"One is not born a woman, but becomes one", Simone de Beauvoir
A symbol of liberated womanhood, Simone de Beauvoir's unconventional relationships inspired and scandalised her generation. A philosopher, writer, and feminist icon, she won prestigious literary prizes and transformed the way we think about gender with The Second Sex. But despite her successes, she wondered if she had sold herself short.
Her liaison with Jean-Paul Sartre has been billed as one of the most legendary love affairs of the twentieth century. But for Beauvoir it came at a cost: for decades she was dismissed as an unoriginal thinker who 'applied' Sartre's ideas. In recent years new material has come to light revealing the ingenuity of Beauvoir's own philosophy and the importance of other lovers in her life.
This ground-breaking biography draws on never-before-published diaries and letters to tell the fascinating story of how Simone de Beauvoir became herself.
Becoming Beauvoir : A Life
Description
Table of Contents
Abbreviations of Beauvoir's Works
Introduction: Simone de Beauvoir-Who's She?
1. Growing like a girl
2. The dutiful daughter
3. Lover of God or lover of men?
4. The love before the legend
5. The Valkyrie and the Playboy
6. Rooms of her own
7. The trio that was a quartet
8. War within, war without
9. Forgotten philosophy
10. Queen of existentialism
11. American dilemmas
12. The scandalous Second Sex
13. Putting a new face on love
14. Feeling gypped
15. Old age revealed
16. The dying of the light
17. Afterwords: What will become of Simone de Beauvoir?
Select Bibliography
Author Description
Kate Kirkpatrick is Lecturer in Religion, Philosophy and Culture at King's College London, UK. She is the author of several books on Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.