Discuss the themes of Wole Soyinka’s play ‘The Lion and the Jewel’

Themes of Wole Soyinka’s play ‘The Lion and the Jewel’

 Wole Soyinka’s play, ‘The Lion and the Jewel’, is a post-colonial literary work which contains several themes.

The most important theme of the play is the conflict between traditional values and modernity. Baroka, the head of the village, represents the tradition who respects the traditional customs of Yoruba community. On the other hand, Lakunle, a village teacher, represents modernity, who admires western culture and tries to establish western values in his community. He reveals his plan to modernize the area by abolishing bride-price, building a motor road to connect the village with town. The expresses his sorrow that, Baroka prevented the building a railroad bridge through the village. Though Baroka respects tradition, he says that, he does not hate progress. So, he buys a machine to produce postal stamp. Sidi, the jewel of the village, is a representative of the people who cannot go outside their customs. Both Lakunle and Baroka want to marry her. Lakunle refuses to maintain tradition and wants to marry her without bride-price. But Sidi refuses to marry Lakunle without bride-price. According to tradition of Yoruba community, bride-price is the honour for the girl who gets it. If a girl marries without bride-price, she is suspected of losing her virginity. It is believed that the girls who have lost their virginity or chastity are compelled to marry without brideprice. So, Sidi rejects Lakunle’s proposal. Thus, she maintains the traditional value. And, at the end of the play, we see that, Sidi marries Baroka as she has had sex with him, she cannot take any other man as her husband. So, she chooses old Baroka for her husband instead of young Lakunle. Her decision is due to the concept of chastity. Thus, in the conflict between tradition and modernity, tradition wins.

Another important theme of the play is the influence of colonialism. Nigeria was a British colony for a long time. The British rulers left the colony but did not leave the influence. Lakunle’s clothes show that he has rejected the traditional dress of his village. In fact, his clothing, his words, his learning and his callous foolishness indicate Britain’s impact on Nigeria. Lakunle rejects a traditional element of the marriage bond – the bride-price. He thinks that paying bride-price for marrying a woman, is an uncivilized custom. However, for this reason, he fails to win the heart of Sidi.

Another theme of the play is pride. Sidi takes pride of her beauty. She wastes no time in reminding Lakunle that she is beautiful. Her pride level increases when he sees her image on the front page of the magazine. In fact, he thinks herself more powerful than Baroka who is shown next to the village toilet in a small image. It is clear that, images have power. The scorn of the village girls about Baroka suggests that images can raise or lower position or power.

To conclude, we may say that, as a modern drama, ‘The Lion and the Jewel’ deals with modern themes. Though short, the play can be read from various points of view.

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Written By

S. MALLICK

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY – Text Book (FBC), A Study Guide (FBC) & Handnote Series (Lecture)