Caligula

Name: Caligula
ISBN: 9787201204130

Albert Camus / Li YuminTianjin People's Publishing House · ChinaMay 2024

4.6

Word count: 61K words
Chapters: 8
ISBN: 9787201204130

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Summary

“People always assume that a man suffers so much because the woman he loves died in a single day. In fact, his suffering is worth more than that: it is discovering that grief cannot last either, that even suffering loses its meaning.”

After his lover dies, the Roman emperor Caligula discovers that personality, dignity, and even suffering are meaningless in the face of death. He begins to use his power to the extreme, recklessly destroying and trampling every existing human system, every notion of good and evil, every emotion, becoming a tyrant everyone fears… He wants to know what truth is, what eternity is, and to expose all the hypocrisy in the world…

In 1938 Camus began writing Caligula while also gathering material for The Stranger. In 1940, three or four months after finishing The Stranger, he began writing important sections of The Myth of Sisyphus. The Stranger was published in 1942, The Myth of Sisyphus in 1943, and Caligula in 1944. Camus grouped them together as his “Cycle of the Absurd.” It could be said that Caligula, together with The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, presents Camus’s “philosophy of the absurd” as a trio of novel, essay, and drama.

Editor's review

Caligula is the part of Camus’s “Cycle of the Absurd” most often overshadowed by the novel and the essay, yet it is an indispensable dramatic piece for understanding his philosophy of the absurd. According to the sources, Camus began writing the play in 1938 while gathering material for The Stranger; after finishing The Stranger in 1940, he devoted himself to important sections of The Myth of Sisyphus. The three works present the same intellectual thread as a triptych of drama, novel, and essay. In the play, the Roman emperor discovers after his lover’s death that grief cannot last and that suffering, too, has lost its meaning; he then uses absolute power to dismantle every existing system and emotion, asking what truth and eternity are. The character is not a simple portrait of a tyrant but the logical product of a man struck by the absurd who refuses to compromise. Li Yumin’s translation offers Chinese readers a reliable entry point. It is worth reading the play within the coordinates of the trilogy, to see how the same proposition gains a force on stage, through dialogue, that differs from the novel’s.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers systematically reading Camus who want to complete the “Cycle of the Absurd”
Those interested in philosophical drama and in experiencing absurdist thought through dialogue
Literature students or researchers who need to analyze Camus’s dramatic texts
Drama readers who enjoy intellectual intensity and concentrated conflict rather than elaborate plotting

Not a good fit for

General leisure readers looking for light stories or emotional comfort
Readers uncomfortable with tyrant themes and intense conflict who prefer gentler narratives
Complete beginners who have not read Camus or The Stranger should proceed with care

Reading tips

Read The Stranger first, then this play, then The Myth of Sisyphus, building a framework in trilogy order.
Read the script as a stage play, imagining the pauses and outbursts of the lines in space, and attend to the rhythm of the dialogue.
After finishing, return to the opening line about the worth of suffering and check whether your understanding of the central proposition has changed.
Take comparative notes alongside Camus’s philosophical essays from the same period, recording how drama and essay express the same idea differently.

About the publisher

Tianjin People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1950

Tianjin People's Publishing House publishes across such fields as classic works, foreign literature, architecture, social culture and social sciences, with 749 relevant titles in the collection. In the areas of classics and scholarship, works such as Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua and Fei Xiaotong's From the Soil and Fertility and Reproduction reflect a sustained attention to social culture and classic texts of thought. Architectural books are represented by Liang Sicheng's Annotated Yingzao Fashi and A History of Chinese Architecture, showing an emphasis on architectural heritage and building traditions. In foreign literature, translations of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don and Tolstoy's War and Peace and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, through the work of translators such as Li Gang and Yu Dawei, form a substantial series of translated works. Overall, the press combines classic texts, scholarly works and fine translations, with a publishing character oriented toward humanistic depth and the dissemination of knowledge.

版权信息
译序人的灵魂能有多高尚？
卡利古拉（四幕剧）
第一幕
第二幕
第三幕
第四幕
附录加缪论戏剧

FAQ

Can I read Caligula without having read other works by Camus?

You can, but your understanding will be reduced. According to the sources, the play forms a “Cycle of the Absurd” with The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, presenting the same philosophical proposition through drama, novel, and essay. Reading The Stranger first will make the protagonist’s extreme choices after being struck by the absurd more resonant; going straight to the play may show only the surface of a tyrant’s story. At minimum, familiarize yourself with how the trilogy fits together.

What is the core conflict of the play?

According to the sources, after his lover dies Caligula discovers that personality, dignity, and even suffering are meaningless in the face of death; he then uses power to the extreme, recklessly destroying and trampling existing human systems, good and evil, and emotion, becoming a tyrant everyone fears. What he truly seeks to ask is what truth is and what eternity is, and he tries to expose all the hypocrisy in the world. The conflict lies not only between the tyrant and his subjects but also within the character’s own fixation on meaning.

Is Li Yumin’s translation suitable for general readers?

The sources show this edition is by Camus, translated by Li Yumin, and published by Tianjin People’s Publishing House in 2024. Li Yumin is an important Chinese translator of French literature, and his translations generally balance accuracy with readability. For general readers, the play is mainly dialogue and not long; the barrier lies in the density of thought rather than the language, and reading it with the trilogy background makes it smoother.

Is reading the script or seeing a performance better for understanding this work?

The two complement each other. The script lets you savor the lines and structure repeatedly and see how Camus advances philosophical propositions through dialogue; a performance gives you the immediate tension of conflict and the rise and fall of the characters’ emotions. If possible, read the script first to form your own understanding, then see a production or recording and compare the staging with what you imagined while reading—this in itself is good training in close reading.

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About the author

Albert Camus Author · French · 1913–1960

Albert Camus (1913–1960) was a French writer and philosopher, born in Mondovi, Algeria, and the winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature. He focused on human choice and dignity in absurd situations, exploring this through novels, plays, and essays. The Stranger uses restrained, lucid narration to portray modern alienation and judgment; The Plague reflects resistance and solidarity through a city's disaster; The Myth of Sisyphus sets out his philosophy of the absurd through the mythic image. The Rebel turns to the question of revolt and limits, while The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Caligula continue to probe moral dilemmas and human complexity. His concise, clear style combines philosophical reflection with narrative tension, and his works are widely classified as foreign literature, philosophical reading, and classics. He died in a car accident in France in 1960.

Li Yumin Author · Chinese · 1938

Li Yumin (born 1938) is a renowned Chinese translator of French literature. A graduate of Peking University's French program, he later became a professor at Capital Normal University. In 1964, he went to France as one of the first publicly sponsored students of New China. He has devoted himself to translating French literature for decades, producing more than 200 translated works totaling over 30 million characters, about half of them first translations in China. His representative works include Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, The Plague, The Stranger, and The Little Prince, spanning foreign literature, world classics, and Western philosophy. He has received the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award. His translations are known for accuracy, fluency, and readability, offering Chinese readers an important window into classic French literature and thought.