Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-g96k6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-09T20:57:53.401Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Structure and Meaning in La Chute

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Adele King*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Extract

La chute is a disturbing and ironic picture of modern man caught in a hell of his own making. Since the involved irony and ambiguity make it Camus's most difficult work, the book was initially misunderstood by a number of critics. To appreciate fully the meaning of the novel it is necessary to understand Camus's use of literary parallels and of allusions to his own experience and to the history of his time. Some of the basic literary and historical allusions have been noted in recent criticism. The following study will examine in detail these allusions and will attempt to clarify the meaning of La Chute by elucidating particularly the relationship between the echoes of Dante and the echoes of L'Homme révolté and the controversy following its publication.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 77 , Issue 5 , December 1962 , pp. 660 - 667
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1962

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable