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Texas Woman's University

Ethics, ambiguity, and the existential novel; A study of Simone de Beauvoir's works of fiction

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis analyzes five novels of the existentialist French author Simone de Beauvoir. It seeks to challenge the arguments presented by many scholars, which regard Simone de Beauvoir's work as subordinate to and dependent on Jean Paul Sartre's work. Secondly, too many see her only as a feminist philosopher and little more. Through the study of Simone de Beauvoir's works of fiction, this thesis demonstrates that Beauvoir goes beyond both Sartre's work and feminism. Through settings, characters, and plots, inspired by Beauvoir's reading of G.W.F. Hegel as interpreted by Alexandre Kojève, these works of fiction illuminate key concepts in her philosophic essays, particularly her Ethics of Ambiguity.

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Gonzalez, Sylvia
Advisors dc:contributor.advisor
  • Hoye, Timothy
  • Belfiglio, Valentine
  • Presnall, Barbara

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

Language dc:language.iso
en_US

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/11274/9950
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:twu-ir.tdl.org:11274/9950

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Texas Woman's University
Base URL
twu-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
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citation

Gonzalez, Sylvia. Ethics, ambiguity, and the existential novel; A study of Simone de Beauvoir's works of fiction. 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11274/9950