Mirror of desire: Black dramatic representations of the Haitian Revolution

This thesis analyzes three of the plays inspired by the Haitian Revolution and written by black playwrights. The first chapter covers William Edgar Easton's Dessalines, a Dramatic Tale: A Single Chapter from Haiti's History. It discusses Easton's decision to depict Dessalines as a man of faith, a believer, a Christian. The second chapter employs Langston Hughes' play, Troubled Island, to argue Dessalines' modernity. The third play, by Saint Lucian playwright Derek Walcott, is The Haitian Earth. The thesis concludes with a brief discussion of his play and its contribution to black consciousness. I propose that the revolution plays a major role in World History, and argue that the Haitian Revolution served as a looking glass to many African Americans in search of a black identity.