The Misunderstanding

Camus defines tragedy as the confrontation between two “equally legitimate, equally justified” forces (Camus, Albert. “On the Future of Tragedy.” Lyrical and Critical Essays. Translated by Ellen Conroy Kennedy. Vintage, 1970, p. 278). How does The Misunderstanding meet this definition? What are the opposing forces and what is the nature of their confrontation? How does Camus’s definition inform his thematic interest in The Tragedy of Miscommunication and the Importance of a Common Language?

In his essay “The Decay of Lying,” Oscar Wilde criticizes plays that favor naturalistic dialogue and characterization over the formal, archetypal style of classical myth and tragedy, arguing that it reduces the artistic effect. Camus agonized over devising a new language of tragedy for his plays that would evoke the timelessness Wilde praised. What literary elements define Camus’s style in The Misunderstanding, and how do these elements contribute to his construction of tragedy?

The Misunderstanding sits between Camus’s first cycle of works focused on the absurd and his second focused on rebellion. Choose a work from his first cycle (The Myth of Sisyphus, The Stranger, Caligula) and compare its central character to