The Dramatic Significance of Sick Characters in Ola Rotimi's Plays
THE DRAMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF SICK CHARACTERS IN OLA ROTIMI’S PLAYS
Odia Clement Eloghosa
ABSTRACT In this paper, the sick characters are studied through the examination of their dramatic significance and contributions to the development of Ola Rotimi’s drama. Three aspects of dramatic significance are identified in this paper and we argue that the sick:
(1) act as witness and help the healthy establish truth, (2) create crisis situations that stir up diverse emotions in the audience, and finally, (3) heighten dramatic tension which boosts the degree of suspense in the plays.
I INTRODUCTION
The paper examines the dramatic significance of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s plays. It covers four of Rotimi’s plays because they are directly relevant to the thesis of this study. The four plays are The Gods Are not to Blame (1971), Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (1977), If… A Tragedy of the Ruled (1983) and Hopes of the Living Dead (1985).
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s drama by describing their dramatic significance as well as by assessing their contributions to Rotimi’s dramaturgy.
The methodology used in this study is mainly library research. The four primary texts have been read closely and analyzed within the context of each aspect of the thesis. Relevant secondary materials are used in supporting the arguments on which the thesis and individual sections are based.
Some critics have examined the various aspects of Rotimi’s dramaturgy, paying attention to either the content or the form. None of the critics has been able to carry out a sustained study of the dramatic significance of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s plays. This work proposes to fill that gap.
Earlier articles by E. J. Asgill, Teresa .U. Njoku, Michael Etherton and V. U. Ola are concerned with the playwright’s indebtedness to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex in The Gods Are not to Blame.
Asgill, for example, critically examines
Odia Clement Eloghosa
ABSTRACT In this paper, the sick characters are studied through the examination of their dramatic significance and contributions to the development of Ola Rotimi’s drama. Three aspects of dramatic significance are identified in this paper and we argue that the sick:
(1) act as witness and help the healthy establish truth, (2) create crisis situations that stir up diverse emotions in the audience, and finally, (3) heighten dramatic tension which boosts the degree of suspense in the plays.
I INTRODUCTION
The paper examines the dramatic significance of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s plays. It covers four of Rotimi’s plays because they are directly relevant to the thesis of this study. The four plays are The Gods Are not to Blame (1971), Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (1977), If… A Tragedy of the Ruled (1983) and Hopes of the Living Dead (1985).
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s drama by describing their dramatic significance as well as by assessing their contributions to Rotimi’s dramaturgy.
The methodology used in this study is mainly library research. The four primary texts have been read closely and analyzed within the context of each aspect of the thesis. Relevant secondary materials are used in supporting the arguments on which the thesis and individual sections are based.
Some critics have examined the various aspects of Rotimi’s dramaturgy, paying attention to either the content or the form. None of the critics has been able to carry out a sustained study of the dramatic significance of sick characters in Ola Rotimi’s plays. This work proposes to fill that gap.
Earlier articles by E. J. Asgill, Teresa .U. Njoku, Michael Etherton and V. U. Ola are concerned with the playwright’s indebtedness to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex in The Gods Are not to Blame.
Asgill, for example, critically examines
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