Dreams, Delirium, and Decolonization in Derek Walcott's Dream on Monkey Mountain

Derek Walcott's Dream on Monkey Mountain (1967) places emphasis on the connections between what Walcott terms the “given minds of the principal characters,” their possible madness, and their ambiguous dreams. Walcott takes full advantage of the dramatic form to explore madness and dream, creating a doubled division for his characters and audience between fantasy and reality, madness and sanity. In this essay, This article reads Walcott's choice of the theater, rather than poetry, as necessary in engendering a collective response to, and responsibility for, envisioning a postcolonial West Indian community. It also examines the ways in which the play combines various influences with the representation of dreams and madness to stage visions of Caribbean unity.