Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a French writer, philosopher, and feminist. Her book The Second Sex is a founding text of modern feminism, and she was a central figure of existentialism and of the intellectual life of post-war France.

Early Life and Education

Beauvoir was born in 1908 in Paris to a bourgeois family. She was educated at a convent school and at the Sorbonne.

She studied philosophy and took the agrégation examination, in which she came second to Jean-Paul Sartre. She taught in provincial lycées.

She formed a lifelong relationship with Sartre, and the couple became the centre of a circle of intellectuals. She had other relationships and wrote about them.

The Second Sex

The Second Sex, published in 1949, is a comprehensive analysis of the situation of women. The book argues that women have been defined in relation to men and that they have been denied the status of subjects.

The famous sentence that one is not born but rather becomes a woman expresses the distinction between biological sex and social gender. The work examines the myths of femininity and the experience of women in work, in marriage, and in motherhood.

The book was controversial and was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. It influenced the development of the women's movement and of gender studies.

The Memoirs and the Novels

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, The Prime of Life, Force of Circumstance, and All Said and Done form a multi-volume autobiography. The work is a record of her life and of her times.

She Wrote The Mandarins, a novel about the intellectual circles of post-war Paris, which won the Prix Goncourt. The Blood of Others and The Woman Destroyed treat the themes of freedom and of the relations between the sexes.

Her fiction explores the existentialist themes of choice and of responsibility. The novels are concerned with the situation of women and with the ethics of the intellectual.

Philosophical Work

Beauvoir wrote on ethics and on the philosophy of existentialism. The Ethics of Ambiguity develops the themes of freedom and of the situation.

She wrote on old age and on the condition of the elderly. The Coming of Age is a study of the treatment of the aged in different societies.

The philosophical work is less well known than The Second Sex but is an important part of her output. She contributed to the development of existentialist thought.

Later Life and Death

Beauvoir was active in the feminist movement and in political causes. She campaigned for the legalisation of abortion in France.

She wrote about the death of Sartre in Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre, which caused controversy. She died in 1986 in Paris.

She was buried beside Sartre in the Montparnasse Cemetery.

Legacy

Beauvoir is regarded as the founder of modern feminist theory. The Second Sex is one of the most important books of the twentieth century.

Her influence on the women's movement and on the study of gender has been profound. She is remembered for her courage and for her intellectual honesty.

Her life and her work have been the subject of many biographies. She remains a model of the engaged writer.

The Early Philosophical Work

Beauvoir studied philosophy and wrote on the relation between the individual and the collective. She Was Born is a study of the philosophy of her time.

She wrote a novel, She Came to Stay, that describes the relations of a couple and the theme of freedom. The novel was based on her own experience and caused a scandal.

She wrote on the ethics of ambiguity in The Ethics of Ambiguity, published in 1947. The work develops the theme of the freedom that is the basis of moral action.

The Second Sex and Its Reception

The Second Sex was published in two volumes and was translated into many languages. The book was influential and controversial.

The work examines biology, psychoanalysis, and history, and it analyses the situation of women in different societies. The famous distinction between sex and gender has been central to feminist theory.

The book was criticised by some and praised by many. It contributed to the revival of the feminist movement in the 1960s.

The Autobiography

The memoirs are a record of the life of a woman intellectual in the twentieth century. The volumes describe her childhood, her education, her relationship with Sartre, and her engagement in politics.

The autobiography is an important work of the genre. It is admired for its honesty and for its picture of the intellectual milieu.

The work formed the model for a number of memoirs by other writers. It is a source for the study of the period.

The Relation with Sartre

The relationship between Beauvoir and Sartre was a partnership of equals. They were companions and collaborators, and they were also free to have other relationships.

The arrangement was unconventional and generated much comment. The couple shared ideas and read each other's work.

The relation has been the subject of biographies and of debate. It is regarded as one of the most important intellectual partnerships of the twentieth century.

Later Work and Legacy

Beauvoir wrote on old age and on the condition of the elderly. She was active in the feminist movement in her later years.

She supported the campaign for the legalisation of abortion and took part in public demonstrations. She was a member of the French Women's Liberation Movement.

Her death in 1986 was followed by an enormous demonstration at her funeral. Her work continues to be read and debated.

She is regarded as the founder of modern feminist theory and as a major writer. Her influence on the study of gender has been profound.

See also

• The Second Sex
• Feminism