The Story Archive

Caligula

Albert Camus · 1944 CE · Play · French · Contemporary

The death of his sister sends the young emperor out of Rome for three days, and he comes back having grasped that men die and are not happy. He sets about proving it by exercising a freedom nothing limits, confiscating estates, ranking his court by the order in which they will be executed, and requiring them to admire the logic. Camus took the incidents from Suetonius and used the reign to show what the absurd licenses in a man who holds power.

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Attributes

Genre
TragedyPoliticalHistorical
Theme
Existential AbsurdityPower & CorruptionDeath & MortalityFreedom vs Fate
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Ruler / KingTragic HeroVillain / Tyrant
Plot structure
Rise and FallTragic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The CrownThe MirrorThe Moon
Conflict
vs Selfvs Society
Mode / tone
AbsurdistTragic
Culture / tradition
French

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