Wole Soyinka – The Lion and the Jewel – Exam Based MCQs
1. The Lion and the Jewel is written by: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Chinua Achebe
B) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
C) Wole Soyinka
D) Ama Ata Aidoo
Ans: C) Wole Soyinka
2. The play was first performed in: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) 1959
B) 1945
C) 1966
D) 1973
Ans: A) 1959
3. The play was published in: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) 1957
B) 1960
C) 1975
D) 1963
Ans: D) 1963
4. The setting of the play is a Yoruba village called: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Umuofia
B) Ilujinle
C) Malgudi
D) Abeokuta
Ans: B) Ilujinle
5. The “Lion” in the title refers to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Lakunle
B) The photographer
C) Baroka
D) Sadiku
Ans: C) Baroka
6. The “Jewel” in the title refers to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Sidi
B) Sadiku
C) Ailatu
D) A teacher
Ans: A) Sidi
7. Lakunle is portrayed as a: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Village chief
B) Market drummer
C) Palm-wine tapper
D) Western-educated schoolteacher
Ans: D) Western-educated schoolteacher
8. The central conflict of the play mainly represents: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) War vs peace
B) Tradition vs modernity
C) City vs village economy
D) Science vs religion
Ans: B) Tradition vs modernity
9. The play is structured into three parts: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Act I–II–III
B) Dawn–Dusk–Midnight
C) Morning–Noon–Night
D) Spring–Summer–Winter
Ans: C) Morning–Noon–Night
10. Sidi becomes proud mainly because of: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Her photographs in a magazine
B) Winning a dance contest abroad
C) Becoming headmistress
D) Receiving a gold crown
Ans: A) Her photographs in a magazine
11. Lakunle refuses to pay the bride-price because he calls it: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) A festival gift
B) A royal tax
C) A farming loan
D) A “barbaric” custom / purchase of a woman
Ans: D) A “barbaric” custom / purchase of a woman
12. Baroka is the: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) District judge
B) Bale (village chief)
C) Church priest
D) Railway engineer
Ans: B) Bale (village chief)
13. Sadiku is best described as: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Lakunle’s sister
B) A Lagos journalist
C) Baroka’s senior wife and matchmaker
D) Village nurse
Ans: C) Baroka’s senior wife and matchmaker
14. A major comic technique used in the play is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Dance, mime, and song (festival-like performance)
B) Silent film montage only
C) Detective narration
D) Epic war scenes
Ans: A) Dance, mime, and song (festival-like performance)
15. Baroka stops the railway from passing through the village mainly by: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Leading a court case
B) Writing a newspaper editorial
C) Organizing a student strike
D) Using cunning/bribery to divert the route
Ans: D) Using cunning/bribery to divert the route
16. Sidi initially refuses Baroka because he is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Too poor
B) Too old and “spent”
C) Not from Yoruba culture
D) A stranger from Europe
Ans: B) Too old and “spent”
17. Lakunle symbolizes: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Ancient kingship only
B) Tribal warfare
C) Westernization and shallow modern ideas
D) Pure spirituality
Ans: C) Westernization and shallow modern ideas
18. Baroka is also shown as: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Cunning and politically shrewd
B) Completely foolish
C) A strict democrat
D) A timid hermit
Ans: A) Cunning and politically shrewd
19. The magazine in the play comes from: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) London
B) Paris
C) Ibadan market
D) Lagos (via a visiting photographer/journalist)
Ans: D) Lagos (via a visiting photographer/journalist)
20. The play is best described as a: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Tragedy
B) Comedy / satirical comedy
C) Epic romance
D) Gothic horror
Ans: B) Comedy / satirical comedy
21. The “Dance of the Lost Traveller” in the play mainly: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Teaches arithmetic
B) Describes a war battle
C) Re-enacts the stranger’s visit and Sidi’s rise in fame
D) Explains Christian wedding rituals
Ans: C) Re-enacts the stranger’s visit and Sidi’s rise in fame
22. Sadiku wrongly believes Baroka is weak/impotent because: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Baroka tricks her with a false confession
B) Lakunle proves it medically
C) Sidi announces it publicly first
D) The priest declares it
Ans: A) Baroka tricks her with a false confession
23. Sidi finally goes to Baroka’s place mainly because she: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Wants a Christian wedding
B) Is forced by Lakunle
C) Wants to become a teacher
D) Wants to confirm/celebrate Baroka’s supposed impotence and mock him
Ans: D) Wants to confirm/celebrate Baroka’s supposed impotence and mock him
24. The ending of the play shows that Sidi: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Marries Lakunle
B) Marries Baroka
C) Leaves for London
D) Becomes village chief
Ans: B) Marries Baroka
25. Lakunle’s English and “modern” speeches are mainly used to: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Make him heroic
B) Show him as a wise elder
C) Satirize shallow imitation of Western culture
D) Prove he is Baroka’s son
Ans: C) Satirize shallow imitation of Western culture
26. Sadiku is often comic because she: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Is easily fooled yet proudly celebrates victory too early
B) Never speaks in the play
C) Is a strict judge
D) Is a foreign tourist
Ans: A) Is easily fooled yet proudly celebrates victory too early
27. Baroka’s plan to win Sidi shows his: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Cowardice
B) Complete innocence
C) Lack of intelligence
D) Strategic manipulation and experience
Ans: D) Strategic manipulation and experience
28. Sidi rejects Lakunle at the end mainly because: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Lakunle offers too much bride-price
B) Lakunle refuses bride-price and insults traditions
C) Lakunle becomes village chief
D) Lakunle goes to prison
Ans: B) Lakunle refuses bride-price and insults traditions
29. The play’s action takes place within: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) One month
B) One year
C) One day
D) Ten years
Ans: C) One day
30. A major theme in the play is the danger of: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Pride/vanity (especially Sidi’s)
B) Space travel
C) Pure fate without choice
D) Industrial pollution
Ans: A) Pride/vanity (especially Sidi’s)
31. Baroka is often called “Lion” mainly because he is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) A hunter by job
B) A soldier in a war
C) A zoo keeper
D) Powerful and dominant as village chief
Ans: D) Powerful and dominant as village chief
32. The play satirizes Lakunle’s idea of “progress” as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Deeply practical
B) Imitative, bookish, and unrealistic
C) Spiritually profound
D) Completely absent
Ans: B) Imitative, bookish, and unrealistic
33. Baroka’s palace scene often shows his: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Fear of women
B) Desire to leave the village
C) Private power and control within tradition
D) Love for democracy
Ans: C) Private power and control within tradition
34. The play uses the village square/market mostly as: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) A social stage where tradition and change clash
B) A battlefield camp
C) A courtroom only
D) A hospital ward
Ans: A) A social stage where tradition and change clash
35. Sidi’s decision at the end suggests that: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Modernity always wins
B) Education is useless
C) Bride-price is illegal
D) Tradition can still overpower “modern” claims in the village
Ans: D) Tradition can still overpower “modern” claims in the village
36. The best description of Sidi is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) A calm, selfless saint
B) Beautiful, proud, and ambitious
C) A foreign diplomat
D) A village prophet
Ans: B) Beautiful, proud, and ambitious
37. The play is commonly taught under: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) American Transcendentalism
B) British Victorian Poetry
C) African / Postcolonial Drama
D) Greek Tragedy only
Ans: C) African / Postcolonial Drama
38. The comedic ending mainly leaves Lakunle: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Humiliated and left out of the marriage celebration
B) Crowned as Bale
C) Married to Sidi
D) Sent to Lagos
Ans: A) Humiliated and left out of the marriage celebration
39. The play’s title is symbolic of a contest between: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Two kings
B) Two soldiers
C) Two cities
D) A powerful older chief and a prized young beauty
Ans: D) A powerful older chief and a prized young beauty
40. Baroka’s victory over Lakunle is mainly due to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Physical strength alone
B) Strategy, experience, and knowledge of human weakness
C) Police force
D) Court order
Ans: B) Strategy, experience, and knowledge of human weakness
41. The play’s language and performance style reflect: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Purely Latin rituals
B) Only courtroom English
C) Yoruba cultural forms blended with drama
D) Only modern American slang
Ans: C) Yoruba cultural forms blended with drama
42. The “Lost Traveller” is important mainly because: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) He publicizes Sidi through photographs
B) He becomes Bale
C) He marries Sadiku
D) He builds the railway
Ans: A) He publicizes Sidi through photographs
43. Sidi’s “fame” mostly increases her: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Humility
B) Fear
C) Silence
D) Vanity and self-importance
Ans: D) Vanity and self-importance
44. Which statement is TRUE about the play? (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) It is a tragedy ending in death
B) It ends with Sidi marrying Baroka
C) It is set in London
D) Lakunle becomes chief
Ans: B) It ends with Sidi marrying Baroka
45. The play’s primary setting is in: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) France
B) India
C) Nigeria (Yoruba region)
D) South Africa
Ans: C) Nigeria (Yoruba region)
46. Lakunle’s clothing and mannerisms mainly suggest: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) Imitation of Western fashion and superiority complex
B) Warrior discipline
C) Farmer simplicity
D) Priesthood
Ans: A) Imitation of Western fashion and superiority complex
47. Sadiku’s main function in the plot is to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Teach Lakunle English
B) Build a railway
C) Stop Baroka’s marriage plans
D) Carry Baroka’s messages and set the “trap” in motion
Ans: D) Carry Baroka’s messages and set the “trap” in motion
48. The most suitable theme for exam answer is: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Space and time travel
B) Clash of tradition and modernity in a colonial/postcolonial society
C) Medieval chivalry
D) Romantic tragedy of kings
Ans: B) Clash of tradition and modernity in a colonial/postcolonial society
49. Baroka ultimately wins Sidi mainly by: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Paying Lakunle to leave
B) Going to court
C) Exploiting her pride and using deception
D) Becoming a teacher
Ans: C) Exploiting her pride and using deception
50. The play is most commonly classified as: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) A satirical comedy in African drama
B) A detective thriller
C) An epic romance poem
D) A modernist novel
Ans: A) A satirical comedy in African drama
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