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The writing is out of this world. This play is my new all time fave.
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The Lion and the Jewel
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This is one of the best-known plays by Africa's major dramatist, Wole Soyinka. It is set in the Yoruba village of Ilunjinle. The main characters are Sidi (the Jewel), 'a true village belle' and Baroka (the Lion), the crafty and powerful Bale of the village, Lakunle, the young teacher, influenced by western ways, and Sadiku, the eldest of Baroka's wives. How the Lion hunts the Jewel is the theme of this ribald comedy.
65 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1959
This edition
- Format
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65 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 1990 by Oxford University Press
- ISBN
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9780199110834
- ASIN
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0199110832
- Language
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English
About the author
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
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.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
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.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
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A thought-provoking play by the first African author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The play deals with the conflict between traditional ways and modernization; for example, should a man pay a bride price in order to marry? The young schoolmaster, a believer in Western culture, wants to marry 'the jewel' Sidi but doesn't want to pay her bride price claiming it is old-fashioned (though the reader/viewer is also left with the impression that he can't afford it!). The headman of the village, 'the lion', is in his 60s and has several wives and concubines already but can pay. The village is still traditional in its daily life but one senses that it is on the verge of change. As a Westerner myself, I started out with the preconceived notion that modernization would be a beneficial change but by the end of the play, I was not so sure. The 'Lion', representing the traditional values and culture, was not as weak and aged as he appeared to be -- I assume that is Soyinka's way of saying that the tradional culture isn't as ready to fade away either. Whether that is good or bad is unclear to me but interesting to think about...
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Soyinka is unique. I don't say this alot when I review anything. The reason I say she is unique is because she shows a variety of transitions a colonized mind goes through after the colonial enterprise has left the shores. Amitav Ghosh closer to home has done the same with his work on shadow lines. But soyinka adds the human nature to the cocktail. The man and the woman play modernity vs tradition respectively. They play it by convince and just that. The post colonial landscape gives the colonial mind space to explore. The man takes it as long as it serves his prospects of finding a wife. But he is deeply traditional much to his disbelief. Over and above as the becon of modernity the man of the story becomes the colonial master by trying to "civilize" ingratiate and self agrandise.
The most ignored aspect of post colonial writing is the fact that the post colonial mind is not far from neo colonializing for the want of stature and prospects.
The most ignored aspect of post colonial writing is the fact that the post colonial mind is not far from neo colonializing for the want of stature and prospects.
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In classic Shakespearean style, this play takes place in a single day and focuses on relationship drama. The main question is: who will get the girl?
The drama behind the drama is the question of modernity. What will win out: the new ways of Western culture, or the traditional ways? Westernized Lakunle claims "Within a year or two, I swear, / this town shall see a transformation ... a motor road will pass this spot / and bring the city ways to us. ... We'll burn the forest, cut the trees..."
The traditional ways are represented by the leader Baroka. He has already stopped a train line from coming through the village through his own resourcefulness. Baroka reminds us that "the skin of progress / Masks, unknown, the spotted wolf of sameness... / Does sameness not revolt your being?"
Unfortunately, the two main women in this play almost become pawns in this game (seemingly played by the men). Sidi has only the two choices. She does voice her own opinion at the end, but it's unclear whether that was what she would have chosen all along, or whether the action of the two men has trapped (forced, cajoled, pressured) her to make this choice. Sadiku, meanwhile, is merely an extension of Baruka's will.
Fascinating play. I would love to see it staged.
The drama behind the drama is the question of modernity. What will win out: the new ways of Western culture, or the traditional ways? Westernized Lakunle claims "Within a year or two, I swear, / this town shall see a transformation ... a motor road will pass this spot / and bring the city ways to us. ... We'll burn the forest, cut the trees..."
The traditional ways are represented by the leader Baroka. He has already stopped a train line from coming through the village through his own resourcefulness. Baroka reminds us that "the skin of progress / Masks, unknown, the spotted wolf of sameness... / Does sameness not revolt your being?"
Unfortunately, the two main women in this play almost become pawns in this game (seemingly played by the men). Sidi has only the two choices. She does voice her own opinion at the end, but it's unclear whether that was what she would have chosen all along, or whether the action of the two men has trapped (forced, cajoled, pressured) her to make this choice. Sadiku, meanwhile, is merely an extension of Baruka's will.
Fascinating play. I would love to see it staged.
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لم أشعر بأي شعور تجاهها..ربما الملل فقط..والرغبة في الانتهاء منها أيضا ..
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The first ever book I am reading by Wole Soyinka, ‘the Lion and the jewel’ is rather interesting and comfortable at the same time.
Lakunle, my favourite character, hahaha. With his foolish wisdom and the love that cannot pay bride price, he becomes a rival to the lion, Baroka who gathers women to marry as if they were a collection. Sidi is the jewel in this play in which Baroka tries to woo but her pride in the fact that she appears in a magazine makes her hardened to the request made through Sadiku (Baroka’s first wife). She feels a rapid yes would make her cheap and misrepresent her validity.
Baroka is old, rich and just wants another wife. But the initial decline by Sidi causes a slight confusion in his thinking. Through tricks and bait though, Sidi meets him to discuss. A discussion that is rather poisonous for Lakunle to bear.
Lakunle is a school teacher and a representation of knowledge in this play. Baroka an old experienced married man is a depiction of wits gained through life. The clash of these two bipolar qualities makes Sidi convinced that experience would always beat modern knowledge with big mouth having no money to pay for bride price. At the end, the jewel is placed on the lion’s neck and the school teacher, well, let’s just say he was angry.
This play is definitely worth the read as it is just chill and makes you live in a village with few personalities. 15. #readbooks2019.
Lakunle, my favourite character, hahaha. With his foolish wisdom and the love that cannot pay bride price, he becomes a rival to the lion, Baroka who gathers women to marry as if they were a collection. Sidi is the jewel in this play in which Baroka tries to woo but her pride in the fact that she appears in a magazine makes her hardened to the request made through Sadiku (Baroka’s first wife). She feels a rapid yes would make her cheap and misrepresent her validity.
Baroka is old, rich and just wants another wife. But the initial decline by Sidi causes a slight confusion in his thinking. Through tricks and bait though, Sidi meets him to discuss. A discussion that is rather poisonous for Lakunle to bear.
Lakunle is a school teacher and a representation of knowledge in this play. Baroka an old experienced married man is a depiction of wits gained through life. The clash of these two bipolar qualities makes Sidi convinced that experience would always beat modern knowledge with big mouth having no money to pay for bride price. At the end, the jewel is placed on the lion’s neck and the school teacher, well, let’s just say he was angry.
This play is definitely worth the read as it is just chill and makes you live in a village with few personalities. 15. #readbooks2019.
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I don't know how to open the book
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Nice
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