The Tragedy of King Christophe: A Play.

by Aimé Césaire, Ralph Manheim (Translator)

The Tragedy of King Christophe (1963, revised 1970) is recognized as the Martiniquan writer and activist Aime Cesaire’s greatest play. Set in the period of upheaval in Haiti after the assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1806, it follows the historical figure of Henri Christophe, a slave who rose to become a general in Toussaint Louverture’s army. Christophe declared himself king in 1811 and ruled the northern part of Haiti until 1820. Cesaire employs Shakespearean plotting and revels in the inexhaustible possibilities of language to convey the tragedy of Christophe’s transformation from a charismatic leader sensitive to the oppression of his people to an oppressor himself. Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney’s nimble, accurate translation includes an introduction and explanatory notes to guide students, scholars, and general readers alike.

Genres: Plays, France, Theatre, Classics, French Literature, School, Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Martinique-born poet, playwright, and politician Aimé Fernand Césaire contributed to the development of the concept of negritude; his primarily surrealist works include The Miracle Weapons (1946) and A Tempest (1969).

A francophone author of African descent. His books of include Lost Body, with illustrations by Pablo Picasso, Aimé Césaire: The Collected Poetry, and Return to My Native Land. He is also the author of Discourse on Colonialism, a book of essays which has become a classic text of French political literature and helped establish the literary and ideological movement Negritude, a term Césaire defined as “the simple recognition of the fact that one is black, the acceptance of this fact and of our destiny as blacks, of our history and culture.” Césaire is a recipient of the International Nâzim Hikmet Poetry Award, the second winner in its history. He served as Mayor of Fort-de-France as a member of the Communist Party, and later quit the party to establish his Martinique Independent Revolution Party. He was deeply involved in the struggle for French West Indian rights and served as the deputy to the French National Assembly. He retired from politics in 1993. Césaire died in Martinique.

Reviews

[Roxane · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the Haitian revolution (1791-1804) which freed the island from French domination and put an end to slavery, Jean-Jacques Dessalines comes into power and rules as a despot. When he is murdered in 1806, the country is split in two: President Pétion rules over the South while Henri Christophe, proclaimed King Henry I, rules over the North.

The play tells the story of Christophe, from his accession to the throne to his death. It tells the story of men who freed their country from slavery and ended up turning into tyrants themselves. It's a very strong and poignant tragedy about decolonization which makes a point of highlighting the ridicule of Christophe's court which only aims at imitating the courts of Europe in search of legitimacy. It's a carefully constructed and written piece of work. Some images and phrases hold a very poetic note to them and sometimes you can't help but laugh out loud though you realize how sad the whole situation actually is. You fight for your freedom, you obtain it, you manage to keep it but what then? How are you to break the circle when you only have one model of governing to choose from?

A short read, a profound reflection. A must read for all those interested in issues of race and colonialism.

Brief note: I think the play deserved a proper introduction which gave a bit more context to the story but also to the place the story held in Césaire's work instead of the long and vague back cover it got.

[Yass .O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update je l’ai recommencé histoire de bien comprendre, (j’ai trop bien fait) du coup j’ai bcp aimé la lecture c’était sympa

[Camille Brn · Rating 4 out of 5]

depressing

[kreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

who’s the chicken and who’s the king????? you decide!

[Lixou is reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

très poétique mais parfois j'ai pas la réf
Ça donne envie d'explorer davantage l'œuvre de Césaire

[Khrys · Rating 2 out of 5]

History at its best and worst!

[Zoe Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The verbal texture in this play is so rich, varied, original. It beautifully trespasses on history with something that combines myth, religions and superstitions, notions of a far off glorified fecund monarchical Africa difficult to imagine in an ex French colony. Césaire explores the harmful patterns we inherit, the universality of power’s allure, the desperation to speed up the process of rebuilding a society devastated (and which continues to be devastated) by the impact of colonialism. Christophe is a tragic hero who really does abhor the spit of his white oppressors, though his refusal to accept that he has inflicted the same sweat and labour on his own people damns him. The comic commingles in this play with lightning strikes of tragedy, and song breaks through many times as Césaire reimagines what the chorus can do, how to express the collective suffering of a civilisation reduced to rubble. Césaire harks back to Shakespeare, and to his classical predecessors with a heavy corpse the final image of the play. Christophe’s fragmented language mirrors Othello’s, and his inability to cope with unjustified jealousy (this time aimed at a white colonial power, not a white woman) are just as tragic. The beauty of Africa before it’s corruption by the West is palpable as a pipe dream, as an unreal mirage reflected in the increasingly unreal form of this play that eventually drifts into hallucination. This is a play about coming to terms with the awfulness of history, it’s implacable intrusion on the present, and the exhaustion of those who, doomed to recreate it, try desperately to resist it anyway.

[Marie-Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'aurais tellement voulu aimer! Malheureusement pour moi ça été plutôt un flop. Je trouve que Césaire s'est perdu dans ses idées. J'ai vraiment dû me pousser pour terminer la lecture, et je crois que Kourouma a soulevé les mêmes points mais de façon beaucoup plus virtuose dans les Soleils des Indépendances. Probablement que la représentation théâtrale permettait à la pièce d'être plus intéressante et artistique, mais la lecture est vraiment aride. J'ai manqué d'intéret pour la forme, mais j'admire l'idée de représenter un pays qui tente de se redéfinir.

[A YOGAM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein dramatischer Ausbruch aus dem theoretischen Suhrkamp-Einheitsgrau, der die postkoloniale Tragödie Haitis mit shakespearescher Wucht auf die Bühne bringt. Césaire zeigt, wie der Traum schwarzer Befreiung an der Hybris der Macht und den Fesseln der Geschichte zerbrechen kann. Es ist ein Buch, das nicht analysiert, sondern schreit und singt – ein notwendiger, feuriger Kontrapunkt zur kühlen Vernunft der anderen Bände. Dass ich dieses Stück Weltliteratur am 25.3.1997 für läppische 30 Francs erwarb, ist fast ironisch: ein königliches Drama zum Preis eines bürgerlichen Mittagessens.

[Camille Carrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

une pièce de théâtre très intéressante qui traite de sujets qui me sont inconnus mais qui pourtant ne manque pas d’importance. j’aurais peut-être eu besoin d’un peu plus de contexte pour parfaitement saisir la pièce, sans compter que beaucoup de ce langage me reste étranger… je ne suis pas certaine d’avoir tout compris. c’était en tout cas très sympa à lire même si j’aurais souhaité que la pièce aille plus loin dans les enjeux politiques, et les répercussions réelles sur le peuple

[Matías Pérez Ojeda Del Arco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cesaire con una poesía elaborada y a veces satírica, cómica, narra sobre la historia de Haití, y de Africa, de esos tiempos post independencias, de la post esclavitud. También de la nobleza rimbombante, los diálogos, el delirio por quienes compiten por el poder que fue quitado a los colonos, los tratos a la gente del campo...

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le personnage principal, Henri Christophe est un passionné. Sa passion étant exagérée et pas partagée de tous: vu sous le même angle, le conduira a sa mort. Mais, l'histoire retient la leçon.

Aimé Césaire nous a laissé là un beau cadeau. Un trésor pour l'Afrique.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me so long to finish this. Got bored mainly because of the writing. Glad to be done with it. Not horrible though.

[Leslivresdedune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Texte intéressant et riche en potentiels commentaires.

[Anabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 étoiles

*lu pour l'université*

Un personnage grandiose, ambigu
Et toute la poésie de Césaire

[Eli Haupt]

Thirty THOUSAND vocab words to study

[aliyah overturf · Rating 3 out of 5]

quick and meh read

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

incroyablement intéressant et nécessaire mais attention à avoir le contexte politique sinon .... compliqué 🧍🏻‍♀️

[Laura Munier · Rating 3 out of 5]

À relire une seconde fois pour mieux comprendre cette lecture.

[xellimaac · Rating 2 out of 5]

je pense que j'ai pas tt compris

[Dusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It makes sense -- I think -- that Césaire would write about Haiti's King Henri Christophe's imitative reign by imitating Shakespeare's Macbeth. Christophe & Macbeth: Both are ambitious. Both cut the throats of even their closest friends when their own designs are potentially threatened. And both are destined to madness and bloody ends. I appreciated the author's witty and continued references to Christophe's past as an acclaimed cook (more Mrs. Lovett, of course, than the mouse in Ratatouille) and what I assume is a deliberate characterization of Christophe as obsessed with phallus-like objects -- the most famous being the lavish Citadel in which he is eventually encased. A good counterpoint to Carpentier's Reino de este mundo and other literary representations of Haiti's butcher king.

[Jana Tetzlaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have no idea what you're in for when you start on this play. Almost grotesque at times, definitely satirical....and soo tragic. The plot is focused on the developments in Haiti after its independence. Disillusionment is one of the big themes of the play. I cried bitter tears for Toussaint Louverture whom I'd never even heard of before (yep, ignorant me).

It's politics, histrory, myth...all combined. Madame Christophe was even more memorable than Henri Christophe.

I'm usually not a big fan of reading plays, but this is one of the few that I really, really enjoyed.

[scott noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡una obra de teatro increible! cesaire really takes the ruling of King Chrisophe and shows exactly what a parody the reality of his ruling was. if you don't know much about haiti and how screwed up the french left such a place, you should definitely read this book. and who better to put it into perspective than aimé césaire.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Césaire's take on Henri Christophe's disastrous time as ruler of Haiti. As is to be expected of Césaire, he does not hold back is his critique of Christophe's authoritarian policies and his bumbling fetishization of Western royal pomp.

[Einschrein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the author, play was ok.

[stuti · Rating 2 out of 5]

read the english translation, i preferred kingdom of this world, i found this one a bit too obvious.

[rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

at least it made more sense than omeros