The Lion and the Jewel Plot Summary and Analysis

The Lion and the Jewel plot summary and analysis in full are what you will have in this post. In this tutorial, I’m giving everything. I’ll let you have all you need for a complete study or teaching of The Lion and the Jewel. All I want for you is to be sufficiently prepared for the African Drama section of the WAEC/WASSCE Literature-in-English test.

The good news is that this tutorial isn’t just your regular plot summary of Wole Soyinka’s popular play, The Lion and the Jewel.

You will also find an extensive analysis of The Lion and the Jewel. So it’s a perfect choice for you whether you are a teacher or a student of high school Literature.

Just pay close attention to all I’m about to tell you in this detailed tutorial on The Lion and The Jewel plot summary.

Who is Wole Soyinka?

Wole Soyinka is the world-acclaimed Nigerian dramatist and playwright. He is the author of The Lion and the Jewel.

Did you know that Wole Soyinka is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature? Yes, he got that award in 1986.

One more reminder…

Most of the sections in this giant tutorial qualify to be taken as complete essays on their own. Perhaps you may only have to modify certain areas to suit the particular question or situation.

Here is an overview of the main topics on display in this ambitious tutorial about the plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel.

WARNING: It’s quite extensive. Yes, it’s big. Really big. So you must be prepared to spend some time here. Or maybe come back later to continue.

• PLOT SUMMARY OF THE LION AND THE JEWEL

• SETTING

• THEMES

• CHARACTERS

• DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WRESTLING MATCH

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DANCE OF THE LOST TRAVELLER

Are you ready to have your complete plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka? Then fasten your seatbelt, really tight, and come fly with me.

Let’s do it.

The Setting of the Lion and the Jewel

Place Setting

Much of the action of the play, The Lion and the Jewel, happens in an imaginary Yoruba village called Ilujinle in Western Nigeria.

The specific settings of the three main parts of the play are

• The village centre – a square near the local village primary school (morning and later, night),

• A road near the marketplace (noon – where Sadiku announces Baroka’s intention to take Sidi as his next and last wife and invites her to a feast at the palace)

SEE ALSO:

Analysis of Bat by D.H. Lawrence

5 Private Study Tricks that Actually Work

• Baroka’s bedroom in the palace of the chief of Ilujinle (where Baroka receives the news of Sidi’s refusal to marry him and where he finally deflowers her)

Time Setting

The action of the play takes place over a Sunday. It is divided into three parts: morning, noon, and night.

But more generally, the events of the drama are set in the period when Nigeria was still under British colonial rule, a few years before she gained independence. The first performance of the play took place in Nigeria in 1959 at the Ibadan Arts Theatre.

Atmosphere

It is a time of contrasting moods and mixed feelings. In actual performance, we cannot easily miss the excitement that characterizes life in Ilujinle. The constant sounds of music and dance, punctuated by lively conversation and other verbal exchanges are a pointer to this.

Beneath the surface, however, are tensions that continue to brew among the population regarding a disagreement over such issues as change, modernization, tradition, and the place of women in this typical traditional African setting.

Detailed Plot Summary

Let’s quickly move to the plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel. We shall do this according to the structure of the play. Morning, Noon, and Night.

Morning: The Dance of the Lost Traveller

The first part of The Lion and the Jewel is set in the morning. Here is a summary of the major incidents that occur in the Morning of The Lion and the Jewel.

Lakunle and Sidi meet

Lakunle, a full-blooded Nigerian but heavily-Europeanized school teacher, is at this time teaching a class when Sidi, the most beautiful girl in Ilujinle walks past carrying a pail of water on her head. Lakunle cannot help but gaze out of the window at this wonder of immaculate natural beauty.

Two 11-year-old schoolchildren start making noises. Lakunle hits them on the head and leaves to meet Sidi. Lakunle comes out and insists on taking the pail from Sidi. She refuses, saying that she would look silly. Lakunle replies, saying that he told her not to carry loads on her head else her long neck might get shorter.

He also tells her not to expose so much of her cleavage with the cloth she wears around her breasts.

In reply, Sidi says she will not feel comfortable dressing the way Lakunle wants it. She scolds Lakunle, saying that the village thinks he is stupid. But Lakunle says that he is not so easily cowed by taunts. Lakunle also insults her saying Sidi’s brain is smaller than his. This makes Sidi very much upset.

Sidi Rejects Lakunle’s Marriage Proposal

Lakunle then tells Sidi of his love for her. He wants to marry her and treat her “just like the Lagos couples I have seen”.

Sidi does not want to marry Lakunle because he considers the bride price to be a primitive customary practice which he cannot bring himself to follow. Sidi, on her part, regards Lakunle’s reluctance to pay a bride price as mean and miserly.

Sidi tells him that if she agrees to live with him without the bride price, she will become an object of public ridicule. She will no longer be considered a virgin.

Another thing Sidi finds strange and unacceptable about Lakunle is his readiness to kiss a female in public. To Sidi, the Western custom of kissing, the way Lakunle has just done it to her, is, at the very least, obscene.

Announcement of the Return of the Photographer

There and then, a villager arrives to make an announcement. The message is that the foreigner who chanced upon their village sometime in the past and took pictures has returned.

The last time this stranger was here, he took many beautiful photographs.

One of these is that of Sidi. It is now featured on the cover of a magazine. Sidi’s image is more prominent on the cover of the magazine than the photograph of Baroka, the village chief himself.

The Magazine (and the photographs)

It is interesting to note that the photographer has been able to make a picture book about the village based on the photos he took. We see a picture of Sidi on the front page. That is not all. There is also a two-page spread of her somewhere inside the magazine.

Baroka’s image also appears in the magazine. But he “is in a little corner somewhere in the book, and that corner he shares with one of the village latrines”.

The Village Girls Stage a Play Within the Play (Sub-Plot)

Please note that this dance is significant for at least two reasons. They are related to the dramatic techniques in the play.

One: It is a sub-plot

Two: It features the flashback technique where past events are re-enacted in the present.

Now, the village girls enter to perform a dance. They are in to play “The Dance of the Lost Traveller”. It recollects an incident from the past – the sudden arrival of the photographer in the village of Ilujinle some time ago.

QUESTION: COMMENT ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DANCE OF THE LOST TRAVELLER IN SOYINKA’S THE LION AND THE JEWEL.

Want more questions on The Lion and the Jewel? Simply click here.

The Dance of the Lost Traveller

Characters and noticeable objects in The Dance of the Lost Traveller are:

• The principal actors: Four girls. They perform the dance of the “devil horse”

• A Youth: He plays the part of the snake.

• The Traveller/Stranger/Photographer: He is the photographer that the dancers make a lot of jokes about. Lakunle reluctantly plays this role. In fact, Lakunle seeks to be excused to teach Primary Four Geography but Sidi informs him that the village is on holiday due to the arrival of the photographer (traveler)

• Baroka: He joins The Dance of the Lost Traveller at a later stage.

• Sidi: The girl found in the river. She is the one whose photos the traveller loves to take and share so generously.

• The Motorbike/The car: It belongs to the photographer. The dancers call it “the devil’s own horse”.

• The Camera: Called the “one-eyed box”, this is the piece of technology tha the photographer used to take pictures of the people in the village. Featuring prominently in these photos is the stunningly beautiful image of Sidi.

A Brief Description of the Dance of the Lost Traveller (the sub-plot)

The four girls kneel on the ground. They position themselves in a way that represents the wheels of a car. Lakunle, acting like the driver, adjusts their position and sits in the middle. He mimes the driving of a “car”.The imaginary car meanders its way unsteadily through the jungle. At a point, it finds Sidi in the river.

The girls dance. They shudder and drop their faces onto their laps. The traveller (Lakunle) pretends to restart his car. He gets out and checks the “wheels” and also pinches them. He keeps trying to start the “car”, fails, and takes his things for a trek.

The traveller hears a girl misbehaving but attributes it to sunstroke, so he throws the bottle that he has been drinking from in that general direction. He hears a scream and a volley of abuse. He takes a closer look and sees a girl (played by Sidi). He tries to take photos but falls down into the stream.

The cast assembles behind him. They act as if they were villagers in a very bad mood They bring the stranger to the town centre.

At this stage, Baroka appears suddenly and there is a pause. The villagers kneel and bow to him. Lakunle tries to leave, but Baroka insists he stays so they continue the dance.

Baroka speaks to Lakunle for a while, saying he is aware of how the play has progressed so far. He says he’s just been waiting for the right time to step in.

Baroka also drops subtle hints of an existing conflict between him and Lakunle.

Then he allows the play to continue.

Baroka is now part of the dance. He instructs his attendants to seize the traveller (Lakunle).

The traveller is brought before Baroka, thrown on his face. He tries to explain his plight. Baroka seems to understand. He has pity on the stranger and organizes a feast in his honour instead.

The stranger takes photographs of the village. What fascinates him greatly is Sidi’s beauty and her dance.

The villagers make the stranger drink too much alcohol.

The End of the Dance of the Lost Traveller

The dance ends when the stranger vomits. Sidi and the villagers chase Lakunle towards the actual stranger photographer so he can translate for them. Sidi praises Lakunle for his performance. Lakunle runs away, followed by a group of women.

Now, Baroka sits alone with his wrestler. He takes out his book and muses that it has been five full moons (months) since he last took a wife.

This marks the end of the first part of your summary of The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka.

Noon: Baroka’s Marriage Proposal to Sidi (through Sadiku)

This is the second part of the play. It has been given the title, “noon”.

The next stage in our summary of The Lion and the Jewel concerns the events that unfold at noon of the same day. It is basically about Sadiku’s announcement to Sidi (in the presence of Lakunle) that Baroka intends to take her as his new wife.

As we shall see, Sidi, at this moment, scoffs at the whole idea. But Lakunle warns her to be very careful since Baroka has proven himself to be a “fox”. Cunning and dangerous.

We see Sidi on a road near the marketplace. Lakunle follows her, carrying the firewood Sidi has asked him to help her get. She is absorbed in the admiration of her own pictures in the magazine.

Then Sadiku comes with a marriage proposal from Baroka, the village bale (chief).

Now Sadiku appears. She is the head wife of the village bale, Baroka, the Lion. Sadiku is wearing a shawl over her head.

She wastes no time in informing Sidi that the Lion (Baroka) wishes to take her as a wife.

Come and See Our Man, Lakunle!

Lakunle is not happy, to say the least. But Sidi whose already bloated ego (because of her unparalleled beauty) is now riding very high (following the appearance of her image in a magazine), confidently stops him.

Lakunle should save his breath. She will deal with this all by herself.

To Sadiku’s shock and disbelief, Sidi makes it categorically clear that she is not interested in an old man like Baroka.

She continues that since her fame has now spread to Lagos and the rest of the world, she deserves something more dignifying than marriage to Baroka.

It is now time for Sadiku to offer lies and outlandish claims in an attempt to convince the arrogant and egotistical Sidi. Her claims include the following:

• Baroka has promised not to take any more wives after marrying Sidi

• Sidi will become Baroka’s favourite

• She will enjoy many privileges. For example, unlike Baroka’s other wives, Sidi will be able to sleep in the palace rather than one of the outhouses.

• Now that she is Baroka’s last wife, Sidi will assume the position of the first, and thus head wife, of his successor( following the same tradition that made Sadiku Baroka’s head wife)

Unfortunately for Sadiku, Sidi is smart enough to see through her lies. She points it out to Sadiku that all Baroka is interested in is fame. He wants to be recognized as “the one man who has possessed “the jewel of Ilujinle”.

This shocks Sadiku. She accuses Lakunle of having done something to Sidi.

But more is yet to come

Sidi contrasts herself with Baroka

• She displays the magazine. She says that in the picture, she looks absolutely beautiful while Baroka only resembles a ragged, blackened piece of saddle leather.

• According to Sidi, while she is youthful, Baroka is old. He is nothing but a spent force.

Sadiku is not ready to give up

Sadiku changes tactics. She tells Sidi if she does not want to be Baroka’s wife, fine. But what of she being kind enough to attend a small feast at the palace that night?

Sidi flatly refuses. She says she is very much aware of the trap Sadiku is trying to make her step into. It is common knowledge that every woman who has eaten supper with Baroka ends up becoming his wife.

Lakunle now steps in. He tells Sadiku and Sidi that Baroka has been notorious for his corrupt and cunning ways. One evidence of this was the time he succeeded in stopping the Public Works project to build a railroad through Ilujinle. Baroka bribed the surveyor for the route. He made him move the railroad much farther away as, according to him, “the earth is most unsuitable, could not possibly support the weight of a railway engine”.

Lakunle cannot hide his disappointment over that incident. He laments the opportunity lost for Ilujinle to modernize and experience civilization with a major transportation system passing through the area.

Straight to Baroka’s Bedroom (the Lion’s snare)

The scene now shifts to Baroka’s bedroom. Ailatu, Baroka’s current favourite wife, is plucking the grown hairs in his armpit.

There is an odd-looking machine with a long lever at the side. It is covered with animal skins and rugs.

Baroka complains that Ailatu is too soft with her pulls. Then he tells her that he plans to take a new wife, but that he would let her remain the “sole out-puller of my sweat-bathed hairs”.

Ailatu is visibly annoyed. She deliberately plucks the next few hairs a lot harder.

It is at this point that Sadiku enters. She drives Ailatu away. Sadiku complains bitterly about Baroka’s bleeding armpit – thanks to Ailatu.

Sadiku tells Baroka the bad news. She has failed in her attempt to make Sidi agree to marry him. Even though the marriage proposal, coming from the Lion himself, is nothing less than an order to be obeyed, Sidi flatly and petulantly shoves it aside.

She says Sidi cites Baroka’s old age as one of her reasons for turning down the offer.

Baroka claims he has lost his virility

Then something interesting happens.

Suddenly, Baroka claims that he feels like he has lost his virility (manly sexual strength). He lies to Sadiku that his manhood ended a week before. He goes on to warn her not to tell anyone.

Baroka discloses his age to be only 62 as he compares himself to his predecessors who continued to be sexually active into years more advanced than his. His grandfather, for instance, was able to father two sons as 65. As for Okiki, his father, he famously produced a pair of female twins at 67.

With new thoughts on his mind, Baroka falls asleep.

We’ve come to the end of part two (NOON) of the plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel.

Night: The Lion Wins the Jewel

This is the third and last part of this plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel. After this, we shall move on to consider the themes, characters, and dramatic techniques in the play.

The setting starts from the village centre, very close to the school, and later shifts to Baroka’s bedroom. Finally, it comes back to the village centre, the scene of the marriage procession.

This last part of the summary of The Lion and the Jewel is about how Baroka is able to use deception and, possibly, maturity to seduce the naive and egotistical Sidi and the resulting decision on the part of Sidi to choose Baroka over a disappointed Lakunle as her new husband.

We must also not forget the symbolic role of the wrestling match in this section of the play. More of this later.

Sadiku enters the square, pulls out a carved figure (a statue) of Baroka, and laughs. She gloats, saying that she has managed to be the undoing of Baroka, and before that, of his father, Okiki. She is apparently rejoicing over what Baroka has confided in her a few moments ago. That he has lost his sexual powers.

Meanwhile, Sidi is still locked in her own world of self-importance, admiring her image in the magazine. On seeing Sadiku, she comes close to her. Sidi wants to know what the matter is.

Sadiku swears Sidi to secrecy and whispers in her ear. Sidi is overjoyed to learn that Baroka has lost his manly powers. She instantly joins Sadiku in her celebratory dance.

When Lakunle enters the square, he first takes a look at the two women for a while. Then, with contempt in his voice, he concludes that they can only be mad.

“The full moon is not yet, but the women cannot wait. They must go mad without it.”

Sidi and Sadiku stop dancing. They speak for a while. As they are about to resume the dance, Sidi reveals her plans to visit Baroka for his feast and taunt him. Sadiku gives her consent to the suggestion.

On the other hand, a deeply concerned Lakunle tries in vain to persuade her not to go. So she leaves.

With Sidi gone, Lakunle and Sadiku continue to converse. Lakunle speaks of his big dream of modernizing the area and bringing it closer to much-needed civilization.

He will, for example, abolish the bride price.

He’s also got plans to build a motor road through the town in order to bring city ways to the isolated village of Ilujinle.

He then goes on to criticize Sadiku, calling her a bride-collector for Baroka.

The Wrestling Match inside Baroka’s Bedroom

We are now transported straight to Baroka’s bedroom. Baroka is engaged in a wrestling match with his wrestler.

Then Sidi appears out of the blue.

Baroka expresses concern that she is able to come straight to his bedroom without anyone being around to stop her. Then he suddenly remembers the day is Sunday, the new off-duty day for the palace servants.

Baroka laments Lakunle’s role in his servants’ decision to form a so-called “Palace Workers’ Union” which has led to this.

Sidi announces that she has come for the planned supper. She begins to play around with Baroka.

She asks him what the problem is between him and Ailatu his favourite wife. Is Ailatu somehow dissatisfied with her husband now? Annoyed, Baroka brushes this aside saying he has no time to consider his wives’ reasons for being unhappy. This response scares Sidi.

Sidi now changes the line of conversation. She expresses her opinion about who will win the ongoing wrestling match. Baroka responds humbly, complimenting the strength and abilities of the wrestler.

Baroka states that there is a reason the wrestler ought to win. He, Baroka, only fights men who are able to challenge him. For that matter, he wastes no time in changing wrestlers when he learns how to beat them.

It is of utmost significance to note that Baroka draws a close similarity between his relationship with his wrestlers and the one between his wives (and for that matter, women in general) and him. He says he takes new wives when he learns how to tire and retire the old ones.

Sidi cleverly teases Baroka with questions. Is he planning to take another wife? Would Baroka let her marry a man as old as himself assuming he happened to be her father?

Meanwhile, Baroka won the wrestling contest after throwing his wrestler for the second time in a row. He sends his wrestler away, then sits close to Sidi. He then begins to lament over his advancing age.

The Stamp and the Stamp Making Machine

Baroka takes out the magazine and a stamped, addressed envelope. He asks Sidi if she knows what the stamp is.

Her reply shows that she knows. She says it’s a tax on “talking with paper.”

Next, Baroka draws Sidi’s attention to a machine in his bedroom and talks of his plan to use it to print stamps for Ilujinle with Sidi’s face on them.

This must have done the trick on the vain and naive Sidi. Because, instantly, she loses herself in this dream. She is fascinated by all the possibilities of having her image on a stamp to be distributed on envelopes travelling far and wide.

Baroka’s Chance

Baroka, being the crafty fox that he is, smells blood. The Lion seizes the moment and goes on to impress the now-mesmerized Jewel, Sidi, the more.

He lovingly explains to her that it is never true that he hates progress. What he hates is the sameness that comes with progress.

Baroka presses on. He tells Sidi that the two of them are in many ways alike and they fit together perfectly.

Now Sidi begins to wonder if she’s dumb like Lakunle says she is, but Baroka says she’s simply truthful. It is obvious at this stage that Baroka begins to notice he has succeeded in winning Sidi into his confidence.

He insists that the old and the new must embrace each other. By this time, Sidi’s head has helplessly fallen to rest comfortably on Baroka’s shoulder.

The rest is for you to guess. Let’s move on.

Meanwhile, at the marketplace…

Still in the marketplace that night, Lakunle and Sadiku wait for Sidi to return.

In the meantime, a group of mummers passes by. Sadiku asks them if they’ve heard about Baroka.

She steals money from Lakunle’s pocket and pays the mummers. They dance the story of Baroka’s downfall. In the dance performance, they depict Baroka as a comical character. Sadiku herself enters to dance the final “scotching” of Baroka.

PLEASE NOTE

The two instances of dramatic irony here are quite obvious. First, it is clear everyone is believing, erroneously, that Baroka has truly lost his manly powers. And, secondly, these people are not aware of what Baroka has just been doing to Sidi back in his bedroom in the palace. The audience, on the other hand, has some knowledge of the actual facts.

Then all hell breaks loose.

A Wailing Sidi Returns from the Palace

Sidi runs into the market wailing. She refuses to be comforted by Sadiku and Lakunle. Then she announces the bad news. At least, for Lakunle. She says that Baroka has succeeded in playing a trick on them all.

The long and short of the matter is simply this. Sidi is no longer a virgin. Baroka has taken away her virginity. We expect Lakunle to be angry, and he is more than angry. At least, for a moment.

Then an idea occurs to him.

Lakunle still wants to marry Sidi. After all, with Sidi losing her virginity to the crafty old Baroka, Lakunle believes he no longer has to pay the bride price he hates so much.

But Sidi runs away. Lakunle sends Sadiku to go after her to find out what she’s up to.

Sadiku comes back in no time to report the next bad news to Lakunle- arguably the worst of them all. It is this. Sidi is dressing like a bride for marriage.

The irony in this, too, is that Lakunle wrongly takes this to mean Sidi has accepted his marriage proposal and is prematurely getting ready for the ceremony which he is not yet prepared for.

So, a happy but ignorant Lakunle insists that he can’t get married immediately. He wants a few more days to prepare for a proper Christian marriage.

But his happiness is short-lived.

Sidi Invites Lakunle to Her Wedding to Baroka

The dancers and Sidi re-enter the square. Sidi looks resplendent in her attire. She offers Lakunle the magazine and invites him to the wedding. Lakunle, still in the dark, insists that he must be invited since he’s the groom.

Then he gets the shock of his life.

Sidi laughs, telling a visibly bewildered Lakunle she will never be able to marry him. Not after having gone through the electrifying Baroka experience. Baroka may be sixty plus, but he is so full of energy that Lakunle, at his much younger age cannot compare to him. He is probably “ten years dead”.

She turns away from a terribly disappointed Lakunle and asks the musicians to play music while she walks to Baroka’s house.

A young girl dances suggestively at Lakunle, and he chases after her as the marriage procession moves on.

This is the end of the plot summary of The Lion and the Jewel. Next are the themes of the play. Then we will end with the characters and dramatic techniques. CLICK THE NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW.