Sidi

Sidi is the central character / protagonist. The plot of the play revolves around who Sidi will choose to marry: either the schoolteacher Lakunle or the village Bale (senior authority figure) Baroka. Sidi’s attitude to who she wishes to marry changes throughout the play. At the start, Sidi is content to marry Lakunle and only holds back from doing so because he refuses the pay the traditional bride-price which men in the village are expected to pay in order to get a wife. Sidi refuses to marry Lakunle unless he pays because she feels it will damage her reputation with the other villagers if he does not.

The characterization of Sidi undergoes a significant shift as a result of the arrival in the village of a magazine brought by the Stranger who visited the village once before and took photographs of Sidi. Whereas Sidi had not previously considered...