The Lion and the Jewel Analysis

Summary

The Lion and the Jewel is a play by Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka that was first performed in 1959 in
Ibadan.[1] In 1966, it was staged in London at the Royal Court Theatre.[2] The play chronicles how
Baroka, the lion, fights with the modern Lakunle over the right to marry Sidi, the titular Jewel.[3] Lakunle
is portrayed as the civilized antithesis of Baroka and unilaterally attempts to modernize his community
and change its social conventions for no reason other than the fact that he can. The transcript of the
play was first published in 1962 by Oxford University Press. Soyinka emphasises the theme of the
corrupted African culture through the play, as well as how the youth should embrace the original African
culture.

Themes in the Play

1). Modernisation and Development of Africa: The most prominent theme of this story is the rapid
modernisation of Africa, coupled with the rapid evangelisation of the population. This has driven a
wedge between the traditionalists, who seek to nullify the changes done in the name of progress due to
vested interests or simply not liking the result of progress, and the modernists, who want to see the last
of outdated traditional beliefs at all cost.

2). Marginalisation of Women: Another core theme is the marginalisation of women as property.
Traditionally, they were seen as properties that could be bought, sold or accumulated. Even the modern
Lakunle falls victim to this, by looking down on Sidi for having a smaller brain, and later by thinking it will
be easier to marry her once she's lost her virginity, since no dowry was required in such a situation.

3). Conflict of Beliefs: There is also the conflict between education and traditional beliefs. The educated
people seek to spread their knowledge to the tribal people in an attempt to make them more modern.
This in turn is resisted by the tribal people who see no point in obtaining an education as it served them
no use in their daily lives.

4). Importance of Song and Dance: Finally, there is the importance of song and dance as a form of
spreading information in a world where the fastest route of communication is by foot. It is also an
important source of entertainment for the otherwise bored village youths. The author shows the slow
influence of modernisation, for example, the wandering traveller influences Sidi's life drastically.

5).Male Chauvinism: This is a belief in the innate superiority of men over women. The theme of male
chauvinism is clearly portrayed in Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel. We first catch a glimpse of this in
the dialogue between Lakunle and Sidi in which the former attributes the latter’s inability to
comprehend what he is saying to the generic inferiority of women.
He claims that Sidi, as a woman, has a smaller brain than his. He backs his claim with the fact that it has
been scientifically proven that “women have a smaller brain than men”; hence, “they are called the
weaker sex”. But Sidi questions this claim.

This dialogue is a reference to the male dominant African society and the role of second fiddle women
play in the traditional African society.

Another pointer to the theme of male chauvinism is rooted in how the women are manipulated by the
men in the text. Sidi for one is influenced by Lakunle’s worldview and later manipulated by the wily
village head, Baroka. The Lion and the Jewel portrays the women world as one that can be easily
manipulated by the male folks.

6). Marriage and Love: Sidi is the centre of attraction in the play. Her beauty endears her to the village
men and of course, the visiting stranger. Baroka and Lakunle show their love for Sidi in their own
individual ways.

The marriage institution is also well foregrounded in The Lion and the Jewel. While Lakunle hopes to
seek Sidi’s attention through flowery language and his promise of an equal union, Baroka takes a more
practical approach in inducting Sidi into his harem of wives. In the end, Sidi marries Baroka.

7). Deceit: The theme of deceit manifests through Baroka. He lies to Sadiku, a loose tongue, about his
being impotent. Sadiku in turn spreads the news about Baroka’s humiliation. It is on the premise of this
lie that Sidi decides to honour Baroka’s invitation to sup with him.

Sidi would not have honoured Baroka’s invitation had she known she was being deceived. And if she
hadn’t, she would not have felt Baroka’s sexual prowess and consequently, might not have married him.

Let’s put the probabilities aside. Baroka wins Sidi’s heart through deceit.

8). Virility and Cowardice: This again is manifested in the comparison of the two main male characters,
Lakunle and Baroka — this time not of their ideas but of their approaches to Sidi. They both employ
different approaches in winning Sidi’s heart. Lakunle makes passes at Sidi and claims to love her. He
however is not ready to pay her bride price despite wanting to marry her. Sidi who is very conscious of
her feminine pride and dignity will not marry Lakunle because of his refusal to pay her bride price.

Baroka on the other hand is ready to go any length to make Sidi his even if he has to be deceitful in the
process. He withholds nothing to achieve this. At an advanced age of sixty-two, he exhibits virility and
energy which Lakunle, still in his twenties, cannot boast of.

Sidi credits Baroka for living up to his title, “the Lion”, and for being a real man while she describes
Lakunle as a “beardless version of unripened man”.

Dramatic Technique in the Play

The most discernible and perhaps the most significant dramatic techniques used in the play are
flashback, mime or imitation, frame story or story within story, and plot twist.
1). Flashback: This is a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that
interrupts the normal chronological development of the story.

In other words, it is the recollection of past events in a literary work. This much can be found in The Lion
and the Jewel.

The first instance of flashback occurs just after Sidi received news of her pictures being featured in a
magazine. Together with her female informants and the cajoled Lakunle, she re-enacts the events that
preceded her new-found fame, apparently the coming of a wandering stranger to Ilujinle Village.

Flashback device is again used in Lakunle’s recollection of how Baroka bribed the white Surveyor to
divert a railway track intended to pass through his village elsewhere.

2). Mime: This involves using gestures and body movements without words in a play. The Lion and the
Jewel has its fair share of this. The first use of mime occurs during the recollection of the entry of the
stranger to Ilujinle. Much of this is conveyed using bodily movements. From the stranger’s (technically
Lakunle’s) handling of the devil horse (automobile), his bewilderment at the mesmerising beauty of Sidi,
to being chased by the villagers, to shutters of the periphrastic “one-eyed box” (a camera), etcetera.

Another discernible instance of mime is when Lakunle narrated to the duo of Sidi and Sadiku of how
Baroka thwarted the plan for a rail track to course through Ilujinle Village. This action, he attributes to
Baroka’s fear that the railway track might usher in ‘civilisation’ that would threaten his authority in the
village.

3). Frame Story: Alternatively known as story within a story, frame story is stressed again by the
recollection of the Stranger’s entry into Ilujinle. The characters in The Lion and the Jewel (notably the
Girls, Lakunle, Sidi, and much later Baroka) enact a play within the play, assigning themselves roles.

The Girls, on their part, are shifty; they act first as the Stranger’s vehicle and later as the villagers.
Lakunle is coaxed to take the role of the Stranger since he appears not different from the said wandering
Stranger in mannerism. Sidi is just Sidi and Baroka remains Baroka.

This improvisation is a clear instance of a story within a story or more precisely, a play within a play. That
is, there is a brief play within The Lion and the Jewel.

4). Plot Twist: This is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected
outcome of the plot in a work in fiction.

Going by the chronological arrangements of events in The Lion and the Jewel, no one would have
thought Sidi would ever marry Baroka. This much we can deduce from how she took delight in the
debasement of Baroka and his dignified office when his picture was placed side by side in the magazine
with the village latrine. She even feels a sense of pride in gaining wider recognition and wielding more
importance with her beauty.
Dramatic Style of the Play

In the play, Wole Soyinka uses Western theatrical conventions and includes traditional Nigerian
elements of poetry, music, and dance. The play is a one-act play with three scenes. Each corresponds to
a time of day. Soyinka wrote it in English.

One important aspect of the style is humor. The characters behave in ways that the audience will find
humorous, but they also see humor in their situations as they make fun of each other.

In addition to these characters, additional performers appear on the stage. They act out various
characters, such as the schoolchildren in the classroom, but they also perform mimes, such as when
several of them create the image of a car. The marriage at the end features an elaborate Yoruba dance.