The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka Essay -- Lion Jewel Soyinka Ess

The king of beasts and the grace by Wole SoyinkaThe three main characters in The Lion and the Jewel are called Sidi,Lakunle and Baroka the Bale. Each character has different thoughtsabout one another and each views the society in a different route. Thisessay introduces and describes each character and analyses their rolein the play.Sidi====Sidi is the first character that the audience meets. She is a veryattractive woman, known as the village belle. Her attractivenessinfluences her personality, by make her quite vain. An example ofher vanity is when she receives photos through of her that featured ina global magazine, taken by a western man. The photographs, alsoaffect Sidis perception of Baroka, by making her believe that she isa better person, judging by the picture size difference in themagazine.Sidi is heavily influenced by tradition, which is depict more thanonce throughout the play. The opening scene shows how Lakunle offersto carry Sidis load. Sidi refuses, because it is traditionally thewoman that carries the load and if other battalion saw, then Sidi isafraid that people may start to shun or mock her. The relationshipbetween Lakunle and Sidi is clarified when Sidi asks for a BridePrice. Lakunle is reluctant to give her money and insists that shetake his token of erotic love and loyalty instead. Due to Sidis heavy beliefin tradition, she has to decline his offer and demand the bride money.If she accepts his offer, then her value and status in the village bathroompotentially be diminished.Sidi tries to be quite intelligent by making remarks that counter actanother persons. However, Baroka and Sadiku trick Sidi into marryingBaroka and becoming his youngest wife. Even Sidis... ...n any way (this is true in Sidis case). Barokais an intelligent man and can use his words to fool people. Much likethe railway track story and Sidis case. Baroka uses more words/psychological flirting moves, rather than active moves. In the playSidi comes to Baroka becaus e of the news given to her by Sadiku, notethat Baroka does not physically cause her. He is able to analyse Sidiand her thoughts and then produce an effective seducing tactic.These 3 characters all have similarities and differences. Once we findout these differences, it is easier to see why the characters reply inthe way that they do. We are able to see why Lakunle is an outsider,why Sidi does not like one aspect of Lakunle, and how the Bale finallyseduces Sidi. The Lion gets the Jewel and the outsider is leftstanding there watching for other women ready to go for the bait.