The African Woman as a Symbol of her Continent in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel

Abstract

This paper is intended to offer a feminist reading of Wole Soyinka’s play The Lion and the Jewel by showing that its main women figures are constructed as tropes of Africa rather than being depicted as full-fledged individuals. Besides being deprived of self-determining agency, these women act as symbols who represent the traditional cultural values of Africa, and hence they never attempt to subvert the system of patriarchy which is rationalised by these values. Even more so, they are “idealised” by the dramatist so that they can convey his social vision of the African continent during its historical transition from tradition to modernity. More precisely, through their stories the playwright stresses the need of Africans to resist cultural changes that undermine their sense of black identity. Thus, Soyinka’s play confirms the view held by many Postcolonial Feminist critics such as Florence Stratton and Elleke Boehmer who argue that the importance of the African woman in many of the African male-authored texts lies mainly in her ability to represent what her continent represents. In conclusion, the female figures in Soyinka’s play are primarily given a voice as Africans who indict modernity rather than as women subjects who deplore their subordinate position in society.