Sleep as a Recurring Motif in Albert Camus' Literary Works
The themes of sleep, exhaustion, and fatigue are prevalent in Albert Camus' literature, yet they are frequently neglected in academic discussions. His writings are organized into distinct cycles: the first focuses on absurdity, yielding works such as The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, Caligula, and The Misunderstanding; the second revolves around rebellion, producing The Plague, The Rebel, The Just Assassins, and State of Siege. A proposed third cycle centered on love was scrapped following criticism of The Rebel, resulting in Exile and the Kingdom and The Fall. In The Stranger, Meursault often sleeps, while The Plague portrays a city in a daze. Throughout his oeuvre, Camus juxtaposes communal and solitary sleep, associating it with themes of loneliness and nihilism.
Key facts
- Albert Camus wrote in cycles: novel, essay, and plays on a single subject.
- First cycle (the absurd): The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, Caligula, The Misunderstanding.
- Second cycle (rebellion): The Plague, The Rebel, The Just Assassins, State of Siege.
- Third cycle (love) was derailed by backlash from The Rebel's criticism of Marxism.
- The Stranger's Meursault sleeps 16-18 hours a day after his arrest.
- In The Misunderstanding, Jan is drugged and drowned while asleep.
- Caligula sleeps only two hours a night after a revelation.
- The Plague ends with the plague asleep but able to awaken.
- Exile and the Kingdom contrasts communal and solitary sleep.
- The Fall's Clamence calls debauchery 'prolonged sleep.'
Entities
Artists
- Albert Camus
- Meursault
- Marie Cardona
- Raymond
- Jan
- Martha
- Caligula
- Drusilla
- Caesonia
- Dr. Rieux
- Janine
- Marcel
- D'Arrast
- Daru
- the Renegade
- Jonas
- Yvars
- Clamence
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Institutions
- Los Angeles Times
- Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Carlsberg Glyptotek
- Wikimedia Commons
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Oran
- Algeria
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- North African desert
- central Europe