When the villagers rush off to find the foreigner, the Bale takes out the magazine of Sidi’s pictures and comments that it has been a while since he has taken a wife. The villagers reenact the foreigner’s previous arrival with song and dance, and the Bale himself appears and takes part. He has returned with a magazine containing her pictures. The foreigner is a drunkard from Lagos who took pictures of Sidi and swore to make her famous. The two are soon interrupted by villagers who have come to bring Sidi the news that the foreigner has returned to Ilujinle. Lakunle refuses to pay the bride-price because he views this marriage practice as primitive. Sidi dismisses Lakunle’s taunts and his entreaties for marriage, reminding him that he is the village idiot and that he will not pay the bride-price she has asked. Lakunle rushes to her side one morning and explains to a bewildered and annoyed Sidi why she should act more like the “new women” in Lagos, meaning that she should shrug off her traditional roles and become modernized. The first act, “Morning,” introduces Sidi as the beautiful village belle. Baroka’s cunning is pitted against Lakunle’s modernized wooing to see what Sidi will choose: a modern life as a “new woman” or a traditional role as the Bale’s head wife. Lakunle describes him as a “fox,” a sneaky individual who uses cunning to bring about a desired end.
Baroka is old and wise, though a womanizer and untrustworthy. Baroka is known as the Bale of Ilujinle, the village chief, and is the “lion” of the play’s title. Though Lakunle has asked Sidi to marry him, she has refused him once already. Lakunle is considered the village idiot because of his fancy words and the way he carries himself. Lakunle is a schoolmaster who, though also young, dresses and acts like an “old soul.” Lakunle has adopted the dress and speech patterns of Western countries, and believes that the only way for their village of Ilujinle to progress is to modernize, like Lagos and other “forward-thinking” places. Sidi is pursued as a marriage prospect by the other two main characters, Lakunle and Baroka.
Sidi is a young, beautiful village girl who is known as the “village belle.” She is the “jewel” referenced in the play’s title. The play’s three main characters are Sidi, Lakunle and Baroka.
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