Synopses & Reviews
The classic manifesto of the liberated woman, this book explores every facet of a woman's life.
About the Author
Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris in 1908. She died in 1986.
Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, both American, are longtime residents of France and former teachers at the Institut dÉtudes Politiques in Paris.
Judith Thurman, author of Isak Dinesen and Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette, is a staff writer at The New Yorker.
From the Hardcover edition.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Vintage EditionBook One: Facts and Myths
Part One: Destiny
1. The Data of Biology
2. The Psychoanalytic Point of View
3. The Point of View of Historical Materialism
Part Two: History
4. The Nomads
5. Early Tillers of the Soil
6. Patriarchal Times and Classical Antiquity
7. Through the Middle Ages to 18th Century France
8. Since the French Revolution: the Job and the Vote
Part Three: Myths
9. Dreams, Fears, Idols
10. The Myth of Woman in Five Authors
a. Montherlant or the Bread of Disgust
b. D.H. Lawrence or Phallic Pride
c. Claudel and the Handmaid of the Lord
d. Breton or Poetry
e. Stendhal or the Romantic of Reality
f. Summary
11. Myth and Reality
Book Two: Woman's Life Today
Part Four: The Formative Years
12. Childhood
13. The Young Girl
14. Sexual Initiation
15. The Lesbian
Part Five: Situation
16. The Married Woman
17. The Mother
18. Social Life
19. Prostitutes and Hetairas
20. From Maturity to Old Age
21. Woman's Situation and Character
Part Six: Justifications
22. The Narcissist
23. The Woman in Love
24. The Mystic
Part Seven: Toward Liberation
25. The Independent Woman
Conclusion