Gallimard: Fulfilling the Imprisoned Frenchman Archetype?

What I was most struck by in this play so far is its similarity to The Stranger. The scenes that begin with stage directions stating things like, "M. Gallimard's cell. Paris. Present. / Lights up on Gallimard. He sits in his cell, reading from a leaflet" (Hwang 42). This description reminds me of Meursault sitting in his prison cell after he is sentenced to death for having killed a man. But Gallimard takes on an even more sarcastic and hilarious role than Meursault, who snarkily ponders his existence from his cell. Also, Gallimard narrating from the cell and taking the audience to the scene on which he reminisces makes us forget that our narrator is being imprisoned for his actions.  

This idea that Gallimard is trapped in a cell brings up many ideas about the fatality of his character's actions and human life in general. It brings up questions about the role of gender in this play and what it has to do with were he is as he tells us this story.