THE LION AND THE JEWEL: A COMPLETE ANALYSIS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka was born 13 July 1934. He is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor
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| Wole Soyinka |
SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
The play begins as Sidi, the village belle of Ilujinle, enters the square with a pail of water balanced on her head.
Lakunle, the western-educated schoolteacher, sees her, runs from his classroom, and takes Sidi's pail. He berates her for carrying loads on her head and not dressing modestly, and she retaliates by reminding Lakunle that the village calls him a madman. Sidi grows angry as Lakunle tells her that women are less intelligent than men because of their small brains. He says that soon the village will have machines to do all the hard work and he describes the beauty of Lagos, which is an entirely modern city. Lakunle refuses to give Sidi her pail of water back until she agrees to marry him and he offers a number of flowery lines that describe his intense love for her. Sidi reminds him that she'd marry him any day if he'd agree to pay the bride price. Lakunle deems this barbaric and refuses. He grabs Sidi and tells her how wonderful their modern marriage will be. When he kisses her, Sidi is disgusted. Though Lakunle insists that he loves Sidi and that kissing is something normal for modern couples, Sidi replies that kissing is only a way to avoid paying the bride price. She calls Lakunle mad.
A group of young villagers enter the square and tell Sidi that the stranger returned to the village with a magazine of images. Sidi excitedly asks if the stranger made Sidi as beautiful as he said he would, and the girls tell her he did. They say that Baroka, the village Bale, is still looking at the images and is jealous of Sidi, though he pretends to be proud of her. Another girl says that Baroka appears in the magazine as well, but his image is very small and shows him next to the latrines. Upon hearing this, Sidi declares that she's more powerful than Baroka and has no reason to marry Lakunle.
Sidi suggests that they dance the dance of the "lost traveler." She assigns parts to the villagers and forces Lakunle to play the part of the stranger. Despite his initial unwillingness to participate, Lakunle throws himself fully into the dance. The rest of the villagers dance while Lakunle performs realistic miming of driving a car, drunkenly wandering through the jungle, and discovering Sidi in the river. Suddenly, Baroka joins the dance and the action stops as the villagers kneel and bow to him. Lakunle tries to leave, but Baroka insists he stay and they continue the dance. Baroka instructs his attendants to seize Lakunle/the stranger, but he then takes pity on the stranger and sets out a feast in his honor. The stranger takes photographs of the village and is especially entranced by Sidi and her dancing. The dance ends when the stranger vomits. Sidi and the villagers chase Lakunle towards the actual stranger so he can translate for them, and Baroka muses that he hasn't taken a new wife in five months.
Later that day, Sidi and Lakunle walk down the road. Lakunle carries a bundle of firewood, while Sidi is engrossed in the photographs of herself in the magazine. Baroka's first wife, Sadiku, startles Sidi. Sadiku tells Sidi that Baroka wants to marry her, which makes Lakunle angry. He tells Sidi not to listen, but Sidi insists that she's very powerful now that the stranger has brought her images to the village. Sadiku insists that if Sidi marries Baroka, she'll be very powerful—when Baroka dies, she'll be the new head wife. Sidi refuses and says that Baroka only wants to possess her beauty and keep it for himself. Sidi opens the magazine, shows the photographs to Sadiku, and laments that nobody ever complimented Sidi on her breasts. She calls Baroka old and leathery. Sadiku is shocked, but she invites Sidi to come to Baroka's for a feast anyway. Sidi laughs and says that the women who attend the suppers become wives or concubines the next day. Lakunle inserts himself into the conversation and says that Baroka is called "the fox" for a reason. He describes how Baroka paid off a foreman to reroute a railway away from Ilujinle, thereby robbing Ilujinle of the ability to modernize. He loses himself in thought and muses about how wonderful Baroka's life of luxury with so many wives must be. Sidi and Sadiku slip away.
In Baroka's bedroom, his favorite wife plucks the hairs from his armpit. He tells her that he's going to take a new wife soon and she plucks the hairs harshly. Sadiku enters the bedroom and Baroka sends his favorite away. Sadiku tells her husband that Sidi refused his offer of marriage because of his age. Angry, Baroka lists his achievements of the past week. He lies down, asks Sadiku to rub his feet, and picks up a copy of the magazine. He suggests that it might be for the best, as his manhood ended the week before. Sadiku cries, and Baroka tells her that she cannot tell anyone of this secret.
That evening, Sidi continues to admire the photographs in the village square. Sadiku enters the square, pulls out a carved figure of Baroka, and laughs. She begins a chant of "take warning my masters/we'll scotch you in the end" and dances around the figure. Sidi, shocked, approaches Sadiku and demands to know what's going on. Sadiku swears Sidi to secrecy and whispers in her ear. Sidi is overjoyed and joins in the dance. Lakunle enters the square and watches the women for a moment before deeming them crazy. Sidi suddenly stops and says she wants to taunt Baroka. She decides to go to him, ask forgiveness, and torment him. Sadiku gives her blessing and Sidi runs off.
Lakunle calls the women foolish. Sadiku tells Lakunle he's unattractive and reminds him that he could marry Sidi soon if he paid the bride price. When Sadiku laughs about Lakunle's wish to modernize the village, he insists that she come to school with the children so she can learn to do something besides collect brides for Baroka.
When Sidi enters Baroka's house, he's engaged in a wrestling match with his wrestler. Baroka is annoyed that nobody was there to greet Sidi and keep her out of his bedroom, and he explains that his servants take Sundays off now that they've formed a union. Sidi asks Baroka for forgiveness for her hasty reply. He pretends to not know what she's talking about, throwing Sidi off guard. Sidi asks after Baroka's favorite wife and asks if she was somehow dissatisfied with her husband. Baroka insists he has no time to consider his wives' reasons for being unhappy, which scares Sidi. Baroka asks her to sit down and not make him feel old.
Sidi says that the wrestler will win. Baroka explains that the wrestler must win, as Baroka only fights men who challenge him and he changes wrestlers when he learns how to beat them. Similarly, he takes new wives when he learns how to tire the old ones. Sidi tells Baroka that someone brought her an offer of marriage earlier that day and asks Baroka if he'd consent to allow her to marry this man if he were her father. She describes Baroka and answers his questions about her suitor in such a way as to offend Baroka. Baroka throws his wrestler and Sidi celebrates Baroka's victory. The men begin to arm wrestle and Baroka resumes his line of questioning about Sidi's suitor. Sidi insults Baroka's virility. Baroka wins the match again and sends his wrestler away. He sits down next to Sidi and laments how old he's becoming. He asks if Sadiku invented a story for Sidi, saying that Sadiku is constantly finding new women for him to marry.
Baroka pulls out the magazine and an addressed envelope. He asks Sidi if she knows what the stamp is. Sidi does; she says it's a tax on "talking with paper." Baroka motions to a machine in his bedroom and says he wants to use it to print stamps for Ilujinle with Sidi's face on them. Sidi loses herself in this dream, and Baroka explains that he doesn't hate progress, he hates the sameness that progress brings. He tells Sidi that the two of them are very alike and they fit together perfectly. Sidi wonders if she's dumb like Lakunle says she is, but Baroka says she's simply truthful. He insists that the old and the new must embrace each other as Sidi's head falls onto his shoulder.
In the market that night, Lakunle and Sadiku wait for Sidi to return. A group of mummers passes them and Sadiku suggests they've heard about Baroka. She steals money from Lakunle's pockets and pays the mummers. They dance the story of Baroka's downfall, and Baroka is portrayed as a comical character. Sadiku herself gets to dance the final "scotching" of Baroka.
Sidi runs into the market crying. Both Sadiku and Lakunle try to comfort her, but she won't let them. She says that Baroka tricked them and she's no longer a virgin. Lakunle is angry for a moment, but then says he still wants to marry Sidi and no longer has to pay the bride price. Sidi runs away. Lakunle sends Sadiku after her to find out what she's doing. Sadiku returns and says that Sidi is dressing herself like a bride, and Lakunle insists that he can't get married immediately.
The dancers and Sidi re-enter the square. Sidi is beautiful. She offers Lakunle the magazine and invites him to the wedding. He insists that he must be invited, since he's the groom. Sidi laughs and says she'd never be able to marry him after experiencing Baroka. She asks the musicians to play music while she walks to Baroka's house and the dance begins. A young girl dances suggestively at Lakunle, and he chases after her.
THEMES IN THE PLAY
1. Verbal Trickery and flattery
The Lion and the Jewel is filled with instances of trickery, particularly surrounding language. Language is the tool by which characters fool one another, create false impressions of superiority, and convince others to support their goals. Thus, language is shown to be a source of power. However, the play ultimately suggests that language is most powerful when used without lies or misdirection, and when it is applied in service of concrete, achievable goals.
Lakunle delights in using big words and flowery language to try to impress Sidi and other villagers. While his grasp of the English language makes him feel powerful, in reality it only makes him look like a fool. For example, when Lakunle describes the custom of paying a bride price as "excommunicated" or "redundant," it becomes obvious to the play’s audience that Lakunle doesn't have a complete grasp of English, despite how much he loves and flaunts the language. He uses complicated words because he knows that they are beyond the understanding of his fellow villagers. However, though he expects such language to be impressive, Sidi tells Lakunle scornfully that his words "always sound the same/and make no meaning." This suggests that even if Sidi isn't specifically aware that Lakunle is misusing words, Lakunle's performance still exposes him for the fool he is, and both the characters and the audience laugh at him for it.
Lakunle’s attempts to woo Sidi by using language she doesn't understand are just one example of characters engaging in trickery to try to achieve their goals. Sadiku and Sidi try to humiliate Baroka by tricking him into believing Sidi has accepted his offer of marriage, Baroka himself tricks both women into believing his manhood is gone, and he tricks Sidi into marrying him. All of these tricks are carried out through the use of language; they're verbal tricks rather than physical tricks. Though the success of the tricks varies from character to character, their verbal nature is indicative of the power of language and words to control others.
The play does, however, draw a distinction between tricks that are meant to spur action (like marriage or modernization of the village), and tricks that are meant to create an emotional reaction, such as humiliation. Sadiku and Sidi's attempt to humiliate Baroka by exposing his supposed inability to perform sexually (an emotional trick) is ultimately unsuccessful and makes both women look like fools in the end. Similarly, while one of Lakunle's goals was to convince Sidi to marry him, he seems far more interested in making himself look educated and modern. These tricks with purely emotional goals only work to make the tricksters themselves look silly. Baroka, on the other hand, has concrete goals and he uses a combination of trickery and telling the truth to achieve them. Much of what Baroka tells Sidi seems to be truthful: he doesn't hate progress and, in fact, he wishes to help spur progress by developing a postal system for the village. By using the truth to his advantage and setting comparatively reasonable and concrete, achievable goals (marriage to Sidi and modernization in moderation), Baroka is able to wield actual power over others.
2. self-Assumption/Self-Satisfaction
As the village belle, Sidi is exceptionally vain. She knows her worth is tied to her beauty, and she wastes no time reminding Lakunle and the other villagers that she's beautiful. However, when the stranger captures Sidi's beauty on film and returns to Ilujinle with photographs, Sidi's vanity grows highly. She glories in her photographs and says Baroka only wants her because she is so famous and has brought so much honour to the village. Sidi is standing and admiring her photos near the schoolhouse when Sadiku, cackling to herself and carrying a bundle, arrives. The photographs introduce Sidi and the villagers to the power of images, and the ensuing events of the play explore the power derived from imagery and its relationship to pride and vanity.
3. Female subjugation
The Lion and the Jewel focuses on the competition to win Sidi's hand in marriage. To both Baroka and Lakunle, Sidi is a jewel—a valuable object capable of teasing and annoying the men, but an object nonetheless. Lakunle wants Sidi to marry him so he can better perform modernity by taking a modern wife, one who wears high heels and lipstick. Similarly, Baroka wants Sidi to be his wife and complete his harem. While it's unclear whether or not Baroka will keep his promise that Sidi will be his final wife, she too will be the jewel of his wives. To both men, then, marriage to Sidi is a status symbol and an indicator of their power, virility, and the superiority of their respective ways of life.
When Sadiku believes Baroka's tale that his manhood (virility) is gone, she dances gleefully around a statue of Baroka and chants that women have won the war against men. She knows that Baroka's position of power in the village is tied to his ability to perform sexually and produce children, and she believes that when this specific power is gone, the rest of his power will also disappear, leaving his wives victorious. In this case, when Baroka appears to have lost what gives him power, he's reduced to being represented by an actual object (the statue).
In contrast, Sidi, Sadiku, and other female villagers are teased, taunted, and demeaned to their faces throughout the play. They're grabbed, fondled, raped, and told that they're simple and backwards because they're women. The male characters don't have to privately taunt inanimate objects; their culture, regardless of how they engage with modernity or tradition, allows them to reduce women to objects and treat them as such.
4. Tradition versus Modernity
Lakunle represents the modern Nigerian man. He wears western clothing, has been educated in a presumably British school, and wants to turn his village into a modern paradise like the city of Lagos. Lakunle doesn't just admire and idolize western society; he actively and loudly despises the traditional customs of his village and the people who support them. This is best illustrated by Lakunle's refusal to pay Sidi's bride price. Sidi indicates that she would marry Lakunle any time if he would only pay the price and observe local custom. Lakunle's refusal shows that it's more important to him to convert Sidi to his way of thinking and turn her into a "modern wife" than it is for him to marry her in the first place.
For much of the play, other characters describe Baroka as being directly opposed to modernity and extremely concerned with preserving his village's traditional way of life. Lakunle, in particular, finds Baroka's lifestyle abhorrent. He describes how Baroka paid off a surveyor to not route train tracks through the outskirts of Ilujinle, thereby robbing the village of a link to the modern world that would modernize the village. However, when Baroka himself speaks, it becomes apparent that he doesn't actually hate modernity or progress. While he obviously delights in the joys and customs of village life, when it comes to modernity he simply hates having it forced upon him.
The competition between Baroka and Lakunle for Sidi’s hand in marriage brings the conflict between tradition and modernity to life. Baroka wishes to add Sidi to his harem of wives, while Lakunle dreams of having one wife who, in theory at least, is his equal. Both men promise Sidi a different version of power and fulfillment. When Baroka dies, Sidi will become the head wife of the new Bale, a position that would make her one of the most powerful women in the village. Lakunle, on the other hand, offers Sidi the possibility of an equal partnership in which she's not required to serve her husband as is traditional.
CHARACTERIZATION
Sidi (The Jewel)
A superficial but beautiful young woman in the village of Ilujinle, she is coveted by both Lakunle and Baroka. She initially agrees to wed Lakunle even though she does not care for him, but she is frustrated that he will not pay her bride-price and that he has so many modern ideas. She is extremely proud of her photos in a magazine and becomes increasingly absorbed in them. Along with Sadiku she hopes to trick Baroka, whom she also dislikes and does not want to marry, but he triumphs in the end by raping her, taking her virginity, and having her agree to marry him.
Lakunle
A smart but arrogant twenty-three-year-old schoolteacher who lambasts Ilujinle for its backwards views. He wants the village to be modern, and he wants to wed Sidi and make her a modern wife (though he believes women are naturally inferior to men). He is reluctant to participate in the ways of the village but is usually drawn into them regardless. He despises Baroka and is jealous of him.
Baroka (The Lion)
The wily and powerful Bale (i.e. leader) of the village, Baroka is always on the quest for more wives. He laments getting older and covets the young Sidi. He tricks Sidi and Sadiku, though, and ends up winning Sidi and avenging his shame after she initially refused to marry him.
Sadiku
The chief wife of the Bale, Sadiku is elderly but a great source of comfort to Baroka. She eventually decides to plot against him, though, and tries to get Sidi to destroy him. Her plan is found out, however, and she is shamed.
The Stranger
A photographer who came to Ilunjinle and took many photos of the village and its inhabitants. He was captivated by Sidi and published images of her that are stunningly beautiful.
The Wrestler
Baroka's wrestling companion who wrestles with him to make him stronger; he is first seen in Baroka’s bedroom, engaged in wrestling exercise with the Bale. Sidi enters in the course of the wrestling. The duel arouses Sidi’s interest. The wrestler is used to show how physically fit Baroka is. This also signal to Sidi of the sexual prowess of Baroka.
The Favorite
The Bale's current favorite wife, who is tasked with plucking out his armpit hairs. She tries to please him, but she is informed by the Bale that she has no time to improve her affection because he is taking a new wife. She represents another conquest by the Bale. Her real name is Ailatu her position as the favourite is being threatened by Baroka’s intention for a new wife in the person of Sidi.
The Surveyor
A white man who is heading the building of a railway through the village; Baroka bribes him to abandon the project. He is dressed in Khaki short and helmet.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PLAY
1. Structure
The Lion and the Jewel dramatizes a day in the life of three Yoruba villagers in Nigeria. The play does not follow a conventional dramatic division of acts and scenes. Rather, the play is divided into three segments: Morning, Noon and Night. Each period within the day weaves up into the plot of the play. This gives the play a good sense of unity of time. All the actions are lumped into a single day.
2. Humour and high sounding words
Lakunle is an extremely humourous character, his foibles and flaws blantly on display. This manifests in the way he talks to Sidi with his words. Sidi is frustrated and says all Lakunle does is talk with no meaning. She will marry him, but he must pay her bride-price or she will be a laughingstock: the village will say she was not a virgin. Lakunle calls this a “savage custom, barbaric, outdated, rejected, denounced, accursed, excommunicated, archaic, degrading, humiliating, unspeakable, redundant, retrogressive, remarkable, unpalatable”. Sidi is amused by all his words.
3. Sarcasm
Sarcasm is greatly used in the play. Lakunle makes use of sarcasm in his first encounter with Sidi. Lakunle says Sidi ought to cover her shoulders because people look at her and lust after her. She was annoyed and said she has already fixed the fold so high and tight. He asks if she does not care about the names or jokes or the lusting of men. Sidi replies that in reality everyone knows Lakunle is a madman and is full of words and curses; he is the one people call a fool. Sidi is furious and shakes her fists at him, but he says Sidi has a smaller brain than he does. He said he cannot be drawn into an arguemtn with her because his words are high for her to comprehend. It is also sarcastic when Lakunle refers women as weaker vessel.
4. Symbolism
The magzines: The magzines that the stranger brings to Illujinle feature photographs of the village and its residents, including three full pages showing images of Sidi. The magazine becomes literal source of her power since it depicts her beauty prominently while insulting Baroka by including only a small picture of him next to a latrine. The magazine seems to suggest that Sidi is more powerful than Baroka. The magazine is symbolic of women’s existence in Ilujinle.
Baroka’s statue: the statue is associated with Baroka’s power and virility since he drives power from his ability to have sex with his wives and father children. When Sadiku uses the statue to mock Baroka’s inability to perform sexually, it turns Baroka into a joke and an object. By reducing Baroka to aliteral object, the women of the play experience a sense of power and autonomy. The statue is indicative of women’s place in Yoruba society.
Postage stamp: postage stamps are symbolic of the most effective way for Africa to modernize. Unlike railways or unions, which Baroka sees being forced on him, stamps and the development of postal system represent a way to embrace progress and modernity without completely forsaking Ilujinle’s current way of life.
Play-within-a-play / flashback
Play-within-a-play is a play that is being performed in the confines of another play. The characters of a play watch a play being performed for them. The characters in the play are intended audience. This device serves as flashback sometimes. The episode that captures the dance of the lost traveler, dance of virility, the bribing of the white surveyor to divert the railway from ilujinle all serve as play-within-a-play. The dance of the lost traveler is both a flashback and a play-within-a-play
Mime and Gestures
Mime involves an action without a speech. The story of how Baroka was said to have foiled the attempt by the public works deparment to build a rail across ilujinle and thus bring civilization to the remote village is narrate by Lakunle through mine. The following characters use mime in the play: the prisoners who are brought by warders to clear jungle, a white surveyor and his foreman, Baroka’s wrestler, Baroka with his attendants and a young girl bearing a calabash bowl.
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