Analysis of The Tragedy of King Christophe

Extract

[...] A law that hardens As anger is already being heard by the peasants, Christophe takes the decision to harden his law. He adds more work to them and threatens them. The stage directions from this moment on show that the tension is rising: 'the voice between two drum rolls, grows more and more until obsession' (lines 60 and 61). As the frame was previously paradisiacal, with the drum and the growing voice, we can feel the tension increasing, it becomes almost palpable. [...]

[...] The expression "compé" (line 10, 15?31) is, for example, repeated many times in the excerpt. The two peasants address each other in this way. This allows the text to have a bit more verisimilitude. We have the impression of reading a real conversation between two Haitian peasants using their languages. We can see the same thing with the vocabulary. The word "cocomaque" is, for example, repeated twice. Thus, the peasants who debate politics with a familiar vocabulary give the text a comical effect, contrasting with the seriousness of the proclamation. [...]

[...] Their condition, despite the decolonization, has remained the same. They work under threat. A recurring violence During the excerpt, we can see that the life of the Haitian peasants and people is directed under the constant threat of King Christophe's policy. Through the excerpt, we can see that the peasants use many pejorative verbs to speak of Christophe's actions: 'they stuff it down your throat' (line 21 and 22) or 'they fall on you' (line 48). We can see from this that every action of Christophe is negative. [...]

[...] Indeed, we can see through the excerpt the opposition between very distinct groups. The first is at the level of color: white against black, colonizer against colonized. We can see this opposition in the reply of the second peasant: "we have thrown the Whites back into the sea" (line 27). This reply shows that there are indeed two worlds: the Whites who must be "rejected" by the blacks. We can even notice that the name "Whites" is presented here as a proper noun. [...]

[...] The beginning of the play certainly foreshadows a comedic work thanks to a first act that is more parodic than serious, but the beginning of the second act reveals the tragic turn that the story will take. The title itself leaves no doubt, we are indeed at the heart of a tragic work. This choice for tragedy is guided by the tragic fate of the Haitian people who suffer violence, powerlessness and difficulty in the face of the impossibility of being completely free. They are condemned, like a tragic hero, to fight without hope and without end. And indeed, we can see that the play concludes well with the people's revolt and the death of Christophe. [...]