Noces pour femme seule: le féminin et le sacré dans l'oeuvre d'Albert Camus (review)

Although himself a non-believer, Albert Camus's work is embroidered with sacred connotations and, in this well-researched volume which constitutes the first full-length study of the subject, Geraldine Montgomery examines the link between this 'conscience du sacré' (p. 27) and a haunting feminine presence in the author's imaginative writings. Rejecting the conventional view that the conspicuous absence of female characters from much of his work reflects Camus's misogyny, Montgomery argues that this lack is an 'absence voulue' (p. 168), which resonates throughout his œuvre. Following an invaluable contextualization of her principal terms of reference, Montgomery proceeds to examine the 'nostalgie du sacré' (p. 67) she perceives in Camus's early writings before situating the role of the feminine in relation to this mind-set. The fragmented feminine presence identified is then developed, through a Kristevean reading, in a focused study of the mother figure in three of Camus's acclaimed literary texts: L'Étranger, where an ambiguity of maternal absence and presence is seen to culminate in 'une véritable ouverture au féminin et au sacré' (p. 165) as Meursault finally reconciles himself with his dead mother; La Peste, where as a symbol of the regeneration of love, the mother is deemed to take on a mythical character and is championed as 'une présence féminine fidèle' (p. 169); and Le Premier homme, where in the absence of a father figure, the maternal image is imbued with sacred qualities, conditioned by silence, innocence and humility. As Montgomery goes on to argue, Camus's drama displays a much more overt feminine identity: while Pilar, in the collaborative Révolte dans les Asturies, is thus highlighted as 'la première femme tragique du théâtre de Camus' (p. 217), Caligula's craving for the moon is read as a re-appropriation of the emperor's desire for control over the sensuality of life. Equally, Le Malentendu—'une pièce pour femmes' (p. 226)—and the 'voix féminines du sacré' (p. 251) informing L'État de siège are both seen to offer fertile ground for the feminine. In Les Justes, where the passion of the couple comes strongly to the fore, Dora (significantly, one of Camus's preferred characters) embodies the contradiction between love for humanity and killing as a means by which to bring about social justice. The final section of the study is devoted to 'La Femme adultère' which, Montgomery suggests, unites an active feminine presence (Janine, 'sujet regardant et désirant', p. 305) with a sacred dynamic of desire throwing into sharp relief the contrasting male characteristics in the nouvelle of absence and solitude. Overall, Montgomery makes her case cogently and, engaging in close textual scrutiny throughout of both primary and secondary sources, her study has a good, scholarly feel. There is also a comprehensive bibliography and index. In the last analysis, this is a thoughtfully written book which will appeal to both the specialist and non-specialist reader and which refreshes a number of debates within Camus studies from the past four decades.