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The Adulterous Woman Analysis

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The short story “The Adulterous Woman” by Albert Camus is focused on Janine and Marcel, a married couple, and their experiences traveling through Algeria on a business trip. While suffering the harsh conditions of their journey, Janine reflects on her decades of marriage and finds herself questioning her attachment to her husband. She portrays a negative image of her husband who she sees as inert and tied up with his work, having relinquished the passions and ambitions that he possessed as a youth when they met. These thoughts are interrupted when Janine notices the intense stare of a French soldier seated across from her. Initially, Janine feels scrutinized and begins to question her desirability, but this feeling vanishes and Janine welcomes …show more content…

This story is set in Algeria which is located in the Sahara desert. However, neither of the main characters have Algerian heritage, they are both of French descent presumably due to the fact that at the time this story was published, Algeria was a French colony. Both Marcel and Janine appear to stand out from the predominant culture, they discuss the annoyance of "the language they had heard all their [her] life without ever understanding" and frequently discuss the Arab majority that surrounds them(Camus 2). This isolates Marcel and Janine from the people and culture that surrounds them. This isolation enables the stagnancy of their lifestyle. This region is also nearly covered with desert; because of this and frequent wind, the sky is usually blocked by thick sand resulting in almost constant semi-darkness. Camus uses the few moments of clear sky to amplify the times when Janine feels excitement. This is shown throughout the bus ride to their destination. The sand infiltrated everything, clouding the driver 's vision and even clogging the carburetor. This coincides with Janine 's feelings of doubt and annoyance as the bus ride progressed. In contrast, when the couple enters the fort as the sky is "Completely clear and periwinkle blue" (Camus 6). Shortly after this description, Janine was overcome "with affliction and wonder" as she saw the vast landscape with clarity (Camus 7). Camus uses the setting to isolate Marcel and Janine and to reflect Janine’s internal

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