THE FUNCTION OF ALLEGORY IN NIGERIAN DRAMA: A STUDY OF AGORO'S THE PRISON PLAYS

Abstract

Nigerian drama, apart from mirroring the society, recording events, reinterpreting history, portraying the communion between human beings and cosmic powers, has the vital task of correcting the society through emphasis on creating awareness on different social issues, and allegory which is a literary technique functions as the instrument used in the expression and discussion of these social issues as direct finger pointing and name-calling, might lead to backlashes and even court cases. This is why the content in Nigerian drama is always holding double barrel meaning due to the plural function of allegory in Nigerian drama. Already, studies on the discus of allegory and its functions in Nigerian drama abound, but most of these studies do not acknowledge the function and role of allegory in Saviour Nathan A. Agoro's The Prison Plays, and nothing is said about them in the discus of allegory in Nigerian drama. It is on this
premise, that the study is focused on revealing the function of allegory in the above dramas; how these dramas are used as evangelical tools, and also as a medium through which societal ills are highlighted and corrected. The study through its literary and textual  analytic approach, defines allegory and shows that allegory in drama is a potent force or weapon with which to suggest a decent and high level of morals in our society, and plays like The Prison Plays through the functional role of allegory are tools for the communication of the need for evangelism and salvation from the power of sin and wickedness. The study recommends that Nigerian playwrights should continue to use this literary tool (allegory) to make their society better by discussing social ills and proffering solu????on to them, as allegory function as an effective weapon for social reforms.