Julia_98 reviewed Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
Becoming Herself: Simone de Beauvoir’s Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter as Intellectual and Personal Awakening
4 stars
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (original French title: Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée, 1958) is the first volume of Simone de Beauvoir’s autobiographical series and offers an introspective account of her early life—from childhood through adolescence to the threshold of adulthood. The memoir is not only a personal narrative but also a philosophical and cultural document, illuminating the formation of a mind that would go on to challenge 20th-century thought on gender, freedom, and responsibility.
De Beauvoir reflects on her bourgeois Catholic upbringing in post–World War I France, describing a childhood marked by intellectual curiosity, religious devotion, and the early desire to live with purpose. As she grows, a tension emerges between the expectations imposed by her family and society, and her own evolving vision of independence, truth, and existential commitment.
Central to the memoir is her growing disillusionment with traditional female roles and the limitations placed on women’s education, …
Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter (original French title: Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée, 1958) is the first volume of Simone de Beauvoir’s autobiographical series and offers an introspective account of her early life—from childhood through adolescence to the threshold of adulthood. The memoir is not only a personal narrative but also a philosophical and cultural document, illuminating the formation of a mind that would go on to challenge 20th-century thought on gender, freedom, and responsibility.
De Beauvoir reflects on her bourgeois Catholic upbringing in post–World War I France, describing a childhood marked by intellectual curiosity, religious devotion, and the early desire to live with purpose. As she grows, a tension emerges between the expectations imposed by her family and society, and her own evolving vision of independence, truth, and existential commitment.
Central to the memoir is her growing disillusionment with traditional female roles and the limitations placed on women’s education, autonomy, and identity. Her discovery of literature and philosophy becomes both a refuge and a catalyst, propelling her toward a radical redefinition of her place in the world.
The memoir also traces her formative relationships, especially with her best friend Zaza, whose tragic fate becomes a haunting symbol of societal oppression and the cost of non-conformity.
Written with clarity, honesty, and a touch of irony, Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter avoids sentimentality in favor of intellectual precision. De Beauvoir examines her past not to glorify it, but to understand the making of a self who would reject being merely “dutiful” in favor of being authentic.
This work stands as a powerful narrative of female subjectivity and intellectual formation, as well as a subtle critique of the structures that shaped and confined it. It remains a landmark in feminist literature and autobiographical writing.