Theory question 104
Set Text: The Lion and the JewelLiterature 2, Section A. Wole Soyinka: The Lion and the Jewel
Discuss the significance of bride price in the play.
Show the model answer
Sidi insists that Lakunle must pay the bride price before she marries him.
To Sidi and Ilujinle, bride price is a mark of respect and honour; a girl married without it is thought worthless, not a virgin, and is mocked.
Lakunle calls it a savage, backward custom, like buying a heifer at the market, and refuses to pay; this reveals his shallow modern ideas (and his meanness).
The quarrel over the bride price keeps the two apart and leaves Sidi open to Baroka.
After Baroka seduces Sidi, Lakunle offers to marry her without bride price, saying she is no longer a virgin; she rejects him and marries Baroka.
Significance: it brings out the conflict between tradition and modernity, the position of women and the characters of Sidi and Lakunle; it shapes the plot and its ending.
Show how the bride price affects plot, character and theme.