Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Albert Camus’ The Plague: A Freudian Approach to the Human Psyche in Crisis

Abstract

Richard Albert Camus wrote The Plague (1947) which depicts how humans respond to disease outbreaks by combining existential content with character, emotional and mental descriptions. This document explores how Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory together with his theories of repression and the unconscious combine with the death drive and superego to explain the deep psychological aspects in characters and their plague experiences. Through analysis the novel demonstrates the plague functions as a symbol that shows unconscious psychological activity among both individuals and community members of Oran. This paper demonstrates how Freudian concepts illuminate psychological aspects of The Plague novel through its exploration of Dr. Rieux and Tarrou’s behavioral patterns with reference to psychoanalytic elements, stress and morality-related aspects in the novel.