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Compare and contrast Sidi's feelings about each of her suitors.

At the beginning of the play, Sidi is open to the possibility of marrying Lakunle. She says that she is willing to marry him if he will simply pay the bride-price. Lakunle refuses to pay the bride-price by claiming that it is a savage custom. Sidi is attracted to aspects of Lakunle's personality but essentially tolerates his behavior.She criticizes Lakunle about his affinity for Western culture and questions why they let him run the...

At the beginning of the play, Sidi is open to the possibility of marrying Lakunle. She says that she is willing to marry him if he will simply pay the bride-price. Lakunle refuses to pay the bride-price by claiming that it is a savage custom. Sidi is attracted to aspects of Lakunle's personality but essentially tolerates his behavior. She criticizes Lakunle about his affinity for Western culture and questions why they let him run the school. After Sidi learns that her image is everywhere in a popular magazine, she becomes conceited and tells Lakunle, "In fact, I am not so sure I'll want to wed you now" (Soyinka 12). She begins to view herself as "above" Lakunle and dismisses the possibility of marrying a lowly teacher. Initially, when Sadiku tells Sidi that Baroka requests her hand in marriage, Sidi makes fun of Baroka's old age and rejects his offer. She ridicules the Bale and mentions that she is more famous than him. After finding out that Baroka is impotent, Sidi visits his palace because she wishes to mock him to his face. After he successfully woos her and takes her virginity, Sidi decides to marry the Bale over Lakunle. She mentions that she has felt that strength of "the panther of the trees," and is attracted to Baroka's masculinity. Sidi views Lakunle with contempt and refers to him as a "book-nourished shrimp." By the end of the play, Sidi marries the Bale and ridicules Lakunle.

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