The quest for freedom in Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s Al-Sultan Al-ha'ir (The Sultan Dilemma)‎ and David Henry Hwang’s golden child

الملخص EN

Abstract: The aim of the study is to discuss Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s and David Henry Hwang’s peculiar approaches to the issue of freedom, a theme on which both Al-Sultan Al-Ha'ir and Golden Child center.

The paper focuses on the two writers' distinguished use of the theater to communicate significant messages concerning the importance of authentic freedom as a means of drawing souls together, and setting them on equal footing.

Emphasis is laid on the interesting ways of handling freedom-seekers’ experiences in both plays in question with the target of showing how aptly the two playwrights expose the failings and inadequacies of certain methods which people use to attain freedom.

The provocative treatment of the complicated issue of freedom in the two plays makes one think about the destructive impact of enslaving people long after reading the play.