The motifs of dream, madness and comicry in francis imbuga's plays

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine Imbuga's use of the motifs of dream, madness and comicry as some of the stylistic devices that illuminate his thematic concerns.The introduction gives an insight into major issues such as the general concepts of the motifs, the statement of the problem, objectives, scope and the literature review. Chapter one discusses the dream motif as a stylistic device in Imbuga's plays. It focuses on how the dreaming characters in the plays fulfil the characteristics identified in the outlined nature of dreams. It is also noted that through the dream device, Imbuga makes inroads into the minds of his characters and is able to explicate their unobserved conflicts and motivation.Chapter two examines the extent to which madness may be objectively real, while it may also be something that is thrust on people who hold divergent views from the majority.The chapter further shows that Imbuga deliberately uses some of the mad characters to surmount censorship, to propound various thematic concerns and to put forward his vision.Chapter three investigates the concept of comedy in general and comicry in particular, with a focus on the comic characters in Imbuga's plays. The chapter further notes that hese characters are created for theatrical appeal, the furtherance of various themes and the provision of comic relief.This chapter also looks at the contradictory traits apparent in the characters, which make this stylistic device worth studying.Finally, this study delves into the realism of Imbuga's depiction of society through the concepts of dream, madness and comicry It concludes that Imbuga has created a recognisable society through these motifs. The motifs are stylistic innovations which not only provide us with an insight into Imbuga's works but also in the understanding of archetypal characters in real life