William Shakespeare and Chinua Achebe

254 Pages·2017·1 MB·English

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Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies
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Kenneth N. Usongo
University of Denver
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND CHINUA ACHEBE: A STUDY OF CHARACTER
AND THE SUPERNATURAL

__________

A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of Arts and Humanities
University of Denver

__________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

__________

by
Kenneth N. Usongo
June 2011
Advisor: Linda Bensel-Meyers
©Copyright by Kenneth N. Usongo 2011
All Rights Reserved
Author: Kenneth N. Usongo
Title: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND CHINUA ACHEBE: A STUDY OF
CHARACTER AND THE SUPERNATURAL
Advisor: Linda Bensel-Meyers
Degree Date: June 2011
Abstract

This study examines how Shakespeare and Achebe use supernatural devices such
as prophecies, dreams, beliefs, divinations and others to create complex characters. Even
though these features are indicative of the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural
by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare
and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their
protagonists.
Through an essentially New Historicist approach to the study of character and the
supernatural in the tragedies and novels of Shakespeare and Achebe respectively, I argue
that both writers, besides using supernatural features to explore the human mind, also
indicate how these devices could forewarn the protagonists about certain happenings, as
well as being instruments of poetic justice. In a sense, the character of Macbeth, Lear,
Okonkwo and Ezeulu, for example, can substantially be appreciated in the ways that
these heroes respond to external forces like witches, storms, gods/goddesses and others.
Thus, there is exposure, through the supernatural, to traits like ambition, wrath,
impulsiveness, pride and others that considerably account for the downfall of the heroes.
In fact, Shakespeare‟s and Achebe‟s preoccupation with the supernatural adds subtlety to
their characterization and enhances their readability by situating their art beyond time,
place or even particularity.

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Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Prof. Bensel-Meyers, for her pertinent
criticism while I worked on this dissertation. Also, I am appreciative of the useful
suggestions that I received from my co-advisors, Prof. Nwosu and Prof. Teuton. I am
thankful to Prof. Zaranka for his invaluable remarks about this work. Thank you to Prof.
Chevillot for accepting to be the outside chair for the defence of my dissertation.
Finally, I am pleased with the encouragement that I got from my wife, Mira, and
the giggles of my boys, Kutando and Gwebi.

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Table of Content

Chapter One……………………………………………………………………………….1
What Shakespeare and Achebe Do Not Have in Common……………………….7
Hypothesis………………………………………………………………………..14
Critical Historiography…………………………………………………………..18
Methodology……………………………………………………………………..28

Chapter Two……………………………………………………………………………...33
The Term Supernatural…………………………………………………………………..33
Early Western Embodiments of the Supernatural……………………………….43
Igbo Embodiments of the Supernatural………………………………………….59
Literary Manifestations of the Supernatural……………………………………..74

Chapter Three…………………………………………………………………………….80
Shakespeare and the Supernatural……………………………………………………….80
King Lear………………………………………………………………………...84
Macbeth…………………………………………………………………………..95
Julius Caesar…………………………………………………………………...109
Hamlet…………………………………………………………………………..118
Othello…………………………………………………………………………..126

Chapter Four…………………………………………………………………………....133
Achebe and the Supernatural…………………………………………………………...133
The Supernatural and Character………………………………………………...133
The Supernatural as Premonitory……………………………………………….151
The Supernatural and Morality…………………………………………………160

Chapter Five…………………………………………………………………………….193
Shakespeare‟s and Achebe‟s Use of the Supernatural………………………………….193
Impact of the Supernatural on the Protagonists………………………………...198
The Supernatural as Prolepsis and Moral Implications………………………...212

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………….228

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CHAPTER ONE

William Shakespeare and Chinua Achebe, in their tragedies and novels
respectively, employ the supernatural in creating complex characters. Their protagonists
are memorable not only in terms of actions, but also in the ways that the characters
respond to external forces like ghosts, prophecies or divinations, which appear to cloud
their minds. In their interactions with the supernatural, the tragic heroes expose their
fears, anxieties, ambitions or greed; aspects which not only hold our anxiety, but also
problematize our explanation of their downfall. In focusing my study on Shakespeare and
Achebe, I intend to examine striking similarities and noticeable differences in the ways in
which both writers use supernatural features in portraying character, foreshadowing
events, and as an instrument of poetic justice. I have decided to focus my study on the
actions of the protagonists of Shakespeare and Achebe rather than on their minor
characters because the leading characters better represent the supernatural paradigm that I
am investigating. Also, an analysis of the works of Shakespeare and Achebe from a
supernatural perspective might help to determine cross-cultural symbolic habits in terms
of human nature.
In fact, Achebe, like Shakespeare, uses supernatural devices to develop his
characters. For example, Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart is forewarned by Ezeudu not to
take part in the killing of Ikemefuna; otherwise, he would provoke the anger of the earth
goddess. Okonkwo ignores this advice and immediately after killing this child, he, like
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Macbeth after murdering Banquo, is plunged into anguish. The child‟s spirit or
Okonkwo‟s conscience psychologically tortures him almost in the same way that
Banquo‟s ghost haunts Macbeth. In other words, both Okonkwo and Macbeth are
tormented by their consciences because of their murderous deeds. Thus, the fear of
retribution from supernatural agencies is common to both protagonists, an indication of
how the supernatural can impact the human mind irrespective of cultural differences.
Interestingly, whereas Okonkwo‟s demise can partly be explained as the working of the
gods/goddesses, although it could be argued that he is simply responding to the call of the
Oracle of the Hills and the Caves that Ikemefuna should be killed, Macbeth‟s downfall is
partially the result of his trust in the witches‟ prophecy about his invincibility. In both
instances, Shakespeare and Achebe appear to present their protagonists partly as victims
of supernatural forces. However, the misfortunes of these characters cannot entirely be
attributed to the supernatural because of their vaulting ambition and fear of failure, for
example. Moreover, in Arrow of God, Ezeulu‟s visit to the shrine of Ulu to inquire
whether to convene the yam festival or not reminds us of Macbeth‟s visit to the witches
to know about his future. Ezeulu says that Ulu is against celebrating the yam festival; an
interpretation that is suspect just as the witches‟ prediction to Macbeth that he shall only
be defeated when Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane, or that none of woman born can
harm him. In fact, the protagonists of Achebe, like Shakespeare‟s, are depicted as men
with dignity and respect, but who appear to be caught up in a web of fate. Their actions
and character seem to be trailed by capricious forces, making it difficult at times to blame
only the characters for their downfall.
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Nevertheless, Achebe appears different from Shakespeare in the way that he
explores the supernatural from a moral standpoint. With Shakespeare, the voice of
morality appears mediated by supernatural forces such as ghosts and ancient gods and
goddesses, or utterances from some of the characters. In the case of Achebe, morality
seems to be more forthcoming in the actions of gods, goddesses, priests or priestesses
who appear to bring to order erring people, or inflict harm on them to deter others. His
characters are perceived as being greatly influenced by gods and goddesses who seem to
have a will of their own, leaving humankind at their mercy. Humankind is implored to be
submissive and humble before spiritual forces, or respect societal beliefs. On his part,
Shakespeare presents his protagonists as forging their destinies and the intervention of
supernatural forces in their activities is more a projection of their own minds. Achebe, for
one, hints at several possibilities about the downfall of his tragic heroes, yet not fully
explaining, according to Austin Shelton in “The Offended Chi in Achebe‟s Novels,” the
substratum of “divine forces working to influence the characters” (37).
The decision to focus on a study of Shakespeare and Achebe is partly predicated
on the fact that, in spite of the timeline between these two writers, they are unique in their
exploration of the relationship between humankind and supernatural forces, in their
problematizing of the interaction between blacks and whites, or traditional religion and
Christianity. Achebe appears to take off from where Shakespeare ends in indicating
primarily how the supernatural may affect humankind and in depicting blacks in a more
respectable perspective than has generally been the case in earlier works about Africa. In
this regard, I think particularly of Leo Africanus‟ A Geographical Historie of Africa that
foregrounds the idea that Africans revere more the devil rather than God and that some of
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them, especially those of Congolese descent, worship serpents, goats, tigers and other
creatures while Guineans hold that stars possess souls (446). In addition, Iago‟s image of
Othello—black ram, thick lips, lustful—reproduces and exaggerates, according to Eldred
Jones in Othello’s Countrymen, several of the unfavourable characteristics unfairly
attributed to Moors or blacks (88). The relationship between Iago and Othello, for
example, reflects, in the words of Anne B. Mangum, “contemporary global encounters
between the European and the African that resulted in the selfhood and culture of the
African being denigrated and destroyed” (64). Particularly so because Othello is
perceived as the Other, associated with magic and witchcraft, as well as “bestiality and
unnatural sexual activities” (Mangum 64).
Shakespeare‟s portrayal of Othello as a crossbreed, or at the crossroad of
traditional religion and Christianity, could, to a certain extent, be said to mirror the
ambiguous situation of Achebe‟s protagonists like Ezeulu who manifest conflicting
attitudes towards Christianity despite their being grounded in traditional Igbo religion. As
far back as the Elizabethan period, it is observed that Africans had been associated with
stereotypes of savagery and irrationality, although Shakespeare appears to deemphasize
some of these assumptions about blacks by presenting Othello as graceful and dignified,
given Othello‟s relationship with Desdemona and his status of military general.
Brabantio‟s denunciation of Othello‟s race and values is not much different from British
arrogance and denigration of Igbo traditional beliefs as depicted in Achebe‟s novels. In
line with some of the stereotypes about blacks, when Othello‟s emotions override him, he
could become irrational or impulsive like Okonkwo. In other words, like some of
Achebe‟s protagonists, Othello appears to be entrenched in supernatural beliefs as
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