Wole Soyinka, the author of twenty
plays, six novels and six collections of poems, represents Yoruba tradition in
his comic play. In the play, The Lion and the Jewel, the conflict between tradition and modernization covers a significant portion of Wole Soyinka’s
work. He was the first African writer to
be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Morning
The play is set in the village of
Ilujinle. Note Lakunle's age. Despite his behavior on occasion, he is
essentially a lively young man. He tries to emulate European notions of
courtesy by relieving Sidi of her burden, though carrying water is
traditionally a women's task. His flirtatious opening speech may seem rather
crude, but is typical of the kind of jesting that goes on in courtship. Sidi is
not so much shocked as bored by Lakunle.
How does Sidi cleverly answer his
insistence that she should abandon the traditional way of carrying loads on her
head? Note the contrast between the ideas that Lakunle has derived from books
about women's weakness and Sidi's answers based on experience. Baroka, the Bale
(chief) of the village is a major character later in the play, here introduced
as standing for tradition.
"A prophet has honour except/in his
own home:" Jesus says this when his family and acquaintances in his home
town of Nazareth reject his teachings (Mark 6:4). When Lakunle proposes to Sidi
he is quoting words he has read in popular English books about marriage. Note
that his pretentious metaphors are answered by her pithy proverb.
"Bush" means "uncivilized," typical of people who live in
the bush.
Their relationship is clarified when
Sidi says she wants a bride-price. It is not that she lacks affection for
Lakunle--what has passed before has been essentially good-natured sparring on
her part. But she insists on the tradition which will prove her value in the
eyes of the village. Lakunle, in his "Pulpit-declamatory" style,
quotes to her lines from the wedding service which are in turn quoted from
Genesis 2:24. Why does Lakunle mention "breakable" plates?
"Stretched" hair is a form of straightening of naturally kinky
African hair. What is Sidi's reaction to kissing?
Why is Sidi eager to see the stranger's
book? Notice how the conflict in the play which has been between Lakunle and
Sidi is now complicated by the tension between Sidi and Baroka. How do you
react to Sidi's celebration of her own beauty?
The dance of the lost Traveler draws on
Yoruba tradition and that of many other African peoples. Current events are
often depicted and commented upon in dances involving costumes and pantomime.
It is this sort of "street theater" which Soyinka sees as providing
fertile ground for the development of drama in Africa. One of the problems with
reading a play rather than seeing it performed, is that one skims quickly over
what would be a very impressive high point in the production, with dancing and
drumming building to a climax. Imagine this "dance" taking quite a
long time and having much more dramatic impact than anything that has gone
before. Note that Lakunle finally enters into the dance with enthusiasm.
Despite his modern pretensions, he is underneath not so alien to Sidi and her
comrades as one might at first suppose. The stranger had been photographing
Sidi while she was bathing, and she quickly grabbed up her clothes to cover
herself when she saw him.
Baroka gives Lakunle the traditional
greeting and is displeased to get a European one in return. Far from being
displeased by the dance, he insists on it being continued, playing the role he
played in the original incident. When he tells Lakunle "You tried to steal
our village maidenhead" he is speaking to the character Lakunle is
playing, not the villager himself. He is telling him to go on acting. Why is it
significant that Lakunle has been given the part of the stranger?
Yoruba Traditional Clothing
Sidi enters the first scene wearing
traditional Yoruba clothes — Around her is wrapped the familiar broad
cloth which is folded just above her breasts, leaving the shoulders bare. (P.
1) The cloth worn by Sidi provokes a number of comments. It was the ‘familiar
broadcloth’ which is embroidered with the distinctive patter of the village,
Ilujinle. In her writing of Yoruba women’s dress, Eve de Negri says that ‘today’
(presumably in the early 1960s) ‘country-women may still be
seen wearing only the skirt-cloth, usually pulled up high
over the breasts.’ She observes that the woman’s buba, a cotton blouse, was
introduced by missionaries, presumably prompted by the same sense of modesty that
consumes Lakunle. At the beginning, the details of Lakunle’s dress up amuses us
— He is dressed in an old-style English suit, threadbare but not ragged, clean but not ironed, obviously a size or two too small. His tie is done in a very small
knot, disappearing beneath a shiny black waistcoat.
He wears twenty-three-inch-bottom trousers, and blanco-white tennis shoes.
In 1963, Eve de Negri provided some
information on the clothes worn by Yoruba men which comes as a sharp contrast
to the dress up of Lakunle— Sculpture and carving of early times depict
figures in simple skirt-cloth, bared torso and deep collar reaching to the
chest and greatly ornamented. There are, too, art works which show a type of
horseman or hunter, in an outfit much like that worn nowadays— buba, a narrow tunic-like shirt, and sokoto, fairly narrow
trousers. Now, these two are covered by a third, sapara, a lightweight
gown, or agbada or gbariye, heavyweight gowns of one kind
or another. Although we can expect Baroka
to wear these clothes, the attitude of so-called modernization
is apparent in Lakunle’s stupid attire.
The Practice of Bride-price
According to Encyclopedia Britannica the
practice of bride-price, ‘is common in most parts of the globe
in one form or another, but it is perhaps most
prevalent in Africa.’ Bride-price is an established custom in many areas
of Africa and Asia. The native Africans and Muslims follow it grossly as a part
of their own culture and religious traditions. From the plot of The
Lion and the Jewel, the importance of bride-price is noticeable in that
particular society. Sidi’s consciousness of future security regarding the
Yoruba tradition of bride-price is clearly visible in her conversation with
Lakunle in the first act, Morning — “I have told you, and I say it again I
shall marry you today, next week Or any day you name. But my bride-price
must first be paid. Aha, now you turn away. But I tell you, Lakunle, I must
have The full bride-price. Will you make me A laughing-stock? Well, do as you
please. But Sidi will not make herself A cheap bowl for the village spit.”
(P. 7)
Finally, Sidi accepts Baroka’s proposal
since he was able to pay the bride-price. Baroka, the village bale, was
naturally an economically influential person, and he took many wives and
concubines using his power and money.
Notion towards Chastity in The Lion
and the Jewel
Wole Soyinka until the end does not show
that the bride- price is paid to Sidi by Baroka, her spouse. After
Sidi’s confrontation with the bale in his house, Lakunle readily accepts to
marry her, “it is only fair/ That we forget the bride-price totally/ Since
you no longer can be called a maid” (P. 53). As Sidi lost
her chastity to Baroka, she considers herself bound to him
and prefers Baroka over Lakunle. She actually ‘brings out the
culture of the tradition based rigid society.’ Her lost virginity leads
her to marry the old Baroka,
Marry who...? You thought..
Did you really think that you, and I..
Why, did you think that after him,
I could endure the touch of another man? (P. 56)
Chastity could be considered one of the
main reasons that prevent her to accept the proposal of Lakunle.
The mental settings of women in African
society implore them to live with only one man, and they tend to
consider it a part of their ‘age old tradition’. To R. Sethuraman, Sidi is a
strong representative of the tradition in
the play as she is, “fleetingly metamorphosed
into the glittering girl of the magazine bythe
Western photographer, although common sense prevails on her in the end.”
Importance
of Child Bearing
Marriage is a social custom that mostly
revolves around the idea of child bearing in most of the societies round the
world. In case of Nigeria, it is not a different case. Lakunle, an ardent follower
of western values, somehow challenges the custom. He says that he does no seek
wife “To fetch and carry, /To cook and scrub,/ To bring forth children by the
gross...” (P. 7-8) But Sidi was not convinced by his adamant ideas and utters
fearfully, “Heaven forgive you!” to save him from the wrath of Gods. The custom
seals the bond between the married couple in a society like that
of Ilujinle. Lauretta Ngcobo wrote — As elsewhere, marriage amongst
Africans is mainly an institution for the control of procreation.
Every woman is encouraged to marry and get children in order to express her
womanhood to the full. The basis of marriage among Africans implies the
transfer of a woman’s fertility to the husband’s family group.
Strong
Belief in Pantheon of Gods
Some
religious tradition like making oaths on Yoruba pantheon of Gods like Ogun and
Sango are mentioned in the play. Ogun is the god of oaths and justice. In
Yoruba courts, people swear to tell the truth by kissing a machete sacred to
Ogun. The Yoruba consider Ogun fearsome and terrible in his revenge; they
believe that if one breaks a pact made in his name, swift retribution will follow (Horton). In the play, a girl
swears by the God Ogun to confirm the news of Sidi’s
published photograph in awestern magazine— Sidi: Is that the truth? Swear! Ask Ogun toStrike
you
dead.Girl: Ogun strike me dead if I lie. (
The Lion and the Jewel
, 11)In another situation, when Sadiku
tries to convince Sidi for the marriage proposal from Baroka, Sidi’s acts lead
her to pray to the God Sango to restore her sanity, “May Sango restore your
wits. For most surely some angry god has taken possession of you” (The
Lion and the Jewel, 21). Sango is the god of thunder and lightning. His anger
is abrupt and dreadful. He strikes his enemies down with lightning. And
the people of Ilujinle believe that only Sango can relive the people ‘who
behave abnormal or become possessed by any angry god or evil spirit’.
Role of Women Pictured in the Society
The role of women in the society
portrayed in The Lion and the Jewel is close to the tradition of our
country in some ways. The society is still far away from modern
industrialization and women are engaged in traditional household activities. In
the words of Lakunle, Sidi “pounds the yam or bends all the day to plant the
millet ... to fetch and carry, to cook and scrub, to bring forth children by
the gross”. (The Lion and the Jewel, 7 and 9).
The female characters like Sidi and Sadiku are there
presentation of the doubly oppressed in the society where female members are
‘highly marginalized by the males’. They are the symbol lf
self-marginality, particularly
Sidi:... she never allows any rational idea into her mind, which is advised byLakunle.
... greatly supports and argues for her society and its tradition. She does not
want to come out of the conventional ideologies. She does not know that she is
marginalizing herself for the ideologies of the society. (Kumar, 46) Lakunle
appears to be ‘a champion of feminism’ in course of the play. Although he is portrayed
as a foolish teacher who quotes from memory without
much knowledge of the actual facts. Sidi’s response his bombardment
of words gives the impression clearly, “You and your ragged
books dragging your feet to every threshold and
rushing them out aging as curses greet you instead of welcome ... The village
says you’re man, and I begin to understand” (The Lion and the Jewel, 5 and 10).
C. N. Ramachand ran remarks on the character, “Lakunle represents not western
culture but only hallow Westernization, not
real but only the image. The play abundantly
establishes that Lakunle is a modern version of Don Quixote, a book nourished
shrimp” (201). A person like Lakunle lacks the ability of changing the society
for the better. Although he visions the change, his activity does not
establish his ideas. Baroka, the antithesis of Lakunle, is a very impressive
character in many ways. His conduct towards Sadiku, Sidi, Ailatu and the other
women bears a resemblance to that of Okonkwo’s attitude in Things Fall Apart.
The age-old custom hardly get affected as people like Baroka or Okonkwo enjoys
the privileges and power with zest, with are and caution.’ Baroka successfully utilizes the ideology of modernism andtradition
for his personal gains.