How does one interpret Sidi's decision to marry Baroka at the end of the play The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka?

Her decision to marry Baroka is a kind of forgone conclusion. While it is possible to understand it as choosing traditional Yoruba values over Western ideals (and Lakunle), it seems to me she has no real choice. The play really serves to foreground the plight of women in this society. Lakunle's decision not to pay the bride price, for example, is shown to be hollow. He thinks in refusing to do this he is being "progressive," but for Sidi this is a real hardship: she (rightly) sees the money as a kind of personal guarantee for her good treatment after marriage, so Lakunle's choice, far from making her more "free," actually could undermine her position. Even though Baroka is older and has other wives, he understand Sidi in a way that Lakunle never could -- that is, he understands her fundamental lack of choice. Lakunle has little of real value to offer her; Western notions of "freedom" and individuality mean little in comparison to the rank and security the older man can offer.

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