From The Prime of Life by Simone De Beauvoir

 274

From The Prime of Life by Simone De Beauvoir

“He explained the matter to me in his favorite terminology. ‘What we have,’ he said, ‘is an essential love; but it is a good idea for us to also experience contingent love affairs.’” (63)

These are the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir’s lifelong lover who she never married. She explains the radical idea of an open relationship in this excerpt from The Prime of Life. After reading this, the readers are forced to reflect upon their own relationships and priorities. Do women need to be married simply because they are women? Beauvoir argues against this, and would say that her work as a writer must take priority over marriage. I think it can be assumed that she believed that the love her and Sartre shared was deeper in comparison to the marriages she saw around her. Her open relationship with Sartre gave her the freedom and companionship she needed. 

I cannot speak on whether people’s decisions are right for them or not, but I can say that reading something like this even today would seem radical to many. The idea of people being truly satisfied with an open romantic relationship seems impossible. I find it hard to imagine being married, but I do like the idea that two people can be so in love, that they can only belong to each other, and still succeed at leading a meaningful life. Does marriage compromise freedom entirely? Does marriage hold people back? I think that marriage was a requirement for women back in the day of Simone De Beauvoir, and still today most all women are still expected to marry and have children. I think this idea can potentially hold many women back, and I truly admire the independent, free-thinking of Simone De Beauvoir. She had feelings and thoughts many women would be too afraid to speak on.