The Lion and the Jewel is one of the Nigerian playwrights Wole Soyinka’s most famous works. While it is a light and amusing comedy, it is also renowned for its complex themes and allegorical structure; it is also notable for its insights into Yoruba culture and traditions.
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About Writer:
Wole Soyinka – Nigerian playwright
Born on July 13, 1934, in Nigeria.
First African writer to win Nobel in Literature 1986
Key Facts:
| Full Title | The Lion and the Jewel |
| When Written | 1959 |
| Where Written | Leeds, England |
| When Published | While the play was first performed in 1959, the script wasn’t published until 1962 |
| Literary Period | Postcolonial African Diaspora |
| Genre | Drama, Comedy |
| Setting | Ilujunle, a rural Nigerian village in the late 1950s |
| Climax | When Sidi reveals that Baroka raped her |
| Antagonist | Baroka – rapid modernization |
The main characters in the play:
| Sidi | is a beautiful young woman whose photographs were recently featured in a magazine. Yet a somewhat egotistical village girl, who is wooed by both Baroka and Lakunle. She is the Jewel in the title. |
| Baroka | is the elderly leader of Ilujinle village. A cunning man, he is the lion referred to in the title. He is 62 years old and already the father of 63 children. After seeing Sidi’s photographs, he wants her to be his newest wife. |
| Lakunle | is a forward-thinking but generally hapless schoolteacher. He wants to marry Sidi but refuses to pay her bride price on account of his belief that it is a demeaning practice. He is in his twenties – around 23. |
| Sadiku | is Baroka’s first wife and personal matchmaker. She conspires with Sidi to humiliate Baroka after discovering his alleged impotence. |
| Ailatu | Baroka’s favorite. |
The main themes
- The central theme is the conflict between tradition and modernity.
- The core of the play’s theme is in the dialogue “The old must flow into the new”.
- Structurally, the play stands at the confluence of two traditions:
- The Yoruba masque, and
- European satirical musical.
- In “The Lion and the Jewel” are vanity, gender roles, and modernity versus tradition.
- Vanity: Vanity is Sidi’s downfall, as her belief in her own beauty and superiority causes her to underestimate Baroka, which allows him to take advantage of her.
- Gender roles: Ilujinle is a patriarchal community, with Baroka proving his masculinity and power through sexual and physical conquests. When Sidi challenges Baroka’s masculinity, he punishes her and reestablishes the traditional gender hierarchy.
- Modernity versus tradition: Whereas Lakunle embraces the forces of modernization, characters like Baroka and Sadiku view modernization as a threat to traditional ways of life.
- Tradition vs. Modernity
- Men vs. Women
- Pride, Vanity, and the Power of Images
- Language, Words, and Trickery
The plot of the play
- The play takes place over the span of a Sunday.
- It is divided into three parts: Morning, Noon & Night.
- The overall plot is Lakunle & Baroka’s fight for Sidi’s love.
- Sidi is made to choose between having a modern or traditional marriage.
Highlights of the play
- One of the most popular of all Soyinka’s plays.
- Soyinka depicts the confusion that existed during Nigeria’s transition from a colony to an independent nation.
- Soyinka re-establishes the value of a traditional and communally based society.
- The play also condemns self-seeking individualism.
Important things
Lakunle is Ilujinle’s school teacher. Lakunle wants to modernize Ilunjinle and marry Sidi, the most beautiful woman in the village. Baroka also wants to marry Sidi
But Lakunle does not want to pay her bride price, as is tradition and instead seeks to woo her with beautiful words:
Wasted! Wasted! Sidi, my heart
says Lakunle
Bursts into flowers with my love.