The Question of Power in Monsieur Toussaint and The Tragedy of King Christophe

Abstract

The Question of Power in Monsieur Toussaint and The Tragedy of King Christophe Lisbeth Gant-Britton There is a tempting model close at hand—the colonizer.... The first ambition of the colonized is to become equal to that splendid model and to resemble him to the point of disappearing in him. Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized Two of the most famous plays about Haiti's 1791 indepen­ dence and the years following are Monsieur Toussaint by Edouard Glissant and The Tragedy of King Christophe by Aime Cesaire. Glissant, a leading cultural critic, novelist and playwright from Martinique, and Cesaire, Martinican and founder of the negritude movement, dramatize what Glissant describes as missed oppor­ tunities in postcolonial societies (Caribbean Discourse 87). Written in 1961 and 1963, respectively, at the height of the Third World independence movements from Europe, these dramas serve as stark warnings to African and Caribbean leaders regarding the use and misuse of power. Haitian political scientist, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, explains that this phenomenon occurs when some postcolonial leaders are tempted to imitate the very self-serving colonials whom they ousted. He describes the procurement of wealth and privilege which rightly belongs to the people as the struggle of state against nation (163). Through Glissant's and Cesaire's fictional works, we witness the vitiation of the proud revolutionary ideals of Haiti into a stranglehold of tyrannical statehoods which ultimately victimize the very people they initially sought to liberate. For years, Haiti has attracted the attention of writers and historians throughout the Caribbean, since it was the first island in the region to wrest its independence from European control, as well as being the state with the most notorious reputation for autocratic and exploitative rule by its black leaders like Papa Doc Duvalier and successors such as his son, Baby Doc. This fearsome trend was mitigated somewhat by the more populist-oriented leadership of past presi­ dent Jean-Bertrand Aristide. However, Haiti's struggle to amelio-