Song of a Goat by John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo
**Overview of "Song of a Goat" by John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo**
"Song of a Goat" is a one-act play by Nigerian playwright John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo, notable for its exploration of themes such as impotence and familial curses within a rural Nigerian context. The drama follows the character Zifa, who faces the shame of being cursed with impotence, a condition that leads to tragic consequences for him and his wife Ebiere. The plot intricately weaves personal struggle with cultural traditions, culminating in the ritual sacrifice of a goat, which serves as a pivotal moment echoing the blood rituals found in both Old Testament narratives and classical Greek tragedies.
The play is characterized by its rich use of metaphor and parable-like dialogue, with characters depicted in a dignified manner. Dramatic elements, such as the prophecy of Zifa's aunt and the moral implications of infidelity, heighten the tension and lead to a tragic climax. The character of the masseur functions as a sage figure, offering insights into the social fabric of the village and contributing to the play's tragic tone. While Clark-Bekederemo's work has been praised for its linguistic artistry, the play's reception on stage has been mixed, particularly regarding its cultural references and the effectiveness of the goat sacrifice scene. "Song of a Goat" represents a significant contribution to African drama and is part of a larger narrative continuum, leading to Clark-Bekederemo's subsequent work, "The Masquerade."
Song of a Goat by John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo
First published: 1961
First produced: 1961, at Ibadan University, Ibadan, Nigeria
Type of plot: Tragedy; folk
Time of work: 1960
Locale: Deinogbo, Delta Province, Nigeria
Principal Characters:
Zifa , a fisherman and part-time ship pilot on the Niger EstuaryToná , his younger brother and assistantThe masseur , the village doctor, confessor, and oracleEbiere , Zifa’s wifeOrukorere , Zifa’s half-possessed auntDode , Zifa’s childNeighbors , as the chorus
The Play
John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo’s first drama, Song of a Goat, is a one-act play with four scenes. The play contains a ritual sacrifice of a goat at its climax, which echoes the early Old Testament as well as classical Greek dramas in that it shares with them a blood ritualism. The play is akin to a classical tragedy; its language is often in parable and riddle form and its characters, although common people, are depicted with dignity.
The setting is Delta Province, Nigeria, in a small village where the hero, Zifa, a man of property, is cursed by impotence, a familiar African dramatic theme. The first “movement” introduces the masseur, who is questioning Zifa’s wife, Ebiere, about her barren state. The masseur asks if Zifa has a mistress. When Ebiere says he does not, the masseur realizes Zifa’s sexual deficiency and suggests that Ebiere have a child by Zifa’s younger brother, Tonyá, an act that traditionally has been acceptable to Nigerian people. Ebiere cannot accept this advice, however, and Zifa is even more strongly opposed. He intends to wait and see if his condition will improve. Zifa’s aunt, Orukorere, prophesies tragic consequences were the masseur’s advice to be followed.
Eventually Tonyá does seduce the frustrated Ebiere; Orukorere’s warning goes as unheeded as did the classical Cassandra’s. Zifa discovers the infidelity and, in a rage, ritually slaughters a goat, forcing Tonyá to put the goat’s head into a pot that is too small for it—symbolizing his illicit act with Ebiere. The furious Zifa thinks of killing Tonyá, but Tonyá, in shame, hangs himself. Soon after, a neighbor (messenger) tells of Zifa’s sleeplike walk to the sea to drown himself in atonement for his own shame. It is also said that Ebiere miscarried. In an alternative closing of the play, the masseur returns to act as the choral leader (as would happen in classical tragedy); his final words provide an epitaph on the disaster.
Dramatic Devices
Clark-Bekederemo’s drama is built upon the tenets of classical drama. Aside from Zifa’s curse of impotence, the play describes the curse on Zifa’s family, but the scope of the play limits the cause of the curse. Zifa’s aunt, Orukorere, who is half-possessed, reinforces the family curse. A neighbor tells the audience that Orukorere’s father knowingly killed clansmen, a terrible sin, and he was indifferent to the fate of his daughter, who has remained unmarried. The sacrifice of the goat, usually a cleansing, is, in this drama, a defiling of classical sacrifice. Zifa has insulted the gods with his ceremony, which he uses to parody the illicit relationship between Ebiere and Tonyá.
The chief linguistic device used by Clark-Bekederemo is his use of metaphor and riddle; the language is vigorous but elevated diction. The masseur speaks of infertility in metaphorical terms: “An empty house, my daughter, is a thing of danger. If men will not live in it, bats or grass will, and that is enough signal for worse things to come.” The masseur introduces the subject of Zifa’s impotence with a riddle: “you have allowed the piece of fertile ground made over to you to run fallow with elephant grass.”
During the four movements of the drama, the plot reveals the theme of impotence, followed by prophecy, which is highlighted by the sacrifice of the goat, Tonyá’s suicide and Zifa’s final act of atonement. Throughout, the neighbors in the village act as chorus. The role of the masseur is a central one. He, as the most important person in the community, acts as the sage. His appearance in the alternate closing attests his paramount importance as a symbol of strength. The people of the village will survive the losses and learn to endure. They are more self-reliant than they were at the outset of the play; they have witnessed the fall of Zifa’s household stoically.
Critical Context
Song of a Goat is Clark-Bekederemo’s first play. An outstanding African dramatist, Clark-Bekederemo is also a major poet. Song of a Goat has received divergent criticism. Its use of rhetorical control, symbolism, and language in general has been praised by numerous critics. As a play for the stage, however, Song of a Goat has a mixed history. The sacrifice of the goat onstage, for example, was not well received, and many of the riddles and African allusions are lost to non-African audiences. Further, the success of this play onstage depends to a large degree on the ability of the actor who plays the masseur. John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo wrote a sequel to this play, The Masquerade (pb. 1964), in which he continued the story of the family—similar to the continuing stories about great families in Greek tragedy. In this play, Clark-Bekederemo diverges from the ending of Song of a Goat: Ebiere has died in childbirth, and her son, Tufa, survives. Tufa also meets a tragic end when the father of the girl he loves shoots both his daughter and Tufa rather than allow Tufa’s family curse to endanger his family.
Sources for Further Study
Astrachan, Anthony. “Like Goats to the Slaughter: Three Plays by John Pepper Clark.”Black Orpheus 16 (October, 1964): 21-24.
Banham, Martin. A Critical View of John Pepper Clark’s Three Plays. London: Collins, 1985.
Cartey, Wilfred. Whispers from a Continent: The Literature of Contemporary Black Africa. New York: Random House, 1969.
Ferguson, John. “Nigerian Drama in English.” Modern Drama 11 (May, 1969): 10-26.
Graham-White, Anthony. “John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo.” In Contemporary Dramatists. 6th ed. Detroit: St. James, 1999.
O’Malley, Patrick. “J. P. Clark and The Example of Shakespeare.” Odi 3, no. 1 (1978): 4-14.
Wren, Robert M. J. P. Clark. Boston: Twayne, 1984.