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This play is one of Soyinka\'s most popular. Despite occasional uses of unconventional devices, it is readily accessible and highly entertaining. Like Death and the King\'s Horseman, a much more serious work, it explores the value of traditional Yoruba ways vs. European innovations. Some modern readers object to its treatment of women and find the humor spoiled by the sexism. What is your reaction?
Morning
The play is set in the village of Ilujinle. Note Lakunle\'s age. Despite his behavior on occasion, he is essentially a lively young man. He tries to emulate European notions of courtesy by relieving Sidi of her burden, though carrying water is traditionally a women\'s task. His flirtatious opening speech may seem rather crude, but is typical of the kind of jesting that goes on in courtship. Sidi is not so much shocked as bored by Lakunle.
How does Sidi cleverly answer his insistence that she should abandon the traditional way of carrying loads on her head? Note the contrast between the ideas that Lakunle has derived from books about women\'s weakness and Sidi\'s answers based on experience. Baroka, the Bale (chief) of the village is a major character later in the play, here introduced as standing for tradition.
\"A prophet has honour except/in his own home:\" Jesus says this when his family and acquaintances in his home town of Nazareth reject his teachings (Mark 6:4). When Lakunle proposes to Sidi he is quoting words he has read in popular English books about marriage. Note that his pretentious metaphors are answered by her pithy proverb. \"Bush\" means \"uncivilized,\" typical of people who live in the bush.
Their relationship is clarified when Sidi says she wants a bride-price. It is not that she lacks affection for Lakunle--what has passed before has been essentially good-natured sparring on her part. But she insists on the tradition which will prove her value in the eyes of the village. Lakunle, in his \"Pulpit-declamatory\" style, quotes to her lines from the wedding service which are in turn quoted from Genesis 2:24. Why does Lakunle mention \"breakable\" plates? \"Stretched\" hair is a form of straightening of naturally kinky African hair. What is Sidi\'s reaction to kissing?
Why is Sidi eager to see the stranger\'s book? Notice how the conflict in the play which has been between Lakunle and Sidi is now complicated by the tension between Sidi and Baroka. How do you react to Sidi\'s celebration of her own beauty?
The dance of the lost Traveler draws on Yoruba tradition and that of many other African peoples. Current events are often depicted and commented upon in dances involving costumes and pantomime. It is this sort of \"street theater\" which Soyinka sees as providing fertile ground for the development of drama in Africa. One of the problems with reading a play rather than seeing it performed, is that one skims quickly over what would be a very impressive high point in the production, with dancing and drumming building to a climax. Imagine this \"dance\" taking quite a long time and having much more dramatic impact than anything that has gone before. Note that Lakunle finally enters into the dance with enthusiasm. Despite his modern pretensions, he is underneath not so alien to Sidi and her comrades as one might at first suppose. The stranger had been photographing Sidi while she was bathing, and she quickly grabbed up her clothes to cover herself when she saw him.
Baroka gives Lakunle the traditional greeting and is displeased to get a European one in return. Far from being displeased by the dance, he insists on it being continued, playing the role he played in the original incident. When he tells Lakunle \"You tried to steal our village maidenhead\" he is speaking to the character Lakunle is playing, not the villager himself. He is telling him to go on acting. Why is it significant that Lakunle has been given the part of the stranger?
Noon
\"The Lion\" is Baroka\'s nickname. It is common in many cultures for men to use elderly women as go-betweens to solicit a new bride. What is Sadiku\'s special status? Ruth, Rachel, Esther, and Bathsheba were all women extravagantly loved by men in the Bible, a book which is quite alien to Sidi. What do you think of the fact that Sidi seems to have learned that she is beautiful through the magazine photographs? How do the magazine photographs affect Sidi\'s perception of Baroka? The storm god Sango (often spelled \"Shango\" or \"Xango\" is a West African deity, the only one to have survived the slave trade to the western hemisphere, where his name is invoked in such places as Bahia and Haiti, where African traditions linger on among the black inhabitants. Of what quality does Lakunle accuse Baroka?
Laukunle\'s story is told through pantomime, in the form of another dance. Again it is important not to skip quickly over this passage, but to attempt to imagine it vividly enacted on stage. A matchet is a large knife used for clearing brush, machete in Spanish. Note how the Bale is worked into this \"flashback.\" A bull-roarer is a carved piece of wood or stone which is whiled at the end of a long cord to produce a mysterious roaring sound, part of the religious traditions of many cultures. What do you think Lakunle\'s attitude is toward Baroka\'s success in diverting the railroad?
The removal of body hair is a feature of many cultures, not--as is often supposed--of western ones alone. How can we tell that Baroka is confident of his ability to seduce Sidi? \"Wroth\" means wrathful, angry.
Night
Sadiku\'s glee at Baroka\'s impotence may be partly based on resentment at having been long abandoned by him as a lover; but there seems generally to be a tension between the Bale and his wives which roots his dominance over them in his sexual potency. Her story of the rusted key which could not open her treasure house is an obvious sexual metaphor. However, based on what we have just seen, she knows of his impotence only through what he has told her, not by first-hand experience as she claimed. Note the insistence on the power of women\'s rituals, from which men are banned. Note Sidi\'s glee in desiring to torment Baroka. What are the main features of Lakunle\'s vision of \"progress?\"
The wrestling match in Baroka\'s bedroom is of course a metaphor for the power struggle about to take place between himself and Sidi. What excuse does Baroka give for there being no servants about? Throughout this scene the Bale tries to throw Sidi off her balance by pretending not to know why she has come. To what extent does he succeed? \"Christians on my Fathers\' shrines\" is a general curse. I have no idea what this saying means: \"The woman gets lost in the woods one day/And every wood deity dies the next.\" Can you explain it?
To \"pull asses\' ears\" is to mockingly put one\'s fingers behind one\'s head to imitate a donkey\'s ears. How does Sidi mock Baroka in her conversation with him? It is suggested that a\" tanfiri\" may be an aphrodisiac. What metaphor does she use to satirize his pursuit of young women? The \"tappers\" are palm-wine tappers. How does Baroka manage to keep throwing Sidi off balance in their conversation. In his description of Sadiku\'s activities as match-maker he quotes her typical line of chat. Sidi\'s respectful words in boasting of her traditional garment cause Baroka to call her \"wise.\"
Several small African nations make a large part of their national income by selling beautiful stamps to collectors abroad. It is not then too surprising that the Bale should view stamp sales as a major source of revenue. What is it the Bale says he dislikes about progress? How can you tell that Sidi is being bewildered by Baroka? According to a parable of Jesus (Mark 2:22), new wine should not be put into old \"bottles\" (wineskins) which have already been stretched out and may burst when the new wine begins to ferment. Why do you think Sidi is \"overcome\" by Baroka\'s words? What appeals to her in what he has said?
The third pantomime ironically depicts the triumph of women over a man just as the Bale is triumphing over a woman. Lakunle\'s description of the Bale\'s dungeons is probably a paranoid fantasy. \"Mummers\" are dancers who pantomime stories. Lakunle is expected to tip the mummers, like other people; but in this he adheres to the pattern established by his refusal to pay a bride price. He clings to modernism as an excuse for saving money, though the following description makes clear that he actually enjoys the performance.
A duiker is a small antelope which leaps high in the air. Why is Sidi angry with Baroka? Because she has been seduced or because she has been deceived? What does she stress in her words? Lankunle reacts with stereotypically heroic words of despair, but when he hears himself utter them, he recoils and changes metaphors. What is going on here? What is his reaction to Sidi\'s loss of her virginity? What are his motives? A \"praise-singer\" is a traditional poet-bard, often known as a griot , who sings the praises of whoever hires him. What is Lakunle\'s reaction to Sidi\'s seeming acceptance of his proposal? Can you explain his reaction?
Can you explain Sidi\'s decision? How can we tell that Lakunle is hardly broken-hearted? Is this a story about rape? About seduction? What do you think its significance is?
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