elizabeth appleby

7/24/2019 Elizabeth Appleby

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/elizabeth-appleby 1/7

Sex and Politics in Albert Camus’s La femme adultère

Elizabeth Appleby

LaGrange College in Georgia

All his life, Albert Camus felt a strong tie with Algeria. Through articles, letters,and speeches, he tried to improve the lives of the diverse people of Algeria. Yet, it was

often thought that he neglected to treat the subject of Algeria in his literary works.1

evertheless, some critics have noticed that not only do many of Camus!s novels andstories take place in Algeria, but they reflect his political orientation.

" want to insist that one finds in Camus!s novels what they once were thought to have been cleared of#detail about that very distinctly $rench imperial con%uest begun in

1&'(, continuing during Camus!s life, and projecting into the composition of the te)ts.*

"n this way, La femme adultère reveals many of Camus!s sentiments toward Algeria.

Camus!s political orientation as seen through La femme adultère is the focus of thisarticle.

The first thing that one notices about any te)t is the title. +ften, it gives us someidea of what we will find if we choose to read the te)t, thus creating e)pectations in thereader. "n other cases, the title helps to deepen our understanding of a te)t once we havefinished reading. Conse%uently, La femme adultère begs the %uestion -hat adulteryThe story is brimming with se)ual imagery, but the fact remains that the main character,/anine, did not have e)tramarital relations with any man. 0o then, what adultery are wetalking aboutMarriage and Politics

efore e)amining the %uestion of adultery, one must note that any adulteryimplies a marriage. "n many of his te)ts, written both before and after La femme adultère,

Camus compares the relationship between the 2ieds3oirs and the Arabs to a marriage.'

The marriage between /anine and 4arcel recalls these numerous allusions to a politicalmarriage.

5Thus, through the metaphor of marriage, Camus subjects both his fictional

characters and real people to societal e)pectations.6

+ne of Camus!s first and most striking allusions to marriage can be found in the

Lettre à un militant algérien, first published in +ctober 1766. 8ere, marriage andviolence are inseparable.

+n dirait %ue des fous, enflamm9s de fureur, conscients du mariage forc9 dont ils ne peuvent se d9livrer, ont d9cid9 d!en faire une 9treinte mortelle. $orc9s de vivre ensemble,

et incapables de s!unir, ils d9cident au moins de mourir ensemble.:

The violence of war permeates La femme adultère. Through a subtle literary techni%ue,

either using words endowed with a double meaning or describing innocent things using

violent words, Camus allows his reader to feel the atmosphere of violence withoutdirectly talking about the political situation in Algeria. $or e)ample, the word grenade

denotes a fruit when in fact it usually refers to a weapon, and the word ensanglanté is

used to describe fallen fruit on rooftops when in fact images usually associated with blood are %uite violent. 4oreover, in traditional warfare, one does not see women on the

front line. ;ikewise, /anine finds herself in a sea of men. <+n n!y rencontrait pas une

seule femme et il semblait = /anine %u!elle n!avait jamais vu autant d!hommes.>?

@*5"n L’Algérie déchirée, a series of articles published between +ctober 1766 and

/anuary 176:, Camus again refers to the relationship between the 2ieds3oirs and the



*

Arabs as a marriage. As he was unwilling or unable to imagine an Algeria without the

$rench or without the Arabs, only two solutions seemed to e)ist#a marriage of

convenience or the violence of war.

B;e choi) en Alg9rie n!est pas entre la d9mission ou la recon%uDte, mais entre le mariage

de convenances ou le mariage = mort de deu) )9nophobies.&

"n fact, the marriage between /anine and 4arcel is strongly suggestive of amarriage of convenience. /anine married 4arcel because she needed to feel wanted, not

because she loved him.

Elle avait fini par l!accepter B4arcel, bien %u!il fFt un peu petit et %u!elle n!aimGt pas beaucoup son rire avide et bref, ni ses yeu) noirs trop saillants. @1' B4aintenant, ellesuivait 4arcel, voil= tout, contente de sentir %ue %uel%u!un avait besoin d!elle. "l ne luidonnait pas d!autre joie %ue de se savoir n9cessaire. 0ans doute ne l!aimait3il pas. @*7

Haily life has become a matter of habit. /anine and 4arcel e)ist without love andthere is no passion in their physical relations. /anine tells us that <"ls n!avaient pas eu

d!enfants.> @1' This marriage, like the one between the 2ieds3oirs and the Arabs, is

<sterile,> a word often employed by Camus in other te)ts.7

"n this light, it is possible toread La femme adultère allegorically by e)amining how se)ual discourse relates to

political discourse.

;a po9ti%ue du corps f9minin devient pour Camus un biais par le%uel il ose aborder la politi%ue du pays, tout au d9but de la guerre d!Alg9rie. I En effet, si on n!9vacue pas la

se)ualit9 de ce te)te#une lecture autoris9 par le titre#on ne peut 9viter la politi%ue.1(

Body and Politics

"n L’Algérie déchirée, after mentioning the marriage of convenience, Camus

immediately states that <En refusant de reconnaJtre la personnalit9 arabe, l!Alg9rie

franKaise irait alors contre ses propres int9rDts.>11

0imilarly, /anine does not trulyrecogniLe <la personnalit9 arabe.> $or her, most of the Arabs look alike.

Muel%ues3uns, sans paraJtre la voir, tournaient lentement vers elle cette face maigre ettann9e %ui, = ses yeu), les faisait tous ressemblantsI @*5

$re%uently, she describes them as a group <les mains maigres et le visage brFl9 des

Arabes> @15, <la masse haillonneuse> @1?, <le cercle de burnous> @1&, <eu)> @*'.

/anine realiLes that she is not in harmony with her countrymen and she is not atease. -e learn that she did not even understand Arabic, a language that she had been

hearing all her life. @1: $rom the beginning of the story, she feels the heaviness of her

body in relation to the thin Arabs who <semblaient au large, malgr9 leur amplesvDtements, sur les ban%uettes oN son mari et elle tenaient = peine.> @15

Through /anine!s perception of her body, <trop grande, trop 9paisse, trop

blanche,> @*& we can imagine how Camus perceived the position of the 2ieds3oirs in

Algeria#a position strongly influenced by economics. "n this respect, the heaviness of /anine comes also from her economic wealth.

1*0he notices that only the $rench seem to

have luggage. @1? /anine and 4arcel!s wealth is represented by the trunk of merchandise

that they have brought with them. 4oreover, the sole objective of their trip south was for economic gain.

This penetration into the depths of Algeria is symbolic of the marriage act. ;ike

the love making of /anine and 4arcel the trip south is passionless and sterile. 4arcelwants his business to be profitable and feels he must make an effort to communicate with

the Arabs on whom he relies financially. -hile selling his wares, /anine tells us,



<B4arcel avait l!air d!une femme %ui veut plaire et %ui n!est pas sFre d!elle.> @** -hen

he finally starts to sell, his humor improves. <B"l commenKait = vendre, et devenait aussi

plus conciliant il appelait /anine <petite>, le voyage ne serait pas inutile.> @*' "n/anine!s eyes, 4arcel!s reaction reaffirms the fact that there is no love between them. 0he

has discovered that his true passion is money. @16 evertheless, she knows that he needs

her. @'( "n this respect, 4arcel!s business relationship with the Arab merchants is muchlike his marriage relationship with /anine.

Sexual Attraction and Politics

Hespite her tendency to view the Arabs as a homogenous group, /anine!srelationship to her fellow countrymen is more complicated. 8er sensitivity to nature

creates a link between her and the Arabs, who at the beginning of the story seem to be in

communication with the surrounding environment. <B"ls semblaient 9couter la voi) duvent.> @1?

Throughout the story, /anine notices both the Arabs and the land. 8er attraction to

them is made clear through highly erotic descriptions of her surroundings. Camus uses

both feminine and masculine imagery. The feminine imagery is more discrete. The sky is

like a woman who gradually reveals herself. At the beginning of the te)t, <;e ciel restaitcouvert.> @1& $inally, <;e ciel se d9couvrait par endroits.> @*' And at last, <;e ciel

B9tait tout entier d9couvert.> @*6 -hen /anine returns to the fort for her orgasmice)perience, the sky is full of starsO <les 9toiles tombaient, une = une, I et = cha%ue fois

/anine s!ouvrait un peu plus = la nuit.> @''

The masculine imagery revolves around phallic symbols that literally assault usfrom page one of the te)t. "nterestingly, the first phallic image is of 4arcel!s <9pis de

cheveu)> @11, tufts of hair strongly reminiscent of a cuckold!s horns. "n fact, the images

range from the soldier!s face <longue et pointue> @15, to the <minaret jaune et graciel>

@1&, to the <pain de sucre I entam9 au sommet> @**.+ne of the most prominent masculine images in the story is the palm tree.

The apparently serendipitous appearance of palm trees at precisely the juncture when4arcel!s own penis has been displaced for a valise of goods introduces one of Camus!s

more conse%uential phallic symbols.1'

"ndeed, images of palm trees appear throughout the te)t. <Elle imaginait I une mer de

palmiers droits et fle)ibles, moutonnant dans la tempDte.> @17

-hen she arrives in the oasis, <elle aurait voulu aller vers eu).> @1& 8ere <eu)>refers to the palm trees. $urther into the story <eu)> refers to the Arabs. /anine remarks,

<il vaut mieu) s!entendre directement avec eu).> "n both sentences, <eu)> is the last word

and is therefore strongly accentuated causing readers to take note. The parallel

grammatical structure highlighting <eu)> creates a link between the palm trees and theArabs allowing the reader to imagine the focus of /anine!s desire.

Though alluded to strongly, /anine!s attraction to the Arabs is never openlye)pressed. Even when her se)ually charged gaLe is focused directly on them, her desire isnot candidly e)pressed. "nstead, her se)ual preoccupation is conveyed in terms of

inanimate objects, such as the swelling lights and the enormous burnooses.

Elle s!arrDta, perKut un bruit d!9lytres et, derriPre les lumiPres %ui grossissaient, vit enfin

d!9normes burnous I . ;es burnous la frQlPrent. @'*

"n addition, /anine!s desire is translated into a certain respect for 4uslim traditions thather husband does not share. 0he feels embarrassed after having eaten pork and drunk

wine. @*1



At this point, one wonders if /anine has evolved. -e have noted how she views

the Arabs as a homogenous mass while at the same time secretly desiring them.

Eventually, she does notice the individuality of one man. The only Arab that shedescribes in a detailed manner is the <general> who crosses the s%uare and for whom

4arcel is obliged to move his trunk. 0he admires this man, but clearly her admiration

falls on traits that are, in her eyes, $rench. 0he describes him as <un officier franKaisd!Affaires indigPnes.> @*'+ne could argue that merely recogniLing someone!s individuality is a sign of

character development and that /anine!s detailed description of the <general> is a

symbolic recognition of <la personnalit9 arabe> by the 2ieds3oirs. +ne could also arguethat at this point in the story, the character of /anine is static. -hatever the case may be,

Camus declares in L’Algérie déchirée that any $rench recognition of the Arabs is futile if

in turn the $rench are not recogniLed by the Arabs. <;a personnalit9 arabe sera reconnue par la personnalit9 franKaise, mais il faut pour cela %ue la $rance e)iste.>

16

Clearly, the <general> does not provide the occasion for /anine to recogniLe him.

"l avanKait r9guliPrement dans leur direction, mais semblait regarder au3del= de leur

groupe I . Alors %ue l!espace vide de la place les entourait, il avanKait droit sur la malle,sans la voir, sans les voir. I ;!autre passa, sans paraJtre rien remar%uer. @*5

8is manner indicates that /anine and 4arcel!s e)istence is not even worthy of his notice.Essentially, he renders any possibility of an outreach null and void even before it is

thought of. The link created between /anine and the Arabs through their mutual

sensitivity to nature is denied by the Arab <general.> <Elle d9testait la stupide arrogance

de cet Arabe.> @*5 evertheless, /anine!s desiring gaLe follows him to the ramparts andshe immediately suggests going up to see the view. @*5

Adultery and Politics

The most provocative descriptions of nature in La femme adultère are found in thesections in which /anine is on the rampart wall. 0he is absolutely fascinated by the view.

Camus too has been fascinated by a view. "n 17'7 in the isère de la !abylie, he wroteabout overlooking the e)panses of Rabylie with a friend. 8e wa)es poetic, but finishes byremembering that those suffering from hunger could not share his appreciation.

;=, nous regardions la nuit tomber. Et = cette heure oN l!ombre %ui descend des

montagnes sur cette terre splendide apporte une d9tente au cSur de l!homme le plus

endurci, je savais pourtant %u!il n!y avait pas de pai) pour ceu) %ui, de l!autre cQt9 de la

vall9e, se r9unissaient autour d!une galette de mauvaise orge. /e savais aussi %u!il y auraiteu de la douceur = s!abandonner = ce soir si surprenant et si grandiose, mais %ue cette

misPre dont les feu) rougeoyaient en face de nous mettait comme un interdit sur la beaut9

du monde.1:

A bit later in the same series of articles, Camus has another similar e)perience. -hile

contemplating the breathtaking beauty of the scene, he is profoundly moved andunderstands the bond between the Rabyle and his land.1?

/anine!s fascination with the view from the fort is reminiscent of Camus!s

e)periences in the above te)ts. 8owever, /anine does not feel the pain of others, only her own.

"l lui sembla %ue le cours du monde venait alors de s!arrDter et %ue personne, = partir de

cet instant, ne vieillirait plus ni ne mourrait. En tous lieu), d9sormais, la vie 9tait

suspendue, sauf dans son cSur oN, au mDme moment, %uel%u!un pleurait de peine etd!9merveillement. @*?



0he claims, if only for an instant, this communion with Algeria for herself. <Elle

savait seulement %ue ce royaume, de tout temps, lui avait 9t9 promis et %ue jamais,

pourtant, il ne serait le sien, plus jamais, sinon = ce fugitif instant.> @*? /anine!s desirefor something she feels she will ultimately not have is suggestive of the 2ieds3oirs!

desire amidst growing political tensions to maintain their lives in Algeria. 4oreover, her

feeling that the royaume had been eternally promised to her brings to mind the onehundred years of history of the 2ieds3oirs in Algeria.1&

$aced with an immense and beautiful view, /anine!s perception of the

environment resembles @is an erotic e)perience culminating in orgasm. 8owever, the

orgasm does not arrive immediately. /anine must descend from the rampart, sneak awayfrom 4arcel at night, and return to culminate her e)perience.

+n her first trip to the rampart, after a long lustful look at the horiLon, <son regard

se d9plaKait lentement, I tout le long d!une courbe parfaite,> @*6, *: /anine notices a omad encampment. Hespite the fact that she cannot see the men who live there, <elle ne

pouvait penser %u!= eu).> @1* 8ere, <eu)> again highlights the Arab people as the focus

of /anine!s desire as it is placed in a position of stress at the end of a grammatical cluster.

4oreover, the phrase is curiously reminiscent of the common $rench e)pression, </e ne pense %u!= Ka,>17

which indicates obsession with the se)ual act. Thus, through her

thoughts, /anine has already committed adultery.

"ndeed, the desire for a relationship with the Arabs, represented by her eroticattraction to nature, is portrayed as illicit. After all, she must snea" bac" to the fort during

the night.

;es souliers = la main, elle gagna la porte. Elle attendit encore un moment, dansl!obscurit9, puis ouvrit doucement. ;e lo%uet grinKa, elle s!immobilisa. 0on cSur battaitfollement. Elle tendit l!oreille et, rassur9e par le silence, tourna encore un peu la main.@'13'*

Huring this second visit to the fort, the description of /anine!s surroundings and

perceptions resembles a se)ual encounter.B;!air froid %u!elle avalait par saccades coula bientQt r9guliPrement en elle, une chaleur

timide commenKa de naJtre au milieu des frissons. I Bne sorte de giration pesant

entraJnait le ciel au3dessus d!elle. I = cha%ue fois /anine s!ouvrait un peu plus = la nuit.

I B;!eau de la nuit commenKa d!emplir /anine. @''3'5

The intimacy and detail of /anine!s intercourse demonstrates the bond between the 2ieds3

oirs and Algeria and by e)tension between the 2ieds3oirs and the Arabs. As we havealready seen, /anine!s sensitivity to nature creates a link between her and the Arabs, even

if the other has no desire to recogniLe this connection.

"t seems as if Camus is using the intimacy of the se)ual act to suggest that theattachment of the 2ieds3oirs to Algeria is as legitimate as the attachment of the Arabs.

Two peoples united through their ties to a land does indeed resemble a marriage. -hether they harbor feelings of love or feelings of hate the bond remains, at least until aseparation or divorce.

"f the 2ieds3oirs are intimately attached to Algeria, and consider it their

historical home, what then is their tie to $rance As /anine relied on 4arcel for financialsupport, so too the 2ieds3oirs were economically tied to $rance. /anine!s weight is

symbolic of her economic position and by e)tension that of the 2ieds3oirs in general.*(

0he follows the trunk, an icon of economic prosperity. <BElle suivait la malle %ui, =

travers la foule, lui ouvrait un chemin.> @*1 "ndeed, Camus seems to have agreed with



0artre that the 2ieds3oirs, whether or not victims of a system, followed the lead of

$rance in economic matters.

;a contrepartie de cet imp9rialisme colonial, c!est %u!il faut cr9er un pouvoir d!achat au)colonies. I ;e colon est d!abord un acheteur artificiel, cr99 de toutes piPces au3del= des

mers par un capitalisme %ui cherche de nouveau) march9s.*1

/anine is attracted to the Arabs and the land, but follows 4arcel and the trunk. "nmarrying 4arcel, she was unfaithful to herself. 0he traded her freedom to feel needed.

B"l lui semblait %ue c!9tait hier %u!elle h9sitait entre la vie libre et le mariage. @1'B4aintenant, elle suivait 4arcel, voil= tout, contente de sentir %ue %uel%u!un avait

besoin d!elle. @*7

/anine essentially embodies the 2ieds3oirs and their historical ties to Algeria. 0heclearly disregards this intense bond to follow her economic interests, represented by

4arcel and the trunk. The story suggests that she effectively commits <adultery> by

sneaking out to the fort at night, unknown to her husband, to indulge in erotic pleasureswith the land she has always loved. Heception was inherent and guilt apparent as she

tearfully says to 4arcel upon returning that nothing happened. <Elle pleurait, de toutes

ses larmes, sans pouvoir se retenir. <Ce n!est rien, mon ch9ri, disait3elle, ce n!est rien.>@'5

/anine is married to 4arcel whose <9pis de cheveu)> @11, as we should recall,

are reminiscent of a cuckold!s horns. -e have no knowledge of his thoughts, e)ceptthrough her eyes. As we have seen, she believes his true passion is money. Although she

is the direct beneficiary of his business efforts, <AprPs tout, elle en profitait,> @16 she

yearns for a people and a land that he disdains. This is clearly a moral and spiritual

infidelity if her primary bond is to 4arcel. 0he seems to affirm this point when uponreturning to the hotel room she fails to mention where she has been. After all, why hold

back the fact that she went out to look at the sky, why cry, unless this act implies a deeper

meaning#an infidelity.

Camus was himself torn between two loyalties. ;ike /anine, he found himself positioned between two e)tremes and unable to wholly support either side.

ne telle position ne satisfait personne, aujourd!hui, et je sais d!avance l!accueil %ui lui

sera fait des deu) cQt9s. /e le regrette sincPrement, mais je ne puis forcer ce %ue je sens et

ce %ue je crois. I B/e me trouve dans l!impossibilit9 de me joindre = aucun des camps

e)trDmes.*1

2erhaps Camus felt a bit like the fly at the beginning of the story. "ts comings and goings

are noticed by /anine, but have no effect on either her or 4arcel.

-hether consciously or subconsciously, Camus!s personal perspective on the<Algerian %uestion> permeates La femme adultère. "n this respect, the fact that the story

is located in Algeria becomes significant as /anine!s longings are translated into visionsof nature#of Algeria.

Notes

1<The tendency is for readers to associate Camus!s novels with $rench novels about $rance, not only

because of their language and the forms they seem to take over from such illustrious antecedents as Adolph

and #rois Contes, but also because his choice of an Algerian locale seems incidental to the pressing moral

issues at hand.> Edward -. 0aid, <Camus and the $rench %mperial E&perience,> Culture and %mperialism,

ew York, Uandom 8ouse, 177', 1?6.



*0aid 1?:.

'To simplify references, for the purposes of this article, to the many groups of people constituting Algeria

and the fact that they used different labels during different periods of history, the term 2ieds3oirs will beused to refer to the $rench colonists of Algeria and their descendants, and the term Arabs will be used for all peoples whose ancestors were present in Algeria before the arrival of the $rench.5Albert Camus, Actuelles %%% , 2aris, Vallimard, 176&, 1*&, 15:, 166, 1:5, 1??, 1?7.

6<BEn se servant de la m9taphore du mariage, = la fois dans ses te)tes politi%ues et dans sa fiction, Camus

soumet encore une fois le personnel = un system social et donc = une id9ologie.> Hanielle 4ar)30couras,

<Comme une femme ' Camus à la lumière de (o)an ,> Littératures et temps colonial ' étamorphoses duregard sur la éditerranée et l’Afri*ue ' actes du collo*ue d’Ai&+en+,ro-ence. /+0 a-ril 122/ , sous ladirection de /ean3Uobert 8enry et ;ucienne 4artini, Ai)3en32rovence, Edisud, 1777, '(:.:Camus, < Lettre à un militant algérien,> Actuelles %%% , 1*&.?Albert Camus, < La femme adultère,> L’e&il et le royaume, 2aris, Vallimard, 176?.

&Camus, < L’Algérie déchirée,> Actuelles %%% , 15:.

7Camus, Actuelles %%% , 1*7, 157, 16:, 1?:. and Albert Camus, < L’a-enir algérien,> Albert Camus

éditorialiste à l’E&press' mai 1233+fé-rier 1234 , 2aris, Vallimard, 17&?, 6*.1( 4ar)30couras '(1, '(:.11 Camus, < L’Algérie déchirée,> Actuelles %%% , 15:.

1* 4ar)30couras '(:.

1' 0imon 2. 0ibelman, <#he Anguish and the Ecstasy' Camus’s 5se of ,hallic symbols in 6La femme

adultère,!> 7alhouise $rench 8tudies, 56 @177& 56.15 Camus, < L’Algérie déchirée,> Actuelles %%% , 161.16 Camus, < isère de la !abylie,> Actuelles %%% , 51.

1: Camus, < isère de la !abylie,> Actuelles %%% , ?'.

1? <;es $ranKais d!Alg9rie I sont en Alg9rie depuis plus d!un siPcle et ils sont plus d!un million.> Camus,

< Lettre à un militant algérien,> Actuelles %%% , 1*:.1& /ean3;oup Chiflet, 8"y my husband9 Ciel mon mari9 Guide de l’anglais courant. Guide of the running

English, 2aris, 8erm9, 17&6, *'.17 4ar)30couras '(:.

*( /ean32aul 0artre, < Le colonialisme est un système,> 8ituations : , 2aris, Vallimard, 175?3, *7.

*1 Camus, Avant32ropos, Actuelles %%% , 1*.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. Actuelles %%% . 2aris Vallimard, 176&.

##. < L’a-enir algérien.> Albert Camus éditorialiste à l’E&press' mai 1233+fé-rier

1234 . 2aris Vallimard, 17&?.

##. < La femme adultère.> L’e&il et le royaume. 2aris Vallimard, 176?.Chiflet, /ean3;oup. 8"y my husband9 Ciel mon mari9 Guide de l’anglais courant. Guide

of the running English. 2aris 8erm9, 17&6.4cVregor, Uob Uoy. <Camus!s La femme adultère A 4etaphor of the $all from the

Absurd. > #he $rench (e-iew; Wol.:?, o.', $ebruary 1775.4ar)30couras, Hanielle. <Comme une femme' Camus à la lumière de (o)an.>

Littératures et temps colonial' étamorphoses du regard sur la éditerranée et

l’Afri*ue' actes du collo*ue d’Ai&+en+,ro-ence. /+0 a-ril 122/ . sous la directionde /ean3Uobert 8enry et ;ucienne 4artini. Ai)3en32rovence Edisud, 1777.

0aid, Edward -. <Camus and the $rench %mperial E&perience.> Culture and

%mperialism. ew York Uandom 8ouse, 177'.0artre, /ean32aul. < Le colonialisme est un système.> 8ituations : . 2aris Vallimard, 175?.

0ibelman, 0imon 2. <#he Anguish and the Ecstasy' Camus’s 5se of ,hallic symbols in

6La femme adultère.’ > 7alhouise $rench 8tudies 56 @177& 51365.

elizabeth appleby

Documents