Simone de Beauvoir, L'invitée [She Came to Stay]

Vassilis Manoussakis (University of the Peloponnese)
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L’ Invitée

[She Came to Stay] (1943) is a passionate and deeply ironic first novel written by Simone de Beauvoir as an act of ‘revenge’ against the woman (her student Olga Kosakiewicz, apparently) who nearly came to stay forever between her and the philosopher and her life companion, Jean Paul Sartre. Opening with a quote by Hegel about the desire of self-consciousness to seek the death of the other, the book is a psychological study charting the complex influence of the Second World War on individual relationships. It is the allegoric story of Françoise and Pierre, who find it impossible even to think that they could stop loving one another. Nevertheless, as two intellectuals, noted anti-conformists and restless spirits, they feel the constant need to search for new experiences,…

1401 words

Citation: Manoussakis, Vassilis. "L'invitée". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 December 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11124, accessed 19 March 2024.]

11124 L'invitée 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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