Simone De Beauvoir

Existentialism is defined as “a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of personal experience and responsibility and the demands that they make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe” (dictionary.com). The rise of existentialism brought with it bold authors who weren’t afraid to voice their real feelings and opinions. They went against the need to please and conform to societies expectations of them and their artwork, literature and other forms of expression. In The Second Sex (1949) by Simone de Beauvoir, an enormous statement was made about the world of feminism. She went on to argue “that woman had passively allowed men to define them rather than creating

It’s true that anyone who has a perk would miss that perk when it is taken away. But I think that what is more important to take notice of is if the perks outweigh the downsides. A woman might like having a man hold the door open for her out of courtesy to her being a woman or having a man be the bread-winner of their family, but does that really matter as much as not being paid the same wage as a man for doing the same job? Or as much as the countless other disadvantages being a woman comes with in our society? I can see where de Beauvoir is coming from. It’s wrong for feminists to only blame men for women having a lower status in society when they are not solely the cause. But I don’t believe that women have been passive about it either. If that were the case, women still wouldn’t be able to vote in the United States. It takes both sides putting in effort, both men and women, to achieve equality. I think it is too definite to say that all women are passive. The publishing of “The Second Sex” definitely sparked controversy, as many feminists would take offense to her portrayal of women being passive for their own benefit. That is what the rise of existentialism did, it brought issues to light that many people were too afraid to voice an opinion on and it often read as harsh and blunt to many

This made The Stranger an important piece of literature for the existentialism movement. In the preface, Camus surprised many with his depiction of the main character. He says of his character, “…he refuses to lie. To lie is not only to say what isn’t true. It is also and above all, to say more that is true, and, as fas as the human heart is concerned, to express more than one feels” (1252). In the story, the main character attends his mother’s funeral, doesn’t cry and continues on with his life afterwards. Many people would say that it is cruel and unusual to write a character that doesn’t cry at his own mother’s funeral. Camus’ existentialism style of writing was meant to be different than the everyday character that people usually read about in books (the hero who does everything right, including weeping at his own mother’s funeral). He wrote his characters with a edge, that edge being harsh reality that many people didn’t want to