Literary Drama and Leadership: A Study of The Sultan’s Dilemma by Twafiq al-Hakim

Abstract

Drama in all its guises presents us routinely with conflicts of interest and moral dilemmas. The choices made at these crucial moments in characters determine the future leadership. It is in this light that this paper offers an introspection into the life of the sultan in The Sultan’s Dilemma authored by Twafiq al-Hakim through the use of psychoanalytic theory which is based on the notion that an individual is motivated more by unseen forces that are controlled by the conscious and rational thought. This paper examines the moral obligation of a just ruler as he is caught in a situation that could easily be solved through the sword rather than going according to custom. The paper submits that drama is a powerful tool that literary artists employ as a 'searchlight' to capture the leadership strains in African society in a bid to restore sanity.