The philosophy of the absurd discusses the inherent lack of meaning to life, and that the only meaning that life has is what each of us give it. Therefore, as Albert Camus states, the most important question in philosophy is whether life is worth living, since there is no absolute meaning, and if it is not, then is suicide a viable option?
Camus presents a solution in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), which is that man should not commit suicide in spite of living in a meaningless world, because the struggle of life alone should bring one happiness. Meaning can be found in life, even if one does not know why one exists.
Unlike Camus, playwrights in the Absurdist movement usually did not offer a solution to this question, suggesting that it is ultimately unanswerable. The themes of the plays were usually the lack of meaning of life, and also the isolation of the individual.
The forms of the plays of the theatre of the absurd were a way of communicating the message in and of themselves, featuring the devaluation of language and a lack of plot. Absurd plays used these methods because they told not the story of man but what was going inside of his head, and this needed a less realistic and conventional way of expression.
The devaluation of language was because conventional language had really failed man, and was not an adequate way to communicate. Therefore, absurdist plays usually contain dialogue that goes in circle or contradicts what is actually happening visually (i.e. dialogue vs. stage direction).
"The Fall" explores the question asked by Camus through an exposition of the two main approaches to this question: to do so, or not to.
