20 Wole Soyinka : The Lion and the Jewel

Objective Type Questions

For each of the following questions, four alternatives are given for the answer. Only one of them is correct. Choose the correct alternative.

1. What custom does Lakunle refer to in the above excerpt?
   (a) the seduction of a maiden
   (b) wrestling contests as an exercise
   (c) the practice of polygamy
   (d) the payment of bride price

2. In the light of subsequent happenings, these words reveal that the speaker
   (a) abhors polygamy
   (b) has become impotent
   (c) is a crafty seducer
   (d) is disgusted with life

3. What is the nature of the balm referred to by the speaker?
   (a) an antiseptic ointment
   (b) a special method of massage
   (c) news about Sidi
   (d) a gourd of palm wine

4. The immediate consequence of the publication of Sidi’s picture is to make her :
   (a) want to marry the photographer
   (b) feel more important than Baroka
   (c) want to go to the city
   (d) appreciate Lakunle’s learning

5. What would Lakunle rather prefer to accomplish before child bearing?
   (a) formal education
   (b) good kissing habit
   (c) racial and sexual equality
   (d) church wedding

6. Lakunle is presented as a :
   (a) fine specimen of an educated young man
   (b) truly progressive and enlightened youth
   (c) strong defender of the people’s tradition
   (d) caricature of a modern educated man

7. The central theme of the play is the :
   (a) ills of modern days
   (b) clash between tradition and modernity
   (c) problem of courtship
   (d) conflict between the old and the young

8. In these lines, the ‘rhyming rabble’ refers to :
   (a) clowns who wait on the Bale
   (b) children in Lakunle’s school
   (c) professional singers
   (d) the mummers who dance in mockery of the Bale’s rumoured impotence

9. The two characters that symbolize the lion and the jewel respectively are :
   (a) Lakunle and Sidi
   (b) Baroka and Sadiku
   (c) Sadiku and Sidi
   (d) Baroka and Sidi

10. The Bale is symbolically referred to as a fox because of his
    (a) mental prowess
    (b) sexual prowess
    (c) physical prowess
    (d) royalty

11. Which of the following character traits will apply to Lakunle?
    (a) comic and absurd
    (b) stupid and simplistic
    (c) pompous and spontaneous
    (d) decisive and bold

12. Which of the following divisions is used as a technical device to denote the symbolic significance of certain events ?
    (a) day, morning and afternoon
    (b) morning, noon and night
    (c) morning, evening and midnight
    (d) mid-day, mid-night and morning

13. Wole Soyinka is from :
    (a) Ghana
    (b) Mali
    (c) Nigeria
    (d) Kenya

14. The acts are named according to :
    (a) Months
    (b) Astrological Signs
    (c) Yoruba Deities
    (d) Times of Day

15. Who is the Jewel?
    (a) Sadiku
    (b) Baroka
    (c) The Favorite
    (d) Sidi

16. The stranger is a/an :
    (a) Journalist
    (b) Diplomat
    (c) Politician
    (d) Photographer

17. Sidi is doing what at the beginning of the play?
    (a) Practicing Math
    (b) Looking at the Magazine
    (c) Carrying Water
    (d) Dancing

18. Lakunle wants Sidi
    (a) To be a modern wife
    (b) To be a traditional wife
    (c) To carry the water all the time
    (d) To be sexier

19. Who else is in the magazine photos?
    (a) Sadiku
    (b) Lakunle
    (c) The Bale
    (d) No One

20. What is the primary setting of the play?
    (a) A modern city
    (b) A traditional Nigerian village
    (c) A school
    (d) A marketplace

21. Sidi can best be described as :
    (a) Rude
    (b) Shy
    (c) Smart
    (d) Superficial

22. What is the main impediment to Lakunle marrying Sidi?
    (a) Her Religion
    (b) His Job
    (c) The Bride-Price
    (d) Her Age

23. Lakunle calls Sidi a "____ girl."
    (a) Dumb
    (b) Beastly
    (c) Bush
    (d) Savage

24. Lakunle believes what about women?
    (a) They are less intelligent than men
    (b) They are as strong as men
    (c) They are as intelligent as men
    (d) They should be kept in traditional wifely roles

25. What is the performance about?
    (a) The stranger coming to town
    (b) Colonial rule
    (c) The Bale
    (d) Lakunle's teachings

26. The stranger was known for his :
    (a) Good looks
    (b) Sense of humor
    (c) Drunkenness
    (d) Rude mannerisms

27. How is the Bale described?
    (a) Wiry
    (b) 62 years old
    (c) Goateed
    (d) All of these

28. Who plays Chief Baseje in the performance?
    (a) Baroka
    (b) Himself
    (c) Sidi
    (d) Lakunle

29. Lakunle states that the performance is :
    (a) Insightful
    (b) Too tragic
    (c) Childish nonsense
    (d) Modern and interesting

30. Sidi tells Lakunle that he would have been a good :
    (a) Preacher
    (b) Fortune teller
    (c) Court jester
    (d) Ruler

31. How long has it been since the Bale took a wife?
    (a) 2 Months
    (b) 5 Months
    (c) 8 Months
    (d) 4 Months

32. Sidi's bride-price indicates that she :
    (a) Is free from her family
    (b) Has a wealthy family
    (c) Is a virgin
    (d) Is of marriageable age

33. Lakunle is the embodiment of the :
    (a) Modern
    (b) Authentic
    (c) Traditional
    (d) Masculine

34. What year was the play first performed?
    (a) 1950
    (b) 1959
    (c) 1966
    (d) 1970

35. Which of the following is NOT a theme of the play?
    (a) Tradition and modernity
    (b) Manipulation and trickery
    (c) Money and fame
    (d) Men and women

36. Which character may be an allegory of Nigeria itself?
    (a) Sadiku
    (b) Baroka
    (c) Sidi
    (d) Lakunle

37. Who is the author of The Lion and the Jewel?
    (a) Chinua Achebe
    (b) Wole Soyinka
    (c) Ngugi wa Thiong’o
    (d) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

38. Where is the play set?
    (a) Lagos, Nigeria
    (b) Ilujinle, Nigeria
    (c) Nairobi, Kenya
    (d) Johannesburg, South Africa

39. Who is the village belle in the play?
    (a) Sadiku
    (b) Sidi
    (c) Amope
    (d) Ailatu

40. Which character represents modernity in the play?
    (a) Baroka
    (b) Sadiku
    (c) Sidi
    (d) Lakunle

41. Who is the village chief in The Lion and the Jewel?
    (a) Lakunle
    (b) Baroka
    (c) The Stranger
    (d) Osundare

42. What does Sidi carry that catches Lakunle’s attention at the beginning of the play?
    (a) A book
    (b) A pail of water
    (c) A basket of fruit
    (d) A magazine

43. What symbolizes Sidi’s vanity and beauty?
    (a) Her dance
    (b) Her speech
    (c) Her photographs in a magazine
    (d) Her dress

44. What is Lakunle’s view on the bride-price tradition?
    (a) He supports it fully
    (b) He rejects it as outdated
    (c) He is indifferent to it
    (d) He negotiates it

45. How does Baroka view modernity?
    (a) As something to be fully embraced
    (b) As a threat to tradition
    (c) As useful but should be adapted
    (d) As completely irrelevant

46. What does Sidi do after realizing Baroka has tricked her?
    (a) Leaves the village
    (b) Agrees to marry Baroka
    (c) Confronts Lakunle
    (d) Refuses to marry anyone

47. What is the primary conflict in the play?
    (a) Between Sidi and Sadiku
    (b) Between Baroka and Lakunle
    (c) Between modernity and tradition
    (d) Between Sidi and the Stranger

48. Who is Sadiku?
    (a) Sidi’s sister
    (b) Baroka’s senior wife
    (c) A schoolteacher
    (d) A village elder

49. What does Lakunle teach?
    (a) Dance
    (b) Mathematics
    (c) English
    (d) Science

50. Who manipulates Sidi in the play?
    (a) Lakunle
    (b) Sadiku
    (c) The Stranger
    (d) Baroka

51. What theme does the character of Sidi primarily represent?
    (a) Education
    (b) Femininity and beauty
    (c) Tradition
    (d) Comedy

52. How does the play end?
    (a) With Sidi leaving the village
    (b) With Lakunle and Sidi’s wedding
    (c) With Baroka marrying Sidi
    (d) With a celebration of modernity

53. What does Lakunle want to abolish in the village?
    (a) Dance and song
    (b) The school
    (c) Bride-price tradition
    (d) Traditional clothing

54. What is Baroka’s role in the village?
    (a) A schoolteacher
    (b) A village elder
    (c) The village chief
    (d) A priest

55. Who is attracted to Sidi’s beauty?
    (a) Baroka and Lakunle
    (b) Sadiku and Lakunle
    (c) The Stranger and Baroka
    (d) Lakunle and the Stranger

56. What aspect of modern life does the magazine in the play represent?
    (a) Technology
    (b) Education
    (c) Media and perception
    (d) Urbanization

57. What is Lakunle’s attitude towards village traditions?
    (a) Respectful
    (b) Indifferent
    (c) Critical
    (d) Supportive

58. How does Sidi view her photographs in the magazine?
    (a) As a source of pride
    (b) With indifference
    (c) As embarrassing
    (d) As deceptive

59. What does the play suggest about the fusion of tradition and modernity?
    (a) It is impossible
    (b) It is necessary
    (c) It is undesirable
    (d) It is inevitable

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