What are some messages that the audience takes away from the play The Lion and the Jewel?

Soyinka suggests that maintaining traditional customs is essential in light of colonial development. Baroka, a symbol of traditional Yoruba culture, successfully wins the heart of the village belle, Sidi. His triumph over Lakunle, a symbol of modernity and progress, represents the importance and success of maintaining traditional customs and ways of life in a progressing world. Soyinka also portrays the role of females in traditional African culture. Women are marginalized and viewed as property in the village of Ilujinle, and when they seek to break free of their social restraints, they are unsuccessful. Soyinka also relays the message that the wisdom of the elderly is superior to the knowledge of youth. Baroka uses his wisdom to conduct a plan that works to perfection while Lakunle chooses to criticize traditional culture and loses Sidi. Lakunle's Western ideas are viewed as abnormal and dismissed by the majority of villagers. However, Baroka understands the importance of blending traditional culture with modern ideas. Soyinka is suggesting that progress is not such a negative thing if traditional culture can be incorporated into it. Soyinka also relays several moral messages throughout the play. He suggests that vanity and pride are destructive, and that gossip is misleading. Soyinka also portrays how many individuals are insincere and have ulterior motives.