Simone De Beauvoir Analysis

Summary of Evidence

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was born in Paris in 1908 to Georges de Beauvoir and Francoise Brasseur.1 Her father was raised in a rich family that drew him to the right on the political scale.1 He was a strong atheist and pushed this on Beauvoir and her sister.1 Her mother on the other hand was a devout Catholic, and that along with her weak and rather submissive personality (something that manifests itself in the fact that she grew up in a time before first wave feminism), polarized her and Beauvoir. Her father fed her intellectual side, providing her with abundant works of literature and encouraging her to read and write from an early age. Beauvoir was very religious as a kid, which was likely a result of
Her father, Bernard Weil was a physician and her mother, Selma Weil, came from a rich Jewish business family.3 As a child Selma wanted to become a doctor, but her father did not support her decision, and so she fought for the best possible education for her children, especially Weil.3 Having grown up with a strong female influence, it is understandable that she would not have a strong inclination towards feminism, as she saw no problems for women growing up. Weil felt strongly about food and gave up sugar at an age of six, as it wasn’t provided to French soldiers in the war. She maintained this attitude throughout her life, starving herself for causes she believed in. This contributed to the fact her suffering from sinusitis, severe headaches and poor physical health, and, owing to malnutrition, she suffered from what she called “mystical experiences” making her, unlike Beauvoir, a big believer in mysticism and the world beyond most’s definition of reality.3 Religion also had great influence on her, having converted to catholicism later in her life. Like Beauvoir, shes lived during the Russian Revolution and the fall of old political orders such as the the Hapsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires. It was also the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Even though Europe was not as badly affected as the US, hunger was still prevalent and work conditions were often bad. Weil was also briefly involved in the Spanish Civil war – a precursor to WWII, when Forces of the Republic splintered between the Anarchists, the Marxists, and the Nationalists. Fascists, with the help of the German Nazi government, acquired a taste for murdering civilians.3 During the Spanish Civil war deliberately dropping bombs on civilians from planes was still deeply shocking, especially for Weil due to her temperament and upbringing.3 That said, what Weil did not experience is as important as what she did. She and her family