The Outsider is often understood to encapsulate Camus's philosophical starting point. Sartre's essay, An explication of The Stranger, interprets the book's purpose as to portray the "feeling" of the Absurd – Camus's "point of departure". The novel, however, takes its place amongst a sea of ideas, reiterated and developed throughout a number of works from the same time period. Caligula, The Misunderstanding, A Happy Death and The Myth of Sisyphus were all written between 1936 and 1945. Camus's conception of Absurdity is manifested in each, however at the heart of all these works lies the unilateral pursuit of Ivan Fyodorovich's logic in The Brothers Karamazov: if God is dead, everything is permitted. Sagi perceives the works from a simpler point of view, believing them both to attempt an explication of the "experience of estrangement". This seems to reduce the explorations to a mediocre type of work, found in a vast category of books. It is my view that The Outsider goes much deeper in analysing and reflecting upon the time it is situated in.
What is essential for Camus, and hence what really constitutes the foundation of his philosophy, is the negation of immortality and God. The question is then asked: What is man left with? These works can all be interpreted with reference to this question, and it is perhaps in The Outsider that we find Camus's most lucid response.
Sartre's lecture, Existentialism is a Humanism also identifies the birth of existentialism in this logic. Without God, "man is forlorn, because neither within him nor without does he find anything to cling to." It is this intangibility when confronting existence that Sartre explores in Nausea. While Sartre describes Camus's use of the absurd as "both a state of fact and the lucid awareness which certain people acquire of this state of fact", we can similarly understand his use of nausea. Nausea is both the fact of man's forlornness, and the heightened awareness resulting from the consciousness that ensues. It is important, however to note that both gain meaning from an individual subjectively confronting the world; not from an objectively absurd world confronting the individual . The similarities between The Outsider and Nausea can be traced to an undercurrent of Dostoevskian influence, however when considering their separate approaches to this anguish, it is the connexions to Nietzsche that are perhaps more significant.
The Outsider presents an antagonism towards Christianity that is more prominent than in Camus's preceding works. This is perhaps where we find the most obvious similarity linking Camus and Nietzsche. The asymmetrical dialogues put faith and the Absurd face to face, as Mersault's indifference contends with the Magistrate's compassion, his anger with the priest's promises of salvation. There is thus a strong focus on the disparity between Mersault's apathy and the pre-conceived societal values that others attempt to impose. Mersault is the absurd man, wishing to "live solely with what he knows, to accommodate himself to what is and to bring in nothing that is not certain." It is by negating all that is founded upon a belief in God, that all else follows. Like Nietzsche, Mersault's incense is directed against the priest's passive acceptance of values derived from a God that has been killed by man, "none of his certainties was worth one strand of a woman's hair. Living as he did, like a corpse, he couldn't even be sure of being alive." For Mersault, death is the only certainty.
The logic is followed through more ruthlessly in Caligula. Camus's own commentary upon the work summarises the hero's attempt to practice liberty "through murder and the systematic perversion of values." Caligula, in his denial of a higher principle, puts all values on an equal footing, refusing the logic of his subject Cherea who believes that some actions are more "praiseworthy" than others. This is alluded to in The Outsider when Mersault reflects on his friendship with Raymond - "What did it matter if Raymond was as much my pal as Celeste, who was a far worthier man?"
The Outsider can be seen as another Nietzschean experiment, which also practices the subversion of values and embraces perspectivism. Indeed, although Mersault's apparent passive indifference distinguishes him from Caligula, he is consumed by physical sensations. Even his name, a conjunction of the sea and the sun, brings together the rejuvenation he feels in the water, and his ambivalence towards the heat and beauty of the sun (recall Aristotle's conception of the sun as an enlightening force and contrast with Mersault's frustration at the glare as he fires bullet after bullet into someone he is indifferent to). Although not actively seeking to pervert social values, he is a realisation of Nietzsche's imperative to live passionately and this is what leaves him happy at the end of the novel. To affirm himself, Mersault's final words call for a consummation of the hatred against him.
Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus which is commonly correlated to The Outsider reveals a key difference to Nietzsche in his articulation of the Absurd. The two fundamental elements at the heart of the absurd are: humankind's innate desire for order, and "the unreasonable silence of the world" – which can be related to the conflicting Apollonian and Dionysian ways of perceiving existence. Consciousness occurs when we refuse to reconcile these diametrically opposed forces. The simultaneous recognition and rejection of our situation, that life is limited only by our individual subjectivity and death, holds these poles in equilibrium. Camus then describes an "existential leap" which escapes the absurd; however what he seeks to do is "remain on that dizzying crest".
Showing posts with label Albert Camus - Caligula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albert Camus - Caligula. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Camus plays
Camus' plays are harder to obtain than his fiction - obviously they are not viewed to be as literarily important. I am still looking for a copy of his play-version of The Possessed, although I will probably read the big book before I get too serious about this search.
Of the plays in this collection, Caligula and The Just Assassins are the most important to his philosophy and indeed, the better written. Caligula represents a perversion of unquestioned Christian values. He operates alongside Mersault in Camus' philosophy of the Absurd. For some reason, I feel like there is something quite admirable about this Caligula. Despite all he does, it seems like he really does just want "the moon" (contrast to Mersault's Sun), and the inauthenticity of the characters around him draws little sympathy for all he puts them through. There is a resemblance between the way Caligula and Hamlet approach their destinies. In light of a modernist anguish, a deprivation of meaning, they manipulate the world around them in an attempt to find something tangible.
Here is a poster I have framed and in my room - was done in poland I think to advertise a performance of Caligula.
The Just Assassins consumates the philosophy presented in The Rebel. It retells the (true) story of the assassination of a Duke, the perpetrators failing in a prior attempt because they refused to attack while he was around his niece and nephew. For Camus, the refusal to sacrifice innocents is important for the Rebel - who wants all or nothing. As a french-algerian, Camus believed in the rights of the native Algerians, however refused that it was necessary to attack innocent settlers in order to gain their independence.
The misunderstanding is an attempt by Camus to write a tragedy in the style of Oedipus. As a result, it reads more like a literary experiment - frankly, something that might be written as a text response by a Year 12 student. A son returns home only to be killed by his sister and mother, because he neglects to tell them who he is. There is a very nice sentiment conveyed here which I think is worthwhile, something which comes through in Kafka stories like Metamorphosis, The Trial and the Castle.
We hold onto a naive belief that many of the problems we face arise as a result of misunderstanding. If we can just express ourselves clearly enough, get in contact with the right people, then our problems will be resolved.
This is certainly a trap I find myself falling into, it's hard just to accept that some things cannot be communicated, and it's better to shut-up than to dig yourself into more and more misconceptions. Sometimes it's a sad thing to realise.
State of Seige is somewhat similar to The Plague. Camus liked to write A Novel, an Essay and a Play to explore the same idea. In this play, a plague is used as an excuse to implement a totalitarian regime. It is reasonably unremarkable - perhaps not refined as was the case with The Plague.
Of the plays in this collection, Caligula and The Just Assassins are the most important to his philosophy and indeed, the better written. Caligula represents a perversion of unquestioned Christian values. He operates alongside Mersault in Camus' philosophy of the Absurd. For some reason, I feel like there is something quite admirable about this Caligula. Despite all he does, it seems like he really does just want "the moon" (contrast to Mersault's Sun), and the inauthenticity of the characters around him draws little sympathy for all he puts them through. There is a resemblance between the way Caligula and Hamlet approach their destinies. In light of a modernist anguish, a deprivation of meaning, they manipulate the world around them in an attempt to find something tangible.
Here is a poster I have framed and in my room - was done in poland I think to advertise a performance of Caligula.
The Just Assassins consumates the philosophy presented in The Rebel. It retells the (true) story of the assassination of a Duke, the perpetrators failing in a prior attempt because they refused to attack while he was around his niece and nephew. For Camus, the refusal to sacrifice innocents is important for the Rebel - who wants all or nothing. As a french-algerian, Camus believed in the rights of the native Algerians, however refused that it was necessary to attack innocent settlers in order to gain their independence.
The misunderstanding is an attempt by Camus to write a tragedy in the style of Oedipus. As a result, it reads more like a literary experiment - frankly, something that might be written as a text response by a Year 12 student. A son returns home only to be killed by his sister and mother, because he neglects to tell them who he is. There is a very nice sentiment conveyed here which I think is worthwhile, something which comes through in Kafka stories like Metamorphosis, The Trial and the Castle.
We hold onto a naive belief that many of the problems we face arise as a result of misunderstanding. If we can just express ourselves clearly enough, get in contact with the right people, then our problems will be resolved.
This is certainly a trap I find myself falling into, it's hard just to accept that some things cannot be communicated, and it's better to shut-up than to dig yourself into more and more misconceptions. Sometimes it's a sad thing to realise.
State of Seige is somewhat similar to The Plague. Camus liked to write A Novel, an Essay and a Play to explore the same idea. In this play, a plague is used as an excuse to implement a totalitarian regime. It is reasonably unremarkable - perhaps not refined as was the case with The Plague.
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