagers leave the forest not in ignorance, but in renewed awareness. The final moment shows a child perhaps a reincarnation of the unborn spirit carving something new at the base of the Tree of Memory. We don’t see what he carves, but it’s a hopeful image.
The Dance of the Forests now signifies not just the repetition of history but the possibility of learning from it.
This proposed ending still aligns with Soyinka’s core themes:
The cyclical nature of history is acknowledged, but the possibility of breaking the cycle is introduced.
Self-reckoning becomes a communal act, not just individual burden.
The importance of memory and storytelling as tools of transformation is emphasized.
The role of the artist (Demoke) is redefined not as an egoist, but as a conscience of society.
Ans:
Wole Soyinka’s play A Dance of the Forests is widely regarded as one of the most intellectually dense and symbolically rich works in modern African drama. Written to commemorate Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the play defies expectations of a celebratory narrative. Instead, Soyinka uses myth, allegory, and satire to confront his audience with the uncomfortable truth: independence alone is not a cure for the deep-rooted moral, cultural, and historical flaws of a society. By examining the play’s beginning, middle, and end, as well as its themes, characters, and symbolism, this note aims to explore how Soyinka masterfully critiques both the past and the present while offering a vision of introspection and responsibility.
A Festival Turned Backward
The play opens in a forest clearing on the eve of a national festival meant to celebrate a new age. The villagers, led by a character known as the Old Man (later revealed to be the Forest Head, Aroni), have requested that noble spirits of the past be summoned to bless the occasion. However, the result is not what they expect.
Instead of glorious ancestors, the gods send two tortured spirits: a Dead Man and a Dead Woman. These spirits represent the guilty past of the living villagers. Their appearance shocks and disturbs the celebrants, who had hoped to idealize history and avoid uncomfortable truths. From the beginning, Soyinka disrupts the narrative of blind celebration. He insists that before progress can be made, the past must be confronted honestly.
This moment introduces a key theme of the play the tension between remembering and forgetting, between truth and myth. The stage is set for a journey not of joy, but of reckoning.
The Dance of Self-Confrontation
In the middle of the play, we see how each major character is forced to come face-to-face with their past selves through dreams, visions, and symbolic action. Soyinka draws heavily from Yoruba cosmology, which views time as a continuum and life as a cycle of rebirth. The past is never gone it lives within the present.
The character of Demoke, a carver chosen to create a totem for the celebration, represents the artist or intellectual figure. He struggles with guilt after driving his apprentice, Oremole, to suicide out of jealousy. His past reveals a pattern of violence, cowardice, and betrayal qualities he must now acknowledge if he is to create art that truly serves the people.
Adenebi, a self-important court historian, is shown to have falsified history and manipulated the truth to protect the guilty and flatter the powerful. In his past incarnation, he allowed a woman and child to be condemned to death without protest. He symbolizes how institutions especially historical records and political systems often become tools of injustice when corrupted by ego and fear.
Then there is Rola, a dancer with a past as a prostitute, who in her former life was complicit in betrayal and seduction that led to death. Her story reflects the theme of moral compromise and the cost of survival, especially for women in a patriarchal society.
All these confrontations take place under the quiet watch of the Forest Head (Aroni), who acts as a neutral spiritual guide. He does not interfere directly but allows events to unfold, hoping that the characters will learn from their pasts.
This section of the play is dense with symbolism, poetic dialogue, and ritualistic elements. Soyinka challenges his audience to go beyond entertainment and engage in philosophical inquiry and ethical introspection.
The Forest Clears, But Lessons Are Uncertain
In the final scenes, the two spirits the Dead Man and Dead Woman fade into the mist, their stories told but not fully acknowledged. The villagers return to their celebration, seemingly unchanged. Demoke picks up his carving again, but whether he has learned from his guilt is unclear. Adenebi returns to his delusions of grandeur. Rola flirts with transformation but offers no commitment to change.
The Forest Head offers a quiet warning: “The future is always a beginning.” This line captures the essence of the ending a mixture of hope and uncertainty. Soyinka avoids a simple moral resolution. Instead, he shows how difficult and rare true transformation is, even when the truth is directly confronted.
The ending suggests that Nigeria, and by extension any post-colonial nation, cannot move forward unless it first heals from its internal wounds its betrayals, injustices, and forgotten stories. The forest dance, then, becomes not a festival but a mirror.
Themes and Relevance
Several major themes define the play:
- The Continuity of History: The past is never truly dead. It must be acknowledged and integrated.
- The Failure of Leadership: The play critiques both traditional and modern authorities who distort truth.
- Cultural Self-Examination: Soyinka uses mythology not to glorify the past but to challenge its assumptions.
- The Role of the Artist and Intellectual: Demoke symbolizes how artists must carry moral responsibility.
- Memory and Forgetting: True independence requires the courage to remember, not the convenience to forget.
In today's world whether in Africa, Asia, or the West the play resonates with struggles around historical justice, political accountability, and personal morality.
Conclusion
Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests is far more than a celebratory play it is a bold, uncompromising confrontation with history, morality, and the burden of nationhood. Through a richly symbolic and allegorical narrative, Soyinka deconstructs the idea of independence as mere political freedom, insisting instead that true liberation comes only through self-awareness, ethical accountability, and a willingness to reckon with the past. The play’s original ending, shrouded in ambiguity and circularity, underscores the difficulty of genuine transformation. However, the proposed alternative ending opens a window of hope, suggesting that cycles can be broken when individuals especially artists, historians, and community members embrace truth and responsibility.
This tension between cyclical failure and the potential for renewal mirrors real-world challenges faced by postcolonial societies even today. Whether viewed through the lens of national politics, cultural revival, or personal redemption, A Dance of the Forests serves as a timeless call to remember and learn. The forest, both literal and symbolic, becomes a sacred space for truth-telling a place where history is not only relived but re imagined.
The play compels its audience to look inward. Independence is not merely a historical milestone but an ongoing, difficult dance between memory and progress. As the Forest Head wisely reminds us, “The future is always a beginning” a beginning that demands courage, reflection, and a commitment to ethical growth.
Thank You.
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