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A review by bipodial
The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I like Simone's writing and some of her reflections. The main characters of the first and third story remind me of women I know in real life and it was nice seeing their anxieties and ways of thinking represented. In my experience, I haven't read a lot of stories portraying the anxieties of growing old and the struggle of defining your self-image when dedicating so much to the happiness of others, quite like this. In all honesty, I haven't read a lot about the struggles of middle aged women in general.
However, I have to point out that I skipped the second story because I found the monologue unreadable after a while. The tangents were too much for me and I wasn't enjoying it. Also, while like I said, I enjoyed the main character's struggle with her self-image, in the third story, I found her approach to her husband cheating on her infuriating a lot of the times. I understand that that was part of her character and how devoted she is to her family's happiness, but after a while it got ridiculous and I just couldn't stand the way her husband was treating her, or how the people around her seemed to be praising/excusing her husband's actions, while essentially, shitting on her. It drove me crazy and I found myself constantly writing on the margins in all caps for her to just.....leave. I'm still not quite happy with the ending, because by that point I was so angry at the husband that I just wanted for both Monique and Noellie to dumb his ass, in the most aggressive and disrespectful way possible. Characterization be damned!!
All in all, a nice short read that I'd suggest you give a try, if you want to read more about the struggles of married middle aged women through an existential lens.
However, I have to point out that I skipped the second story because I found the monologue unreadable after a while. The tangents were too much for me and I wasn't enjoying it. Also, while like I said, I enjoyed the main character's struggle with her self-image, in the third story,
All in all, a nice short read that I'd suggest you give a try, if you want to read more about the struggles of married middle aged women through an existential lens.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide