Wole Soyinka, The Trials of Brother Jero

Craig McLuckie (Okanagan College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 8.2.3: Anglophone African Writing and Culture: Subsaharan.
Vol. editors: Helen Rachel Cousins (Birmingham Newman University), David Firth (University of Manchester)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1964

Places

Nigeria (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

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Soyinka's

The Trials of Brother Jero

is the first of his three “Jero” plays. The play is a farce that focuses on four characters (Jero, Chume, Amope, and a Member of Parliament) over five scenes. The main character, Jero, is a beach prophet who makes his way by prophesying the futures of other working class people in the vicinity. Chume is a messenger who seeks relief from his shrewish wife Amope and predicts advancement in his career. Amope is a market woman to whom Jero owes money. The Member of Parliament, who appears at the play's close, is a signal that Jero's trade is about to have more significant social consequences. The play adheres to the unities of time (one “rather eventful day” in Jero's life), place (the beach) and action (Jero's machinations to stay ahead of…

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1154 words

Citation: McLuckie, Craig. "The Trials of Brother Jero". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12839, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Wole Soyinka, The Trials of Brother Jero

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