Love and death in the absurdist works of Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus

Abstract

The thesis examines the thematic belonging of love and death in absurdist fiction. Martin Esslin’s “The Theater of the Absurd” and Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus are critical non-fiction essays that are examined to define and understand absurdism as a philosophy and absurdist literature. Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus are the primary authors whose works are closely analyzed to explore absurdist literature and its importance in the English literary canon. Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Happy Days are excellent examples of the theater of the absurd because these plays illustrate human fear regarding death and meaninglessness in a brutally honest and bizarre portrayal. His novel How It Is, and Camus’s novels The Plague and The Stranger, go deeper into the absurd realities of life and the indifference of the world. Camus’s short stories “The Silent Men” and “The Growing Stone”, and Beckett’s short story “First Love” showcase absurdity through hope and love. Through absurdist readings of these works, this paper explores the extent to which love and death work as themes in an absurdist context.