The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka

Oxford University Press, 1975, softcover, 64 pages, condition: as new.

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.

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.

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian author, best known as a playwright and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty five plays and five memoirs. He also wrote two translated works and many articles and short stories for many newspapers and periodicals. He is widely regarded as one of Africa's greatest writers and one of the world's most important dramatists. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence".