The Role of Women in L’Étranger by Albert Camus

Abstract

Albert Camus, a Nobel Laureate and pioneer in existentialism literature, has impacted generations of literary enthusiasts globally with his masterpieces, especially the representative work, L’Étranger. Comments on this work, both favorable and unfavorable, have been pouring in over the eight decades since it was published. Even though L’Étranger has been thoroughly analyzed in a number of areas, including the background information that sets the scene and the texts’ revolt, little has been researched regarding female characters, how his personal experience and sense of absurdity are connected, or, more importantly, how he is misogynistic. The purpose of this study is to investigate how women, particularly Maman de Meursault and Marie Cardona, are portrayed in L’Étranger. Note that the purpose of this paper is not to critique Camus’ misogyny, but rather to examine how his personal history has influenced the way he has created female characters and how this has affected readers and the literary community.