Simone De Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre: The Remaking of a Twentieth-century Legend

by Kate Fullbrook, Edward Fullbrook

He was France's best-known philosopher & chief arbiter of intellectual fashions; she was the most influential forerunner of today's feminist movement. Using newly available documentary evidence from diaries & letters, the authors shed astonishing new light on who the dominant partner was in this relationship. The book provides decisive insights into the lives, literature, & ideas of these major figures on the modern cultural scene & raises profound questions about the psychological needs, sexual politics, & bad faith that led Beauvoir & Sartre to give misleading accounts of the inner workings of their relationship.

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 1993

Reviews

[Merve (viebibliophile) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. This is one of the many books about Beauvoir that I read for my thesis and it's definitely one that stands out. The Fullbrooks have managed to portray the unique aspects of this legendary couple while steering away from the common, misleading narratives surrounding their relationship. The book offers a good mix of philosophical analysis, biographical elements and historic/social contextualization. Because of this excellent balance, it would be easy for readers who know nothing about Beauvoir or Sartre to understand the points of the book, but it also does not feel repetitive or dull for those who already have background knowledge on the couple. The Fullbrooks conclude the book with the hope that it "will stand as an important step in the remaking of a twentieth-century legend," (184) and it is exactly that which their work provides: a deconstruction of previously established notions surrounding the Beauvoir-Sartre relationship, and a richer, more complex understanding of their existential philosophy.