CLARK’S OZIDI AND AKAN ESSIEN’S TRINKORIKO AS TRAGIC PLAYS
views in the modern times from the way it was viewed in the past. The changes in the conception of tragedy is in line with HolmanÆs idea that each definition is correct subject to the interpretation of the age in which the tragic play is produced (Holman, 532).
     The classical conception of tragedy offers modern literary writers, especially playwrights, the inspiration to write. T.S. Elliot in his popular essay ôTradition and the individual Talentö emphasized the continuity and the unity of arts that ôno poets, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning aloneà ö (588). In the contemporary society, many writers have however, used their works to respond to trends in tragedy.
The meaning of tragedy has evolved through different eras from the classical, Shakespearean into the contemporary period. As explained by Abrams, tragedy is the presentation of ôserious and important actions which turn out disastrously for the protagonistö (201). Tragedy refers to any literary work or play which shows the leading character being brought through suffering to the moment of death.
Greek tragedies were essentially religious plays which were acted to celebrate the feast of gods and goddesses. This indicated that supernatural beings jealously supervised the actions of human beings and when humans overstepped their bounds and tried to reach out to the gods, or behaved like the gods, such humans invited destruction on themselves because the gods regarded their action as hubris or pride. The Greek tragedy involved the notion that the greatest men ôsuffer greatly and they are fated to sufferö (Ifenyin, 81).
The earliest tragedies were part of Attica religious festivals held in honour of the god Dionysus in the 5th century BC, in Greece and the subjects of the tragedies were the misfortune of heroes, legends, religious myths and history (Beckson, 921-922). The god Zeus controlled the Greek pantheon and Thespis was the first Greek actor. According to M.H. Abrams, the three greatest tragedians of the Greek classical period were Aeschylus C552-456BC, Sophocles C496-406BC, and Euripides 480-406Bc (202).
Shakespearean tragedy may have many characters, but it is pre-eminently the story of one person or at most two. According to Bradleyà ôit is pre-eminently the story of one person or at most of two, the hero and the heroine (2). Shakespearean great tragedies were human-centred; they showed a deep knowledge of the conflicting forces in a personÆs character. They were largely concerned with the death of a protagonist. Bradley explains further that ôà no play at the end of which the hero remains alive is in the full Shakespearean sense of tragedy (3). Every of his play uses highly placed individuals, men of noble birth who fall from Olympian heights to the valley of misery. His fall reveals:
à the powerlessness of man, and of the omnipotence, perhaps the caprice of fortune or fate, which no tale of private life can possibly rival (Bradley, 19).
As explained by Valency, the Aristotelian idea of tragedy is one that ôthe tragic hero must have a flawö (335). A tragic hero in classical drama is a person:
à who is eminently good and just yet whose misfortune is brought not by vice or depravity but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperousà like Oedipus and Thyestesà (Dukore, 42).
Neither the Greek nor Shakespearean tragic forms are found on the stage today, since the world image nor religious faith out of which they grew no longer shared by the Western audience. Tragedy is no longer as it was among the Greeks or Elizabethans. Modern drama portrays social manÆs response to the inevitability of the order. It deals with mental and psychological anguish and confirms the exactness, correctness as certitude of a known world order. This is to show that modern tragedy represents the miseries of man who lacks exalted spirit. This is in line with KermodeÆs explanation that ôà the modern age is characterized by a new set of themeö. (39).
A.C. Bradley divided tragedy into an exposition of the state of affairs; beginning, growth and vicissitudes of the conflict; and the final catastrophe or tragic outcome. A tragic hero has been redefined from age to age according to the significance held by the age in question. Greek tragedy aroused the emotions of fear and pity because the audience identified itself with the plight of the hero who was usually a person of renowned status. Tragedy in the 20th century modernist era draws its heroes not only from the upper stratum of the society but also from among the social rejects; the haves and have nots. He is often portrayed as ôa victim of social, hereditary and environmental forces (Holman, 531). In this regard the creative work and theoretical postulations of Wole Soyinka, Arthur Miller, Samuel Beckett, and Femi Osofisan among others, illustrate the various strands of revisioning of the classical concept of tragedy. Yerima notes that ôthere are no rules for writing tragedy anymore (27).
     Echoing J. P. ClarkÆs theory on origin of Nigerian drama in his essay ôAspects of Nigerian dramaö, Yerima contends that African tragedy is determined by cultural dictates. It evolves from religious rites, myth, legend and history. Other elements are magic, music, poetry, dance, symbols and a kind of social content or realism with which the audience can identify (13). However, this research will analyse J. P. ClarkÆs Ozidi and Akan EssienÆs Tinkoriko as tragic plays and also compare and contrast both plays in the light of the conception of tragedy by both playwrights to bring out similarities and differences in their themes, techniques and vision.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
     Drama is an imitation of life. What life entails is acted on stage to teach some lessons. However, some people cannot come to terms with the reality that drama like all other concepts obeys natural laws of change. The conception of tragedy has changed from what it was during the classical times, through the Elizabethan to what it is today. This work will consider two literary texts from two Nigerian playwrights, one from the old order which is J. P. ClarkÆs Ozidi and the other an emerging Nigerian playwright in the dramatic world, Akan EssienÆs Tinkoriko as tragic plays. The study will also compare and contrast both plays and the conception of tragedy by both playwrights as classical and modern plays respectively.
CLARK’S OZIDI AND AKAN ESSIEN’S TRINKORIKO AS TRAGIC PLAYS
