The Lion and the Jewel

Drama | Wole Soyinka
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Write a short note on Bride Price. 

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Write a short note on Bride Price. 

Bride Price is money or gifts a groom pays to the bride/bride’s family to marry her. It is an important tradition in the village of Ilujinle, where Soyinka’s play “The Lion and the Jewel” (1959) is set. This custom causes conflict in the play.

In the play, two people want to marry Sidi, the village beauty. One of them is Lakunle, a young schoolteacher. Lakunle hates old customs. He loves Sidi but refuses to pay her bride price. He calls it “savage” and thinks it treats women like property. Lakunle thinks paying bride-price for a wife is like buying a cow from the village market. Lakunle says:

“To pay the price would be

To buy a heifer off the market stall.”

But Sidi disagrees. She feels the bride price gives her respect and value. If Lakunl
e does not pay, people might mock her as “cheap” or “worthless.”

Another man who wants to marry Sidi is the village chief Baroka. Baroka is cunning. He uses tradition/village customs to his benefit. Though he has many wives, he wants Sidi too. Baroka tricks Sidi and rapes her. It creates a situation where she agrees to marry him. For Baroka, the bride price is not just a payment—it is a way to show power and keep his status as a leader.

Wole Soyinka uses Bride Price in the play to show the conflict between tradition and modernization. Bride Price gives women value in society but also limits their freedom—as they are treated as property (which we can buy) rather than individuals. In Ilujinle, women are treated as property.

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Wole Soyinka
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from The Lion and the Jewel