Germaine Bre'e has characterised the struggle of the characters against the plague as "undramatic and stubborn", and in contrast to the ideology of "glorification of power" in the novels of Andre' Malraux, whereas Camus' characters "are obscurely engaged in saving, not destroying, and this in the name of no ideology". Lulu Haroutunian has discussed Camus' own medical history, including a bout with tuberculosis, and how it informs the novel.
Marina Warner has noted the lack of female characters and the total absence of Arab characters in the novel, but also notes its larger philosophical themes of "engagement", "paltriness and generosity", "small heroism and large cowardice", and "all kinds of profoundly humanist problems, such as love and goodness, happiness and mutual connection".
Thomas L Hanna and John Loose have separately discussed themes related to Christianity in the novel, with particular respect to Father Paneloux and Dr Rieux. Louis R Rossi briefly discusses the role of Tarrou in the novel, and the sense of philosophical guilt behind his character.
Elwyn Sterling has analysed the role of Cottard and his final actions at the end of the novel.
Publication history
As early as April 1941, Camus had been working on the novel, as evidenced in his diaries in which he wrote down a few ideas on "the redeeming plague" On March 13, 1942, he informed Andre' Malraux that he was writing "a novel on the plague", adding "Said like that it might sound strange, ["] but this subject seems so natural to me."
1947, La Peste (French), Paris: Gallimard
1948, translated by Stuart Gilbert, London: Hamish Hamilton
1960, translated by Stuart Gilbert, London: Penguin, ISBN 978-0-140-18020-6
2001, translated by Robin Buss, London: Allen Lane, ISBN 978-0-713-99597-8
Adaptations
1965: La Peste, a cantata composed by Roberto Gerhard
1992: La Peste, a film directed by Luis Puenzo
2017: The Plague, a play adapted by Neil Bartlett
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre
"Sartre wrote successfully in a number of literary modes and made major contributions to literary criticism and literary biography. His plays are richly symbolic and serve as a means of conveying his philosophy.
The best-known, Huis-clos (No Exit), contains the famous line "L'enfer, c'est les autres", usually translated as "Hell is other people."
Aside from the impact of Nausea, Sartre's major work of fiction was The Roads to Freedom trilogy which charts the progression of how World War II affected Sartre's ideas. In this way, Roads to Freedom presents a less theoretical and more practical approach to existentialism.
John Huston got Sartre to script his film Freud: The Secret Passion. However it was too long and Sartre withdrew his name from the film's credits. Nevertheless, many key elements from Sartre's script survive in the finished film.
Despite their similarities as polemicists, novelists, adapters, and playwrights, Sartre's literary work has been counterposed, often pejoratively, to that of Camus in the popular imagination. In 1948 the Roman Catholic Church placed Sartre's oeuvre on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books)."
Literature And Existentialism
This is Jean-Paul Sartre's classic literary manifesto. Arguing on many levels, it is philosophical and historical, critical and pedagogic; yet there is a single intention which frames the whole. Among the topics discussed are: "What is Writing?" "Why Write?" and "For Whom Does One Write?"
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