SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, AN EXISTENTIALIST FEMINIST 

I was 15 when I discovered Simone de Beauvoir, who was already a well-known writer and avant-garde philosopher. An article about her life story in the daily newspaper triggered a tremendous curiosity in me. When I finished reading I literally went straight to my local library – along with the bookshop this was my favourite place to spend time – hoping I was able to find some of her books on the dusty shelves.

Before I continue, allow me to make a brief introduction. Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French writer, intellectual, political activist, feminist, social theorist, existentialist and philosopher. Imagine the mid-twentieth century, a woman and intellectual making a living as a writer. And although she never thought of herself being a philosopher, her work made a significant impact on the further development of both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.

THE DISCOVERY OF HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The first book I read was “ Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter”.  I was intrigued, hooked to this story about a Bourgeois girl, pushed into isolation after a long but successful struggle freeing herself from a strict catholic upbringing. Simone wrote this first autobiography in 1958. It describes her rebellion against the narrow mindedness of the world around her.  She dedicated herself to intellectual labour and so managed to escape what was otherwise predestined. 

INTELLECTUALLY ATTRACTED TO SIMONE

Although I was raised in a liberal Jewish family so my situation was very different from hers, I took Simone as inspiration and dedicated myself to studying and literature. I decided I would become the new Simone, would go and live in Paris, become a philosopher and polyglot going from one cafe to another where I would meet interesting young writers, artists and poets. Talking all night about art, music, philosophy and most importantly literature.

Here I went to university to study literature which later on also allowed me to continue my research abroad. At some point, I ended up living in Paris for a while. But I, did not meet the interesting people Simone so vividly describes in her books. Then again as a poor student studies and work always had to take precedence over leisure. It was OK, the limited-time I had left I certainly enjoyed myself. 

ESCAPE INTO SIMONE’S WORLD

Nowadays on rare occasions, whenever I feel the need to escape daily reality Simone’s novels are still there for me. That is when I go back for a moment in time, being that 15-year-old girl again, even if just so briefly; full of innocence and big dreams, believing that I am free to do whatever I want, as a woman and as a valued member of society.

MY GRATITUDE 

I thank you, Simone de Beauvoir, for keeping me company all these years.

Monique Lucy Weberink

Las Palmas, 4th of May 2020

Simone de Beauvoir

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“Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the morning to come… My work is not only a pleasure, it has become a necessity. No matter how many other things I have in my life, if I cannot give myself to my dear painting I am miserable.”  (Adolfe-William Bouguereau)

Adolphe-William Bouguereau was at once one of the most reviled and one of the most beloved of French artists by the time of his death in 1905. He was a favourite of collectors, who thought that his paintings were a fountain of eternal beauty far from contemporary life. His productivity was enormous. As a result he painted close to seven hundred works during his long life.

NYMPHES ET SATYRE

William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)
Nymphes et Satyre
1873

The painting shows four women/nymphs  (three more at the background) of the woods have caught a goat-faced satyr at a disadvantage. They are pulling him into the water by the arms, the ears and the horns.

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“Sometimes, when one is moving silently through such an utterly desolate landscape, an overwhelming hallucination can make one feel that oneself, as an individual human being, is slowly being unraveled. The surrounding space is so vast that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep a balanced grip on one’s own being. The mind swells out to fill the entire landscape, becoming so diffuse in the process that one loses the ability to keep it fastened to the physical self. The sun would rise from the eastern horizon, and cut it’s way across the empty sky, and sink below the western horizon. This was the only perceptible change in our surroundings. And in the movement of the sun, I felt something I hardly know how to name: some huge, cosmic love.”
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Peyrelebade Landscape, 1869
Odilon Redon

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“Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.”
― Gustave Flaubert

Henri Roger-Viollet
1893

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“He had been for many years, a quiet silent man, associating but little with other men, and used to companionship with his own thoughts. He had never known before the strength of the want in his heart for the frequent recognition of a nod, a look, a word; or the immense amount of relief that had been poured into it by drops through such small means.”
― Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Burghers of Calais (detail)
Auguste Rodin.

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“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.”
Claude Monet

Palazzo da Mula in Venice 1908

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“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.”
Anais Nin

On the photo Anais Nin with Henry Miller

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“An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.”
Henri Matisse

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“The Night suggests, it does not show. The Night disquiets and surprises us with its otherness. It releases forces within us which by day are dominated by reason.”
Jules Brassai

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“My lifetime ambition has been to unite the seriousness of question with the lightness of form.”
—Milan Kundera

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