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The magazines that the stranger brings to Ilujinle feature photographs of the village and its residents, including three full pages showing images of Sidi. While Sidi was the village belle long before the magazine arrived, the magazine becomes the literal source of her power over the course of the play, particularly since it depicts her beauty prominently while insulting Baroka by including only a small picture of him next to a latrine. However, even though the magazine seems to suggest that Sidi is more powerful than Baroka (the village leader), the magazine also turns Sidi into a literal object that can be consumed, used, and distributed by others. The magazine, then, is symbolic of women's existence in Ilujinle; even when women believe they are gaining power, they are still seen as objects to be consumed and controlled by others.
The Magazine Quotes in The Lion and the Jewel
The The Lion and the Jewel quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Magazine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Noon
Quotes
My name is Sidi, and I am beautiful.
The stranger took my beauty
And placed it in my hands.
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Baroka merely seeks to raise his manhood
Above my beauty
He seeks new fame
As the one man who has possessed
The jewel of Ilujinle!
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Night
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I do not hate progress, only its nature
Which makes all roofs and faces look the same.
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A present from Sidi.
I tried to tear it up
But my fingers were too frail.
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The Magazine Symbol Timeline in The Lion and the Jewel
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Magazine appears in The Lion and the Jewel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Morning
...if he brought the images, and one of the girls says that he brought a book that shows pictures of the entire village. Sidi excitedly asks if the girls saw the...
(full context)
One of the girls says that the book surely makes Sidi look beautiful, and that Baroka is still looking at the images. The...
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Sidi asks if Baroka's photo is in the magazine as well, and one of the girls says with contempt that while his image is...
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...more famous than Baroka thanks to the images. She asks how many "leaves" of the magazine her own image occupies and forces Lakunle to count them. When he does, she leaps...
(full context)
...all run away. Baroka, now alone, sits down and takes out his copy of the magazine. He admires the photos of Sidi and says to himself that he hasn't taken a...
(full context)
Noon
...is carrying firewood for her. Sidi is engrossed in the photographs of herself in the magazine. Sadiku, Baroka's first wife, is coming towards them on the road and she startles Sidi....
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...to return to Baroka and tell him that she won't marry him. Sidi opens the magazine and points at the photographs, saying that she never realized before how old Baroka is....
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Sadiku sits down and begins to tickle Baroka's feet. Baroka grabs a magazine from under the bed and opens it to look at the photos of Sidi. With...
(full context)
Night
Later that evening, Sidi stands by the schoolhouse and admires her photographs in the magazine. Sadiku furtively enters the village center with a bundle. She pulls out a carved figure...
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...silly. He says he thinks she's quite mature and wise as he pulls out the magazine and an addressed envelope.
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...them. Sidi loses herself in the daydream and sits down on Baroka's bed, holding the magazine but not looking at it.
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Sidi enters the square, dressed beautifully and carrying a bundle and the magazine. The crowd goes silent in awe of her beauty as she approaches Lakunle and hands...
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