Summary

The Lion and the Jewel tells the story of Sidi, a beautiful young woman living in a remote Nigerian village called Ilujinle in the early 1960s, who must choose whether to marry Lakunle, a forward-thinking but condescending schoolteacher, or Baroka, the powerful and manipulative village chief known as the Bale. The play is divided into three scenes which take place over the course of one day in the village.

The first scene, “Morning”, begins with Sidi carrying a pail of water past the schoolhouse. Lakunle comes outside to chastise Sidi for carrying the pail on her head: he claims that carrying it this way will damage her neck. He criticizes Sidi for the way she is dressed, claiming that it is immodest and will provoke the men of the village to whistle at her and talk about her. Sidi is exasperated by Lakunle’s...