A Study of Wole Soyinka’s play The Lion and the Jewel from the Feminist and the Postcolonial Point of View

Abstract

The following study shows how Wole Soyinka emphasizes in The Lion and the Jewel the theme of corrupt African culture, more particularly the Nigerian culture; and the rapid colonization of their native land. It aims to throw a light on the play from feminist and post-colonial points of view. It shows how the females in Ilujinle are treated just like commodities to satisfy the need of the males in parallel with how rapidly the Nigerian village, here the Yoruba village of Ilujinley, goes under the colonial rule of the Western people. The study will further throw a light on how their traditional beliefs contradict with those of the Western people. Also, the evangelization of the inhabitants of Ilujinle is evident in the play. Underdeveloped nations have dependably been appealing for the Europeans and for the Americans, apparently because of their lack of the ‘precious’ touch of modern civilization; but in that process, ironically showing their bounteous assets to be misused, which have added to the welfare of the First World nations. Colonization has brought about osmosis of the general population in the Third World nations; while the dark male centric framework has discovered another definition through whitish lifestyle; ladies have experienced both expansionism and the new male centric framework, which is the reason they have been overpowered twice as much as the white working class ladies in Europe and in the USA. In the light of these contentions, this article intends to break down Wole Soyinka's play, The Lion and the Jewel, with reference to Third World woman's rights, which is a brutal challenge against the pilgrim political structure on the immature nations. Truly, Soyinka has been dubious about both the colonizers and the colonized individuals in the Third World nations since he trusts that while the colonizers are at risk to profit by the virgin and affluent wellsprings of the colonized regions, the colonized are entangled in their fantasies of the controls of welfare, modernization and the Westernization forms, which are accepted to have been brought by the colonizers who claim to be benevolent. At the surface level, the play, being a comedy, is merely about a fight between Baroka and Lakunle to win the titular Jewel, Sid. But underneath the surface, as the play progresses, these themes begin to unfold subtly and steadily, which will be explored further throughout this article.