The writing is out of this world. This play is my new all time fave.

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...

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.

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.

لم أشعر بأي شعور تجاهها..ربما الملل فقط..والرغبة في الانتهاء منها أيضا ..

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.

I don't know how to open the book

Nice

The Lion and the Jewel is a quick read that is witty and fun to read. Its overall size is good for anyone who wants a small play with a lot of content. It takes place around the 1950s, right before the Nigerian Independence movement. It takes place in a small village, with very diverse characters. Sidi, a young maiden must choose between the village chief and also the Westernized school teacher. The themes and characters are so representative of different cultures and although there is a story, this play really conveys more than just the average small novel. Feminism results from women who “advocate for women’s right seeking to remove restrictions that discriminate against women” (1). For example, Sidi the main character is representative of so much, feminism, the Nigerian people and women in general. She represents the Nigerian people and the ignorance they find themselves in when they give up the past and go for the future full heartedly without knowing exactly what is happening within the village. Sidi must choose a husband which represents the women all over the world. She must please the village because she is the “jewel” and therefore must chose a husband that will fit her. Women in Africa face this problem every day, they must chose a husband and being their lives together at such a young age. If feminists in Westernized culture were to pick up this play I would say this is not for them. The only reason for this is because Sidi goes against everything they believe in and goes for the older man, Baroka, in order to please the village and her own culture. She conformed to the traditional way of a man’s world and it would be unappealing to feminists. Lakunle, a young school teacher, represents the modern way of thinking that rebels against and fights the traditional way of thinking which is represented by Baroka. Within the novel, the power struggle between the two men shows how new culture attempts to change Africa but traditional values will always stay strong. This part of the novel is very interesting because they both love Sidi in a different way, and the same as both ideals of thinking want the center of the culture to be theirs. Lakunle loves her at the deeper emotional level while Baroka loves her at a superficial level because he believes he deserves every woman since he is the chief who has many wives. This book really shows the inner workings of an African culture at work and how much women are treated as property. Even “In childhood a women should be under her father’s control, in youth under her husband’s and when her husband is dead, under her sons, she should not have independence” (1). This statement goes against all things feminism and throughout this play, this idea is very prominent throughout. Although Lakunle believes he would treat her as an equal, he contradicts himself so often that it just shows how much the social revolution is tough for even people fighting for it in Africa. The culture portrayed in this book is so vastly different from the Western culture that I am used to, it really takes you on a journey through the minds of the people living in this culture every day. It shows how much a culture difference can change the differing opinions. For example, if I were in Sidi’s position I would have chosen Lakunle because I would not have been his property and I would have been able to be more my own than with Baroka. The culture barrier is so large that it is hard to relate in this novel, but also not hard at all. It is hard because I would never make the decisions that Sidi did, but not hard because not too long ago in our own Western culture did men rule women. Men had every right over women and then we put an end to it. The cultural barrier is so interesting to think about and to see during “postcolonial” literature. I would recommend this book to college professors in order to teach a tolerance and to show that, the battle we were fighting only a few decades ago, is still a battle that may not have even begun in other parts of the world. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in challenging Western society, because this play shows all of the ideals that Western society goes against.

My best W.S play ever. It's informative, exhilarating, and amusing, parodies, and reveals the complicated relationships between men and women, what attracts a woman to a man in a traditional African society.

It's a very good book.

Humorous and, in a typical Soyinka grammar, critical of essentialism.
“It was prisoners who were brought to do
The harder part…to break the jungle’s back…
Through the jungle…trade,
Progress, adventure, success, civilization,
Fame, international conspicuousity” (pg 24).

Keep your modernity and chain gang nations.