Post #3: The Years of Simone De Beauvoir
Word Count: 315
Simone De Beauvoir is quite an
interesting woman with an even more interesting sense of stability. Despite
Simone’s upbringing, she developed into a completely different person from
where she started, even in her earlier years. A large amount of her development
came from her companion Jean-Paul-Satre.
Simone’s upbringing was very
strict and controlling, which started her desire for freedom. She first began
to think about this freedom through consuming another work named Mon Journal.
Even in her life, books, stories, and literature were the branch for women
like herself to have the lens which they viewed the world to be challenged and
expanded. On page 54, Simone illustrates her new found freedom, which would
seem like something many would overlook or take for granted. She says, “And
now, at long last, I too had a room to myself” (54). Through her words we see
that small things like personal privacy were great privileges to her. She was
elated about her furniture and her view outside her balcony. Simply having a
door to shut was “pure bliss” for her (54).
This taste of freedom was only
the beginning for her. She took delight in her newly found independence and how
she got to live the life of an adult. Her experience going forward, and even
meeting Satre again leads to her new hedonistic yet free lifestyle, She lived
by no one’s rules or refused to stick to conventional standards of class or
presentation. She and Satre complemented each other greatly and had such an
interesting relationship with one another. Despite living a life of “idleness”,
Simone was free to do as she pleased when she pleased (60). And though the lens
she viewed her life seemed to only view things in the moment, her reflection on
her life is written with such an understanding and wisdom that showed that the
life she lived was entirely intentional.
Works Cited
Rose, Phyllis. The Norton
Book of Women's Lives. W.W. Norton, 1995.
I like the part where you said "Simone’s upbringing was very strict and controlling, which started her desire for freedom." Growing up I never under strict supervision, but kids around me who had strict parents were always the ones who wanted more freedom/to be more rebellious. Simone is needing and wanting to become a free women and sometimes it is so much harder than it seems.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great introduction and synopsis on the excerpt we were given. In Simone's time, I think it was expected that every woman marry and have children. She not only thought and felt that this wasn't her future, she also wrote and lived a life that was true to herself. Many women would never dare to say they wish for a free relationship or that they never want to marry because they are scared of what society will think of them. Simone De Beauvoir was never scared of society and she embraced the life she made for herself, which has inspired so many women to think differently about their personal priorities and relationships.
ReplyDelete