NECO GCE LITERATURE DRAMA & PROSE

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Physically, Baroka wrestles with his private wrestler as a form of exercise just as psychologically he wrestles with Sidi's intelligence in order to seduce hen Itis a meeting of two guilers, each set to overcome the other. The loneliness of the household just as the psychological wrestling is to commence has a slight foreboding meaning. The impression is that acontest is to take place, a psychological and mental contest, which does not require a crowd to be present. Part of Baroka's method of overcoming Sidi and her emotional stance is to hold on to the view that he is as interested in modernity as anyone can be, including the school teacher. The other approach is to insist that he is a firm head of a household who does not tolerate the abuse of liberties. Baroka 'weakens' Sidi by pretending that he is not so keen about the visit, probably to further project the notion that he is no longer sexually virile.When Sidi is beginning to be pissed off for being referred to as "unwanted stranger," he tones down his earlier no-nonsense posture. Sidi's wish is that the court wrestlerwins over his master, Baroka. The Bale asks her, "Is that a wish, my daughter?" Here a meaning may beread from this circumstance. Sidi's inner wish is to succeed in making a mockery of Baroka akin to what the palace wrestler is about to achievewith what looks like an impending victory over his master. There is anidea embodied in Baroka's remark: "I change my wrestlers when I have learnt/To throw them." This statementis connected in meaning to why Sidi is there. When the Bale wins his wrestler and Sidi screams, "You won!" repeatedly, it is ironical. That is how Baroka will winher in due course. Baroka's riddling discourse with Sidi is akin to the wrestling going on between the Bale and his palace wrestler on the one hand, and the psychological warfare between him and Sidi on the other. At some point, Sidi discovers to her chagrin that the man who is rumoured to lack sexual strength from the manner he carries himself may not bewho he is said to be. His carriage is that of force and prowers. One who is painted by Lakunle and other antagonists as conservative and backward proves to Sidi that he is as contemporary as anyone of his age could be, where as Sidi remains at the point of admiring herself on magazine leaves, he goes as far as conceiving and making a machine with its lever and promises to put her image and his on a stamp. Sidi is charmed by these possibilities.

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THEMES OF GENDER EQUALITY; In Senehun and Mendeland at large, women are not treated as equals of men. Women are considered fragile, vulnerable and incapable of managing crises. At the beginning of the play when Gbanya drags Yoko into the inner chamber, he claims that he needs Yoko more than her Sande girls. To him, women have no responsibility than to satisfy men’s sexual urge. Initially, Gbanya has promised Yoko she would be his successor. However, with troubles around, he feels reluctant to handover the throne to her because he believes women cannot handle a land at war. This is the same stance of Lamboi. The excuse he gives for wanting to kill Gbanya is because he does not want the latter to appoint Yoko as his successor. Obviously, if not for Yoko’s doggedness and insistence, a woman would not have become the chief of Mendeland; talk more of expanding the chiefdom. In Mendeland, women usually are not allowed into the Poro cult. Yoko is the only exception. In the village, there is a certain prejudice held against women. They are considered inferior and except for Yoko who forges ahead, women are not assigned ruling positions.

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Gbanya is Yoko's husband, ruler of Mende Chiefdom. He has 37 wives but cherishes Yoko the most because of her pragmatic nature and contributions to the affairs of the Senehun Chiefdom (p.87). Gbanya believes that a wonman is only good for the loins of a man and not for the important affairs of govemance. He commands the finest and most courageous band of fighters in Mende land but has diplomatic disposition; he chooses carefully the war to fight and thebones to ignore. He suffers intense humiliation in the hands of Governor Rowe who flogged him publicly and equally fined him in his own domain. Gbanya's fear is not to die but the manner of dying. He died through poison in the hands of his trusted men. He saw through their treachery and manages to hand over power to Yoko, his wife, before his final breath.

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In the play, Jimmy sees organized traditional Anglican religion as the antithesis of everything he believes in. The modern world, he believes, is a world of moral subjectivity. The church offers a worldview in which there is clear right and wrong, salvation and damnation, and this is a world that Jimmy simply believes no longer exists. Jimmy’s relationship to religion is more complicated, however, because he does allude to African American evangelical religion as an example of pure emotion. It is probable that Jimmy does not value the morality or spirituality of African American religion as much as he values the way in which such religious expression gives voice to real and true emotion. In other words Even though being a Christian, Jimmy never goes to church. He spends his Sundays idly reading newspaper. In second act we can see Jimmy being completely shocked when his wife says she was going to Church. To quote “You’re doing what? Have you gone out of your mind or something” In another instance we can see Jimmy yelling out the window when the church bell rings. This instance is taken by many critics to explain the anti-religious attitude of Jimmy.

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Helena Charles, a beautiful, elegant actress, a friend of Alison and a member of her social circle. Helena comes to spend a few days with the Porters, but, finding herself increasingly attracted to Jimmy, she stays on, intent on driving a wedge between Jimmy and Alison. As Alison’s confidant, Helena urges her to face up to Jimmy or to leave him; meanwhile, she increases the pressure by wiring Alison’s father to come for her. When Alison walks out, Helena remains, becoming Jimmy’s mistress and his housekeeper. By the time Alison comes back, Helena has realized that the affair is finished, and with her usual dignity she goes on her way. In other words She is described as having a "sense of matriarchal authority" that "makes most men who meet her anxious.” Helena has a strong code of middle class morals that eventually force her to leave Jimmy. Her sense of morality leads her to leave. She can be considered the play's moral compass.

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(i)Symbol: This is when an object is used with something associated with it. The poet wants the ideal African leaders to have a combination of characteristics of lion, lamb, tiger, doe, river and lake. Lion-means courage and boldness, Lamb means obedience and humility, tiger depicts determination, will power, toughness and glory. Doe stands for compassion and gentleness. Zebra depicts fraud, decadence. Elephant symbolizes ruthless military leaders.

(ii)Language: The language is simple and prosaic. It has direct speech of the forest sage. The right words matches the physical appearances of each animal-ferocious, pounce, paws, shudder, duplicity. The speech of each animal are put in form of direct speeches lines 5, 9.

(iii)Personification: Throughout the poem, animals like Lion, Hyena, Giraffe, Zebra and Elephant are personified. The animals represent African leaders that are aspiring to rule the continent.

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(i)Nature; One can question whether the most prominent theme in the poetry of Hopkins is Nature or God; however, as far as the structure goes, his poems begin with appreciation of nature. In the context of the content of his poetry, he was a follower of the romantic flavour of poetry in how profoundly he appreciates and describes the beauty of nature. In a poem like Pied Beauty, nature is seen as a beautiful, diverse force that holds uniqueness in every conceivable way. Same is the case with As Kingfishers Catch Fire, where the very title brings out the idea of beauty and life in nature.

(ii)God; One of the most prominent themes, or rather, the most prominent theme that manifests itself in Hopkins's poetry is God. This characteristic of his poetry brings out a very important Victorian element, Religion. He believes that God is everything, and man “Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is”. He says the stamp of God all around him, an element that surfaces in As Kingfishers Catch Fire.

(iii)Individuality; The idea of inscape, or the uniqueness of the essence of each being is an extremely important theme in the poetry of Hopkins. In fact, it is this theme that sets him apart from both Romantics and Victorians. He believes that each being ”Deals out that being indoors each one dwells”, pointing out that all beings have their own unique purpose on the earth. This lends to their individuality. This theme is highly prominent in both As Kingfishers Catch Fire and Pied Beauty, where he shows the unique identity of all different beings.