The four plays written by Albert Camus were unsuccessful but they reveal the preoccupation of Camus with destiny, sadism, and death in the face of unpleasant reality (termed absurdity by Camus). The plots of the plays are compared to a brief biographical account. The absent father becomes a sadistic God against whom the son must revolt only to commit suicide lest the son be a murderer; i. e., he must not succeed to the father's position as tyrant over the primal horde. The frustration of the son in attempting an incestuous relationship with the mother parallels the real life of Camus whose mother was a silent, unthinking, and undemonstrative woman.