The Novels of Simone de Beauvoir

211 Pages·2022·28.942 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Fallaize

Routledge Revivals
The Novels of Simone de Beauvoir
First published in 1988, The Novels of Simone de Beauvoir concentrates speci-
fically on the novels of the famous 20th Century French writer, Simone de
Beauvoir. Her novels are popular with both the students and general readers
of literature and philosophy, and they will welcome this authoritative intro-
duction to Beauvoir’s fiction. The author examines Beauvoir’s choice of nar-
rative strategies and interprets them both in relation to the sexual politics of
writing and in relation to the place which the constraints of history, class
and gender increasingly play in the texts. All quotations are translated.

The Novels of Simone de
Beauvoir
Elizabeth Fallaize
f) Routledge
y. ffl m fj Taylor & Francis Gro
First published in 1988
By Routledge
This edition first published in 2022 by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1988 Elizabeth Fallaize
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points
out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes
correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.
A Library of Congress record exists under ISBN: 0415022940
ISBN: 978-1-032-37620-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-34113-0 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-37634-9 (pbk)
Book DOI 10.4324/9781003341130
THE NOVELS OF
SimondBeeaueaoir
ELIZABETH FALLAIZE
First published 1988 by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1988 Elizabeth Fallaize
Printed in Great Britain by
Billing & Sons Ltd, Worcester
Typeset by Pat and Anne Murphy, Highcliffe-on-Sea, Dorset
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Fallaize, Elizabeth
The novels of Simone de Beauvoir.
1. Fiction in French. Beauvoir, Simone
de — Critical studies
I. Title
843'.912
ISBN 0-415-02294-0
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
ISBN 0-415-02294-0
Contents
Prefacevii
Key to Abbreviationsviii
Introduction1
1 The Radicalisations of Simone de Beauvoi7r
2 She Came to Sta2y5
3 The Blood of Others44
4 All Men Are Morta6l7
5 The Mandarins88
6 Les Belles Images118
7 The Short Story Cycles: When Things of the Spirit Come
First and The Woman Destroye1d43
8 Points of Departure175
Biographical Notes186
Bibliography191
Index198
For Alice
Preface
I have been lucky enough to be able to complete the writing of this
book in Paris, in 1986-1987. My thanks are due to the University
of Birmingham for allowing my request for an extended leave of
absence, and I would like to record my gratitude to Professor
Colin Burns and to all my colleagues in the French department for
their support of my request.
In Paris, I have greatly appreciated the encouragement of
Barbara Watkinson, Carrie Tarr and Johanna Dunlop, and I
would like to thank Michelle Léonard for her help in obtaining
various materials. Diana Knight was an ever-dependable source of
help in moments of crisis; I am very grateful to her for the after-
noons she spent reading chapter drafts and for the helpful and
positive discussions she had with me. I am also grateful to Francis
Noudlemann for his advice on the chapter he found time to read
for me.
The groups of students who have read Beauvoir’s texts with me
over the years since 1979 have been a great source of stimulus and
pleasure. More recently, I have enjoyed and benefited from work-
ing with Jill Wharfe, who shared with me the experience of inter-
viewing Simone de Beauvoir in July 1985. Most of the questions
which I asked, and the replies on which I draw here, relate to the
later fictional work. Beauvoir encouraged us to return for further
questions on other aspects of her fiction, but all such plans were cut
short by the news of her death nine months later.
My children have had to bear with my frequent absences.
Emma Topp and Karen Swanson filled the gap with never failing
good humour and reliability; my grateful thanks go to them both.
Finally, I owe an enormous amount to Michael Driscoll, whose
generosity in terms of time and advice has as usual been com-
pletely unstinting.
Elizabeth Fallaize