A Brief Analysis of

Wole Soyinka’s
The Lion and The Jewel
 Playwright: Wole Soyinka

 Wole Soyinka was born on July 13, 1934, in Nigeria and educated in England.
 In the late 1950s Soyinka wrote his first important play, A Dance of the Forests, which satirized the Nigerian political elite. In 1960,
he founded the theater group, The 1960 Masks, and in 1964, the Orisun Theatre Company, in which he produced his own plays and
performed as an actor.
 Soyinka is also a political activist, and during the civil war in Nigeria he appealed in an article for a cease-fire. He was arrested for
this in 1967, and held as a political prisoner for 22 months until 1969.
 In 1986, the playwright and political activist became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. Upon awarding
Soyinka with the Nobel Prize for Literature, the committee said the playwright "in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic
overtones fashions the drama of existence." Soyinka sometimes writes of modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious
intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the exercise of power are usually present in his work. To date, Soyinka has published
hundreds of works. He dedicated his Nobel acceptance speech to Nelson Mandela. Soyinka has published hundreds of
works, including drama, novels, essays and poetry, and colleges all over the world seek him out as a visiting professor.
 Introduction of the Play and its Main
Characters

 The Lion and the Jewel is a comedic-dramatic play that revolves around four major characters: Baroka (the
elderly chief of Ilunjinle), Lankule (the young headmaster of a primary school), Sidi (the most beautiful girl
in the village) and Sadiku (the eldest wife of Baroka).The playwright, Wole Soyinka depicts Baroka as a
cunning fox, Lankule as an arrogant teacher, Sidi as an egotistical young village girl and Sadiku as a simple-
minded elderly woman.
 The play is characterized by culture conflict, ribald comedy and love, where the old culture represented by
the uneducated people in Ilunjinle, led by Baroka, Sidi and the rest, clashes with the new culture led by
Lakunle, who is educated. He is a school teacher by profession and is influenced by the western ways.
 Significance of the Play

 A lion is an animal which is revered because of its majestic movement and its title as the king of the jungle.
It can hunt both the smaller and larger preys.
 A jewel is a beautiful ornament worn around the neck. It complements women’s beauty when they adorn it
on their necks.
 In the play, Baroka commands an aura of authority thus fitting the title of a lion. Sidi is the jewel of Ilujinle
because of her unrivalled beauty.
 The play is a story of an elderly man ‘hunting’ a beautiful girl to diminish her rising influence in the village
which is threatening his authoritative influence in the village.
 Literary Elements

 Setting: Yoruba village, Ilujinle, in West Africa; 1950s

 Structure: The play is divided into three sections: Morning, Noon, Night
 Main Characters: Sidi, Lakunle, Sadiku, Baroka; for character analysis click here
 Protagonist: Sidi and Antagonists: Baroka and Lakunle
 Tone: Sarcastic and Humorous
 Mood: Playful and light-hearted
 Main Conflict: The play is characterized by the conflict between cultures. This conflict exists between Lakunle the schoolteacher
who is influenced by Western culture (modern/new) and Baroka who is uneducated and represents the African culture
(traditional/old).
 Climax: When Sidi runs out sobbing and announces to Lakunle and Sadiku that Baroka fooled them all, and that she is no longer a
maid (virgin).
Literary Element: Main Themes

 Tradition vs. Modernity

This is perhaps the most conspicuous theme in the play. It initially seems like Soyinka is setting a clear
dichotomy between these two things, tradition embodied by Baroka and modernity embodied by Lakunle.
However, as the play progresses Soyinka defies the audience's assumptions. Lakunle espouses a variety of
backwards views and seems to abandon his progressive principles when it is convenient to do so. Similarly,
Baroka says he does not hate progress but merely finds its sameness and stagnation boring. He is preparing to
use a stamp machine to make the village make money as they do in Lagos. Soyinka thus suggests that progress
is not bad, but that it must be done on African terms.
Literary Element: Main Themes

 Gender
It does not seem that Soyinka consciously tries to make a statement about gender, but he does so nonetheless. On
the one hand, he creates two female characters that are sassy, opinionated, manipulative, and independent. On
the other hand, both of them are ultimately pawns in the games of men. Sidi does not want to marry either
Lakunle or Baroka, but Baroka tricks her, seduces her, and then gets to marry her. She is an object and nothing
more. Sadiku is also tricked, and sees her elation over the Bale's impotence and the power of women vanish as
his plot is made clear. Women may seem like they have power in mid-20th century Nigeria, but they ultimately
do not.
Literary Element: Main Themes

 Trickery and Manipulation

Most of the characters in this play decide to trick and manipulate others in order to achieve their ends. This is
perceived to be a much more effective method than being forthright, as the things characters want come at the
expense of others' feelings and wishes. Sidi and Sadiku try to fool the Bale so they can feel a sense of triumph at
his humbling, and the Bale fools Sadiku and Sidi so he can subdue Sidi and acquire her as one of his wives.
Even though Soyinka carries this out with a light touch and a great deal of witty repartee, the fact remains that
there is a lot of lying and manipulation in the play.
Literary Element: Main Themes

 Legacies of Colonialism
Even though Soyinka does not deal with this as explicitly as he does in some of his other works, colonialism and
imperialism in Nigeria exist below the play's surface. Lakunle represents the West: his clothing, his words, his
learning, and his callous foolishness are all indicative of Britain's impact on Nigeria. The Bale is a traditional
African figure who knows he cannot bury his head in the sand. The mid-20th-century Nigerian village he rules
has been affected by British rule, and even though the country is on the road to independence (1960), it will
never be able to go back in time. It is part of a modern world and must start to change, whether it wants to or
not.
 Some Literary Devices in the Play
 Metaphor - states that one thing is another thing. It equates those two things not because they actually are the same,
but for the sake of comparison or symbolism. Example: “I am the twinkle of a jewel / But he is the hind-quarter of a
lion!” (23) In this example, Sidi is suggesting that she is far more beautiful and valuable than Baroka who is old and
ugly.
 Symbolism - uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond
the literal meaning. Example: “A clearing on the edge of the market, dominated by an immense ‘odan’ tree.” (1) In
this example, the odan tree symbolizes traditional authority. The title of the play also reflects symbolism in the sense
that the lion is symbolic of Baroka, the Bale of Ilujinle, and the jewel symbolizes Sidi, the belle of Ilujinle.
 Contrast – the use of differences between two or more entities. Example: Lakunle’s attire is contrasted with Sidi’s.
“[Lakunle] is dressed in an old-style English suit…” (1) while Sidi is in her traditional attire – “Around her is
wrapped the familiar broad cloth which is folded just above her breast, leaving the shoulders bare.” (1) and criticized
by Lakunle for it…”How often must I tell you, Sidi, that / A grown-up girl must cover up her… / Her … shoulders?”
(2)
 Some Literary Devices in the Play

 Allusion - an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text. Example: Lakunle
refers to the Christian Bible when he says “’And the man shall take the woman / And the two shall be together / As
one flesh.’” Gen. 2:24 (8) or when he makes references to Biblical women such as Esther, Ruth, and Bathsheba
when talking about Sidi. (20)
 Hyperbole – the use of exaggeration. Example: Lakunle admonishes Sidi about her attire. “You could wear
something. / Most modest women do. But you, no. / You must run about naked in the streets.” Sidi is obviously not
naked, but Lakunle exaggerates his disapproval of her attire, and Soyinka creates humour with the use of hyperbole.
 Flashback - interrupts the chronological order of the main narrative to take a reader back in time to the past events
in a character's life. Example: ‘The Dance of the Lost Traveller’ tells the audience the story of how a foreign
photographer gets lost in the jungle after his car breaks down. This reveals how Sidi’s pictures ended up in the
magazine. Another flashback take place when Lakunle tells the story of how Baroka foiled a Public Works project
by bribing the surveyor.
 Some Literary Devices in the Play
 Foreshadowing - a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Example: At the end of
‘Morning’, Baroka muses to himself “Yes, yes … it is five full months since last / I took a wife … five full
months …” (18) It foreshadows his plot to have Sidi as his wife.
 Dramatic Irony - a situation in a literary work whereby the audience is aware of something that a character(s)
is not aware of; therefore, there is a contrast between expectation and reality. Example: Sidi went to the
bale’s home expecting to mock him of his impotence. She never expected that she would end up being
seduced by him and far less that his impotence was a lie and a trap. The audience knew this because why
would Baroka invite Sidi to sup with him or plot to make her his wife if he was impotent?
 Satire - a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual
or a society, by using humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule. The Lion and the Jewel is a satirical comedy
with music, dance and songs. It treats serious issues (colonialism) in a generally light–hearted manner.
 Simile - is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things
using “like” or “as”. Example: “See how the water glistens on my face / Like the dew-moistened leaves on a
Harmattan morning” (22)