Madness in the Text:

A Study of Simone de Beauvoir's Writing Practice

Alison T. Holland

Thesis submitted for the Degreeof Doctor of Philosophy

NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY,

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097 52113 3
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Departmentof French Studies

University Of Newcastle

September,1997
 Abstract

This study, which is based on close readings of L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La

Femme rompue, focuses on the textual strategies that Simone de Beauvoir uses in her

fiction. It shows that madness is an intrinsic quality of the text. Marks of excess,

plurality, disruption and transgression are interpreted as an inscription of madness at a

discursive level. Madness is discernable in the text whenever the meaningfulness of

language is subverted. Chapter One, `L 'Invitee: The Gothic Imagination', argues that, in

her first novel, Simone de Beauvoir created a Gothic textual universe in order to

confront pain and madness. Gothic conventions and figures are shown to inform the
text. In so far as it is Gothic and transgressive the text is mad. Chapter Two,
`Continuities in Change: Imagery in L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femme

rompue', examines how madness is mediated in the text by images that evoke pain and

distress and a sense of lost plenitude. Detailed readings reveal a close affinity between

the symbolic landscapes of L'Invitee and the later fiction where excess and hyperbole

persist. Chapter Three, `Instability and Incoherence', investigates how disruptive textual

strategies unsettle meaning and contribute to the creation of a mad textual universe. It

demonstrates how the text subverts notions of a unified and stable identity. Temporal

confusion, fragmentation and multi-layering are seen to be a source of the incoherence

which exemplifies madness in the text. Traits that disrupt and destabilise the text and
duplicate madness are illustrated and discussed. Analysis also reveals how disarticulated

and contorted syntax is instrumental in the evocation of the anguish of madness and
how syntax can convey a sense of claustrophobia and obsession. Chapter Four,
`Language and Meaning: Les Belles Images', locates madness in the text at those points

where the meaningfulness of language is subverted. The way plurality, irony,

enumeration and repetition enact madness in the text is the focus of attention. It emerges

clearly from the close readings undertaken, that Simone de Beauvoir's writing is
inflected by forceful emotions and disrupted and destabilised by the excess of madness.
 Contents

Page

Acknowledgments iii

Introduction 1

Chapter One L'Invitee: The Gothic Imagination 39

ChapterTwo Continuities in Change:Imagery in L'Invitee,

Les Belles Images and La Femmerompue 87

Chapter Three Instability and Incoherence 142

ChapterFour Languageand Meaning: Les Belles Images 188

Conclusion 225

Bibliography 229

ii
 Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I thank my supervisor,Dr. Rachel Edwards,for her unfailing support

and encouragement.Her meticulous critical advice has beeninvaluable. During the

times when I thought I had lost my way, shewas there to remind me where I was going.

My thanks also go to Dr. Ursula Tidd who has been generouswith her time and

commentedthoughtfully and encouraginglyon my work. Elizabeth Fallaize took my

wörk seriously and gaveme the encouragementI neededto go on with my reasearchat a

crucial moment. I thank her warmly. I am also pleasedto be able to expressmy

gratitude to the University of Northumbria at Newcastle,Departmentof Modern

Languagesfor the allocation of H.E.F.C.E. researchfunding which afforded me the

spaceand time to completethis study. I have greatly appreciatedthe support of

colleagues.My family have supportedme steadily throughout my academiccareerand

this study could not have beenwritten without them. I should like to take this

opportunity to offer them my heartfelt thanks. I should also like to acknowledgethe

numerousways that my friends have given me support, intellectually, emotionally and

practically, over recentmonths. Their warmth, humour and generosityhave carried me

through. Finally, I want to expressmy specialthanks to Cairine Fotheringham,whose

precious help and enthusiasmI haverelied on.

111
Madness in the Text: A Study of Simone de Beauvoir's Writing Practice

Introduction

This study of Simone de Beauvoir's fiction will focus on her writing practice, on her

textual strategies.I want to examinehow shetells the stories shetells and intend to

demonstratethat madnessis inherent in the text, in the very telling of the stories.

On the whole, Simone de Beauvoir's fiction in generaland her writing practice

in particular have beenneglected,a fact that has not goneunnoticed.Elaine Marks tells

us that `during the forty-five in

years which Simone de Beauvoir has been written about

in newspapers,literary magazines,women's magazines,scholarlyjournals, and

specifically feminist journals and books, the major emphasishas been on her

her ' She

autobiographicalwritings and on substantialessayson women and old age'.

identifies a needfor more work on close textual analyses(p. 11). Elizabeth Fallaize

points out that `the majority of the studiesdealing with the fictional work have given at

least as much attention to her essaysand/ or autobiographicalwritings'? She addsthat

studiesthat deal with the fiction tend to focus on theme and content,rather to the

exclusion of a considerationof form (p. 3). Likewise, Toril Moi regretsthat little

attention has beenpaid to the style of Simonede Beauvoir's writing?

This presentstudy of Simone de Beauvoir is positioned precisely in this `gap'

where fiction and form intersect.My own readings,however, have not emergedin a

vacuum. They are intended not to silence other interpretationsbut to exist in dialogue

' Marks, Elaine, `Introduction', in Critical Essays Simonede Beauvoir,

on ed. by Elaine Marks, Boston,
Massachusetts:G.K. Hall, 1987,p. 8. This book is a casein point. Only two of the contributions deal
with the fiction. In `Metaphysicsand the Novel', Maurice Merleau-Ponty offers a reading of L'Invitde
(pp. 31-44) and in `Psychiatry in the PostwarFiction of Simone de Beauvoir', Terry Keefe examines
Les Mandarins, La Femmerompue and Les Belles Images (pp. 131-44).
2Fallaize, Elizabeth, TheNovels Simonede Beauvoir, London: Routledge, 1988, 2.
of p.
3Moi, Simonede Beauvoir: TheMaking
of an Intellectual Woman,Oxford: Blackwell, 1994. Seefor
example, footnote 16 p. 269.
 2

with them, for Simone de Beauvoir's complex and ambiguoustexts generatemultiple

readings,none of which is definitive or exclusive. With this in mind, it will be useful to

considerthe current stateof Beauvoir criticism, before going onto examinethe

relationship betweenmadnessand the text in detail.

Toril Moi provides a useful overview of full-length studieson Simone de

Beauvoir published in French and English from 1958to 1992. She divides the studies

into `impressionistic' categories:catholic, existentialist/ socialist, scholarly, popular,

and feminist. Between 1980 (when Beauvoir studies shifted away from France) and

1992,twenty-one studieswere published.Five of thesewere `scholarly', six were

`popular' and ten were `feminist'. Of thesestudiesonly two were dedicatedto Simone

de Beauvoir's fiction, one `scholarly', one `feminist' 5 Five books look at the fiction in

the context of Simone de 6

Beauvoir's writings as a whole. JaneHeath's feminist study

readsL'Invitee, Les Mandarins and Les Belles Imagestogetherwith the

autobiographies,accordingto Toril Moi, in an attemptto `rescueBeauvoir for

poststructuralistfeminism'(p. 77). Other studieswhose concernsare political or

fiction 8
to a much lesserextent. Since 1992,none of the
philosophical, examinethe

major studiesof Simonede Beauvoir that have beenpublished, focusesexclusively on

the fiction, although Toril Moi's `personalgenealogy' of Simone de Beauvoir provides

4Moi, Simone de Beauvoir, footnote 8

pp. 267-68.
sThey are: Hibbs, FrancoiseArnaud, L'Espace dons les
romans de Simonede Beauvoir: son expression
et safonction, Stanford French and Italian Studies59, Saratoga,California: Anma Libri, 1989,
('scholarly'); Fallaize, TheNovels, (`feminist').
6They
are: Ascher, Carol, Simonede Beauvoir: A Life of Freedom,Boston: Beacon Press,1981, a
feminist study describedby Toril Moi as verging on the adulatory; Keefe, Terry, Simonede Beauvoir:
A Study of her Writings, London: Harrap, 1983;Marks, Elaine ed., Critical Essayson Simone de
Beauvoir; Brosman, Catherine Savage,Simonede Beauvoir Revisited,Twayne's World Authors
Series820, Boston: Twayne, 1991.Toril Moi classifiesthesethree studiesas `scholarly'. The fifth
study, this one in Toril Moi's `popular'category,is: Winegarten,Renee,Simonede Beauvoir: A
Critical View, Oxford: Berg, 1988.
7Heath, Jane,Simonede Beauvoir, London: HarvesterWheatsheaf,1989.
For example,Evans, Mary, Simonede Beauvoir: A Feminist Mandarin, London: Tavistock, 1985;
Okely, Judith, Simonede Beauvoir, London: Virago, 1986. Seealso Simons, Margaret A., ed.,
Feminist Interpretations ofSimone de Beauvoir, Pennsylvania:The PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
Press,1995.
 3

an exciting reading of L'Invitee and certainly underlinesthe importanceof her rhetorical

strategies.

A number of critics comment on the disappointed,not to say hostile tone of

much Beauvoir criticism. Elaine Marks notes that at least half of the critical essays

included in the collection she edited are `sarcastic'to somedegree.Sheasserts:`They

presentSimone de Beauvoir as a slightly ridiculous figure, naive in her passions,sloppy

in her scholarship,inaccuratein her documentation,generally out of her depth and

inferior as a writer' (p. 2). She is criticised for being `too feminist' and, paradoxically,

for being `not feminist enough'. Elaine Marks arguesthat theoretical divergence

betweenSimone de Beauvoir and contemporaryfeminists results in hostility and debate

becoming conflated. Elizabeth Fallaize also commentson the disappointmentof readers

who seekin the fiction a confirmation of Le Deuxiemesexeor a reflection of

contemporaryfeminist thought (p. 3). Toril Moi investigatesthe perceptionthat Simone

de Beauvoir is an undistinguishedwriter and devotesa chapterof her book to a close

examination of recurring themesin hostile to

responses Simone de Beauvoir's work,

responsesthat are surprisingly common even among critics who professto be well-

intentioned and unbiased She assertsthat `the hostile critics' favourite strategyis to
.9

personalizethe issues,to reducethe book to the woman: their aim is clearly to discredit

her as a speakernot to enter into debatewith her' (p. 75). Certainly, it is not the case

that Simone de Beauvoir should be abovecriticism. However, appraisalmust be based

on careful reading. When it comesto the fiction, dismissive commentsas to the literary

merits of Simone de Beauvoir's writing by critics who have barely engagedwith the

text are regrettableto say the least.

9Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, Chapter3, `Politics

and the Intellectual Woman: Cliches and Commonplaces
in the reception of Simone de Beauvoir', pp. 73-92.
 4
In Simonede Beauvoir: A Study of her Writings, Terry Keefe regretsthe fact that

much of the work done on Simonede Beauvoir has centeredon her feminism or her

Sartre,
associationwith Jean-Paul thus producing a distorted view of her '0
as a writer.

He intends his study to be a balancedstudy of all her books, although his readingsof the

fiction centre on an interpretationof content and characterand little spaceis given to

form. When form is addressed,it is generally narrative techniquesthat merit a brief

mention. For example, he commentson shifting narrative viewpoints in L'Invitee but

neglectsother aspectsof Simone de Beauvoir's writing. His relative neglect of form

leadshim to considerthat the novel is somewhatlong and repetitive and to find that this

is justified only in so far as it reflects the shapelessness

and texture of life itself (pp.

157-58).He doesnot considerthe effect that recurring eventsmay have (apart from

inferring that it is boring) and neglectssymbolic significance that accruesas the text

gathersmomentum. Just over one pageis allotted to a discussionof what Terry Keefe

refers to as the `small scalestylistic devices' that Simone de Beauvoir usesin Les Belles

Imagesto convey Laurence's stateof mind (p. 211). His analysis leavesmuch room for

development;for example,he alludesto the single viewpoint in the novel but fails to

point out that there are in fact two narrative voices, a split between `je' and `eile' at the

heart of the narrative." Likewise, Keefe links the stateof mind of Murielle, the narrator

in `Monologue', the middle story in La Femmerompue,to the use of languagein the

story but doesnot develop the connectionthoroughly, commenting only that erratic

punctuation conveysthe idea that words are whirling round in Murielle's headand that

the intensity of her feelings is straining languageto its limits (p. 216). There is no other

mention of form in La Femmerompue. Despitethis relative lack of analysisof form,

loKeefe, Simonede Beauvoir: A Study her Writings, Preface.

of
'1 I will be investigating this in ChapterThree.
 5
Keefe levels severecriticisms at Simonede Beauvoir's fiction and concludesthat its

aestheticdefectsmight make us `disinclined even to considerwhether they are

accomplishedworks of art' (p. 229). Whilst acknowledging that Les Belles Images and

`Monologue' reveal her to be capable`of the highest achievementson the artistic level',

he neverthelessattacksher fiction for its narrow range,for failure to make more use of

for
conflicting perspectives, lack of inventiveness,for Simone de Beauvoir's

overidentification with its heroinesand for being limited and conventional (pp. 227-28).

His praise can seem patronising and begrudging:

Whateverthe flaws in her books, we can only be grateful for storiesthat not only
entertainus, but project us so firmly into the mentalities of imaginary figures that
our awareness ofzpeople and the is
real world permanently enriched, over however
narrow a range.
(Simonede Beauvoir: A Study of her Writings, p. 228.)

Terry Keefe's intoductory guide to Les Belles Imagesand La Femmerompue,

published in 1991,provides a more thoughtful appreciationof Simone de Beauvoir's

13
later fiction. A whole section is devotedto narrative techniqueand style in Les Belles

Images.He toucheson a whole rangeof stylistic devices(focalization, reliability, use of

pronounsand tense,repetition, questioning,use of parenthesesand suspensionpoints

and ambiguity), concluding that `the style of the novel would undoubtedly repay closer

study' (p. 36). Less is

attention paid to the form of the three stories in La Femme

rompue. The `broadly literary orientation of `L'Age de discretion' is noted, and Terry

Keefe commentsthat `the style itself has certain minor poetic qualities not entirely

common in Beauvoir's fiction' (p. 44). Theseare not explored. The remainderof the

'2 Keefe appearsto associatethe lack of a broader perspectiveand

more balancedtreatmentwith the
absenceof male focalizers in the shorterfiction (p. 221). He also makesthe following strange
comment: `There has beena tendency,perhapsbecauseof her relationship with Sartre,to expect too
much of Beauvoir's works [...] (p. 228).
13Keefe, Terry, Simonede Beauvoir: Les Belles Images,La Femme
rompue, Glasgow Introductory
Guides to French Literature 12, Glasgow: University of Glasgow French and GermanPublications,
1991.
 6

paragraphdealing with style is given over to a brief considerationof the use of the

`diary' form in the story. The form of `Monologue' is treatedsomewhatmore

is
thoroughly and related to the mental illness of Murielle, the narrator, although his

argumentappearsto be somewhatcontradictory in that, whilst the story is consideredto

be `a successfulattempt to project us into the strangementality of a tortured woman',

the monologue form is seento hamperour efforts to judge Murielle (p. 52). Likewise,

the diary form in `La Femmerompue' is acknowledgedto be well suited to the

depiction of a characterundergoing changebut it too, is perceivedas a barrier to making

`a soundjudgement' (p. 61). No other aspectof the form of `La Femmerompue' is

14
examined.

ReneeWinegarten's declaredaim is to `assessthe value of Simone de

literature'. 15
Beauvoir's activity and writings in the spheresof feminism, politics and

Her starting point is that `basically, [Simone de Beauvoir] was not an inventive or

highly imaginative writer' (p. 3). There is no careful evaluationof Simone de

Beauvoir's writing in her book; instead,sheconcentrateson philosophical and

autobiographicalaspectsof the fiction, concluding that Simone de Beauvoir's lack of

inventive powers led her to write romans a clef and romans a these(p. 105). Her

commentsare consistently dismissive and unfounded.One is

page allotted to Les Belles

Images; she considersthis to be Simonede Beauvoir's `most accomplishedwork of

fiction in the formal sense'(p. 114) but restricts herself to summarisingthe plot. Her

verdict is that `skilfully and smoothly constructedas it is, the novel seemsthin and the

14In 1991Keefe continuesto regret the fact that Simone de Beauvoir's stories are narratedexclusively
from the woman's point of view. As regardsthe upbringing of children in Les Belles Images and La
Femmerompue, he argues,we are preventedfrom `seeingthings through the father's eyes, and
therefore from making a balancedjudgement on the father's contribution to the upbringing process'
(p. 72). (This seemsespeciallyto concernKeefe in light of the fact that the stories in La Femme
rompue `are cautionary tales, warning againstthe unreliability of certain women's testimony'. )
is Winegarten,Simonede Beauvoir, p. 6.
 7
(p. 16
115). La Femme is dismissedin
plot mechanismartificial' rompue summedup and

ten lines (p. 115). My argumenthere is that, if critics claim to evaluateSimone de

Beauvoir's fiction and her contribution to literature, then the least they owe is a careful

'7
reading of the texts.

JaneHeath's study of three of Simone de Beauvoir's fictional works and her

18
autobiographiesfocus `on textuality not personality'. By placing emphasison the

processof the fictional texts she seeksto examinethe way in which the feminine in the

texts, defined as a site of resistance,representsa challengeto the patriarchal order (pp.

8,13,14). She argues that Simone de Beauvoir is inscribed on the side of the masculine,

speaking `predominantlythe discourseof repression' and allowing the man in her to

speak(p. 9). However, in spite of repressionof the feminine, JaneHeath tells us, the

feminine returnsto the texts. Sheoffers interesting psychoanalyticalreadingsof the

fiction but I shareToril Moi's disquiet at her use of the notions femininity and

19Much of what shereadsas the feminine, my readingswill reinterpret as

masculinity.

in
madness the text.

CatherineSavageBrosman looks at Simone de Beauvoir's fiction in the context

of her work as a whole in Simonede Beauvoir Revisited.One chapter dealswith the

early fiction and drama and anotherwith the later fiction. The Publisher's Note promises

`an objective considerationof Simonede Beauvoir's lasting contribution to literature

and philosophy'. Indeed, CatherineBrosman's study is intended to fill the gap left by

studiessheconsidersto be overspecialisedor `unbalanced',arguing that `this is the case

16Sheaddsthe following,
rather odd remark: `All is weighted againstthe majority of Laurence's circle,
and the battle seemswon in advance' (p. 115).
17I have not included Carol Ascher's book in this review. Her
aim is `to render the character,
preoccupations,and main themesof de Beauvoir's life - as [she] see[s] them' (p. 3).
'$ Heath, Simonede Beauvoir, 3.
p.
"See Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, footnote 27
pp. 272-73.
 8
from feminist 20
particularly with the numerousstudiesdone the viewpoint' . Although

sheclaims to treat Simone de Beauvoir's fictional techniquein detail, little spaceis

actually given over to it. For instance,barely more than one page is devotedto the form

of L'Invitee and one paragraphof this is concernedwith showing that autobiographical

considerationsweigh more heavily than questionsof style (p. 55). Likewise, just one

pagedeals with the form of Les Belles Images (p. 88) and there is one paragraphgiven

over to the considerationof form in eachof the stories in La Femmerompue (pp. 94,95,

98). When techniqueis dealt with, focalization is the aspectconcentratedon. The tone

of CatherineBrosman's study is hostile, begrudgingand dismissive. Her estimateof the

portrait of Xaviere in L'Invitee, for example,is that `shemay be the book's most

successfulportrait, and credit is due to Beauvoir, even though she had a live model' (p.

52). As for Simonede Beauvoir's technique,CatherineBrosman writes: `The progress

the author had madein storytelling sinceher early attemptsis visible in L'Invitee.

Thanks perhapsto Sartre's influence, Beauvoir had a senseof what techniquecould

contribute to her fiction. [...] The fact that two initial chaptershad to be excised,on an

editor's advice, suggeststhat the craftsmanshipin the manuscript was not perfect' (p.

55)21 Such commentsrecur throughout the study which, though it can provide insights,

?2
also contains curious, unsubstantiatedreadingsand misreadingsof the texts Some of

20Brosman, Simonede Beauvoir Revisited,Preface,p. ix.

21Brosman neglectsto mention that thesechapterswere `excised' from an
early draft of the first hundred
pagesof what would be L'Invitee. Simonede Beauvoir discussesthe genesisof her novel in La Force
de 1'äge,p. 346. (The two chaptersappearin Les Ecrits, pp. 275-316.)
22For
example, Brosmanwrites that in L'Invitee Francoiseand Pierre bring Xaviere to Paris to pursueher
philosophical studies(p. 51). In fact, Pierre's first idea is that she should learn shorthand(L'Invitee, p.
27). Brosman offers a strangeinterpretationof the ending of Les Belles Images: 'Laurence's task is
enormous:to bring all her intimates to a common recognition of freedom and creation of an authentic
self. There is somehope that she can do so for and with Catherine' (p. 92). It is hard to reconcile this
with the tentative, personal `resolution' reachedin the final sentencesof the novel: `Mais les enfants
auront leur chance.Quelle chance?eile ne le sait m6mepas' (p. 183). Brosman doesnot provide
textual evidencethat Monique in `La Femmerompue' `was indeedan oppressivemother' (p. 99).
Certainly Monique expressesdoubts aboutthe way shebrought up her children in the light of
Maurice's cricism (pp. 186,219) but for conflicting evidenceseepp. 188,250.
 9

thesewill be dealt with during the courseof my study. In particular, I want to show that

her assertionthat the tone of Les Belles Imagesis detachedis untenable.

Toril Moi's book Simonede Beauvoir: TheMaking of an Intellectual Woman

offers a close reading of `the textual Simone de Beauvoir'. She makesno

methodological distinction between `life' and `text'; `Simone de Beauvoir' is a

construction, the effect of the fictional, philosophical, autobiographicaland epistolary

texts that sheherself wrote and of all the texts that have beenwritten about her (p. 4).

For Toril Moi, all of thesetexts participate in the samediscursive network and sheaims

`to read them all with and againsteachother in order to bring out their points of tension,

(p. 5). 4 She focuseson L'Invitee, Le Deuxiemesexeand

contradictions and similarities

the memoirs and her book is a dazzling combinationnot only of biography and literary

criticism but also `receptionstudies,sociology of culture, philosophical analysis,

psychoanalytic inquiry and feminist theory' (p. 7). Attention is paid to Simone de

Beauvoir's rhetorical strategies;L'Invitee is read as an existential melodramaand its

powerful imagery the

analysed; use of metaphorand metonymy in Simone de

Beauvoir's accountof subjectivity and sexuality in Le Deuxiemesexeis investigated;

shifts in tone and style in the memoirs are readas effects of anxiety and On
depression.

balance,the emphasisin Toril Moi's study falls on psychoanalytic and philosophical

readingsof the texts. I am interestedin developingher ideas on imagery and languagein

relation to Simone de Beauvoir's early and late fiction.

23Brosman, 86.
p.
24Toril Moi
acknowledgeswhat she call the `ethical integrity' of 'purely aesthetic' approachesto Simone
de Beauvoir but regretsthat they tend to miss the `real cultural significance' of her work by
concentratingon her as a writer of fiction (p. 5). However, given the dearth of studiesthat deal with
the form of the fiction in any depth, it seemsappropriatethat, within the context of recognised
cultural significance, effort should be devotedto an evaluation of Simone de Beauvoir's writing in the
fiction, to the appraisalof `how' shewrites. This is not to preclude comparablestudiesof non-
fictional works.
 10
In her study of Simone de Beauvoir'sfiction, Elizabeth Fallaize concentrateson

Simone de Beauvoir as a writer and intendsto make up for the relative lack of attention

has been formal literary her 25

that paid to the qualities of work until now. In particular,

she is interestedin the narrative strategiesSimonede Beauvoir usesin her novels and

short stories to
and wishes relate theseboth to the meaning of her texts and to the sexual

politics of her writing (p. 1). She points out in the introduction to her book that narrative

strategieswill figure much more prominently in her discussionof certain texts where

languageis foregroundedthan in otherswhere philosophical, political and personal

concernsare dominant (p. 4).

In her discussionof L'Invitee Elizabeth Fallaize considersthe implications of

narrative techniquesfor the psychology of the charactersand thematic/ plot

development.Thus, she argues,switchesin focalization are intended to allow external

views of Francoise(p. 27). Her treatment of Les Mandarins also raisesimportant

questionsto do with narrative voice; during her analysisElizabeth Fallaize notesthe

emergenceof a female narrative voice (p. 90) and the `accenton suffering, folly and

death' within Anne's monologue (p. 114).Les Belles Images is often consideredto be

Simone de Beauvoirs most literary novel. This is reflected in the fact that Elizabeth

Fallaize devotes a good deal of her chapter on Les Belles Images to a consideration of

narrative voice and language.Shereadsthe narrative split in Les Belles Imagesas a split

betweena first personnarrator, Laurence,and a third personexternal narrator and

interprets this as an expressionof `the unequalstrugglebetweenLaurence'sfragile

subjectivity and the weight of social structures' (p. 125). I should like to pursuean

alternative reading, suggestingthat Laurenceis narrating her own story throughout the

text and that the je/ eile split figures rather Laurence'scrisis and her senseof alienation

25Fallaize, TheNovels, 3.
p.
 11
from herself. My analyseswill build on Elizabeth Fallaize's exploration of Simone de

Beauvoir's narrative strategies.

Elizabeth Fallaize notesthat meaningis subvertedin Les Belles Images (p. 126)

and I should like to expandher analysisand considerthe implications of this,

distinguishing betweentext and story; betweenthe ideological use of languageby

charactersbelonging to a specific classand the way the text itself underminesmeaning.

Elizabeth Fallaize implies that the natureof meaning is also posited as problematic in

the stories collected in La Femmerompue (pp. 160,166-67). For her, the stories

collected in La Femmerompue are narrativesof bad faith and the women narrating their

own stories are deceiving themselves,using discoursesto concealtheir situation from

themselves(pp. 154-55).This reading is basedon the premisethat there exists a true,

correct version of their stories that they are too blind or perhapstoo wilful to see.

Elizabeth Fallaize adoptsthe `detectivestance'advocatedby Simone de Beauvoir and,

reducing the texts to a coherentnarrative,tells us what really happened.A quite

different reading is also possible, one which seesthe women in the processof

constructing reality. Far from positing a true version of eventsagainstwhich to measure

the bad faith of the narrators,the text can be shown to questionthe very notions of truth

and reality. I shall be exploring this later.

In Simonede Beauvoir's fiction as a whole, Elizabeth Fallaize identifies an

overall reduction in plurality and a loss of authority concededto the female voice which,

however, becomesthe dominant voice. Shenotesthat gradually the narrative voice is

taken over by negative,mad women and asksthe crucial question as to how the

connectionbetweenwomen and folly and the abuseof words can be accountedfor (p.

179). Interesting autobiographicaland historical points are advancedto explain

developmentsin Simonede Beauvoir's narrative strategies.My readingsof Simone de

 12
Beauvoir will develop Fallaize's insights into Simonede Beauvoir's narrative strategies

by addressingthe connectionsbetweenmadnessand languagein the text. I shall explore

the textual strategiesthat call into questionthe meaningfulnessof languageand the

nature of truth.

FrancoiseArnaud Hibbs's study, L'Espace dans les romans de Simonede

Beauvoir: son expressionet safonction, examinesthe way Simonede Beauvoir uses

spacein her novels, showing how different spacesare presenteda number of times from

different points of view and at different points in the narrative and how thesespaces

change: `Un meme lieu seral'objet de descriptionsmultiples. Sa realite n'apparaitra au

lecteur que comme une serie de possibilites; de facon ideale une synthesemeine ne

devrait pas s'imposer ä lui'26 She goeson to analysethe meaningsSimone de Beauvoir

attachesto spacein her novels and autobiographiesand identifies what sherefers to as

`la dialectique du cercle et de la ligne' (p. 84). Shearguesthat charactersbreak out of/

open up the luminous circle of consciousnessand the threat of nothingnessthrough

action which is `un mouvement lineaire' (p. 94) and that `la dialectique du cercle et de

la ligne traduit la confrontation permanenteentre cloture et ouverture,passivite et

action, limites et liberte' (p. 110). In FrancoiseHibbs's study, the treatmentof space

provides a starting point for raising philosophical, metaphysical and psychological

considerations.

This review of major critical studiesof Simone de Beauvoir's work that consider

her fiction to somedegree,revealsthat there is a place for further analysisof her fiction.

It confirms that the form of her novels and short storiesremainsa relatively neglected

areaof study. Attention here will therefore centreon text as opposedto story and

26Hibbs, L'Erpace dans les

romans de Simonede Beauvoir, Stanford French and Italian Studies 59,
Saratoga,California: Anma Libri, 1989,p. 10.
 13

narration. Theseare the labels usedby Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan for the the basic

fiction. 27 They to Genette'sdistinction betweenhistoire,

aspectsof narrative correspond

28 `Story' denotesthe narratedeventsand the participants in these

recit and narration.

`le
events, contenunarratif , however minimal. `Text' denotesthe discourse,spokenor

written, that tells the story. `Narration' denotesthe act or processof production, the

communication of the narrative by a fictional narrator within the text. All three aspects

are essentialand interrelated. To basean evaluation of narrative fiction on an

appreciationof story only, that is an examination of eventsand is

characters, evidently

partial. To a great extent, the how of the telling is the meaning of the story.

Simonede Beauvoir attacheda great deal of importanceto the artistic reworking

of lived to
experience, the creative process.She did not simply transcribe lived

experiencein her fiction. In a lecture she gave in Japanin 1966, when the bulk of her

fiction was alreadywritten, shetold her listeners: `Ecrire un roman, c'est en quelque

le
sorte pulveriser monde reel et n'en retenir que les elementsqu'on pourra introduire

Bansune re-creationd'un monde imaginaire [...]. Un roman c'est une especede machine

fabrique eclairer le de titre dansle 9 The transposition of

qu'on pour sens noire monde'.

experienceinto fiction, the creation of une oeuvre litteraire required attention to be paid

to form. Toril Moi quotesthe diary entry in La Force des choseswhere Simone de

Beauvoir writes that for the lifeless sentencesthat transcribeher life to becomea real

work, shewould have to pay attention to how shetold the story, to `la facon de

30 Shedoesnot have the time to rework her diary entries, she says,but
raconter'

elsewherein La Force des chosesshe describesthe long, painstaking processof

27Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith, Narrative Fiction: ContemporaryPoetics, London: Methuen, 1983, pp. 3-4.
28Genette,Gerard, `Discours du rdcit', in Figures III, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1972,p. 72.
29Beauvoir, `Mon
experienced'Ccrivain', ConfbrencedonnCeaujapon, le 11 octobre 1966, in Francis,
Claude and FernandeGontier, Les icrits de Simonede Beauvoir: La vie - L'ecriture, Paris:
Gallimard, 1979,p. 443.
30La Force des
choses,quoted in Moi, Toril, Simonede Beauvoir, p. 247.
 14

reworking the drafts of her books; the initial writing, `un labeur penible'; the second

draft, `[1e]brouillon'; and then the final rewriting:

M'aidant de mon brouillon, je redige ä grandstraits un chapitre.Je reprendsla

premiere page et arrivee en bas,je la refais phrasepar phrase;ensuiteje corrige
chaquephrased'apres 1'ensemblede la page,chaquepaged'apres le chapitre
entier; plus tard, chaquechapitre, chaquepage,chaquephrased'apres la totalite
du livre.
(La Force des choses,p. 294.)31

In her contribution to the 1964 debate,Quepeut la litterature, Simone de Beauvoir is

categoricalthat in literature, which is essentiallyan exploration/ a search(`une

recherche'), `la distinction entre le fond et la forme est perimee; et les deux sont
32
inseparables' She goeson to say: `On ne peut pas separerla maniere de raconteret ce

qui est raconte,parce que la de

maniere raconter c'est le rythme meme de la recherche,
3 Given the importance
c'est la maniere de la definir, c'est la manerede la vivre'.

Simone de Beauvoir attachedto form, given the care shetook with the writing of her

34
fiction, with the craft of writing, this aspectof her work deservesclose examination.

Considerationof Simone de Beauvoir's writing practice is amply rewarded.Not

only doesit the

reveal richnessof hertexts,it canalsoafford alternative of
readings her

early and late fiction. Thesemay be deconstructivereadingsthat undermine authorial

readingsof the texts.

31The whole processis describedin `Intermbde', La Force des chores, pp. 293-95.
32In Quepeut la litterature,
ed. by Yves Buin, Paris: Union Generaled'$ditions, 1965,pp. 73-92 (p. 84).
33Que
peut la litterature, p. 85. Seealso Simonede Beauvoir's commentsin the interview with Catherine
David, `Beauvoir elle-meme', Le Nouvel Observateur,22 January 1979,pp 82-90, (p. 88-89). In
responseto the interviewer's remark that style doesnot seemto be of great importanceto her, Simone
de Beauvoir replies: `Au contraire,j'y attacheune grande importance.Je travaille bnormbmenttout ce
quej'6cris. Vous savez,pour emouvoir, il faut que les chosessoient Bitesd'une certaine facon, avec
un certain ton, des ellipses,des images,des diveloppements. ca a toujours beaucoupcompt6 pour
moi. [...] Dans mes romanset mes Memoires,je fais toujours tres attention ä la mani6re dont je dis les
choses,On ne peut 6videmmentpas sbparerla mani8re du contenu'.
34Simone de Beauvoir
statesthat some essayscan also be describedas works of literature to the extent
that `Bans1'essaim¬me il ya un style, une ecriture, une construction; on communique aussi ä travers
ce qu'il y ade commun et de dbsinformatif Bansle langage'. `Mon experience', p. 441.
 15
Before going further, it will be useful at this point to examinesomeof the

author's own views with regard to her fiction. Simone de Beauvoir knew (thought she

knew) what her texts meant.Her intentions are, in eachcase,clearly spelt out in her

5 Toril Moi has pointed out how `the autobiographybecomesa repertoire of

memoirs.

authorized readings', as Simone de Beauvoir attemptsto control the meaning of her

books. 6 Martha Noel Evans also discussesthe way in which Simone de Beauvoir's

fiction is `documentedand shadowed'by her memoirs. 7 She

seesthe autobiographyas

`a secondwriting that explains, completes,andjustifies the first' (p. 77). Simone de

Beauvoir's memoirs reveal a tension betweenher desireto control the meaning of her

texts, particularly her fictional texts, and her wish to leave room for a certain ambiguity

she intendedto guaranteevraisemblance(in life there is no closure,no certainty, no

Truth).

About L'Invitee shewrites: `bans les passagesreussisdu roman, on arrive ä une

ambige to de significations qui correspondä celle qu'on rencontreBansla realite' (La

Force de 1'äge,p.352). Shequoteswith approval what Blanchot saysabout existencein

his essayon le roman a these:`Le but de 1'ecrivain c'est de la donner a voir en la

recreantavec des mots: il la trahit, il l'appauvrit, s'il n'en respectepas 1'ambiguite' (La

Force de Vage, pp.558-59). This is Simonede Beauvoir's declaredreasonfor preferring

L'Invitee to Le Sang des autres, because`la fm en demeureouverte; on ne saurait en

tirer aucunelecon' (La Force de I'äge, p.559), whereas,Le Sang des autres `aboutit ä

35L'Invitee in La Force de läge pp. 347-53; Le Sang des autres in La Force de 1'dge pp. 555-58; Tous
les hommessont mortels in La Force des choses,pp. 75-9; Les Mandarins in La Force des choses,pp.
283-92; Les Belles Images, in Tout comptefait,, pp. 171-75;La Femmerompue, in Tout comptefait,,
pp. 175-81.
36Moi, Toril, `Intentions and Effects: Rhetoric and Identification in Simone de Beauvoir's "The Woman
Destroyed"', in Feminist Theory and Simonede Beauvoir, Oxford: Blackwell, 1990, p. 67.
37Evans, Martha Noel, Masks Tradition: Womenand the Politics
of of Writing in Twentieth-Century
France, Ithaca: Cornell University Press,1987,p. 76. She contendsthat Simone de Beauvoir
establishesa hierarchy in which the (masculine) commentarytakes precedenceover the (feminine)
fiction and relatesthis to what she defines as Simone de Beauvoir's ambivalent views of fiction that
are, in turn, linked with her ambivalencetowards her gender.
 16

une conclusion univoque, reductible en maximes et en concepts' (La Force de 1'äge,

p.559). Simone de Beauvoir is evenmore critical of her text than Blanchot, writing: `Le

defaut qu'il denoncen'entachepas seulementles dernierespagesdu roman: d'un bout ä

1'autre,il lui est inherent (La Force de 1'äge,p.559). Ambiguity is what Simonede

Beauvoir values in Tous les hommessont mortels:

En le relisantje me suis demande:mais qu'est-ce quej'ai voulu dire? Je n'ai

voulu dire rien d'autre que 1'aventure que j'inventai. Le recit se contestesans
repit; si on pretendait en tirer des allegations,elles se contrediraient;aucunpoint
de vue ne prevaut definitivement; celui de Fosca,celui d'Armand sont vrais
ensemble. J'aurais dit dans mon precedent essaique la dimension des entreprises
humainesn'est ni le fini ni l'infini, mais l'indefini: ce mot ne se laisseenfermer
dansaucunelimite fixe, la meilleure maniere de l'approcher, c'est de divaguer
sur sespossiblesvariations. Tous les hommes sont mortels, c'est cette divagation
organisee; les themes n'y sont pas des theses mais des departs vers d'incertains
vagabondages.
(La Force des chores,p.79.)

Indeed, for Simonede Beauvoir, ambiguity is at the heart of the literary enterprise.This

is what shewrites in La Force des choses:`J'ai dit dejä quel est pour moi un des roles

essentielsde la litterature: manifesterdes verites ambigues,separees,contradictoires,

qu'aucun moment ne totalise ni hors de moi, ni en moi; en certainscas on ne reussit ä

les ressemblerqu'en les inscrivant dansl'unite d'un objet imaginaire' (pp.282-83)38

Rejecting the idea that Les Mandarins is un roman a these,shewrites:

La confrontation - existence, neant - ebauchee ä vingt ans dans mon journal

intime, poursuivie ä travers tous mes livres etjamais achevee, n'aboutit ici non
ä
plus aucune reponse sure. J'ai montre des gens en proie ä des espoirs et ä des
doutes, cherchant ä tätons leur chemin. Je me demande bien ce que j'ai demontre.
(La Force des choses,p. 290.)

Simone de Beauvoir's commentshere are in line with the conception of fiction as a

processof discovery for author and readersalike, a conception developedin `Litterature

et metaphysique'where shewrites:

38Seealso `Mon Gontier, Ecrits,

experience' in Francis and Les p. 447. Simone de Beauvoir told her
listeners: `II s'agit, dansun roman, de donner ä voir 1'existencedans sesambiguitbs,dans ses
contradictions.L'existence est detotalisee,toujours inachevCe,toujours a reprendre,l'existence ne
conclutjamais'.
 17
Or ceci exige que le romancier participe lui-meme ä cette rechercheä laquelle il
convie son lecteur: s'il prevoit d'avance les conclusions auxquelles celui-ci doit
aboutir, s'il fait pression sur lui pour lui arracher son adhesion ä des theses
preetablies, s'il ne lui accorde qu'une illusion de liberte, alors l'oeuvre
romanesque n'est qu'une mystification incongrue; le roman ne revet sa valeur et
sa dignite que s'il constituepour l'auteur comme pour le lecteur une decouverte
vivante.
(`Litterature et metaphysique',p109.)39

Like the pursuit of ambiguity, Simonede Beauvoir's acknowledgementthat

readersplay a role in the creation of meaning can also appearto stand in contradiction to

her desireto control the meaning of her books. In view of the severity with which she

criticises her readers(I shall come back to this shortly), it is somewhatsurprising to find

her writing, `un livre est un objet collectif les lecteurscontribuent autant que l'auteur A

le creer [...]' (La Force des 49-50)40 It is an idea echoedin her prefaceto
choses,pp.

Anne Ophir's book, Regardsfeminin: conditionfeminine et creation litteraire, when

she acknowledgeswith gratitude that, although she set out to reveal the mauvaisefoi of

her heroinesin La Femmerompue, shehad beenshown how her texts (`recits')

`pouvaient etre envisagessousde tout autresaspects'.Shetells us: `Anne Ophir m'a fait

faire des decouvertes'and asserts:`Qu'une etudecritique apporteä son ecrivain des

lumieres inattenduessur son travail, je penseque c'est le plus grand eloge qu'on puisse

faire' 4' In fact, this is an attitude that appearsearly in Simonede Beauvoir's career.

Commentsshemakes about the reception of L'Invitee are revealing; Simone de

Beauvoir recognisedthat her book was now beyond her control, yet was happy with this

stateof affairs only insofar as it was interpretedin line with her intentions:

39`Litterature et mdtaphysique' in Existentialismeet la sagessedes nations, Paris: Nagel, 1948,pp. 103-

24.
40Sartre echoesthesesentimentsin his contribution to the debateon literature published in Quepeut la
litterature?. He arguesthat an author dependson his readersto find out what he has actually written:
`L'objet qu'il a fait lui est renvoye autre qu'il n'a cru le faire, par les lecteurs,parce que prbcisdment
il ya creation dans la lecture' (p. 119).
41Prefaceto Ophir, Anne, Regardsfeminin: conditionfeminine
et creation litteraire, Paris: Denoal/
Gontier, 1976. [Pagesnot numbered.] Reprinted in Francis and Gontier, E'crits, pp. 577-79.
 18
Je lus avec un agreableetonnementles remarquesque fit Thierry Maulnier [...]:
je les trouvai justes et elles me prenaientau depourvu; mon livre possedaitdons
1'epaisseurd'un objet: dansune certain mesure,il m'echappait. Cependantj'eus
plaisir aussi ä constater qu'il n'avait pas trahi mes intentions.
.
(La Force de 1'age, p. 571.)

It is already clear from thesecommentsthat the freedom accordedto readerswas to be

strictly limited.

Simone de Beauvoir was confident that shehad said what shemeant to say. In

the light of this, the extent to which her texts are read differently than sheintended,

`misread' and `misunderstood'in her terms, is striking. In her memoirs sherepeatedly

deploresthe fact that her readershave, once again, failed to understandher message.

She setsout to correct misconceptionsand is careful to tell us exactly what we would

have understoodif only we had read more carefully. This is what shewrites in La Force

des chosesabout the reception of her secondnovel:

Le Sang des autres parut en septembre;le theme principal en etait, je 1'ai

dit, le paradoxede cette existencevecuepar moi comme ma liberte et saisie
comme objet par ceux qui m'approchent. Ces intentions echapperentau public;
le livre fut catalogue«un roman sur la resistance.
Par moment, ce malentendum'agaca...
(La Force des choses,p.49.)

Unfortunately, Simonede Beauvoir was equally disappointedby the reception of Les

Mandarins. She rejectsthe idea that it is a roman a cle and goeson to write: `J'aurais

souhaitequ'on prennece livre pour ce qu'il est; ni une autobiographie,ni un reportage:

une evocation' (La Force des p.

choses, 289). In her memoirs Simone de Beauvoir

appearsextremely defensiveas regardsLe Deuxieme justifiably

sexe, in
so, perhaps, the
42
light of the bitter reactionsit provoked. Shewas convincedthat her book had been

`je
misunderstood: souhaiteque Le Deuxiemesexesoit compris tel queje l'ai ecrit' (La

Force des choses,p.207); ' Mes adversairescreerentet entretinrentautour du Deuxieme

42SeeLa Force des

choses,pp.203-11.
 19
sexede nombreux malentendus'(La Force des choses,p.209); `Mal lu, mal compris, il

agitait les esprits' (La Force des choses,p.210).

Simone de Beauvoir was awareof the risks involved in the new textual strategies

she adoptedin her later fiction: `Demanderau public de lire entre les lignes, c'est

dangereux' (Tout comptefait, p. 175), she says.The techniquein Les Belles Images is

contrastedwith what shehad donepreviously:

Dans mes precedents romans, le point de vue de chaque personnage etait

nettement explicite et le lens de 1'ouvrage se degageait de leur confrontation.
Dans celui-ci, il s'aggissait de faire parler le silence. Le probleme etait neuf pour
moi.
(Tout comptefait, p. 172.)

Although the book was generally well received,a section of her public did not

appreciateher intentions and, in particular, Simone de Beauvoir regrettedthat `le

personnagedu pere de Laurencea souventdonne lieu ä un malentendu' (Tout compte

fait, p. 174). Even so, shewent on to usethe samestrategyin La Femmerompue. `La

Femmerompue' and `Monologue' are also constructed`ä travers des silences' (Tout

177). 3 It is
comptefait, p. with regardto `La Femmerompue' that Simonede Beauvoir

is most prescriptive. Her sympathiesclearly lie with Maurice and Simonede Beauvoir

sets out to expose Monique's mauvaisefoi:

J'aurais voulu que le lecteur lilt ce recit comme un roman policier; j'ai seme de-
ci de-lä des indices qui permettent de trouver la cle du mystere; mais ä condition
qu'on depiste Monique comme on depiste un coupable. [Emphasis added.]
(Tout comptefait, pp.175-76.)

Sadly, Simone de Beauvoir writes, `le livre fut encoreplus mal compris que le precedent

[Les Belles Images] et cette fois la plupart des critiques m'ereinterent' (Tout comptefait,

p. 177). Sheregretsthat her women readers`partageaient1'aveuglementde Monique'

43I am reminded of Kristeva's

commentsabout women's writing and one of the ways women tend to deal
with the art of composition: `- silence,and the unspoken,riddled with repetition, weave an
evanescentcanvas'. Kristeva, Julia, `Talking about Polylogue' in French Feminist Thought,ed. by
Toril Moi, Oxford: Blackwell, 1987,pp. 110-17(p. 113).
 20

and believed that `leurs reactionsreposaientsur un enorme contresens'(Tout compte

fait, p. 178). Simone de Beauvoir is severe:`La plupart des critiques ont prouve par leurs

1'avaienttres mal lu' (Tout 178)44

comptesrendusqu'ils comptefait, p.

In summary,there is an evident tension in Simone de Beauvoir's fiction between

control and ambiguity. This desireto control the reading of her texts exists alongside

Simone de Beauvoir's desireto enhanceambiguity in her texts. The freedom she

professedlyaccordsreadersto participate in the creation of meaning coexistswith the

severecriticism she directs at readerswhose interpretation differs from her own. These

contradictionsare revealing.

Why is Simone de Beauvoir so defensive?As Toril Moi says,`the very intensity

of Beauvoir's efforts to enforce the true meaning of her texts may make the sceptical

she 45 Toril Moi wonders if `there is something in

readerwonder why protestsso much'

thesetexts that threatensto escapeeven Simonede Beauvoir?' 46

44Critics have analysedwhy Simone de Beauvoir fails to achievewhat shewished to do in `La Femme
rompue'. In `ResistingRomance:Simone de Beauvoir, "The Woman Destroyed" and the Romance
Script', (in Contemporary French Fiction by Women:Feminist Perspectives,ed. by Atack, Margaret
and Phil Powrie, Manchester.ManchesterUniversity Press,1990), Elizabeth Fallaize looks at the
ideology of romance in connectionwith Simone de Beauvoir's fiction. Sheshows how impossible a
task Simone de Beauvoir set herself when she set out to undermine/ demistify the romance script in
`La Femmerompue'. No wonder Simone de Beauvoir's readers`misunderstood' her story - it met
almost all their expectations,notwithstandingthe unhappy ending from Monique's point of view.
Elizabeth Fallaize showshow structuresand readershipwork against Simone de Beauvoir's
subversiveenterprise;it was published in serial form in Elle magazineand focused on the
complications of love for an individual woman. Although Monique's strategiesare implicated in her
failure to win her man, the battle itself is not challenged;Maurice, vindicated by the narrative, is
clearly identified asthe prize. Readersare inclined to identify with Monique, not only becauseof the
personal,intimate tone of the first personnarrative, but also becauseof the lifestyle they generally
sharedwith her.
In her analysis of the rhetorical strategiesused in `La Femme rompue', Toril Moi has shown
how they provoke the misreadingsidentified by Simone de Beauvoir and confirmed by her own
experienceof teachingthe text ( `Intentions and Effects', pp. 61-93). Shemakesa useful distinction
betweenthe author's declaredintentions which may not have any discernible textual effects and the
intentionality of the text itself, that is, the logic of the text as produced by the reader,whether the
writer knows it or not.
45Moi, `Intentions and Effects', 67.
p.
46Moi, `Intentions and Effects', 67.
p.
 21
Speakingof her intentions in her later fiction, Simone de Beauvoir usesphrases

`donner ä `faire 47
transparaitre' This is a way of looking at
such as voir' and not new

literature for Simone de Beauvoir; ambiguity and readers'participation in the creation

of meaning were always crucial to her enterprise.She speaksof her earlier fiction in

48
analogousterms What is new is the textual strategiesusedto put theseintentions into

effect and the changedemphasisthis approachgives rise to. Noteworthy in this

connection is the explicit absenceof Simone de Beauvoir from her later texts. Of course,

the implied author is never completely absent(after all, it is shewho in `La Femme

rompue' plants `des indices qui permettent de trouver la c1edu mystere'49 ), but there is

a definite shift from using multiple narrativeviewpoints where the narrators' points of

view coincide with Simone de Beauvoir's to some extent at least, to the use of narrators

that are placed at a distancefrom her. Speakingof Les Belles Images shewrites:

`Personne,danscet univers auquelje suis hostile, ne pouvait parler en mon nom;

cependantpour le donner ä voir il me fallait prendreä son egardun certain recul' (Tout

comptefait, p. 172). This can be contrastedwith what Simone de Beauvoir saysabout

L'Invitee: `A chaquechapitre,je coincidais avec un de mes heros [...] J'adoptai

d'ordinaire le point de vue de Franroise ä qui je pretai, ä travers d'importantes

transpositions, ma propre experience' (La Force de I'äge, pp. 346-7). She tells us: `bans

ce roman,je me livrais, je me risquais [...]' (La Force de 1age, p. 349) and `je m'y etais

risqueetout entiere' (La Force de l'äge, p. 570). Simone de Beauvoir's fate is bound up

with her character'sin this text:

Surtout, en deliant Francoise,par un crime, de la dependanceoü la tenait son

amour pour Pierre,je retrouvai ma propre autonomie. [...] il me fallait aller au
bout de mon fantasme,lui donner corps sansen rien attenuer,si je voulais

47SeeTout comptefait
p. 172. Theseexpressionsare usedwith referenceto Les Belles Images.
48See`Littbrature
et m6taphysique', Existentialismeet la sagessedes nations, pp. 106 and 109; `Mon
experience', Les Ecrits, p. 447.
49Tout
comptefait,, p. 176.
 22

conquerir pour mon compte la solitide oü je precipitai Francoise.En effet,

l'identification s'opera.
(La Force de 1'äge,pp. 348-9.)

In Les Mandarins, Simone de Beauvoir wished to put all of herself - `je voulais y

mettre tout de moi' (La Force des p.

choses, 211) - and divides her experience

betweenAnne and Henri. 50

It may seemparadoxical that the further Simone de Beauvoir ostensibly

withdrew from her texts, the more prescriptive she becameabout what they truly meant.

Heightenedanxiety of control goessomeway towards making senseof and explaining

this. The more `freedom' she gavereaders,the less she trustedthem. And the fact that

they did misunderstand,of course,proved that she had been right. Simone de Beauvoir

who was disappointedin her readers,was very consciousof the fact that she had

disappointedthem. It is a recurring theme in her memoirs. Sherepeatsher attemptsto

find understandingand approval, in her searchfor a positive closure, only to recreatethe

familiar senseof having failed, of having beenmisunderstood,a disappointment.She

repeatedly(re)createdthe gap betweenintention and outcomewhere this pattern could

be relived. It is the feeling of disappointmentthat predominatesdespitethe evident

successof her fiction, especially of her later books.

Simone de Beauvoir gives readersfreedomto read betweenthe lines but their

freedom is strictly limited. Authorial control is not renounced.Foucault tells us that

truth is relatedto power. Simone de Beauvoir seeksto retain power over the readerby

'
imposing a true reading of her texts. In Simone de Beauvoir's mind there is a correct

50SeeLa Force des choses,pp. 287-8.

51Furthermore,the fact that readersencountera slippery and unstabletext increasesthe likelihood that
they will have recourseto authorial commentsbeyond the text for confirmation of the `correct'
reading. Martha Noel Evans developsthis point in relation to the use of the style indirect libre in
L'Invitee: `By maintaining the readerin a confusedand confusing relation to her discourse,flipping in
and out betweenemotional fusion and moral judgement, Beauvoir as author finally displacesthe text
as object of desire.The text is so undependableand contradictory that in order to take up a well-
defined relation to it we must seekhelp, guidanceapproval from outsidethe text, in the mind and will
 23

reading that readersare free to choose.Directed to find this reading, to read meaning

betweenthe lines, in the spacewhich is empty and where nothing exists, readerscannot

but fail. Simone de Beauvoir's `trust' in her readersis disappointedagain and again.

Inevitably, by failing to use their freedomcorrectly, they fall into the mauvaisefoi trap

that Simone de Beauvoir has set up. Her autobiographycondemnsher women readersas

she invites her readersto condemnher characters.

Simone de Beauvoir, we have seen,valued ambiguity in the nameof realism,

vraisemblance.Although she intendedthe ambiguity she sought to be controlled and

betweenthe lines, she also found it in languageitself, in the madnessinherent

contained

in'the text, that is to say, in those qualities that destabilisemeaning and identity, that

I
representchaos. seethe `secondwriting' in the memoirs as a bid to restore control, to

contain the madnessin the text, as a defenceagainst chaos.In this, my understanding

by Martha Noel Evans. During the courseof her

accordswith the views expressed

discussionon genderand the `hidden complex of vulnerabilities and defenses'that

Simone de Beauvoir's ambivalencegives rise to, she makesthe following comment:

While [Simone de Beauvoir's] ample commentaryon her fiction betrays some

uneasiness,some attempt to domesticateher fiction's wildness, the net effect of
thesecommentaries is to cover the confusion, to shield or prevent the reader from
facing the trouble that is there.
(Masks of Tradition, p. 80.)

Simone de Beauvoir's anxiety at the excessand ambiguity inscribed in her fiction seems

to me to be a key factor underlying her efforts to prescribehow her texts should be read,

her attemptto retrench in her memoirs. Her exegesiscan be seento mask other possible

2 The `secondwriting' in the memoirs also reveals Simonede Beauvoir's

readings.

of its creator'. Masks of tradition: Womenand the Politics of Writing in Twentieth-CenturyFrance,

Ithaca: Cornell University Press,1987,p. 90.
52I also
relate this to the way that Simone de Beauvoir seemsto have happily seizedupon the debate
about the `bad' ending in L'Invitee and to have acquiescedin the criticism in order to elude the more
threateningquestionsthat a defenceof its excesswould have raised. Thus, the madnessof the text was
 24

compulsion to complete.Fictional texts that replicate the opennessand inconclusiveness

of existenceare defined (explained and circumscribed) in the memoirs.

My readingsof Simonede Beauvoir will focus on how the madnessinherent in

the text of her works, functions to unsettlemeaning.My centreof interest is not the

theme of madnessin the fiction. What interestsme is the way that textual strategies

duplicate madnessin the text, the way that the text structuresan experienceof madness

which is not locatable in any one characterbut which is an effect of the text as a whole.

I read madnessmetaphorically as an intrinsic quality of the texts. This is not to say that

the texts per se are `mad' 53

I must also underline, given the historical connectionbetweenwomen and

madnessin our patriarchal culture, that I do not wish to suggestthat Simone de Beauvoir

was `mad' or to seekto devalueher work by doing so. I do not believe that my locating

signs of madnessin the text need be interpretedin this way. It is widely recognisedthat

throughout history, women who haveresistedpatriarchal authority have been defined as

54 This is by Alice Jardine

mad and silenced. pointed out who arguesthat women

writers are lesswilling to experimentin a radical way with existing literary conventions

and relateswomen's `respectfor form' precisely to women's having been `closer to all

possibletransgressions'.As sheputs it, `one fatal stepoutside of symbolic pre-

defined, curtailed and dismissed.SeeMoi, Simonede Beauvoir, pp. 95-6 for a discussionof Simone
de Beauvoir's attitude to the ending of L'Invitee.
s3I do not intend to psychoanalysethe texts or Simone de Beauvoir
or, for that matter, her characters.
saSeeChesler,Phyllis, Womenand Madness,New York: Avon, 1972. She describesthe
relationship
betweenthe female condition and madness,showing how both women who fully act out the
conditioned female role and those who reject or are ambivalent about the female role are defined as
mad (p. 56). `The ethic of mental health is masculinein our culture', she argues(p. 69). Seealso
Showalter, Elaine, TheFemale Malady: Women,Madnessand English Culture, 1830-1980,London:
Virago, 1987 and Evans, Martha Noel, Fits and Starts: A Genealogyof Hysteria in Modern France,
New York: Cornell University Press,1991.During a discussionabout the antipsychiatry movement in
an interview with Alice Jardine,Simone de Beauvoir said: `Given masculinenorms, it is clear that
women are more likely to be consideredcrazy - I'm not saying to be crazy. [...] It's terrible this
tendencyto considerwomen somethingdangerousto society... but, truthfully speakingthey are
dangerous,even thosewho aren't feminists, becausethere has always been a women's revolt'.
Jardine,Alice, `Interview with Simone de Beauvoir', Signs, Winter, 1979,224-36, p. 229.
 25
[they designated 55 In in
scriptions and are] as mad'. a sense, reading transgressionand

resistancein Simone de Beauvoir's fiction as signs of I

madness, am reappropriating

force 56
madnessas a positive within the text.

One of the most influential studieson madnessto date has beenundertakenby

ä 1'äge 57
Foucault in his Histoire de lafolie classique Much of what he argueshere can

be relatedto Simone de Beauvoir's textual practice.

What interestsFoucault is the way individuals and the social body are regulated

through the articulation of discourses, through the application of knowledge/ power. For

Foucault, discoursesare `historically variable ways of specifying knowledge and

truth' 58 Discoursesproduce `reality'. Discursive practicesproduce the categoriesin

which we think ourselvesand our society. Truth claims of knowledges are not verifiable

outside the discoursesin which they are produced.Foucault rejects conventional

histories of psychiatry that interpret the emergence of psychiatric medicine as a series of

humanitarianadvances.For Foucault, the modem conceptionof mental illness and the

asylum have been unknowingly constructedout of elementsof the classical

(seventeenth-century)experienceof madness59

ssJardine,Alice, `Pre-textsfor the Transatlantic Feminist', YaleFrench Studies,62,19.81,220-36 (pp.

232-33).
s6In so doing, I do not wish to glamorise madnessitself. As Elaine Showalter
says,interpreting madness
as a form of feminist protest comes`dangerouslyclose to romanticizing and endorsingmadnessas a
desirableform of rebellion rather than seeingit as the desperatecommunication of the powerless'
(The Female Malady, p. 5). Moreover, whilst my study doesnot specifically interrogate genderas a
factor of the production of Simone de Beauvoir's texts, this neverthelessforms the context of the
discussion.Nor is it the aim of this study to considerthe genderpolitics that inflect the content and
reception of Simone de Beauvoir's fiction. This is not to deny the importanceof theseareasof
investigation. However, an examination of the genderedideologiesthat permeatethe production and
reception of the texts is a project beyond the scopeof this study.
57Foucault, Michel, Histoire de lafolie a1 arge
classique,Paris: Gallimard, 1972 (first published in
1961). Further referencesto this study will be included in the text.
saThis definition of Foucault's
notion of discoursesis given by Caroline Ramazanogluin the Introduction
to Up Against Foucault: Exploration of Some TensionsbetweenFoucault and Feminism, London:
Routledge, 1993,p. 19.
59For example,see 177.
p.
 26
Foucault's study begins with the disappearanceof leprosy at the end of the

Middle Ages. Madnesswas to take the place of leprosy, prompting the same`jeux

d'exclusion' (p. 16), the same`reactionsde partage,d'exclusion, de purification' (p.

18). However, medieval madnessfor Foucault was excluded `within' society, not `from'

it as it would be in the seventeenthcentury. Far from being expulsedduring the fifteenth

and sixteenth centuries,madnessplayed an essentialrole in the symbolic landscapeof

the Renaissance.Foucault discussesthe ritual exclusion of mad strangersand the

nomadic existenceof the mad who were to be found in large numbersin centresof

pilgrimage or trade. Frequently consignedto ships, `desnefs des fous', the mad

occupied a liminal space(p. 22). Foucault gives the following explanation of the origins

of `la Nef des fous':

C'est qu'elle symbolise toute une inquietude, montee soudain ä l'horizon de la

culture europeenne, vers la fin du Moyen Age. La folie et le fou deviennent
personnages majeurs, dans leur ambiguite: menace et derision, vertigineuse
deraison du monde, et mince ridicule des hommes.
(Histoire de lafolie ä1 'age classique, p. 24. )

towardsthe endof the fifteenth

Madnessreplacesdeathasthe majorpreoccupation

century. `La folie, c'est le dejä-lä de la mort' (p. 26). It cheatsdeath of its victory.

Madness,perceptiblein sin and foibles, is the nothingnessof death in life.

Foucault considersthe divergent experiencesof madnessin art and literature of

the time. He comparesthe tragic, cosmic conceptionof madnessin paintings with the

moral critique in writings of the time that seemadnessin human sin and foibles.

Progressively,`la tragiquefolie du monde' becameobscuredas a `consciencecritique

de 1'homme'was given precedenceand madnessbecamean experiencein language

(`dens le champ du langage') `oü 1'hommeetait confronte ä sa verite morale' (p. 39).

Ensuing classicalconceptionsof madnessand the modem conceptionsof madnessthat

have developedfrom them, neglectthe tragic and are necessarilypartial. By the end of
 27

the sixteenthcentury the dominant experienceof madnessis that it is no longer at the

margins, the threat on the horizon. It has been brought into the domain of reason,

containedand tamed. Madnessand reasonwere mutually dependent,

eachguaranteeing

the existenceof the other. Madnesscameto be embracedas an essentialpart of reason,a

form of reasonitself `soit une de sesforces secretes,soit un des moments de sa

manifestation,soit une forme paradoxaledans laquelle eile peut prendre conscience

d'elle meme' (p. 44).

It is in the seventeenthcentury that the voices of madnessare reducedto silence

(p. 56). Foucault tracesthe history of the exile of madnessfrom reasonand truth in the

seventeenthand eighteenthcenturies.The mad were only one of the banishedgroupsto

endurethe moral condemnationof their age.Unreason('la deraison') is the defining

characteristicof the heterogeneouscategoriesinterned during `The Great Confinement',

(`Le Grand Renfermement')6° Whereasduring the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,

madnesshad beena vague,all pervasivethreat, in the ClassicalAge it becomesa

tangible threat that is localised and segregated:

A partir du XVII° siecle, la deraisonn'est plus la grandehantisedu monde [...].

Elle prend l'allure d'un fait humain [...]. Ce qui etait jadis inevitable peril des
choseset du langagede l'homme, de saraison et de saterre [...], commenceä se
mesurerselon un certain ecart par rapport ä la norme sociale.
(Histoire de lafolie a 1'ägeclassique,p. 117.)

Internment, literally and symbolically, placesunreasonat a distance.However, as

unreasoninvolves free will, choice and intention, all of which are attributes of reason,

the division reason/unreasonremainsuncertain ('mal assure'p. 156). As the mad were

held to make the samefree choice as other internees,(the poor, libertines, profaners,

debauchees,spendthriftset al.), it was fit that they be subjectto the sameregime of

60Throughout this period there was a concurrent,separate

experienceof madnessas illness. A limited
number of the insanewere treated in hospitals.Seepp. 131-39.
 28

punishment and correction. And yet, the mad (`les insenses,

les esprits aliens, ou

deranges,les extravagants,les gensen demence'p. 159) did have a special status.

Internment that hid the scandalousface of unreasonin general,actually made the mad

into a spectacle,a spectaclewatchedfrom a distance,behind bars,unrelatedto reason.

Madnesswas animality: `La folie est devenuechoseä regarder:non plus monstre au

fond de soi-meme,mais animal aux mecanismesetranges,bestialite oü 1'hommedepuis

longtemps,est aboli' (p. 163). Why, Foucault asks,is unreasonreducedto silence whilst

`on laisse la folie parler librement le langagede son scandale'?The answerlies in the

moral lessonthat madnesshad to give:

*Cequi est folie c'est cette incarnation de l'homme dansla bete, qui est, en tant
que point dernier de la le le de
chute, signe plus manifeste sa culpabilite; et, en
tant qu'objet ultime de complaisancedivine, le symbole de l'universel pardon et
de 1'innocenceretrouvee.
(Histoire de la folie ä 1'ägeclassique,p. 173.)

In the seventeenthcentury the ultimate threat of unreason,revealedin the animality of

madness,lies in absolutefreedom.

When Foucault turns his attention from `The Great Confinement', that is `une

la
pratique qui maitrise contre-natureet la reduit au silence' (p. 189), to discursive

practicessurrounding madnesswhich constitute `une connaissancequi tente de

dechiffrer desverites de nature' (p. 189), he fords no dialogue betweenthesetwo

experiencesof madness.`Entierementexclue d'un cote, entierementobjective de

1'autre,la folie n'est jamais manifesteepour elle-meme,et dapsun langagequi lui serait

propre.' (p. 189). This division explains the profound silence of madnessduring the

classical age.It had the effect of making `le fou et la folie [...] etrangers1'un a l'autre'

(p. 223). The mad were recognisablewhereasmadnesswas nothingnessand so

undefinable. Madnesswas unreason,the negative emptinessof reason,nothing (p. 268).

The ultimate paradox of madnessis that it must expressthis nothingness`en signs, en

 29

paroles, en gestes[...] en prenantapparencedansfordre de la raison; en devenantainsi

le contraire d'elle-meme'(p. 261).

A recurring idea in Foucault's study is that madnesscannot be silenced,that it

will find a voice. Although a critical awareness

of madnesshas dominated since the

Renaissance,the tragic consciousnessof madnesshas never quite disappearedand

Foucault finds evidenceof this in the work of Nietzsche, Van Gogh, Freud, Artaud (p.

40). The tragic experienceof madnesscannot be contained;it is dangerouslymaskedby

rational analysis of madness as mental illness, but `au point dernier de la contrainte,

1'eclatementetait necessaire,auquelnous assistonsdepuisNietzsche' (p. 40). Foucault

arguesthat since the tragic experienceof madness`disappeared'with the Renaissance,

interpretationsof madnesshave combined,to differing degrees,four synchronous

`ä
perceptionsof madness: chaqueinstant, se fait et se defait 1'equilibre de ce qui dann

1'experiencede la folie releve d'une consciencedialectique, d'un partagerituel, d'une

reconnaissancelyrique et enfm du savoir' (p. 187).None of theseelementsever

disappearscompletely, though, at any one time, one or other of them may predominate,

leaving the others in virtual obscurity, giving rise to tensionsand conflict `au-dessous

du niveau du langage' (p. 187). The nineteenthand twentieth centurieshave favoured an

analytical approachto madness,an approachthat seeksan objective knowledge of

madness.However, Foucault argues,all the other ways of apprehendingmadness

continue to exist in the heart of our culture.

Qu'elles ne puissentplus guererecevoir de formulation que lyrique, ne prouve pas

qu'elles deperissent,ni qu'elles prolongent malgre tout une existenceque le savoir
a depuis longtempsrecusee,mais que maintenuesdans l'ombre, elles se vivifient
dans les formes les plus libres et les plus originaires du langage.Et leur pouvoir de
contestationn'en est sansdoute que plus vigoureux.
(Histoire de lafolie ä 1'ägeclassique,p. 188.)
 30
Foucault's notion of madnessclearly convergesat times with Simone de

Beauvoir's writing practice. In spite of attemptsto silence,confine and ignore madness,

madnessfinds a voice in her writing. In spite of repression,it forces its way into the

text. Simone de Beauvoir's text getsaway. It getsmessy.The voice of the madnessin

Simone de Beauvoir's text is, in many ways, the voice that madnesshad in Western

culture before `The Great Confinement', before it was silenced.Characteristicsof the

tragic and critical experiencesof madnessas depictedby Foucault, coincide with the

experienceof madnessat a discursive level in the text of Simone de Beauvoir's fiction.

Reading madnessin the text is readingthesequalities.

The tragic experienceof madnessinforms Simonede Beauvoir's fiction. The

first quality of madnessI shall read for in her writing is excess.Madnesswas excess.

Foucault tells us that, with the Renaissance,art becomesdominatedby the imagination,

liberated as Gothic forms disintegrate,no longer tied to strict, straightforward

representationsof scripture and spiritual significations, and `1'imagecommenceä

graviter autour de sa propre folie' (p. 29). In Simonede Beauvoir, as in the tragic

experienceof madness,we find a multiplication of significances/meanings.And in her

writing too, le reve, l'insensee, le deraisonablepeuventse glisser Banscet excesde

sens' (p. 29).

I shall also read Simone de Beauvoir's fiction for ambiguity. Madnesswas

ambiguity: `Tart de significations diversess'inserent sousla surfacede l'image, qu'elle

ne presenteplus qu'une face enigmatique' (p. 30). Madnessexerteda powerful

fascination and was representedas a temptation: `La liberte, meme effrayante, de ses

reves, les fantasmesde sa folie, ont pour 1'hommedu XV° siecle, plus de pouvoirs

d'attraction que la realite desirablede la chair' (p. 31). If the fantastic and wild disorder

of animality revealedthe angerand madnessat the heart of human beings, madnesswas

 31

also knowledge. In their foolish innocence,the mad had accessto secret,forbidden

knowledge. Madnessis discernible in imagesthat are the finit of unrestrained

imagination. I shall read Simonede Beauvoir's fiction for tracesof the attraction of

excessand disorder that, beyond the expressionof angerand madness,convey a sense

of elusive meaning.Madnessin the text is excess,multivalence and ambiguity.

The characteristicsof the critical consciousnessof madness(p. 39), the second

strand of the experienceof madnessin the Renaissance,and which cameto dominate

classical conceptionsand thereaftermodem conceptionsof madness,also find echoesin

Simone de Beauvoir's writing. In the critical consciousnessof madness,madnessand

reasonare seenas inextricably related: `Chacuneest la mesurede l'autre, et dannce

mouvementde reference toutes

reciproque,elles se recusent deux, mais se fondent 1'une

par l'autre' (p. 41). The human is

condition madnesswhen measuredby the infinite

wisdom ('raison demesuree')of God. Human madnessis experiencedas contradiction

as everything is the oppositeof what it appearsand truth is never attained: `tout l'ordre

humain n'est que folie' (p. 42). In its inexpressibility the wisdom of God is also

`un
madness, abirre de deraison' (p. 43), where reasonis silenced. So reasonand

madnesscanceleachother out at the sametime asthey construct and affirm eachother

in a perpetualdialectic. In the text, madnessinforms the rational and throws light on it.

The rational is undermined.Signs of madnesswill be read where oppositesare asserted

as equivalentsin a text where contradiction and paradoxare familiar. Likewise, I shall

read madnessin Simone de Beauvoir's fiction at points where truth becomeselusive and

when languageis brought up againstinexpressibility.

The madnesswhich manifestsitself in Simonede Beauvoir's texts is also

inflected by classicalconceptionsof madness.By the end of the sixteenth century

madnessis no longer at the margins, the threat on the horizon, `cettefuyante et absolue
 32
limite' (p. 53). Madnessnow plays on the ambiguousboundary betweenthe real and the

illusory, truth and appearance,it is the embodimentof contradiction: `Elle cacheet

manifeste, eile dit le vrai et le mensonge,

eile est ombre et lumiere' (p. 54). In the

hospital of the mad that replacesthe ship in the collective imagination at the end of the

seventeenthcentury, the mad speak`la contradiction et l'ironie, le langagededoublede

la Sagesse'(p. 53). Madnessis le signe ironique qui brouille les reperesdu vrai et du

chimerique' (p. 55). Simone de Beauvoir's textual strategiesthat blur boundariesin an

analogous way will be deemed to introduce madness in the text. Irony and contradiction

can be read as madnessin the text.

For Foucault, one word conveyswhat the experienceof madnesswas in the

asylums of the classical age: `furieux'. It designated`une sorte de region indifferenciee

du desordre' (p. 125). Madnessdisturbs/ disrupts. Who (what) is mad is recognised,

determinedby referenceto reasonand the senseof logic and coherenceand continuity

of their discourse.Madnessis instantly recognisablein its negativity: `Elle est de fordre

de la rupture. Elle surgit tout d'un coup comme discordance'(p. 198). Reading for

madnessin Simone de Beauvoir's text meansreading for disruption, incoherence,

discordanceand fragmention.

In this nexus,the meaningfulnessof languageis cast into doubt. Indeed,

Foucault arguesthat madness`ne sepresenteBanssessigns les plus manifestesque

comme erreur, fantasme,illusion, langagevain etprive de contenu' (p. 191). (Emphasis

added.) On a textual level, madnessis apparentwherever the capacity of languageto be

fully meaningful is undermined.

To summarise,I shall read the characteristicsof madnessoutlined by Foucault as

madnessin the text. The tragic experienceof madnessin the Renaissancefigures on a

discursive level as excess,disorder, multiplicity, ambiguity and fascination and

 33
The
elusoriness. of
critical experience madnessof that era is enactedin the text as

contradiction and paradoxand in inexpressabilityand the unattainability of truth.

Finally, the classical experienceof madnessis duplicated in the text when boundaries

are obscuredand in irony, disruption, incoherence,

discordanceand fragmention.

Madnessis discernible at a discursive level wheneverthe text puts meaningfulnessof

languageinto question.

My reading of madnessin the text is also indebtedto Julia Kristeva's theoretical

writing on language. The object of attention in my study of Simone de Beauvoir's

writing practice is languageitself, what Kristeva calls poetic language,the languageof

materiality as opposedto transparencywhere meaning is assumedto lie behind/ beyond

language.Kristeva has identified two types of signifying processesat work within the

production of meaning: the `semiotic' and the `symbolic'. The semiotic processrelates

to the chora which is pre-symbolic. As Toril Moi puts it, `the semiotic is linked to the

pre-Oedipalprimary processes,the basic pulsions of which Kristeva seesas

predominantly anal and oral, and as simultaneouslydichotomous (life v. death,

expulsion v. introjection) and heterogeneous.The endlessflow of pulsions is gathered

in [...]'. 61 The symbolic processrelatesto the imposition of symbolic law,

up the chora

what Leon S. Roudiez refers to as `the establishmentof sign and syntax, paternal
62
function, grammatical and social constraints' Poetic languageis the outcome of a

specific connectionbetweenthe semiotic and the symbolic. Toril Moi explains that once

the subject has enteredinto the symbolic order, the chora is repressedto a greateror

lesserextent and is only identifiable `aspulsional pressure on symbolic language:as

disruption, silencesand absencesin the symbolic

contradictions,meaninglessness,

61Moi, Toril, Sexual TextualPolitics: Feminist Literary Theory, London: Methuen, 1985, 161.
p.
62Roudiez, Leon S., `Introduction' in Julia Kristeva, Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to
Literature and Art, ed. by Leon S. Roudiez,New York: Columbia University Press,1980,p. 7.
 34
3
language'. Traditionally, fiction hasbeendominatedby the symbolic. Recently, it has

64
beenmore affected the semiotic. For Kristeva, poetic languageis revolutionary.
by

Shebelievesthat writing disrupted by the the semiotic the `spasmodicforce' of the

,

unconscious,underminesconventionalmeaning which is the structurethat upholds the

patriarchal symbolic order, that is to say, all human social and cultural institutions. This

disruption is related to madness.Toril Moi explains that `if unconsciouspulsations of

the chora were to take over the subjectentirely, the subject would fall back into pre-

Oedipal or imaginary chaosand develop some form of mental illness. The subject

whose languagelets such forces disrupt the symbolic order, in other words, is also the

the lapsing into 65 1 disruption

subject who runs greaterrisk of madness'. read marks of

metaphorically as signs of madnessin the text.

My study of the madnessthat finds concreteexpressionin Simonede Beauvoir's

writing practice, dovetails with ShoshanaFelman's work on literature and madness.Her

exploration of madnessin Stendhal'snovels is basedon close textual analysiswhich

allows her to advancea classification of the instancesof madnessand of the experiences

found in 66
them. She goeson to trace the evolution of Stendhal'streatment
of madness

of madnessover time. In the concluding chapterto this study, `Ecriture et folie',

Shoshana Felman raises an important question about madness and language: `Comment

la folie pourrait-elle accederau language,puisqu'elle est, par essence,ce qui se tait, ce

qui boulversele registre du senset qui, par lä meine s'exclut du domainede

l'intelligible? ' (p. 242). Madnessis opposedto reasonablenessand reason:`La folie

desire l'hyperbole; la raison impose la litote, pose les bomes meme du discours- et du

63Moi, Sexual Textual Politics, 162.

p.
64Roudiez, 7.
p.
65Moi, Sexual Textual Politics, 11.
p.
66Felman, Shoshana,La
«Foliev dann I'oeuvre romanesquede Stendhal,Paris: Librairie JoseCorti, 1971.
(It is interesting to note that Stendhalwas one of Simone de Beauvoir's favourite writers. See
`Stendhalou le romanesquedu vrai', Le Deuxiemesexe,Vol I, pp. 375-89.)
 35

sens:conditions de la rencontrede 1'Autre. L'hyperbole est violence, folie du desir; la

litote - barrage,discipline du langage' (p. 242-43). Felman identifies a permanent

tension in Stendhalbetweenreasonand madness.I want to investigate the extent to

which this tension obtains in Simone de Beauvoir's fiction, the way in which the excess

of madness upsets lucid, measured prose.

The questionraised in the conclusionto Felman's study of Stendhal,is one of

the starting points of her book, La Folie la litteraire. 67 In the introductory

et chose

chapterentitled `Ecriture et folie: pourquoi ce livre', she statesher aim to explore the

connectionbetweenliterature and madness.Her study seeksto determinenot only how

texts speakof madnessbut also how madnessis repressedin texts (pp. 15-16).Her

analysescut acrossmy own readingsof Simonede Beauvoir. ShoshanaFelman

in 68
examinesthe rhetorical strategiesof different writers relation to madness. She

distinguishesbetween`la rhetorique de la folie', (that is discourseabout madnesswhich,

she argues,is always `une rhetorique de la denegation'), and `la folie de la rhetorique':

Mais si le discourssur la folie n'est pas un discoursde la folie, n'est pas,

proprement,un discoursfou, il n'est pas moins, Banscestextes, unefolie qui
parle, une folie qui sejoue toute seuleä travers le langagemais sansque personne
ne puisse devenir le sujet parlant de ce qui sejoue. C'est ce mouvementdejeu qui
dejoue le senset par lequel l'enonce s'aliene ä la performance textuelle, queje
denomme,dansce livre, «folie de la rhetorique».
(La Folie et la choselitteraire, pp. 347-48.)

Shearguesthat discourseabout madnessis subvertedby `la folie de la rhetorique', the

madnessin the text. My exploration of Simone de Beauvoir's writing practice centres

on `la folie de la rhetorique' and this processof subversion.

67Felman, Shoshana,La Folie la ChoseLitteraire, Paris: Seuil, 1978.

et
68The writers
whose work sheexploresare Girard de Nerval, Arthur Rimbaud, Honor6 de Balzac,
GustaveFlaubert and Henry James.The rhetorical strategiesshe considersinclude the destabilising of
identity and repetition, irony and parody.
 36
Another influential study on madnessand literature is The Madwoman in the

Attic by SandraM. Gilbert Susan 69

Gubar. It dealswith the characterof the
and

in
madwoman nineteenthcentury fiction by women. Mad women charactersare read as

an expressionof women authors' rage againstpatriarchy and their anxiety of

0 The is that century women authorstell the truth but
authorship. argument nineteenth

`tell it slant', concealingdeeper,less acceptablelevels of meaning, thus `simultaneously

to literary 71 This impressive is

conforming and subverting patriarchal standards' study

ultimately flawed as author and characterare conflated, the madwomantaken to be `the

double, image her 72 Yet, in this and in

author's an of own anxiety and rage'. spite of

spite of Gilbert and Gubar's focusing on identifying hidden plots in the works they

study, The Madwoman in the Attic pinpoints textual strategiesand particular images

related to the expressionof women's revolt againstpatriarchy in nineteenthcentury

fiction that can also be traced in Simonede Beauvoir's fiction. I shall read textual

strategiessuch as the use of parody and irony and the subversionof the conventionsof

language,as the stampof madnesson a textual level. Images of enclosure,illness,

fragmentationand mirrors that recur in nineteenthcentury fiction by women will be

read in Simone de Beauvoir as an inscription of madnessin the text.

My readingsof Simone de Beauvoir are basedon close textual analysisto show

how madnessis enactedin the text. Autobiographical and philosophical matters,whilst

they form the context of my analyses,will not, in the main, be directly addressedhere.

69Gilbert, SandraM. and SusanGubar, TheMadwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer
and the
Nineteenth-CenturyLiterary Imagination, New Haven: Yale University Press,1979.
70Gilbert and Gubar's ideas
on women's creativity and the use of imagesof enclosureare related to `La
Femmerompue' by Phil Powrie in `RereadingBetween The Lines: A Postscripton La Femme
rompue', Modern Language Review,87,1992,320-29.
"Gilbert and Gubar, 73.
p.
n Gilbert and Gubar, 78. For detailed
p. a evaluation of The Madwoman in the Attic seeMoi, Sexual
TextualPolitics, pp. 57-69. TheMadwoman in the Attic is discussedin relation to Simone de Beauvoir
in Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 179.
 37
My study interrogatesthe text itself and seeksto be as little distracted from that

examinationas possible.

To achievea balancebetweendetail and breadth,the corpus that forms the basis

of the is
study restricted to just three books, L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femme

rompue. This group of texts allows for useful comparisonsto be madebetweenthe early

and late fiction, including as it doesSimonede Beauvoir's first published novel,

L'Invitee, published in 1943,and the last fiction shewrote, Les Belles Imagespublished

in 1966 and La Femme rompue published in 1968. The corpus is varied as it contains a

long novel, a shorter novel and three short stories.Theseworks have beenselectedas

they best exemplify the way madnessinflects the text, yet this is not to imply that these

are the only works that do so. In fact, all of Simone de Beauvoir's fiction might be read

for madnessin the text in the sameway. Similarly, within this study even, in order to

allow for depth of analysis,ChapterOne is basedon a close reading of a single text,

L'Invitee, and ChapterFour is basedon a close reading of Les Belles Images only. In

eachcase,the text has been selectedbecauseit best illustrates the qualities under

discussion,not becauseit is the unique exemplar.

In ChapterOne, I undertakea closereading of L'Invitee, examining the extent to

which Simonede Beauvoir had recourseto Gothic conventionsand figures and

challenging realist assumptionsthat surroundher first published text. Networks of

images,words and motifs that recur in the novel and contribute to the pervasive Gothic

atmosphereare traced.I shall arguethat insofar as the text is Gothic and transgressive,it

is also mad.

ChapterTwo will deal with the imagery of madnessin all the texts under

discussion.I shall examinehow the madnessexperiencedby women protagonistsis

mediatedin the texts by imagesthat evoke their pain and distress.Connectionsbetween

 38

the imagery in L'Invitee and in Les BellesImages and the three stories in La Femme

rompue will be explored.

Disruptive textual strategiesthat introduce instability and incoherenceinto the

text are the focus in ChapterThree. An examination of characterfunction will reveal

how the text reproducesthe disintegrationof identity that is experiencedby characters

on the brink of madnessand how the of

notion a unified and stable identity is

I
undermined. shall investigate the way that disruption and fragmentation unsettle

meaning and contribute to the creationof a mad textual universe. This chapterwill be

basedon readingsof L'Invitee, Les BellesImages, `Monologue', and `La Femme

rompue'.

Finally, ChapterFour concentrateson the problematical nature of languageand

meaning in Les Belles Images. I shall arguethat is

madness exemplified at those points

in the text where languagerefusesto signify and where meaning is unsettled.An

examinationof the textual strategiesthat bring readersto shareLaurence's loss of

confidencein languageand its meaningfulnessforms the basis of the chapter.The use of

plurality, irony, enumerationand repetition will be addressed.

My starting point is Simone de Beauvoir's first published novel and the

symbolic universeshe createsthere.

 39
Chapter One

L'Invitee: The Gothic Imagination

L'Invitee is a highly figurative text. In this chapterI want to examinethe symbolic

universethat Simone de Beauvoir createdin her first published novel. The term

symbolic universerefers to more than the sum of the imagesin the text, it is also the

network of repeatedkey images,words and motifs that accumulatein the text,

contributing to the atmosphereof the text. The writing in L'Invitee acquiresmuch of its

power from reiterance.The challengeto thosewriting about this writing is to do justice

to the denseweb of repeatedutteranceswhilst avoiding the dangerof repetitiveness.

Extensive quotation is unavoidable.The richnessof Simone de Beauvoir's languageand

its resonancesmeansthat quotationsusedto illustrate one particular point may well

illustrate points that have beenmadeearlier, aswell as points yet to be made.

Sometimesconnectionswill be madeexplicit whereas,at other times, certain elements

of quotationswill be left, asit were,to speakfor themselves.

The symbolic universe of L'Invitee is Gothic. This may be a surprising assertion

consideringthat this text has beenread, for the most part, as a realist, philosophical,

autobiographicalnovel. Indeed,this readinghas authorial authority. In La Force de

1'äge,Simone de Beauvoir discussesher first novel at length, describinghow the real

life trio, Jean-PaulSartre,Olga Kosakievicz (to whom the novel is dedicated)and

herself, was transposedinto fiction. ' Simonede Beauvoir placed herself at the heart of

her novel in the characterof Francoise(p. 347). She also writes about the form of

L'Invitee and acknowledgesa debt to certain American writers of that time, notably to

1La Force de l'kge,

pp. 346-53.
 40
Dashiell Hammett and to Hemingway, as well as to Dostoyevsky and Agatha Christie.

Sheplacesemphasison the realism she set out to achieve:

Dans les passagesreussisdu roman, on arrive ä une ambiguite de signification

qui correspondä celle qu'on rencontredansla realite. Je voulais aussique les faits
ne s'enchainentpas selon les rapportsunivoquesde causalite,mais qu'ils soient ä
la fois, comme dannla vie meme,comprehensibleset contingents.
(La Force de l'äge, p. 352.)

This is not to suggestthat Simonede Beauvoir belongedto the nineteenthcentury realist

tradition. In an interview with Jill M. Wharfe, Simone de Beauvoir said in this

connection: `Je ne dis pas que je suis un ecrivain realiste. Je suis un ecrivain qui a

3
essayede rendrecompte un peu de la realite' Her notion of reality was, of course,

quite different to nineteenthcentury notions of reality. As FrancoiseArnaud Hibbs

4
expressesit, Simonede Beauvoir's was a `subjectiverealism'. Lorna Sagedescribes

her as a writer of `realist novels that put reality in quotation marks'.

Judith Okely's reading of L'Invitee is autobiographicaland psychoanalytical6

Elizabeth Fallaize highlights the autobiographicalnature of the psychological crisis in

L'Invitee and also directs our attention to the way Simone de Beauvoir seemsto

advocatea philosophical reading of the novel by placing a quotation from Hegel as its

`Chaque la
consciencepoursuit mort de 0
1'autre. Emphasisin Renee
epigraph:

Winegarten's reading of L'Invitee also falls on autobiographicaland philosophical

2 The influence that American

writers had on Simone de Beauvoir is discussedin Celeux, Anne-Marie.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Simonede Beauvoir: Une experiencecommune,dear ecritures, Paris: Librairie
Nizet, 1976.Toril Moi exploresthe contradictionsinherent in Simone de Beauvoir's use of the thriller
and detectivestory models in Simonede Beauvoir, p. 100.
3Wharfe, Jill. M., `Perfect Interlocutors: Intertextuality
and Divergence in the Fiction of Simone de
Beauvoir and Sartre' (unpublisheddoctoral thesis,University of Birmingham, 1988). Interview with
Simone de Beauvoir: Paris, 6 July 1985,Appendix 1, p. 344. I gratefully acknowledgepermission to
quote from this interview.
4Hibbs, p. 10.
s Sage,Lorna, Womenin the House Fiction: Post-War WomenNovelists, London: Macmillan, 1992,
of p.
viii.
6Okely, pp. 139-40.
7Fallaize, TheNovels, 26.
p.
 41

the 8 Toril Moi's of L'Invitee as a modem melodramais closer

aspectsof work. reading
9
to my own. Indeed,melodramaand the Gothic sharea number of characteristics,

notably, excess.(Seebelow.) Although the emphasisin her reading remains

philosophical and psychoanalytical,Toril Moi examinesthe imagery associatedwith

Xaviere and the threat sherepresentsand sheidentifies what sherefers to as `a kind of

luridly gothic imagination'. 10It is this areathat my reading will explore and develop. It

is my contention that this realist, philosophical novel is embeddedin a Gothic universe

that Simone de Beauvoir created in order to confront pain and madness, to express that

darker side of herself. A close reading of the text revealsthe extent to which shehad

recourseto Gothic conventionsand figures which makesit justifiable to speakof the

Gothic economyof the text. l l

The object here is to explore the insights to be gained from looking again at

12
L'Invitee through the lens that the Gothic provides. This is not intendedto be a

reductive attempt to define a number of stock Gothic figures and trace them onto

Simone de Beauvoir's text. In any case,as Fred Bolting points out in the introduction to

his book on the Gothic, it is impossibleto define a fixed set of Gothic conventions;for

8Winegarten, pp. 101-106.

9Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, pp. 95-124.
10Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, p. 97.
11Simone de Beauvoir's correspondencewith Jean-PaulSartrerevealsthat shewas reading M. G.
Lewis's TheMonk, (1795), a quintessentialGothic novel, at the time shewas writing L'Invitee. Letter
Saturday, 16 December 1939.Simonede Beauvoir: Lettres a Sartre, 1930-1939,vol. I, Paris:
Gallimard, 1990.p. 356. Shenotes in this letter that she is reading Antonin Artaud's version of The
Monk. This is neither a translation nor an adaptationbut `une sorte de «copie» en frangaisdu texte
anglais original'. Artaud, Antonin, "Le Moine" de Lewis racontdpar Antonin Artaud, (first published
in 1931), in Oeuvrescompletes,vol. VI, Paris: Gallimard, 1966, `Avertissement', p. 13. Artaud cut
the original and intensified `la violence et 1'atrocit6du r6cit' (Notes, p. 417). Interesting echoeslink
L'Invitee and TheMonk/ Le Moine. For example,in the first chapter of TheMonk, an agelessgypsy
woman who sings and dances,tells the fortune of the heroine (The Monk, pp. 34-39, Le Moine, pp.
48-52). Throughout the novel, details call to mind L'Invitee. In terms of tone, the two texts are
congruous.It is interesting to recall that Foucault consideredthat Artaud's writing exemplified the
tragic consciousnessof madness.SeeFoucault, Histoire de lafolie, p. 40.
'2 Three main sourceshave beenreferred to: Botting, Fred, Gothic, London: Routledge, 1996.
MacAndrew, Elizabeth,. The Gothic Tradition in Fiction, New York: Columbia University Press,
1979. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky, The Coherenceof Gothic Conventions,Revised edition, New York:
Arno Press, 1980.
 42
him the Gothic is a hybrid form incorporating and transforming other literary forms and

developing and changing its own conventionsin relation to newer modesof writing. 13

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick setsout her aim in the introduction to her book:

I want to make it easierfor the readerof `respectable'nineteenth-century[we

might add `andtwentieth-century'] novels to write `Gothic' in the margin next to
certain especiallyinteresting passages,and to make that notation with a senseof
linking specific elementsin the passagewith specific elementsin the constellation
of Gothic conventions.
(The Coherenceof Gothic Conventions,p. 2.)

What then doesthe term Gothic mean?What elementsmight go to make up `the

constellation of Gothic conventions', albeit unfixed? The first Gothic novels were

storiesof cruel passionsand supernaturalterror that took place in a sinister, medieval

14
setting. The term has since come to apply to any novel with an obsessive,gloomy,

violent, doom laden and terrifying atmosphere.The threat of irrational and evil forces

looms over everything. Magic and the supernaturalfigure prominently. We know that

`spectres,monsters,demons,corpses,skeletons,evil aristocrats,monks and nuns,

fainting heroinesand bandits populate Gothic landscapesas suggestivefigures of

imagined and realistic threats' and that they arejoined by the mad in the nineteenth

15
century. Gothic texts are preoccupiedwith madness,identity and the dissolution of the

self. Split personalitiesand doublesabound.Mirrors are a stock Gothic device,

generally signifying alienation. The bestial within the human is a characteristicGothic

theme and sexuality a central concern.In Gothic texts sexuality tends to be distorted and

emphasisis commonly lain on incest and eroticism. Uncertainties about sexuality are

regularly linked 16
to wider threatsof disintegration. Live burial and tombs are favourite

themes.Imagesof enclosureand weight coexist with imagesof spaceand vertigo.

13Botting, 14.
p.
"The first Gothic
novel is consideredto be Horace Walpoles's The Castle of Oranto (1764).
'5Botting 2.
p.
t6Botting, 5.
p.
 43
No accountof the Gothic would be completewithout referenceto Freud's notion

it is discussedin his that '7 Indeed,the uncanny is

of the uncanny as essayof name.

inseparablefrom the Gothic, it is one of its essentialingredients.At the beginning of his

essay,Freud tells us that `the uncanny is that class of the frightening which leadsback

to what is known of old and long familiar' (p. 220) and he draws attention to Schelling's

definition: `everything is "unheimlich" that might have remainedsecretand hidden but

has come to light' (p. 225). Freud's study allows him to refine his own definition and to

concur with Schelling's (p. 241). Freud determinesthat the uncanny is `something

repressedwhich recurs (p. 241). The phenomenonof the double is of crucial importance

to Freud's conceptionof the uncanny;a `doubling, dividing and interchangingof the

self and the temporal equivalents,repetition and recurrence,all give rise to a senseof

the uncanny (p. 234).

In the Gothic mode, feeling and emotion exceedreason.Ambivalence and

ambiguity prevail. The unspeakableis Gothic;

quintessential sometimesthe term is used

to according
simply meanawsome,whilst sometimes, to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, it

implies `a rangeof reflections on language',whilst at other times it may be enactedin

18
text as characterscontendwith the despairof the uncommunicable. An `over-

abundanceof imaginative frenzy, untamedby reason' and a style characterisedby

boundlessnessand over-ornamentationhave been interpretedas signs of transgressionin

the Gothic. 19It is precisely in the expressionof the inexpressibleand the excessesof the

17`The Uncanny', The Complete Worksof SigmundFreud, Vol XVII,

pp. 218-52. Uncanny is the
generally acceptedtranslation of the Germanterm `unheimlich' that, in fact, has no exact English or,
for that matter, French translation. For a discussionof the different meaningsof the term seeSection I
pp. 222-26 of Freud's essay.Further referencesto his essaywill be given in brackets in the text.
'8 Sedgwick, p. 3.
19Botting, pp. 5-6.
 44
Gothic mode that I locate the madnessin the text of L'Invitee. Insofar as it is Gothic and

is it °
thus transgressive,the text of L'Invitee mad, enactsmadness.

`Gothic signifies a writing of excess.12l Theseare the first words in Fred

Botting's book, signalling how central this notion is to the Gothic. Much of the writing

in L'Invitee is, as we shall see,excessive,hyperbolic, extravagant;it is Gothic writing to

the extent that it is more likely to evoke emotion and work on readers' feelings than it is

to prompt an intellectual responseor rational argument.It is useful to begin this

exploration of the Gothic in L'Invitee with a number of key that,

passages in particular,

epitomise Gothic writing, a writing of excess.A close reading of thesepassages

highlights a densenetwork of words and motifs that are found throughout the text and

that go to make up what I have referredto as the Gothic economy of the text. These

be in detail 22 What is interest here, is

words and motifs will analysed subsequently of

the quality of the writing that makesit justifiable to speakof its excess.

Thesehighly coloured, extravagantpassagesoccur at climactic points in the

narrative. The first passagerelatesthe incident in the night-club when Xaviere

deliberately and repeatedlyburns herself with a cigaretteduring a danceperformance:

Xaviere ne regardait plus, eile avait baisse la tete, eile tenait dans sa main droite
une cigarette ä demi consumee et eile 1'approchait lentement de sa main gauche.
Francoise eut peine ä reprimer un cri; Xaviere appliquait le tison rouge contre sa
peau et un sourire aigu retroussait ses levres.
(L'Invitee, p. 354.)

Francoise then watches in horror as Xaviere burns herself again: `Xaviere soufflait

delicatementsur les cendresqui recouvraientsa brülure; quand eile eut dispersece petit

de
matelasprotecteur,eile colla nouveaucontre la a
plaie mise nu le bout embrasede sa

20Foucault discussesthe links betweenunreason,internment

and what he terms `la litt8rature fantastique
de folie et d'horreur' that appearedin the nineteenthcentury. SeeHistoire de lafolie, `La Grande
Peur', pp. 375-82.
21Botting, p. 1.
u The first key passagecan be found on
pp. 354-55 of L'Invitee. The secondkey passageis on pp. 362-
64. The third key passageis on pp. 499-501.
 45

cigarette'. Francoise's is
crisis, which a metaphysicalone23 is related not in cool,
,

rational prosebut rather in hyperbolic terms: `Francoiseeut un haut-le-corps;ce n'etait

pas seulementsa chair qui se revoltait; eile se sentait atteinte d'une facon plus profonde

et plus irremediable,jusqu'au de
coeur son etre. Derriere ce rictus maniaque,un danger

menacait,plus definitif que tous ceux qu'elle avaitjamais imagines' (p. 354).

Ambiguity is fostered.The dangeris at once the most absoluteand indeterminate.The

secondkey that
passage exemplifies excessis, in many ways, a continuation of the

that had been interrupted. 4 During the of a Spanishpoem,

previous one rendering

Xaviere is as if in a trance and Francoisesuffers anotheraccessof panic:

'Xaviere ne regardait plus la femme, eile fixait le vide; une cigarettese consumait
entre ses doigts et la braise commencait ä atteindresa chair sansqu'elle parüt s'en
apercevoir; eile semblait plongee Bans une extase hysterique. Francoise passa la
main sur son front; eile etait en sueur,l'atmosphere etait etouffante et au-dedans
d'elle-meme, sespenseesbrülaient comme des flammes. Cette presenceennemie
qui s'etait revelee tout ä l'heure dansun sourire de folle devenait de plus en plus
il
proche, n'y avait plus moyen d'en eviter le devoilement terrifiant; jour apres
jour, minute apresminute, Francoiseavait fui le danger,mais c'en etait fait, eile
1'avait enfm rencontrecet infranchissableobstaclequ'elle avait pressentisousdes
formes incertainesdepuis sa plus petite enfance;ä travers la jouissancemaniaque
de Xaviere, ä travers sahaine et sajalousie, le scandaleeclatait, aussimonstrueux,
aussi definitif la
que mort; en face de Francoise, et cependantsanseile, quelque
choseexistait comme une condamnation sans recours: libre, absolu, irreductible,
une conscience etrangere se dressait.
(L'Invitee, pp. 363-64.)

Again one is struck by the heightenedand intensetone of the text. Readersof L'Invitee,
25
like readersof Gothic romance,are placed in a stateof suspenseand uncertainty. The

text is building to a crescendo;words are piled on words, clauseupon clause in a long

sentence(nine lines, one hundred and thirteen words) that seemsto draw readersinto

23Seep. 375 where Francoisediscussesher crisis with Pierre.

24Toril Moi suggeststhat Xavii're deliberately bums herself on two occasionsand that it is `when Xaviere
tries to bum herself for the secondtime' that Francoisereactsvehemently (Simonede Beauvoir, p.
115). In fact, during the rendering of the Spanishpoem, Xavibre seemsto be in a kind of hysterical
trance and a lit cigarettebetweenher fingers has burnt down and begins to scorchher flesh.
Francoise'sreaction is due to her recollection of the previous incident in a chargedatmosphere.See
L'Invitee, p. 363.
25SeeKilgour, Maggie, TheRise of the Gothic Novel, London: Routledge, 1995,p. 6.
 46

the text, enactingthe weight of languageand reproducing Francoise'sfeelings of

26 Together,these the climaxes in the It is

suffocation. represent
passages one of novel.

at this point that Francoiserealisesthat Xaviere is a threat, not only to her happiness,

but to her very existence.The final key passageI wish to consideris the culmination of

the text that is reachedas Francoisecomesto the decision that Xaviere must die. This

passagetoo, is characterisedby hyperbole.

[Francoise]traversale couloir, eile titubait comme une aveugle,les larmes

brülaient sesyeux: `J'ai etejalouse d'elle. Je lui ai pris Gerbert.' Les larmes
brülaient, les mots brülaient commeun fer rouge. Elle s'assit au bord du divan et
repetahebetee:`J'ai fait cela. C'est moi. ' Dans les tenebres,le visage de Gerbert
brülait d'un feu noir, et les lettres sur le tapis etaientnoires comme un pacte
infernal. Elle ports son mouchoir a seslevres. Une lave noire et torride coulait
*danssesveins. Elle aurait voulu mourir.
(L'Invitee, p. 499.)

A successionof short and asyntacticsentencesconvey Francoise'sdistress,their rhythm

could almost be the rhythm of broken sobs.Repetition addsto the intensity of the text;

`brüler', `larmes', `noir'. The samemotifs are found again a few lines later: `Elle ferma

les yeux. Les larmes coulaient, la lave brillante coulait et consumaitle coeur' (p. 500).

Francoisehas finally come face to face with the threat to her being, `eile etait tombee

dannle piege, eile etait ä la merci de cette consciencevorace qui avait attendudans

l'ombre le moment de l'engloutir' (p. 500). This writing relies on hyperbole for its

impact.

In eachcase,the relating of thesethree incidents gives rise to a meta-

commentaryon language.Excessresults from languagecoming up againstthe

inexpressable.What is threateningFrancoiseis beyond language,beyond thought even.

`On ne pouvait pas s'en approchermeme en pensee,au moment oü elle touchait au but,

la penseese dissolvait; ce n'etait aucunobjet saisissable,c'etait un incessant

26Languagein L'Irrvitee
will be treated in more detail in ChapterThree.
 47
jaillissement et une fuite incessante,transparentepour soi seuleet ä jamais

impenetrable' (pp. 354-55). Only contradiction, languagepushedto the limit of

can
meaningfulness, begin to expressthe nature of the threat:

C'etait comme la mort, une totale negation,une eternelle absence,et cependant

par une contradiction boulversante, ce gouffre de neant pouvait se rendre present ä
soi-memeet se faire exister pour soi avec plenitude; l'univers tout entier
s'engloutissaiten lui, et Francoise,äjamais depossedeedu monde, se dissolvait
elle-meme dans ce vide dont aucunmot, aucune image ne pouvait cerner le
contour infini.
(L'Invitee, p. 364.)27

The threat is like death and not like it, excessive and immeasurable. Language cannot

remove the threatsto Francoise'sexistence,`on ne pouvait pas se defendreavec des

mots timides' (pp. 500-501).

This is an important realisation for Francoisewho, before this crisis, had used

languageto ward off the unthinkable. Languageguaranteesour existenceand identity;

be to `I
we must able say am' (p. 146). Languageconfers reality. For Franroise, `tant

qu'elle ne l'avait raconte ä Pierre, aucun evenement

n'etait tout ä fait vrai: il flottait,

immobile, incertain, dapsdes especesde limbes' (p. 30)28 This attitude is discussedby

Elizabeth Fallaize in relation to the conceptof Francoiseand Pierre's indivisibility. 91

should like to modulate slightly her argumentthat Francoise `hasan unshakablebelief

in the power of words'. This is true in the sensethat Francoise,a writer, never losesher

fear of the power of narrative or representation(seebelow), however, as Francoise's

crisis deepens,
languagelets her down. Her belief that `des qu'elle aurait explique les

chosesä Pierre, tout serait efface' (p. 195) is disappointed.Likewise her hope that `si

ä
eile arrivait enfermer dansdes phrasesson angoisse,eile pourrait s'en arracher'; `les

27See
earlier too: `Les mots ne pouvaient que vous rapprocher du mysteremais sansle rendre moins
impendtrable' (p. 162).
28Xavi6re accusesFrangoiseand Pierre of substituting languagefor life. `Vous
aviez l'air de vivre les
chosespour une fois, et pas seulementde les parler' (p. 253).
29Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 37.
 48

mots ne la delivraient pas' (p. 369). As languagebecomesproblematical, Francoise

to it
comes see as part of her predicamentrather than as a solution. Languageitself is

inherently mysterious and ambiguous.Emblematic of this and a Gothic moment in the

text is the illegible note, written on a torn piece of paper,that Xaviere slipped under

Francoise's door (`les derrieres phrasesetaienttout ä fait illisibles') and the illegible

notice shepinned to her door ('un gribouillage illisible'). `- C'est illisible, dit Pierre. Il

considersun moment les signs mysterieux' (pp. 387-88). Language,`des signes

ambigus' (p. 160), is duplicitous. Francoise loses her trust in words (p. 145). She

wonders: `On se sert tant de mots; mais qu'y a-t-il au juste dessous?
' (p. 159). `Derriere

les mots et les gestes,qu'y avait-il?' (p. 166). And Francoiseis forced into a position

where she never knows what anything means.`Les phrasesde Xaviere etaient toujours ä

double sens.' (p. 294) She is reducedto guessing(p. 314).

Excessthat is manifest in Simonede Beauvoir's writing is presenton a thematic

level too. In L'Invitee, the confrontationbetweenconsciousnesses, in

signalled the

is
epigraph, related in terms of Gothic It
excess. is a fight to the death. Literally. This

is by the battle for 30 Francoisewill

confrontation overlain mortal narrative authority;

kill Xaviere who wishes to `se saisir de Francoiseet la faire entrer de force dans son

1
histoire' (p. 491). Her fear is a Gothic fear of the power of representation. Francoise's

senseof identity is intimately threatenedby Xaviere. It is as if shewere reducedto a

characterin Xaviere's fiction, as if her identity were nothing more than an effect of

Xaviere's narrative. Shewill kill Xaviere in order to be able to tell her own story, to

30There is a third struggle taking place too. This struggle is an allegorical battle: `A la longue, le caprice,
1'intransigeance,l'6goTsmesuperbe,toutescesvaleurs truqudes,avaient d6voild leur faiblesse et
c'etait les vieilles vertus d&daigneesqui remportaient la victoire. J'ai gagn6,pensaFranroise avec
triomphe' (p. 467). Francoise'ssatisfactionis premature.In any case,readersmay find it difficult to
concur, asking themselvesexactly which virtues shehas in mind. Francoisehas mademuch of
jettisoning her `ämepure' and this `victory' seemsto reside in deceiving and lying to XaviBre. A
signal example of mauvaisefoci?
31This aspectof Gothic fiction is discussedby Botting. See
pp. 14,157,171.
 49
impose her version of the truth. Francoisedestroysthe flesh and blood Xaviere so as to

destroy Xaviere's narrative: `Jalouse,traitresse,criminelle. On ne pouvait pas se

defendreavec des mots timides et desactesfurtifs. Xaviere existait, la trahison existait.

Elle existe en chair et en os, ma criminelle figure. Elle n'existera plus' (pp. 500-501).

As Elizabeth Fallaize argues,`she her ' 32

crushesthe claim of anotherto narrate story

L'Invitee is Gothic in its violence. The novel celebratesFrancoise's criminal

behaviour. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick tells us that the most characteristicenergiesof the

Gothic novel concernthe impossibility of restoring to their original onenesscharacters

divided from themselves.3A Gothic preoccupationwith the dissolution of the self runs

through L'Invitee as a whole. Francoise'sidentity progressivelydisintegratesin her

encounterwith Xaviere; as we read at one of the crisis points in the novel, `Francoise,ä

jamais depossedeedu monde, se dissolvait elle-memedansce vide' (p. 364). She is

divided from herself: `separeed'elle-meme' (p. 301); `Francoiseconsideraavec horreur

cette femme qui etait eile', (p. 499). Shecan only reintegrateher personality through

sacrificial violence. As Xaviere is dying, the the final words of the text assert:`C'etait

sa volonte qui etait en train de s'accomplir, plus rien ne la separaitd'elle-meme. Elle

avait enfin choisi. Elle s'etait choisie.' On anotherlevel Xaviere comesbetween

Francoiseand Pierre who asserttheir unity: `Toi et moi, on ne fait qu'un; c'est vrai tu

sais,on ne peut pas nous definir 1'un sansl'autre' (p. 29). When Francoisedisagrees

with Pierre over Xaviere, Francoise`avait l'impression penible d'etre divisee contre

elle-meme' (p. 133). Violence is Francoise'sonly chanceto reintegratethe sundered

34
elements.The text vindicates Francoisebut she is also depictedas a monster.

L'Invitee underminesvillain/ victim and villain/ heroine dichotomies and ultimately

32Fallaize, TheNovels,
p36.
33Sedgwick,
pp. 12-13.
34Simone de Beauvoir
refers to her as such in La Force de 1 age, p.348.
 50
subvertsthe Gothic convention itself; our villain/ heroine triumphs and readersare

deprived of the expectedGothic closureadvancingmoral resolutions35

Xaviere, whose very existenceis conceivedas a threat to Francoise'ssenseof

identity, the embodimentof the threatto Francoise,is constructedby the text as a

demoniacal, non-human figure. The mystery and threat that Xaviere represents is

accentuated by the fact that she appears in the text with no introduction. Her relationship

with Franroise before the point when they are sitting in the Moorish cafe together (p.

21) is not elucidated. Like other Gothic characters, Xaviere, an orphan, appears as it

were out of nowhere, with almost no history, like a mysterious foundling. As Simone de

Beauvoir writes in La Force de 1'äge, the novel begins when `une etrangere' enters

Francoise and Pierre's life (p. 346). Mystery is reinforced by the fact that, when

abbreviated,Xaviere's name is X. When shebums herself she is portrayed as crazy

and dangerous.One of the most disturbing elementsat this point in the text, and one that

is picked up again as Francoisesuffersher secondcrisis of the evening, is Xaviere's

smile: `un sourire aigu retroussaitseslevres; c'etait un sourire intime et solitaire comme

un sourire de folle, un sourire voluptueux et torture de femme en proie au plaisir' (p.

354), `ce rictus maniaque' (p. 354), and `un sourire de folle' (p. 363). Xaviere's smile

encapsulatesher madness.Xaviere's madnessis not foregroundedbut is all the more

`threatening' in the way it is hinted at. During the ChristmasEve party Xaviere's

responseto Paule's dancerevealsher susceptibility and foreshadowsthe incidents in the

night-club: `la bouche entreouverte,les yeux embues,Xaviere respirait avec peine; eile

ne savait plus oü elle etait, eile semblaithors d'elle-meme; Francoisedetouma les yeux

avec gene,l'insistence de Pierre etait indiscrete et presqueobscene;ce visage de

33SeeBotting,
pp. 7-8. He points out that somemoral endingswere, in any case,no more than
`perfunctory tokens'.
 51

possedeen'etait pas fait pour etre vu' (p. 184). Xaviere's reaction to Pierre's telling

Francoise that Xaviere and he are in love is suggestive of madness: `Xaviere se debattait

sans secours parmi ces menaces ecrasantesqu'elle apercevait tout autour d'elle, seule

comme une hallucinee' (p. 255). Xaviere's room is described as `un cachot

d'hallucinee' (p. 342). Francoise wonders about Xaviere's sanity because of her violent

having had Gerbert: `Et Xaviere etait devenue brusquement

reaction to sex with si

folle? ' (p. 387). There is only one other reference to Xaviere's madness: during a

quarrel with Pierre, Xaviere `le regarda d'un air ruse et triomphant de folle' (p. 414) and

demon furieux' (p. 416) 36

after the quarrel we read: `eile semblait possedee par un

Xaviere's smile is a motif that has recurredfrom the very first time that Xaviere

Multiple her the text. 7 For the

was introduced. referencesto smile punctuate most part

her smiles are connotednegatively, connectedwith scorn,malice and cruelty. Her first

smile, `un dröle de sourire', expressing`mepris', `mechancete'

and a jugement

malveillant' (p. 36), gives Francoisean unpleasantshock. The term `rictus' that is

commonly usedto denoteXaviere's smiles suggestsan unnatural, twisted smile and the

image of an animal baring its teeth is often conveyed.Her smiles are frequently

secretiveand mysterious, expressingconnivancewith herself. Examples are plentiful.

One of the most striking is when Xaviere smiles to herself, imagining sadistic sexual

pleasure: `Les levres de Xaviere se retrousserentsur sesdentsblanches."Je le ferais

souffrir", dit-elle d'un air voluptueux. Francoisela regardaavec un peu de malaise [...].

A quelle image d'elle-meme cacheeaux yeux de tous souriait-elle avec une mysterieuse

connivence?[...] Le rictus s'effaca' (pp. 228-29). ElsewhereXaviere's smile is clearly

describedin terms of vaginal imagery. It is depicted as dangerous,a wound infected by

36The threat to Francoise'ssanity, as opposedto her identity, is underplayedin the text. This will be
discussedmore fully in a later chapter.
37Toril Moi notes how XaviBre's mouth is repeatedly emphasised and discusses references to her smile
Simone de Beauvoir, p. 116.
 52
jealousy: `une passionde haine et de souffrancegonflait sa face, oü la bouche

s'entrouvrait dansun rictus semblableä la blessured'un fruit trop mar; par cette plaie

beante,eclatait au soleil une pulpe secreteet veneneuse'(p. 407). This is a vivid,

horrific Gothic 38
image. Repeatedreferencesto Xaviere's smile, which is not a smile,

accumulatein the text and contribute to the creation of a threatening,demoniacal

To
persona. a great extent it is the accumulationof this motif in the text that accounts

for its symbolical power.39

Animal imagery associatedwith Xaviere reinforcesthe impressionthat she is

demoniacal.The bestial within the humanis, as already noted, a characteristically

Gothic theme. Thesepowerful imagescan suggestslaughterand cannibalism.The word

`proie' reappearsover and over in the text.40 Francoisebecomesawarethat Xaviere is

`charnelle' (animal, sensual)when they are out dancing and when, once again, Xaviere's

sexualfantasiesare under discussion:`Les yeux avides,les mains, les dents aiguesque

decouvraientles levres entrouvertescherchaientquelquechoseä saisir, quelquechose

qui setouche. Xaviere ne savait pas encorequoi: les sons,les couleurs,les parfums, les

corps,tout lui etait une proie' (pp. 311-12). Pierre, who has beensurreptitiously

watching Xaviere whom he suspectsof falling in love with Gerbert,tells Francoisethat

it is as if Xaviere wants to eat up Gerbert.Franroise remembersXaviere's `regardavide'

38The word `plaie'

recalls Xaviere's self inflicted wound p. 354.
39This list will indicatejust how frequently
referencesto Xaviere's smile recur:
`sourire furtif, de connivenceavec elle-meme' (p. 68)
`en retroussantun peu sa 18vresupbrieure' (p. 72)
`eile eut une sorte de rictus' (p. 75)
'le rictus s'accentua' (p. 124)
`sourire de connivencesecr6te' (p. 190)
`eile out une rictus presquedouloureux (p. 253)
`un dr81ede rictus haineux' (p. 308)
`Au milieu de son visage blame seslevres btaientcontractdesdansun rictus de pierre.' (p. 366)
`la bouche entrouverte dansun vaguerictus' (p. 395)
`un rictus retroussasa lbvre sup8rieure' (p. 416)
`La 18vrede Xavibre se retroussasur sesdentsblanches.' (p. 495)
`un rictus tordait sa bouche' (p. 498)
`un intolerable sourire dbcouvrait sesdentspures' (p. 498)
40Examples:pp. 312,354,364,365.
 53
(p. 243). Shortly after the episodein the night-club, Francoiserealisesshe has been

powerlessagainst `la haine, la tendresse,les penseesde Xaviere; eile les avait laissees

mordre sur eile, eile avait fait d'elle-meme une proie' (p. 364) and she feels impelled to

run away from Xaviere and her `tentaculesavidesqui voulaient la devorer toute vive'

(p. 367). In her room Xaviere is like an animal in her den; the terms `se terrer' and

`ruminer' are used (disturbingly discordantwith the term `cloitree' used in the same

According
sentence). to Pierre, Xaviere `se terre dans son coin comme une bete malade'

(p. 163). To Francoise, listening behind Xaviere's door, it is as if Xaviere's thoughts are

alive, as if they are `animal': `on aurait cru entendrepalpiter les secretespenseesque

Xäviere caressaitdanssa solitude' (p. 341). Xaviere's crying is describedas a `plainte

animale' (p. 386) and Francoiseimaginesher `traqueedansun coin' (p. 387). The

sexualassociationsof the powerful animal image of Xaviere that opensthe final episode

of L'Invitee are unmistakable: `Une femelle, pensa[Francoise] avec passion. [...] Elle

etait lä, tapie derriere la porte, dans son nid de mensonges.' (p. 491) The animalisation

of Xaviere combinedwith the senseof hidden dangermake this a supremely Gothic

41
image, full of dread.

This animal imagery is in sharpcontrastto the religious overtonesof other

images.For example,Francoisehesitatesbefore going into Xaviere's room: `c'etait

vraiment un lieu sacre;il s'y celebraitplus d'un culte, mais la divinite supremevers qui

montaient la fumee des cigarettesblondeset les parfums de the et de lavande, c'etait

Xaviere elle-meme,teile que sespropresyeux la contemplaient' (p. 166). (This is

consistentwith Xaviere's mannerwhen attending to herself. `Il y avait Banssesgestes

quelquechosede rituel et de mysterieux' and having taken off her scarf `eile redescendit

sur terre' (p.226).) Xaviere is divine then as well as animal. The resulting discordance

41This is not the first mention of a nest in connection

with Xavibre. Seep. 152.
 54

to However,
adds readers' uneasiness. religion here is distorted; the worship taking

is
place suggestiveof idolatry and narcissism,cigarettesmoke and perfume replace

incenseand the `lueur sanglante' in the room (p. 167) is redolent of sacrifice. Another

memorablereligious image occurs in the final lines of Part One of L'Invitee; Francoise

refers to Xaviere as a miracle in her life:

Elle etait en train de se dessecher ä 1'abri des constructions patientes et des lourdes
de
pensees plomb, lorsque soudain, dans un eclatement de purete et de liberte, tout
ce monde trop humain etait tombe en poussiere; il avait Buffi du regard naif de
Xaviere pour detuire cette prison et maintenant, sur cette terre delivree, mille
merveilles allaient nitre par la grace de ce jeune ange exigeant. Un ange sombre
avec de douces mains de femme, rouges comme des mains paysannes, avec des
levres a l'odeur de miel, de tabac blond et de the vert.
(L'Invitee, pp. 264-65.)

This dramatic metaphoris Gothic in its emphasison weight and imprisonment and it is

perfectly integratedin the densesymbolic network of L'Invitee. (See later.) What is of

particular interest here is the religious diction employed, `terre delivree', `grace', jeune

ange', and the discordancesset up; the angel is `exigeant' and `sombre', paradoxically it

is this dark, destructiveangel bringing light into Francoise'slife (seelater for further

discussionof light and dark in L'Invitee). The sexual overtonesof the image are

unmistakable.Xaviere is surely a fallen angel. According to Xaviere herself, her soul is

black; it is the bond she claims with Pierre in opposition to Francoise's `ämepure'. She

saysto Pierre: `Vowset moi, nous ne sommespas des creaturesmorales, [, ] Au fond

..

vows etes aussi traltre que moi et vous avez 1'äme aussi noire' (p. 443). Xaviere's

divinity is diabolical. Discordanceis set up and resolved.Brought together,the two

groups of images,animal and religious, ultimately reinforce eachother and the

42
impression of uneasinessconveyedis accentuated.

42Religious diction is frequently used in connectionwith the trio and their

relationships.XaviBre
veneratesFrangoise,pp. 137,312,397 and Pierre, p227. FrancoisereveresXavibre, pp. 228,262 and
Pierre, 374. An explict religious image castsPierre as a Christ figure and Francoiseand XaviBre as
Marthe and Marie (p. 493).
 55

The notion that Xäviere castsa shadowon Francoise's life is recurrent. In this

exampleXaviere is -definedas a mystery beyond language:`Les mots ne pouvaient que

du le
vous rapprocher mysteremais sans rendremoins impenetrable:il ne faisait

le
qu'etendre sur coeur une ombre plus froide.' (p. )
162. As the narrative enters its final

stages,we read: `Xaviere s'obstinait ä demeurercette etrangeredont la presencerefusee

etendaitsur Francoiseune ombre menacante.' (p. 420.) And on the evening before

Francoisewill kill Xaviere, Francoiseagain refersto Xaviere as `cettepresenceennemie

qui etendait sur eile, sur le monde entier, une ombre pernicieuse' (p. 484).

One of the recurring motifs associatedwith Xaviere is her smell. Referencesto

her smell are disquieting and add to her malignant aspect.They underline her

mysteriousnessand hint of the It

supernatural. is a motif closely linked to the religious

imagery and becomesa condensedreminder of Xaviere's `divinity/ fiendishness'. From

the beginning, Francoiseis tempted by Xaviere's `leger parfum de risque et de mystere'

(p. 39). Smells associatedwith Xaviere were important elementsof the religious images

already quoted: `la fumee des cigarettesblondeset les parfums de the et de lavande', (p.

166); `levres ä 1'odeurde miel, de tabacblond et de the vert'(p. 265). Xaviere's smell

becomesan obsessionfor Francoise;as shetries and fails to imagine Pierre and Xaviere

together in Xaviere's room, it is one of the things she focuseson (p. 162). When

Francoiseherself is invited to spendthe eveningin Xaviere's room, she enjoys `cette

lumiere funebre, et cette odeur de fleurs morteset de chair vivante qui flottait toujours

autour de Xaviere' (p. 168). Somehowdeathand living flesh are conflated here; the

effect is sinister. The gap betweenFrancoise'spleasureand readers' responseproduces

disquiet 43 When they dancetogether,FrangoiseappreciatesXaviere's smell: `avec

43This disparity pervadesthe whole episode.XaviBre, `les yeux brillants de satisfaction', appearsto take
sadisticpleasurein seeingFrancoise,who hatestomatoes,`absorberune 6paissepuree de tomates'. It
is impossible to concur with Francoise'sindulgent reaction that `il aurait fallu ¬tre un roc pour ne pas
titre touch6ede sajoie' (p. 168-69).
 56
tendresse,eile respira l'odeur de the, de miel et de chair qui etait l'odeur de Xaviere' (p.

186). The repetition of `chair' in particular, recalls the menacingassociationsthat have

beenbuilt up in the text until now, associationsthat again clash with Francoise's

Her
positive experience. disquiet is not arouseduntil she smells a new, mysterious

odour: `meleeau parfum de tabacblond et de the qui flottait toujours autour de Xaviere,

une etrangeodeur d'höpital'. (p. 418-19.) Suspenseconcerningthe `odeur insolite' (p.

422) is built up until Franroise realisesthat Xaviere has been smelling ether (p. 423).

This too, has Gothic resonances.

Xaviere's facial expressionsare frequently referred to as a grimace. 4 Of course,

a grimace is a facial expressionclosely relatedto a rictus. A grimace is not an attractive

look. Paradoxically,Xaviere is both ugly and beautiful. Her face is transformedalmost

45
miraculously from one to the other. Her beauty is diabolical; when Xaviere confronts

Francoiseover her affair with Gerbert, emphasisis placed on fire and burning, motifs

that have gatheredmomentum in the text and which are emblematic of hell: `Elle fixait

sur Francoisedesyeux brülants, sesjoues etaienten feu, eile etait belle' (p. 498). Her

face exemplifies her duplicity, being at once expressiveand indecipherableand full of

contradictions,inhuman almost. We read: `Elle avait un seduisantvisage, si nuance,si

changeantqu'il ne semblait pas fait de chair; il etait fait d'extases,de rancunes,de

tristesses,renduesmagiquementsensiblesaux yeux; pourtant malgre cette transparence

etheree,le dessindu nez, de la boucheetait lourdementsensuel' (p. 75). 6 The same

idea is repeatedlater in the book: `Son visage decomposepar la fatigue et par l'angoisse

semblait plus impalpable encoreque coutume' (p. 263). Francoisefeels that `on n'avait

asSee'grimace' (p. 22), 'grimace tragique' (p. 41), `grimace de degoflt' (p. 42), `affreuse
grimace' (p.
53), `grimace' (p. 120).
asFor example,
when Francoiseand Xaviere leave the Moorish cafe. Compare: 'Le dessousde sesyeux
etait gonfl6, son teint brouilld' (p. 24) with `Sesyeux brillaient, eile avait retrouve son beauteint
nacre' (p. 25).
46This is the second
mention of Xaviere's 'nez sensuel'. Seep. 32.
 57
jamais fini de decouvrir ce visage.Xaviere etait une incessantenouveaute' (p. 284). She

has the uncanny feeling that a strangeris hidden behind Xaviere's familiar features(p.

229), her `imprevisible visage' (p. 333). Xaviere's face is a mask. Discordant language

reproducesthe contradictionson a textual level. `Ce visageparfume, tout bruissantde

tendresse,quellespenseesveneneuses1'avaientsoudainaltere?Elles s'epanouissaient

avec malignite sousce petit front tetu, ä 1'abri des cheveuxde soie, et Francoiseetait

defense 47
contre elles [...]' (p. 293). Xaviere's `traitre visage' and `traits sans
sans

mystere' are assertedas equivalentsand in her dependence,Francoisewould like to

collude with the mirage, with the `illusions charmantes'which hide `mille venins

caches' (p. 404). Franroise is repelledby Xaviere's `frais visage cruel' (p. 482). In a

typically Gothic fashion the text fostersambiguity. Xaviere's innocent, childlike face is

assertedas equivalentto her evil face. Sheis demoniacaland animal and she is also `une

petite fille aimanteet desarmeedont on aurait voulu couvrir de baiserslesjoues nacrees'

(p. 48), she openswide her `pure' eyesand smiles charmingly (p. 79), Francoisewants

to believe that Xaviere's `traits charmantscomposaientune honnetefigure d'enfant et

non un masqueinquietant de magicienne' (p. 168). Her denial only confirms it to be so.

Is Xaviere an instance of the Gothic split personality? This reading is supported

by the text to someextent. Shedoesdisplay the self hatred of the Gothic (anti)heroine:

`Elle fixa dannle vide un regard faroucheet dit ä voix basse:"Je me degoüte,j'ai

horreur de moi"' (p. 131). Pierre tells Francoiseabout Xaviere's `crise de degoüt d'elle-

meme' (p. 162); he believesthat `tout est si pur en eile et si violent' and recognisesin

her a need `de faire du mal, de se faire du mal, et de se faire hair' (p. 164). Nevertheless

the ambiguity remains,residing in our dependanceon a narrator who is far from

impartial, not to say unreliable. Xaviere is deniedthe opportunity to tell her own story.

47The original title of L'Invitee

was 'Legitime defense'.
 58
Xaviere is not the only demoniacalcharacterin L'Invitee. Francoise,we have

be Elisabeth is also an evil figure. Moreover, she is

noted, can read as a monster.

constructedas Francoise'sdouble in the text. Evil doubles are stock Gothic characters.

Interestingly, Elisabeth progressively `disappears'from the text as Francoisejettisons

her fine moral scruples.(The Franroise : Elisabeth duo will be explored further in

ChapterThree.)48

The fear and horror evoked in the climactic moments and elsewherein L'Invitee,

is characteristic of the Gothic. The effects produced, Francoise's dread and her feelings

of revulsion, are best understoodin the light of Freud's notion of the uncanny. What

happensin the night-club is a good illustration of this; what is horrible and dangerousis

hidden behind Xaviere's smile: `Il recelait quelquechosed'horrible [...] Derriere ce

rictus maniaque,un dangermenacait,plus definitif que tour ceux qu'elle avait jamais

imagines' (p. 354). Francoiseis horrified that somethingthat shehas known and feared

is
since shewas a small child now going to be revealed: `il n'y avait plus moyen d'en

eviter le devoilementterrifiant; jour apresjour, minute apresminute, Franroise avait fin

le danger,mais c'en etait fait, eile 1'avait enfin rencontrecet infranchissableobstacle

qu'elle avait pressentisousdes formes incertainesdepuis sa plus petite enfance' (p.

363). What should have remainedhidden is about to be exposed,the repressedto return.

The fact that the dangeris undeterminedheightensthe senseof mystery and fear. These

episodesepitomisewhat Botting fords to be one of the defining characteristicsof Gothic

texts, namely `a senseof a grotesque,irrational and menacingpresencepervading the

its 49 The
decomposition'
everydayand causing senseof something strangeand

48In L'Invitee there is a whole cast of minor Gothic figures: ghosts,pp. 147,179,359; puppets,pp. 153,
179,335 (associatedwith death), et al.; Francoiseis describedas `une vieille machine ddrdglde' p.
434, Paule dances`la dansedesmachinespp. 182-83; Xavi6re is describedas a monk, a Gothic figure
connectedwith mystery and evil, p. 481. Conventual imagery is typically Gothic; note the use of the
term `cloitrde' associatedwith XaviBre.
49Botting, p. 160.
 59
threateninghidden behind everydaynessis somethingthat recurs throughout L'Invitee

banal 5°
juxtaposed.
where the and the sinister are

As the novel reachesits climax, Francoise'sdistressis heightenedas `derriere

chacunde cesmeublesfamiliers, quelquechosed'horrible guettait' (p. 498). This

recalls Elisabeth's experienceduring her quarrel with Claude when shewas aware that

`dans1'ombrequelquechosed'horrible menacait' (p. 100). This, in turn, recalls

Francoise'smemory of an incident during her chidhood when shehad found herself

alone in her grandmother'shouse: `c'etait dröle et ca faisait peur; les meublesavaient

1'air de tous lesjours, mais en memetemps ils etaienttous changes:tout epais,tout

loürds, tout secrets;sousla bibliotheque et sousla consolede marbre stagnaitune ombre

epaisse.' (p. 146).The idea of someoneor somethinglurking in the shadowsrecurs as

the novel reachesits culmination when we read: `cetteconsciencevorace qui avait

attendudans1'ombrele moment de 1'engloutir' (p. 500).

An atmosphereof mystery and secrecypervadesthe text which fosters

ambiguity. Words, sentences,

eventshave multiple or uncertain meanings.Questionsare

a distinguishing feature of the text. The words `mystere', `mysterieux', `secret'

constantly reappear.There are `mysterieusesperturbations' when Francoiseknocks at

Xaviere's door (p. 45). When Francoiseimaginesthe cafe where Xaviere and Pierre are

meeting, `tout avait revetu un sensmysterieux' and Francoisewill never know `le secret

de leur tete-ä-tete' (pp. 152-53).FrancoisesurprisesXaviere looking at Gerbert: `c'6tait

comme une imperieuseet secreteprise de possession'(p. 186). Xaviere enfolds Pierre's

image in a `mysterieusecaresse'(p. 493). It is only natural that in this atmosphere,

whispering should be a recurring motifsl

50The cigarette ashdepositedon XaviBre's burn is `le

petit matelasprotecteur' (p. 354). The benign
everydaynessof the object jars with sinister role it is playing here.
31See
pp. 215,255,378.
 60
There are repeatedreferencesto magic and the supernaturalin L'Invitee.

Franroise, Pierre and Xaviere and Elisabethare all portrayed as victims of spells that

have beencast over them. After the incident in the night-club, it is as if the trio have

beenturned to stoneby a magic spell (p. 365 and 366). Earlier, `[Francoise] avait envie

de briser ce cercle magiqueoü elle setrouvait retenueavec Pierre et Xaviere et qui la

separaitde tout le restedu monde' (p. 345). After a pleasantevening spentalone with

Pierre, Francoisebelieves, `enfin ce cercle de passionet de souci oü la sorcellerie de

Xaviere les retenait s'etait rompu et ils setrouvaient tout males 1'un ä 1'autreau coeur

du monde immense' (p. 377). (Note the contrastwith imagesof enclosurethat generally

predominate.) But minutes later her hopesare dashed;Pierre seesa light under

Xaviere's door and his obsessiontakesover again. Francoiseis overcomeby despair,`il

lui [ä Francoise]semblait s'etre laisseeleurrer par la precaire lucidite dun fou qu'un

souffle suffisait ä rejeter daps le delire' (p. 378). In these examples,emphasisis lain on

enforced immobility, an idea linked with weight and enclosure.In Elisabeth's case,she

believesthat a spell hasbeencastthat makesher incapableof authentic existence:

`C'etait un sort qui lui avait etejete: eile changeaittout ce qu'elle touchait en carton-

'
pate. (p. 272.) Xaviere blames magic for making her destructive: `Oh! Il ya un malheur

sur moi, gemit-elle passionnement(p. 130). Shefeels she is beyond help becauseshe is

`marquee' (p. 132).52Thus Xaviere is portrayedas a victim of magic but, as we have

seen,she is constructedas a demoniacalfigure in the text and she is also portrayed as a

witch and magical powersare attributed to her. There are multiple referencesto her as

`une sorciere' (pp. 190,192,298), `1'ensorceleuse'(p. 491) and Francoiseis afraid of

her powers: `ce masqueattirant, c'etait une ruse, eile ne cederaitpas ä cette sorcellerie

52In the dramatic scenein Francoise'shospital

room which follows Pierre's declaration that XaviBre and
he love eachother, Xavibre exclaims: 'Vest un malheur,j'en Buissure,je ne suis pas de force' (p.
255).
 61
[...] eile savait seulementqu'un dangerla menacait' (p. 164). Xaviere's malevolenceis

reiterated in the text; as L'Invitee reachesits climax, Francoiseimagines Xaviere, `dans

la lumiere mortuaire de sa chambre,[...] assise,enveloppeede son peignoir brun,

maussadeet malefique' (p. 490). The detail of the brown dressinggown is telling, as

it is habit.53 In a central seriesof

evocative perhapsof a witch's robe as of a monk's

images,Xaviere's hatred and, metonymically Xaviere herself, becomean embodiment

of magic, an evil spell. Franroise is depictedas imagining, containing and controlling

this spell with magic of her own. It is worth quoting a key passage in full as it contains a

rich web of resonances.

Est-ce qu'on ne pouvait pas contempler la haine de Xaviere en face, tout juste
comme les gateaux au fromage qui reposaient sur un plateau? Its etaient d'un beau
jaune clair, decores d'astragales roses, on aurait presque eu envie d'en manger si
on eüt ignore leur gout aigre de nouveau-ne. Cette petite tete ronde n'occupait pas
beaucoup plus de place dans le monde, on 1'enfermait dans un seul regard; et ces
brumes de haine qui s'en echappaient en tourbillon, si on les faisait rentrer dans
leur boite, on les tiendrait aussi ä sa merci. Il n'y avait qu'un mot ä dire: dans un
ecroulement plein de fracas la haine se resoudrait en une fumee exactement
contenue dans le corps de Xaviere et aussi inoffensive que le gout sur cache sous
la creme jaune des gateaux; eile se sentait exister, mais ca ne faisait guere de
difference, en vain se tordait eile en volutes rageuses: on verrait tout juste passer
sur le visage desarme quelques remous imprevus et regles comme des nuages au
ciel.
(L'Invitee, p. 301.)

Xaviere's pernicious spell might be shut up in a box, reducedto vapour/ fumes. There

are strong echosof genieshere. Oncecontained,Xaviere's spell would be as harmless,

that is harmful, as the pale yellow cheesecakes.

Xaviere's head is conflated with the

cakes;they are on a tray and there are clear suggestionsof beheading.(The mention of

the pink decorationsaddsto the sinister overtones.) There are numerousother Gothic

featuresin this passage.Like Xaviere, the cakesare not what they seem,their true

nature is hidden. They may look appetizingbut their tasteis sour. The `gout aigre de

53See 481.
p.
 62

is disgusting image 54
nouveau-ne' a repellant, with overtonesof cannibalism and evil

The cakeshave already acquiredsymbolic significance; Francoise's thoughts about `un

enormegateaublanc, garni de fruits et d'astragales' interrupt a story she is telling that

no one is listening to (p. 73). The sickly cake comesto stand for her alienation, her

sicknessat heart. The sameimage recurs later, this time connecteddirectly with

Xaviere: `eile remplissait la penseeaussilourdement que le gros gateaudu Pole Nord'

(p. 83). The image of a crumbling building is typically Gothic and ties up with other

imagesof glossy exteriors that hide rotting interiors and risk suddencollapse.

Francoise'spower to contain and control Xaviere's `spell' residesin her own gazeand

in her use of language.For one moment Francoiseimagines shehas succeeded,that her

have worked. The text is interrupted by Pierre taking his leave. Sixteen lines later
words

Francoisehasto acknowledgethat sheis powerlessto resist Xaviere's evil magic, she

doesnot believe her own words. The text goeson as if there had beenno interruption:

`le mot magique, il aurait fallu qu'il jaillit du fond de son äme, mais son ame etait tout

engourdie.Le brouillard malefique restait suspenduä travers le monde, il empoisonnait

les bruits et les lumieres, il penetraitFrancoisejusqu'aux moelles' (p. 302). This image

is akin to those imagesrelating Xaviere to a shadowthat looms over Francoise's life. It

is reiteratedlater, after the climactic momentsin the night-club: `ca faisait des semaines

que Francoise n'etait plus capable de reduire en inoffensives fumees la haine, la

tendresse, les pensees de Xaviere' (p. 364). Poison is a recurrent Gothic motif in

L'Invitee and one frequently linked with Xaviere. 55 In a related image, Xaviere's hatred

56
is comparedto an acid producing noxious fumes. This image occurs after Xaviere has

54The adjective `aigre' recalls the morning when Franroise askedXavibre to come to live in Paris (p.
252). Seealso p. 192.
ssSeeearlier quotations: `mille venins caches'(p. 404), `pulpe secreteet vCnCneuse'(p. 407).
56Interestingly, theseimagesare akin to imagesof unreasonthat, according to Foucault, inspired such
fear in the middle of the eighteenthcentury: `Tout d'abord le mal entre en fermentation dans les
espacesclos de l'internement. 11a toutes les vertun qu'on prete ä I'acide [...]. Le melange aussitöt
 63
harmedherself and before Francoisesuffers her secondcrisis in the night-club: `ca

ä
reprenait: nouveaucorrosive comme un acide, la haine s'echappait de Xaviere en

lourdes volutes; c'etait inutile de se defendrecontre cette morsure dechirante[...]' Q,.

36 1).57

Francoise'sexperiencewith the fortune teller addsto the strangeand Gothic

atmospherein the novel. The Gypsy appearsto know all about Francoise's life. She

takesher to one side and, in secret,tells Francoisethat she knows about the unhappiness

that Xaviere has brought into her relationship with Pierre and offers to sell her a charm

that will make her happy again (pp. 158-59).The whole episodeis redolent of the

Gothic; the pathetic fallacy `cette bruin poisseuseavait penetrejusqu'au fond de son

äme', the presenceon stageof `une grandepoupee[...] qui paraissaitpresquevivante'

(p. 153), Francoisetrembles and holds out her hand `machinalement'

(mechanically/without thinking), and the secrecyand magic. There is also the strange,

unsettling suggestionthat the future is already mappedout and can be known.

The text enactsthis strangeness.Prefiguration is disturbing and unsettling. The

dancethat takesplacejust before Xaviere harms herself prefigures the text and what

Xaviere is about to do. The dancermimes a seductionscenewhere the woman appears

to encouragethen reject her suitor before falling into his arms. Xaviere's behaviour with

Pierre is brought to mind. In miming `une sorciereaux gestespleins de dangereux

mystere' and `la tete folle' of a peasantwoman, the dancerseemsto presageXaviere's

bouillonne, degageantvapeursnocives et liquides corrosifs [...]. Ces vapeursbrillantes s'616vent

ensuite,serepandentdans1'air et finissent par retomber sur le voisinage, impregnant les corps,
contaminantles Ames.[...] Par cette atmospherechargeede vapeursmalefiques, des ville entiCressont
menacdes[...]' (Histoire de lafolie, p. 376).
s' Poison is mentioned at other momentstoo. In her suffering, Francoisehas the impressionthat `le sang
qui courait dans sesveinesitait empoisonnd' (p. 261). As the novel culminates,Franroise feels she
cannot go on living in `cet air empoisonn6' (p. 491).
 64
has dangerous 58 In
crazy gesturethat such and mysterious connotations. a similar way,

the Spanishpoem which triggers Francoise'scrisis and which is intensely symbolic,

prefigures the narrative:

Meme si l'on ne comprenaitpas le sensdes mots, on etait pris aux entrailles par
cet accentpassionne,par ce visageque defigurait une ardeur pathetique; le poeme
parlait de haine et de mort, peut-titre aussi d'espoir, et ä travers sessursautset ses
plaintes, c'etait 1'Espagne dechiree qui se faisait presente ä tour les coeurs. Le feu
le
et sangavaient chasse rues des les guitares, les chansons, les chäles eclatantes,
les fleurs de nard; les maisonsde danses'etaient effondreeset les bombesavaient
les
creve outres gonflees vin; de dans la chaude douceur des soirs rödaient la peur
et la faim. Les chants flamencos, la saveur des vins dont on se grisait, ce n'etait
plus que l'evocation funebre d'un passe defunt. Pendant un moment, les yeux
fixes sur la boucherouge et tragique,Francoises'abandonnaaux imagesdesolees
que suscitait 1'äpre incantation; eile aurait voulu seperdre corps et äme dans ces
appels, dans ces regrets qui tressaillaient sous les mysterieusessonorites.
(L'Invitee, pp. 262-63.)

The poem and the narrative sharea significant number of motifs; hatred and death, fire

and blood, regrets.Fear is prowling aroundthough the evening is apparentlymild and

pleasant.Note the terms `äpre incantation' and mysterieusessonorites' suggestiveof

A is
magic spells. comparableeffect recreatedlater in the novel; Francoisehasjust

recalled Xaviere's `sourire maniaque' when `un long chant sanglotantperca 1'epaisseur

brillante de l'air'. For Francoise,`cettemusiqueveule danscette solitude torride lui

paraissaitl'image de
meme son coeur. [...] [Elle] de
eut envie s'asseoirau bord du

trottoir et de n'en plus bouger' (pp. 420-21). 59

The prefiguration that occurs in L'Invitee is all the more disturbing in that it

recurs. Freud points to the senseof helplessness

that is arrousedby the unintended

38XaviBre is associatedwith the notion `paysanne'.When she is introduced, one of the details that is
highlighted is her `doigts rougesde paysanne'(p. 21) and, although since she cameto Paris, Xavibre
is no longer `paysanne'(p. 227), her handsremain `rougescomme des mains paysannes'(p. 265).
59Interestingly, Paule's danceat the ChristmasEve party also prompts painful thoughts in Francoise.
Paule is wearing a mask, a Gothic motif associatedwith Xavi&e, and mimes a storm, `eile 6tait ä eile
seuletout un ouraganddchainb' (p. 193). There are strong echoeshere of the image of a natural
disasterapplied to Xavibre: `Avec un peu d'effroi, Frangoiseconsideracette vivante catastrophequi
envahissaitsournoisementsa vie; c'btait Pierre qui par son respect,son estime avait brise les digues
oil Frangoisela contenait.Maintenant qu'elle Ctaitd6chainCe,jusqu'oti 9a irait-il? ' (p. 128). Seealso
'une tournade [...] secouaFrancoise',p. 210.
 65

recurrenceof the samesituation, the impressionof `somethingfateful and inescapable'

(p. 237). He relatesit to the uncanny,classingit as an instanceof the phenomenonof the

double. Francoiseis imprisoned in her obsessionand the text underlines how the same

things recur time and time again:

Depuis combien de temps durait-elle cette discussionindefinie et touj ours neuve?

Qu'a fait Xaviere? Que fera-t-elle? Que pense-t-elle?Pourquoi? Soir apressoir,
l'obsession renaissaitaussi harassante,aussivaine, avec ce goüt de fievre dans la
bouche,et cette desolationau coeur, et cette fatigue du corps sommeilleux. Quand
les questionsauraientenfin trouve une reponse,d'autres questions,toutes
la
pareilles, reprendraient ronde implacable: Que veut Xaviere? Que dira-t-elle?
Comment?Pourquoi?Il n'y avait aucunmoyen de les arreter.
(L'Invitee, p. 379.)

The archetypal symbol of the circle expresses the never ending nature of the trap. It is a

recurring motif; Francoisehoped shehad finished with `toutesces interpretations,ces

exegesesoü Pierre pouvait tourner en rond pendantdes '

heures... (p. 244); referencehas

already beenmade to `le de

cercle passionet de souci' (p. 377) where Xaviere's spell

holds Francoiseand Pierre; Francoise,shortly after this, will comparethe busy `lucid'

streetoutside with her room which is `englueed'angoisseoü les penseesobsedantes

poursuivaient leur ronde sanstreve' (p. 388). She can seeno way out: `Des attentes,des

fuites, toute 1'annees'etait passeeainsi. [...] Il ne restait aucun salut. On pouvait fuir,

mais il faudrait bien revenir, et ce seraientd'autres attentes,et d'autres fuites, sansfm'

(p. 438).

Textual parallels also produce an uncanny effect whilst adding to the intensity of

the text. The text duplicates the trap where Francoise is caught, reproducing her never

ending nightmare. If we take the three climatic momentsin the book, the parallels are

the
conspicuous: use of the verb `consumer', burning flesh and Xaviere's insensibility,

her ecstaticresponseand the sexualovertoneswhich are connotednegatively: `un

sourire voluptueux et torture de femme en proie au plaisir', (p. 354), `la jouissance
 66

maniaque', (p. 363), and the repetition of `un sourire de folle' and the word `maniaque'.

In the final pagesof the novel; the words that bum like a branding iron recall Xaviere's

`branding' of herself with the `bout embrasede sa cigarette', and it is Francoise'sheart

that is consumedby `la lave brillante' (p. 500), recalling how her thoughts `brülaient

des flammes' (p. 363) 60

comme

Reflections in mirrors are also connectedwith the idea of the double. Freud

discussesthe figure of the double in generaland the way in which meeting one's own

image unexpectedlymay be perceivedas uncannybut he is, he admits, unable to explain

this (Freud, p. 236 and p. 238). In L'Invitee, the three motifs, gaze,image/ reflection,

and mirror, are interwined. These Gothic

quintessential motifs acquire their power in the

book by force of their recurrence.

One of the sinister featuresof the concluding pagesof L Invitee, is the street

light that is lent the human capacityto look. `On avait cachele globe du reverberesous

un masquede fer noir et dentelecommeun loup venitien. Sa lumiere jaune ressemblaitä

In be is 61
un regard' (p. 500). this symbolic space,to seen to give otherspower.

Rememberhow Xaviere bewitched Francoise:`fette sorcieres'etait emparede son

image et lui faisait subir ä son gre les pires envoütements'(p. 298). Fear of being gazed

upon and having her self stolen from her explainswhy, faced with Xaviere's version of

events,`eile aurait voulu cachersa figure' (p. 490). Francoiseis clear that she must

defendher `image': `Il y avait longtempsqu'on essayaitde la lui ravir' (p. 500). Her

`image' is far more than simply her reflection. It is her self / who she is. The idea that

can reduceus to an image is introduced very early in the text:

other consciousnesses

60Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick considersrepetition as the temporal metaphor of doubleness 139. Repetition
p.
will be examinedmore fully in ChapterFour.
61In his discussionof the ending of L'Invitee, Maurice Merleau-Ponty
points out that `once we are aware
of the existenceof others,we commit ourselvesto being, among other things, what they think of us,
since we recognize in them the exorbitant power to seeus'. `Metaphysicsand the Novel', in Critical
Essayson Simonede Beauvoir, ed. by Elaine Marks, Boston: Hall, 1987,pp. 31-44, p. 41.
 67
`C'est terrifiant: on a 1'impressionde ne plus etre qu'une image dans la tote de

quelqu'un d'autre' (p. 18). Others act as our mirror, showing us reflections of ourselves

that threatenour senseof identity. In destroying Xaviere, Francoisedestroysher

`criminelle figure' that Xaviere reflects back to her.

Francoiseturns away from the gazeof the streetlight to be met by her reflection

that springs up in the mirror. ('Son imagejaillit soudainau fond du mirroir' p. 500.)

This is a Gothic moment. As Franroise's identity disintegrated,we read: `[eile] n'avait

plus que la pale consistenced'une image' (p. 364), and shewas reducedto a ghostly

presence:`une vaguephosphorescencequi trainait ä la surfacedes choses,parmi des

milliers et des milliers de vain feux follets' (p. 365). Thus `image' also denotes

Francoise'sloss of self, loss of identity. When Franroise looks hard at her reflection

(`Elle fixa l'image', p. 500) sheclaims back her self. It is a moment of reintegration.

Significantly, Francoise'searlier moment of triumph had also beenmarkedby her

looking in the mirror (p. 467).

Francoise'sdefiant gesturewhen she staresat herself in the mirror in the

culminating moments of the novel, is all the more potent in view of her noted reluctance

to look at herself at all, although, it must be said, this reluctanceis not completely borne

out by the text where numerousexamplesof Francoiselooking in mirrors can be found.

Xaviere saysthat Francoisenever looks at herself (p. 179 repeatedp. 183) and Francoise

agreesthat shetreatsher face like an `objet etranger'. What is important is that when

Francoisedoeslook at herself sheseesa blank, an absence.Her lack of a face is her lack

of self, of identity. `Jene suis personne,pensaFrancoise.[...] eile toucha son visage: ce

n'etait pour eile qu'un masqueblanc' (p. 184). Pierre's gaze could have given Francoise

a shape,an identity but he is looking at Xaviere, not at her, she is part of him and

invisible to him. Franroise blamesherself for her loss of identity: `Il n'y avait personne
 68
d'etre de figure' (p. 216)." It is
[...] eile avait cesse quelqu'un; eile n'avait meme plus

Francoise's to with Xaviere's. Just before

revealing to compare attitude mirrors

is ill
Francoise taken seriously and decidesto go for a walk she glancesat her face in the

`C'etait un visage qui ne disait rien; il etait colle sur le devant de la tete comme
mirror:

une etiquette: FrancoiseMiquel. Le visage de Xaviere, au contriare, c'etait un

intarissablechuchotement,c'etait sansdoutepour cela qu'elle se souriait si

daps
mysterieusement les miroirs' (p. 215). However, note how Francoisetoo smiles at

her reflection as sheresignsherself to defeat(p. 417).

Reflections in mirrors suggesta senseof alienation and unreality. As she leaves

hei hospital room after weeks of confinement,Francoise'sexperienceis comparedto

(`penetrerä travers une glace') and `un voyage dans 1'au-delä'

going through a mirror

(p. 239-40). Once is

she well again, Francoise's is
alienation capturedwhen instead of

living her life, she watcheswhat is happeningin a mirror behind the bar in the cafe (p.

300-301). Elisabeth had a similar experience,watching the trio living their apparently

happy lives in the mirror whilst shesuffers in an `enfer sordide' (p. 104).

is
Hell a recurring motif in L'Invitee is
and a further manifestation of the Gothic.

The incident when Xaviere harms herself terminateswith an evocation of hell. It is

suggestiveof Dante's `Inferno': `On ne pourrait que tourner en rond tout autour dans

une exclusion eternelle' (p. 355). Xaviere's of

assessment the episodethat takes place

shortly afterwards,when the trio are listening to the Spanishpoem and when Xaviere

herself is in a trance like state,is ominous: `On etait au fond de 1'enfer,je croyais qu'on

n'en sortirait plus jamais' (p. 366). Francoiseis afraid that for the trio, `c'etait un noir

enfer qui les attendait' (p. 397). The depiction of Franroise's life is reminiscent of a

62Seealso p. 348. `Francoisese sentaitpar contrastelisse et nue comme cestotes sansvisage destableaux
de Chirico. '
 69

vision of hell: `Elle se laissait flotter comme

passivement une epave,mais il y avait de

noirs ecueils ä 1'horizon; eile flottait sur un oceangris, tout autour d'elle s'etendaient

des eaux bitumeuseset soufrees[...]' (p. 236). Black ('noirs' and `bitumeuses')and

hell.
sulpher suggest Grey is also a motif here, suggestiveof depression.
This is

reiteratedlater; in Franroise's heart `il faisait touj ours gris' (p. 418).

Francoise'sliving hell is reproducedin the text. One feature of this symbolic

spaceis fire and fire and burning are motifs that appeartime and time again. In the

passagesquoted,the poem speaksof fire and there is not only Xaviere's burning flesh in

the episodesin the night-club, Francoise'sthoughts also `brülaient comme des flammes'

(p. 363). As the novel culminates,the burning motif that has accumulatedthroughout

the text reachesits crescendo:`les larmesbrülaient sesyeux [...] les larmesbrülaient, les

mots brülaient comme un fer rouge. [...] Dans les tenebres,le visage de Gerbert brülait

d'un feu noir, et les lettres sur le tapis etaientnoires comme un pacte infernal.[...] Une

lave noire et torride coulait danssesveins' (p. 499). With the repetition a few lines

later: `Les larmescoulaient, la lave brillante coulait et consumait le coeur' (p. 500).

Francoise'sexperiencehas an hallucinatory quality. There are distinct echoesof

Marlowe's The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, reinforced by mention of a `pacte

infernal' 63 Francoise'sordeal is almost Faustian.Faustianin the sensethat Francoiseis

now to pay the price for her black soul. Shehad welcomed the black and bitter hatred

she felt for Xaviere almost as a release(p. 445, `delivrance' in French,which is a word

with religious overtones),and when shelearnsthat Pierre no longer valueshis

relationship with Xaviere, `Frangoiseaccueillit sansscandalela joie mauvaisequi

63Marlowe, Christopher, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus,

ed. by R. G. Lunt. London: Blackie & Son,
[n.d.].
 70

envahissaitson coeur; ca lui avait coütetrop cher naguerede vouloir se garder 1'äme

pure' (p. 466).

Pierre speaksof Xaviere's self-inflicted burns as sacredand interpretsher

as
gesture expiation: `une brülure sacree',`une brülure expiatoire' (p. 357). This is

anotherinstanceof distorted religion, the blasphemoussubstitution of an idolatrous

diabolical creedfor genuine faith.

L'Invitee is a dark book. In the final pagesthe predominenceof the colours red

and black is clear (`fer rouge', `feu noir', `noires comme un pacte infernal', `lave

noire'). Thesecolours occur in the black hair and red comb and shawl of the Spanish

dancer(p. 353) and `la bouche rouge et tragique' of the Spanishwoman declaiming the

poem (p. 363) at the other climactic momentsin the book. Due to their repeated

appearancesthroughout L'Invitee, the colours red and black gather symbolic weight,

adding to the doom laden, Gothic atmospherein the text. Black is associatedwith hell

and evil. Black and red and fire are inextricably linked. And red is also related to blood,

anotherrecurring motif. Thesecolours recur so very frequently they are almost a

constant.Often they figure in the detail of the text. Black has been in
mentioned a

significant number of the quotationspreviously made,and there are many other

examples:Xaviere is `une petite perle noire' (pp. 164 and 491), the future is `un noir

tunnel' (p. 291), Pierre `tombait dansde noirs silences' (p. 402), the water of the Seine

is 'd'un noir poli' (p. 490), when Francoiseknows Xaviere has found Gerbert's letters

her love for him is `noir comme la trahison' and there is `devant eile et en eile cette nuit

de bitume' (p. 497). There are splashesof red throughout the book, often with sinister

Elisabeth's
overtones: red nail varnish leaves`une sorte de depot sanglant' and her

fingers are `doigts de boucher' (p. 85); in the cafe where Francoisegoeswith Gerbert,

the singer dressedup as a soldier hashis face `peinturlureede rouge' (p. 153) and the
 71

musicians and the life-size doll are dressedin crimson and red and black (p. 158); in

Xaviere's bedroom a red lampshadejetait dansla piece une lueur sanglante' (p. 167);

64
Francoise'shead is filled with `un grandtournoiement rougeätreet piquant' (p. 192).

Two antithetical seriesof dinstinctively Gothic imagesrelatedto the evocation

of hellishness,
the threat of the abyss,inform the text as a whole. They are one seriesof

imagesto do with weight, immobilisation, engulfment, enclosureand suffocation and

anotherto do with the void and emptiness.Thesetwo seriesare brought together as the

text underlinesthe paradox of being engulfedby nothingness:

C'etait comme la mort, une totale negation,une eternelle absence,et cependant

par une contradiction bouleversante,ce gouffre de neant pouvait serendre present
'ä soi-memeet se faire exister pour soi avecplenitude; l'univers tout entier
s'engloutissait en lui, et Francoise,ä jamais depossedee du monde, se dissolvait
elle-meme dans ce vide dont aucunmot, aucune image ne pouvait cemer le
contour infini.
(L'Invitee, p. 364.)

Spacehas becomepalpable,a masswhich will swallow up Francoise.

The cluster of imagesto do with weight that characterisethe text, bring together

favourite Gothic motifs. The words `ecraser'and `lourd' are repeatedvery many times.

FrancoiseexperiencesXaviere as a weight in her life: `Tout prenait un tel poids quand

eile etait lä, c'en etait accablant' (p. 187). Yet it will be Xaviere who releasesFrancoise

from the prison of `deslourdes penseesde plomb' (p. 264). Xaviere is distressedby the

`weight' of her relationship with Pierre once it has been put into words: `C'est tellement

lourd maintenant;c'est comme une gangueautour de moi; eile tremblait de la tete aux

pieds. C'est tellement lourd' (p. 255). Shestrugglesagainst `menacesecrasantes'(p.

255). The idea that her future will be committed to the trio fills Francoisewith dread:

64In the dark theatre in the opening pagesof the

novel, the red carpet and seatsstandout. The setting of
the novel (many scenestake place in Parisian cafesand hotel rooms) is not at first sight Gothic
(Gothic tales typically take place in medieval castles,monasteriesor ruined houses)and yet readers
may feel there is somethingGothic in the description of Francoisewalking through the dark,
mysterious and seemingly labyrinthine theatre. Seepp. 12-13.
 72
`[Elle] sentit comme une lourde chapequi s'abattait sur sesepaules[...]' (p. 290). The

words of their pact, `cinq ans', are heavy. When Francoiserealisesthat Xaviere knows

about her relationship with Gerbert, shefalls back into an armchair, `ecraseepar un

poids mortel' (p. 497).

Beneaththis weight it is difficult to move; a group of complementaryimages

related to immobilisation are to be found throughout L'Invitee. At the climactic

momentsin the night-club the trio are captured,as if frozen in a tableau.Xaviere comes

round from her trance-like state `comme au sortir d'un cauchemar'only to take hold of

Francoiseand Pierre to take them with her `au fond de 1'enfer' (p. 366).

'Brusquement,eile leur prit ä chacunune main, sespaumesetaientbrillantes.

Francoisefrissonna au contact desdoigts fievreux qui se crispaient sur les siens;
eile aurait voulu retirer sa main, detournerla tete, parler ä Pierre, mais eile ne
pouvait plus faire un mouvement;rivee ä Xaviere [...].

[...] les mains de Xaviere n'avaient pas lache leur proie, son visage fige
n'exprimait rien. Pierre non plus n'avait pas bouge; on aurait cru qu'un meme
enchantementles avait tous trois changesen marbre.
(L'Invitee, pp. 364-65.)

When sheis ill, Francoiseis `paralyseeentre les draps' (p. 255). In the trio, `eile avait

meme 1'impressiond'etre absolumentligotee' (p. 290). Being bogged down is an idea

that is found repeatedly.The weight of Xaviere makesit hard for Francoiseto move

forward: `Avec Xaviere les chosess'alourdissaienttout de suite: on avait 1'impression

de marcherdapsla vie avec deskilos de terre glaise soussessemelles' (pp. 119-20).

There are echosof this when the nightmare quality of Francoise'slife is evoked in a

strange,contradictory image:

Savie avait perdu toute consistence,c'etait une substancemolle danslaquelle on

croyait s'enliser ä chaquepas ; et puffson rebondissait,juste assezpour aller
s'engluer un peu plus loin, avec ä chaqueseconde1'espoird'un engloutissement
definitif, ä chaqueseconde1'espoird'un sol soudainraffermi.
(L'Invitee, pp. 481-82.)
 73

This recalls an earlier evocation of an oppressiveafternoonwhen the tar on the road

in
melted the heat and stuck to Francoise'sfeet and Francoisefelt she had become `une

massefade et cotonneuse'(p. 420).

The atmosphereof L'Invitee is claustrophobic.The characters'world shrinks

in the is 65 Indeed, their

and they are shut with their obsession, real world elsewhere.

obsessionbecomestheir world, it is their prison. Imagesof enclosureand suffocation

recur. `Elle commencaitä etouffer dansce trio qui se refermait de plus en plus sur lui

meme' (p. 296). `L'atmospheretendue, etouffante

passionnee, dans laquelle Pierre et

Xaviere 1'enfermaient'(p. 340). There is the senseof a rich, vast world that exists

outside the confines of the trio and that is evokedwhen Francoise her
remembers past

with Pierre (p. 377) or when it is a matter of the holiday with Gerbert (pp. 437 and 445-

46). Or even when Francoisesimply looks out of the window to see `[la] rue affairee,

lucide, oü toutes chosesavaientun air raisonnable',before turning back to her room

`englueed'angoisse' (p. 388).

Xaviere's hotel room is the epitomeof a Gothic space.The walls, `barioles

comme une vision de fievre' encloseunsatisfied desires,boredom and resentmentthat

make the air In

unbreathable. an extendedmetaphor,thesefeelings becomethe rank and

poisonous vegetation in a hothouse where the air is thick with moisture and sticks to the

body. It inspires fear in Francoise.

Ce n'etait pas seulementun sanctuaireoil Xaviere celebrait son propre culte:

c'etait une serrechaude oü s'epanouissaitune vegetation luxuriante et veneneuse,
c'etait un cachot d'hallucinee dont l'atmospheremoite collait au corps.
(L'Invitee, p. 342.)

65For readers,the text is renderedmore claustrophobicby the absenceof historical context from the
greaterpart of the novel. As Elizabeth Fallaize points out, the historical situation of the characters
only assumesimportancein the final chapterwhen the war, that formed the context of the actual
writing of the book, becomesa reality. TheNovels, p. 28.
 74
The word `cachot' linked with danknesscould be suggestiveof a Gothic dungeon.Be

that as it may, the Gothic emphasison suffocation and enclosureis clear.

Weight threatensto drag charactersdown into the abyss,into nothingness.

Witness Elisabeth: `Sa tete etait toute gonflee d'eau et de nuit; eile devenait enormeet si

lourde qu'elle l'entrainait vers l'abime: le sommeil ou la mort, ou la folie, un gouffre

sansfond oü elle ailait seperdre ä jamais' (p. 106). And Francoise:`Des pieds ä la tete

eile se sentait changeeen bloc de plomb; la separationde [Pierre] etait cruelle, mais rien

ne saurait la faire de
glisser sur cette pente mirage au bout de laquelle s'ouvrait eile ne

savait quel ab"ime'(p. 131).

On the verge of being ill, Francoiseis overwhelmedby a senseof spaceas the

abyssat her feet expandsto encompassthe starsabove, (`ä sespieds ce gouffre qui se

creusaitjusqu'aux etoiles'). Quite paradoxically, given the impression of weight and

enclosurethat prevails, a senseof infinity and emptinessalso pervadesL invitee. This is

createdby an accumulationof referencesin the text: `infini', `sansfm', `vide'. These

motifs figure large in the evocation of the dangerthreateningFrancoise.`Ce n'etait

aucunobjet saisissable,c'etait un incessantjaillissement et une feite incessante,

transparentepour soi seuleet ä jamais impenetrable' (p. 355). The words `un incessant

jaillissement et une fuite incessante'contribute to the effect of emptinessand infinity.

`Francoise,äjamais depossedeedu monde, se dissolvait elle-memedansce vide dont

aucunmot, aucuneimage ne pouvait cernerle contour infini' (p. 364). Spacesuggests

expansionand disintegration. As Francoisechoosesbetweenher own survival and

Xaviere's, spaceand emptinessis evokedby Franroise's being alone `dannun ciel

glace'. It is on this immensestagethat Franroise fights Xaviere for her existencein the

final pagesof L'Invitee. Xaviere herself embodiescontradiction; she excludesand

encloses,is infinite expansionand pure interiority: `eile etait lä, n'existant que pour soi,
 75

tout entiere reflechie en elle-meme,reduisantau neanttout ce qu'elle excluait; eile

enfermait le monde entier dans sapropre solitude triomphante, eile s'epanouissaitsans

limites, infinie, unique' (pp. 502-3).

White and the light associatedwith it play a particular role in the dark symbolic

landscapein L'Invitee. White is the colour of emptiness.Light is painful. `Avec un

eblouissementdouloureux, Francoisese sentit transperceed'une lumiere aride et

blanche qui ne laissait en eile aucunrecoin d'espoir; un moment eile recta immobile ä

regarderbriller dansla nuit le bout rouge de sa cigarette' (p. 180). (Note the

reappearance of black and red. ) `La lumiere qui l'avait penetree tout ä 1'heure ne lui

aväit decouvert que du vide' (p. 183). White is the colour of the pain of self-knowledge:

`ce bloc de blancheurtranslucideet nue, aux aretesräpeuses,c'etait eile, en depit d'elle-

meme, irremediablement(p. 312). Paradoxically, it is Francoise's emptinessthat brings

relief to her during her long illness. It is a light/ white/ silent spacein the book.

Francoiseis calm in this vast spaceout of time. (Seepp. 222-23.)66

In L'Invitee there is a Gothic emphasison death,tombs, mummies and ghosts,

all motifs related to the uncanny (Freud, p. 24). There is a constantstreamof explicit

referencesto death.For example, during the climactic moments in the night-club, death

is mentionedfour times in the spaceof twenty-five lines: `le poemeparlait de haine et

de mort', `ce n'etait plus que l'evocation funebre d'un passedefunt', `le scandale

eclatait, aussimonstrueux,aussidefinitif que la mort', `c'etait comme la mort' (pp. 363-

64). Tombs also featureprominently and they are, of course,an archetypalinstanceof

enclosure.FrancoisedescribesPierre's love for her as `comme les sepulcresblanchis de

The motifs of silence, emptiness,timelessnessand calm underlined there are picked up and
foregroundedagain in the final pagesof the book: `Soudainun grand calme descenditen Francoise.
Le temps venait de s'arr¬ter. Francoisebtait seule dannun ciel glace. C'6tait une solitude si solonnelle
et si definitive qu'elle ressemblaitä la mort' (p. 501). Freud mentions but doesnot explicate the
uncanny effect of dark, silence and solitude. (Freud, 'The Uncanny', p. 246.) I am content here simply
to point out the extentto which thesemotifs predominatein the final pagesof L'Invitee.
 76
1'Evangile,ca flamboie ä 1'exterieur,c'est solide, c'est fidele, on peut meme

periodiquementles recrepir avec de belles paroles' (p. 199), but they contain nothing

but ash and dust67and shedescribeshis feelings as `desmomies', `tout embaume' (p.

68
200). Combining the motifs of deathand weight, we find the image of their love as an

old corpsethat they drag around with them (`un vieux cadavreque nous trainons avec

nous' p. 202). The light in Xaviere's hotel room is `funebre' (p. 168). The flat that

Francoiseand Xaviere share,is repeatedlyreferred to as a tomb: `les vitres bleus [...]

semblaientdefendreun tombeau' (p. 484), `la lumiere mortuaire' (p. 490), `catafalque'

(p. 491). In a nice Gothic touch, as Francoiseruns to her secretrendez-vouswith

Gerbert, `derriere le mur du cimetiere, une chouettehulula' (p. 484).

A related seriesof images focuseson hidden decay.Shiny surfaceshide inner

decomposition/corruption/ disintegration. The image is first introduced in connection

that Francoiseand Elisabeth are discussing:

with actresses

Les corps etaientjeunes [...] mais cettejeunessen'avait pas la fraicheur des choses
vivantes, c'etait une jeunesse embaumee;ni ride, ni paffe d'oie ne marquait les
chairs bien massees; cet air use autour des yeux n'en etait que plus inquietant. ca
vieillissait par en dessous; ca pourrait vieillir encore longtemps sans que craquät la
carapace bien lustree et puis,un jour, d'un seul coup, cette coque brillante devenue
mince comme un papier de soie tomberait en poussiere;alors on verrait apparaitre
une vieillarde parfaitement achevee [...].
(L'Invitee, pp. 175-76.)

This image has a number of affinities with the Gothic; the intimation of the living dead,

the fact that the decayis hidden, the animal associations,the idea that the shell will one

day crumble into dust without warning. It is an uncomfortable image. 9 Parallel images

are applied to Francoiseand Pierre's relationship:

67`Ye are like unto whited sepulchres,which indeed appearbeautiful outward, but are within full of dead
men's bones,and of all uncleanliness.' Matthew 23.27.
68There are echoesof this image in Xaviere's outburst after the outbreak of war: `(a ne me suffit pas de
contempler les evenementsdu fond d'un sepulcre!' (p. 483).
69A connection is madewith `des conservesde homard' and readers' uneaseincreaseswhen textual
echos establisha link betweenthis image and Franroise's eating shellfish. It is another telling detail
reinforcing suggestionsof cannibalism, p. 292.
 77
Its avaient edifie de belles constructionsimpeccableset ils s'abritaient ä leur
ombre, sansplus s'inquieter de ce qu'elles pourraient bien contenir. [...] sans
perdre sa forme parfaite, leur amour, leur vie se vidait lentement de sa substance;
comme cesgrandes chenilles ä la coque invulnerable mais qui portent dans leur
chair molle de minuscules vermisseaux qui les recurentavec soin.
(L'Invitee, pp. 193-94.)

Again, there is the disturbing allusion to hidden decompositioncombined with the

repellant image of worms eating away at living flesh.

The text inscribesthe body. The body in this symbolic landscapeis a site of pain

rather than pleasure.Francoiseconforms to the role of Gothic heroine and is taken ill

and takes to her bed. Her illness is describedin terms of Gothic Francoise's
excess.

mental pain is translatedinto physical suffering. This is true during her illness of course,

but it is also the casebefore and after her illness. Imagesthat evoke her illness are

echoedelsewherein the text, showing the extent to which Francoise's mental and

physical suffering becomeconflated. The imagesare violent ones of tearing, burning,

70
biting and stabbing.They are Gothic in their hyperbole.

70Illness:
`Elle frisonna; eile devait avoir la fi8vre, sesmains &taientmoites et tout son corps br(lait. ' (p. 211.)
(After the rendition of the poem in the night-club,when Xavitre takes hold of Francoise'shand `ses
paumes 6taient brillantes' and Francoise `frissonna au contact des doigts fidvreux' (p. 364).)
'Une douleur lancinantelui coupa le souffle; eile s'arreta et porta les mains ä sescotes [...] Un grand
frisson la secouade la t¬te aux pieds; eile etait en sueur,sat¬te bourdonnait [...] ' (p. 217.)
`Une bouffbe de sanglui brüla le visage et son coeur semit i battre avec violence [...]. ' (p. 218.)
`desondesbrillantes la parcoururent' (p. 218.)
`une douleur aigus lui dechira ]a poitrine' (p. 219.)
'le sol fuyait en tourbillon soussespieds, ra lui donnait la nausee.[...] la sueurperlait ä grossesgouttes
sur son front' (p. 240.)
`sat¬te etait vide et lourde' (p. 240.)
`eile gisait paralyseeentre les draps' (p. 255.)
`Francoiseavait l'impression que tout son corps allait se dissoudreen sueur.' (p. 246.)

Elsewhere:
`une souffrance aigue la dechira' (p. 166.)
`Sa tete bourdonnait; il lui semblait que quelquechoseen eile, une artbre ou sescotesou son coeur, allait
6clater.' (p. 196.)
`mille imagesdouloureusestourbillonnaient danssa t6te et lui ddchiraient le coeur (p. 261.)
After witnessing Xaviere's self-harm, Francoiseis paralysedby `l'angoisse' (p. 356.)
`ce goüt de fi8vre dansla bouche' (p. 379.)
`sa gorge brülait' (p. 383.)
`Il se fit en Frangoiseun d8chirementsi aigu qu'un cri lui monta aux 18vres,elle serrales dents mais les
larmesjaillirent. (p. 433.)
`le remords la dbchira [...] Elle avait mal ä la tete et sesyeux brülaient.' (p. 435.)
`une morsure au coeur' (p. 488.) (pp. 260,373, et al.)
 78

Referencesto the throat and heart reverberatein the text. Commonly these

referencesare to do with tightness and expressFrancoise's deepupset. `Son coeur

de
restait serre souffranceset de colere' (p. 295). `Elle ne voulait pas sentir ä nouveau

un etau lui la
serrer gorge' (p. 437). Thesedead metaphors,le coeur serre' and la gorge

serree' recur throughout L'Invitee at least fifteen and twelve times eachrespectively,

like 7' The text returns almost obsessivelyto thesemotifs which gain
almost a refrain.

symbolic weight. They are consonantwith images of enclosure.Furthermore,they form

only part of the denseweb of referencesto the heart and throat which becomeveritable

leitmotifs in the text.

We have already noted the importanceof blood in Simone de Beauvoir's

symbolic landscape.
It is mentioned directly more than thirteen times, generally in

connectionwith upset, draining from or rushing to Francoise'sface. Sweat is also a

natural featurewhen emphasisis placed on burning and Tears

airlessness. are shedwith

almost monotonousregularity; sobbing intersperses

the text. The body is messy,a leaky

vessel.

Sexuality in L'Invitee is distorted in true Gothic fashion. Sex is generally

connotednegatively. Distaste is in
evinced even small details in the text; when she is

comforting Eloy, Franroise feels `un peu de repugnancepour ce gros petit corps si

souventtriture et toujours intact' (p. 197). As Elizabeth Fallaize demonstrates,

Xaviere's

is foregroundedin the text.72Xaviere's behaviour in the night-club when she

sexuality

deliberately harms herself, suggests a mad, masochistic sexuality; `un sourire

`Son visage brülait. (p. 494.)

`Tout son corps bourdonnait. Elle sentaitson coeur entre sescotes,sous son crane, au bout de sesdoigts.
(p. 496.)
71Examples: `le coeur serrd', pp. 13,20,31,36,146,156,178,295,335,339,343,427,470; `la gorge
serrde', pp. 37,54,78,126,143,161,173,260,316,430,437,472.
n Fallaize, TheNovels, pp. 30-33. Xavi6re's ambivalenceto sexuality is
related to the portrait of
adolescentsexuality in `Le DeuxiBmeSexe'. Seealso Moi, Simone de Beauvoir, p. 113.
 79

voluptueux et torture de femme en proie au plaisir', `les leeres arrondies dansune moue

coquette' (p. 354), `plongeedansune extasehysterique', 'la jouissancemaniaque' (p.

363).73 The act of burning itself is describedin sexualterms, accordingto a

heterosexualimage of desire,as the openwound is exposedto receive the burning end

the 74 In key, Elisabeth's sexuality is also linked with self

of cigarette. a more minor

harm. She relives the sexualarousalthat in the past had led her to take back her lover

Claude and to stop herself repeatingthis pattern `Elisabethports vivement la main ä sa

bouche et mordit son poignet' (p. 85). Sex is depictedas animal, as opposedto human.

Elisabeth will not be `had' in the same way this time, she is not `a bitch on heat', `une

femelle'. Her sexual liaison with Guimot is depictednegatively; during their

lovemaking `une humiliation brillante la devorait' and she simply wants it to be over (p.

110). Francoiseis horrified be

to think shemay a woman like Elisabeth, `une femme qui

prend' (p. 454). In relation to Xaviere, Francoiseis horrified at the idea that Pierre will

make love with her (`Pierre en ferait une femme pämee' p. 260), feeling that to think of

Xaviere as `une femme sexuee'is sacrilegious.The languageusedto describe

Francoise'sfeelings is laden with depreciatoryovertones:`Elle apercevaitclairement

chaqueetapede ce chemin fatal qui mene des baisersaux des

caresses, caressesaux

derniers abandons; par la faute de Pierre, Xaviere allait y rouler comme n'importe qui'

(p. 260).

The erotic and incestuoustendenciesof Gothic texts have beenwell

documented.Francoisehas clear maternalfeelings towards Xaviere and Xaviere is

repeatedlyreferred to as a child. For example,Francoiserespondstenderly to Xaviere

73Xavibre inflicts pain on herself. In her dissociatedstateshe feels no pain: `Xavibre ne semblait pas
souffrir de sabrülure' (p. .356). Later she says:`Jamaisje n'aurais cru que ga puisse faire si mal. ' (p.
399).
74This is one more exampleof Xaviere revealing somethingthat should have remained hidden. A point
made but not developedby Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, p. 116.
 80

who showsconcern for her: `Ce n'etait qu'une petite fille aimante et desarmee'(p. 48).

Franroise calls her moods `desboutadesde petite fille (p. 66), and she losesher

`petite fille doree' to Pierre (p. 252). 5 These feelings

adoptive soyeuse et maternal are

thus 76
desire. The their
overlain with sexual,and quasi-incestuous ambiguity about

relationship that Xaviere promotes,and with which Francoisewillingly colludes, is also

fosteredby the text. Xaviere liked Francoiseand herself to be taken for a couple and

Francoiseenjoyed being linked with Xaviere in this way, `il lui semblait qu'on les

isolait ensembledu restedu monde et qu'on les enfermait dansun tete-ä-tetepassionne'

(p. 309).77 When they dancetogetheron this occasion,Xaviere holds Francoisecloser

than usual. Francoise'sresponseis far from maternal:

Elle sentaitcontre sapoitrine les beaux seinstiedes de Xaviere, eile respirait son
haleine charmante;etait-ce du desir?Mais que desirait-elle? Seslevres contre ses
levres?Ce corps abandonneentre sesbras?Elle ne pouvait rien imaginer, ce
n'etait qu'un besoin de
confus garder tourne vers eile ä jamais ce visage
d'amoureuseet de pouvoir dire passionnement:eile est ä moi.
(L'Invitee p. 310.)

Francoise'sphysical responseto Xaviere and her desireto possessher have

unmistakablelesbian overtones.Back in Xaviere's room Francoisecontinuesto be

unsettledby the physical closenessof Xaviere. She is afraid that Xaviere is `hors

d'atteinte' and although shewants to break into Xaviere's solitude (`forcer 1'acces'),she

is paralysedby `la graceintimidant de ce beau corps qu'elle ne savait pas desirer' (p.

315). On impulse, as she is leaving Xaviere, Francoisetakes her into her arms. `Xaviere

s'abandonna,un instant eile resta contre son epaule,immobile et souple' (p. 316). Again

Francoisewonderswhat Xaviere expectsof her: `Que Francoisela laissät aller ou

75Elizabeth Fallaize's reading of the trio as a `pseudo-oedipaltriangle' is pertinent here. TheNovels, pp.
29-30.
76JaneHeath examinesthe relationship betweenPierre and Xavibre as both paternal and sexual, pp. 36-
37. She also identifies maternal and lesbian feelings in Francoise'srelationship with XaviBre, pp. 37-
41.
"I in no way wish to suggestthat lesbianismis a distorted.form of sexuality. It is only.in relation to the
heterosexualnorms of the text that it should be viewed as such.
 81
la fort? '. 78 Francoiselets Xaviere go and goesback to her own room,
qu'elle serrätplus

ashamedof her `tendresseinutile'. I have examinedthis incident at length as it is of

central importance in consideringthe sexual nature of Francöise's feelings for Xaviere;

here her desire is explicit. However, it is not a lone incidence of Francoise'ssexual

Xaviere. It fits into ä

responseto matrix of more ambiguousallusions, allusions which

occur from very early on in the text. Lesbian overtonesgathermomentum in Part One,

ChapterTwo. Referencesto Xaviere's `tete de garconnet' and the 'visage dejeune

femme qui avait charmeFrancoise' (p. 24), at first seemingly neutral, accrue

As
resonances. the chapter the
proceeds, text dwells on the number of times Francoise

touchesXaviere (touching is rather rare in L'Invitee): `eile effleura le poignet de

Xaviere' (p. 39), `eile posa la main sur 1'epaulede Xaviere' (p. 44), `samain quitta

l'epaule de Xaviere et glissa le long de son bras' (p. 44), `eile caressala main chaude

qui reposait avec confiance dans sa main' (p. 45). The chapterculminates in a scene

redolent of romantic, physical love:

[Xaviere] se laissaaller de tout son poids contre l'epaule de Francoise;un long

moment elles demeurerentimmobiles, appuyeesl'une contre l'autre; les cheveux
de Xaviere frölaient lajoue de Francoise;leurs doigts restaientemmeles.
"Je suis triste de vous quitter", dit Francoise.
"Moi aussi", dit Xaviere tout bas.
"Ma petite Xaviere", murmura Francoise;Xaviere la regardait, les yeux brillants,
les levres entrouvertes;fondante,abandonnee,eile lui etait tout entiere livree.
C'etait Franroise desormaisqui 1'emporteraitä travers la vie.
"Je la rendrai heureuse",decida-t-elleavec conviction.
(L'Invitee, p. 45. )79

'$ Before they go into the bar, Francoisewonders if Xavibre had been referring to her lack of physical
tendernesswhen she said shehated purity. The sexual diction is clear: `ne savait-elle [Francoise] donc
titre tendre qu'avec desmots alors qu'il y avait cette main veloutde dannsamain et ces cheveux
parfum6s qui fr6laient sajoue? $tait-ce cela, samaladroite puret6?' (p. 309). Seealso p. 303 where
Frangoiseand XaviBre hold hands.
79Seealso
pp. 219,263-65,398 for romantic, sexual love scenes.Sexual and maternal feelings are
blended on p. 263. Seealso p. 79. Franpoise'sphysical/ sexualresponseto Xavibre is condensedinto
her awarenessof her hands;in addition to quotations already made, seep. 260 `sesmains caressantes
d'homme', and p. 265 `doucesmains de femme, rouges comme desmains de paysanne'.
 82
Franroise's desireto possessXaviere completely, expressedin this early chapterfor the

first time (pp. 23,40), becomesa constantin the book. Francoisewants `une union

80
totale' with Xaviere (p. 398). A closereading of the text supportsthe view that

Francoise'sjealousy is more directedat Pierre for his relationship with Xaviere, than it

is directed at Xaviere for taking Pierre from her. Francoise'sjealousy is physical: `Elle

n'avait aucuneprise sur cette petite äme buteeni meme sur le beaucorps de chair qui la

defendait; un corps tiede et souple,accessibleä des mains d'homme mais qui se dressait

devant Francoisecomme une armurerigide' (p. 300). The suggestionis that physical

domination would be a meansto the spiritual domination that Francoisedesires.When

Pierre tells Francoisethat Xaviere has spentthe early hours of the morning in his arms,

Francoisereaction is telling: `ca lui etait toujours douloureux que Pierre püt etreindre ce

corps dont eile n'eüt meme su accueillir le don' (p. 373).

In many ways, Francoise'srelationship with Gerbert standsout in the narrative

as somethingquite exceptional,somethinginnocent and pure and healthy, `legere et

tendre comme le vent du matin sur les prairies humides' (p. 500), although even this

be
relationship can rereadas a `sordidetrahison' (p. 500). Moreover, the diction of the

seduction sceneis remarkably similar to that usedin connection with Francoise'spain

and suffering in the trio: `Francoisesentit un vide nauseeuxse creuseren eile' (p. 446);

`un desir etouffant' (p. 446); `eile allait rever, regretter et souffrir vainement' (p. 447);

`il s'etait fait en eile une explosion de lumiere si violente qu'elle craignait qu'elle ne fut

visible du dehors.[...] cettejoie indecentequi venait d'eclater en eile' (p. 451); `Elle

n'avait plus aucuneidee en tete, seulementcette dure consignequi lui barrait l'estomac.

[...] Elle n'avait plus qu'une envie, c'etait de se delivrer de cette obsession.[...] Son

80See
also p. 186: `Si je pouvais l'avoir ä moi, je l'aimerais'.
 83
battait ä tout (p. 456).81 Interestingly, Francoise'sfeelings for Gerbert are
coeur rompre'

tinged with incest too: `C'etait indeniable,eile avait des sentimentsmaternelspour

Gerbert; maternels,avec une discretenuanceincestueuse'(p. 51-2).82

Just as in the Gothic tradition, uncertaintiesto do with sexuality are linked to

wider threats of disintegration, so in L'Invitee, the turmoil in the trio's lives is related to

in
the turmoil the wider context, to the SecondWorld War.83 Francoise'sfeelings are

explicitly placed on a par with international tensions: `Tout etait devenu si complique

maintenant,les sentiments,la vie, 1'Europe' (p. 236). In a metaphorreminiscent of war,

Francoiseis drifting like a wreck at seaand on the horizon are black reefs/ dangers('de

noirs ecueils') (p. 236). At an earlier point in the narrative, Francoiseequatedthe effect

Xaviere would have on her future with the outbreakof war, taking advantageof

ambiguity/ Pierre's misunderstanding('cette equivoque') to seemingly talk about one

whilst actually talking about the other (pp. 291-92). The most powerful imagesof war

occur in Part Two, ChapterThree where Gerbert is the focalizer. Theseimageshave

much in common with imagery attachedto Francoise'semotional distress.In the

following example,the animalisation of a hidden dangerechosimagery linked with

Xaviere and other motifs, funeral, engulfment,black, sticky, weight, exploding light, are

ones that resonate throughout the text:

[La guerre] etait lä, en effet, tapie entre le poele ronflant et le comptoir de zinc aux
reflets jaunes, et ce repasetait une agapemortuaire. Des casques,des tanks, des
uniformes, des camionsvert-de-gris,une immensemareeboueusedeferlaient sur
le monde; la terre etait submergeepar cette glu noirätre oü l'on s'enlisait, avec sur
les epaulesdes vetementsde plomb ä l'odeur de chien moui ll tandis que des
,
lueurs sinistres eclataientau ciel.

81See 435- 36: `eile la reconnaissait

p. cette dure barre de fer qui lui coupait 1'estomac'.
82Toril Moi's discussionof Francoiseand Gerbert's first kiss is
pertinent here. She arguesthat Francoise
is unintentionally cast as a maternal figure in relation to Gerbert when she offers her lips for a kiss and
tells him `Eh bien, faites-le, stupidepetit Gerbert' (p. 460). Simonede Beauvoir, p. 141. Whether or
not this is unintentional, it reinforces the incestuousundercurrent.
83The poem that
prefigures the text, evokesSpain torn apart by war (p. 363). Elizabeth Fallaize offers an
interesting reading of the history of the trio and Frangoise'sgrowing frustration, that ends in murder,
as an expressionof the gathering senseof doom of 1937-39,and the imminent destruction. The
Novels, p. 28.
 84
(L'Invitee, pp. 324-25.)

War is `une pluie grise [qui] allait s'abattresur 1'Europe', drowning everything,

including the bright lights of Montparnasse,`les arcs-en-cielde lumiere' (p. 335),

matching the way Xaviere cast Francoise'slife in shadow.When Francoisediscovers

that Xaviere knows about her relationshipwith Gerbert, the metaphor expressingher

be
reaction could so easily a depiction of the the war that frames these final The
scenes.

affinities are conspicuous:`Une nuit Acreet brillante venait de s'abattre sur le monde'

(p. 497).

It is not unusualfor Gothic tales to parody the convention they embody. In

L'Invitee the Gothic economy of the text is underminedby parody of the Gothic. This

increasesreaders' discomfort. They the

accept values of the text and the frame it
parody

provides, only to find thesethrown into question.Parody places an ambiguity at the

heart of the text. Simone de Beauvoir was well awareof the ambiguity producedby the

in focus/ focalization, from Francoiseto Elisabeth: `l'experience que

shift narrative

Francoisevivait sur un plan tragique, on pouvait aussi en sourire' (La Force de 1'age, p.

84
349). 1 should like to suggestthat shifts in focalization are not the only way in which

humour is generatedin L invitee. Specifically, parody of Gothic conventionsintroduces

a comic elementwith its concomitant ambiguity. The point at which the text tips over

into parody is sometimesdifficult to gauge,it can be no more than a slight shift in tone

or nuancethat makesthe difference betweenwhat is expectedwithin a Gothic economy

For
and exaggeration. example, Elisabeth's murderousfantasy slips into parody, partly

becauseof the skull and crossboneson the bottle of poison and partly becauseof the

dramatic syntax and the use of enumeration:`La nuit se fit dannla salle; une image

In fact, despitea number of humorousremarks,the chaptersfocalized through Elizabeth do not

generally provide a comical vision of the trio. This is more the caseas regardsthe chapter focalized
through Gerbert.
 85

traversaElisabeth, un revolver, un poignard, un flacon avec une tete de mort; tuer.

Claude?Suzanne?Moi-meme? Peu importait, ce sombredesir de meurtre gonflait

le
puissament coeur' (p. 94). The discrepancybetweenhightened tone and mundane

subject pushesthe description of Xaviere's room over the dividing line. We can only

smile at Francoiseand Pierre's hyperbolical reaction to Xaviere's packing:

Its resterentcloues sur place.

que vous faites lä dit Pierre.
-Qu'est-ce
La gorge de Xaviere se gonfla.
demenage, dit-elle d'un ton tragique. Le spectacleetait atterrant. [...] tout
-Je
semblait futile au prix du cataclysmequi devastait la chambre et le visage de
Xaviere. Trois valises beaient au milieu de la piece; les placardsavaient degorge
le
sur sol des monceaux de vetements fripes, de papiers, d'objets de toilette.
fmi bientöt? dit Pierre qui regardait avec severite le
-Et vous comptez avoir
sanctuairesaccage.
n'en viendrai jainais ä bout! dit Xaviere; eile se laissa tomber sur un fauteuil
-Je
et serrases tempes entre ses doigts. Cette sorciere...
(L'Invitee, pp. 117-18.)

As in the first example,there are a striking number of Gothic elementsin theselines,

too many perhaps.Elements that elsewherecontribute to the impression of awfulness,in

the full Gothic senseof the word, conveyedby the text, are here used to comic effect. A

is `choucroute' is termed `une communion mystique' (p.

similar effect producedwhen a
85
228). Also at this point in the text, suspenseis built up only to end in bathos. It is to

Gerbert's focalization that we owe the parodic vision of Pierre and Francoise`penches

sur Pagescomme deux demonstentateurs' (p. 320). The notion of demoniacalpresence

that is treated as sinister and threateningelsewherein L'Invitee is comical here and

Gerberthad to make an `heroic' effort not to burst out laughing. Does the text also drift

into parody when Francoisewards off misfortue (`le malheur') by taking off her nail

varnish (p. 381)?

85Seealso p. 402: `Elle 1'aimait [Pierre] et pour sauverXaviere avec qui aucun amour n'etait possible,
eile se dressaitdevant lui comme une etrangbre;peut-¬tredemain deviendrait-il son ennemi. Il allait
souffrir, se venger, hair, sanseile, et meme malgr6 eile; elle le rejetait dans sa solitude, eile qui n'avait
jamais souhaitdque d'¬tre unie This is a borderline case.The hyperbole, dramatic syntax, diction
.
and enumerationcombine to cast its statusin doubt.
 86
The Gothic informs L'Invitee to a great extent. A denseweb of images,words

and motifs build to the final when

crescendo Francoisedecidesto take Xaviere's life.

Simone de Beauvoir had recourseto the Gothic in order to expresswhat Jung refers to

`the 86 Simone de Beauvoir tells in La Force de

as shadowside of our personalities'. us

1'agethat writing the final scenesof L'Invitee was a truly cathartic experiencefor her:

Il m'etait indispensablede m'arreter ä ce denouement:il a eu pour moi une valeur

cathartique.[...] Il me fallait aller au bout de mon fantasme,lui donner corps sans
en rien attenuer,si je voulais conquerirpour mon compte la solitude oü je
precipitai Francoise. Et en effet, l'identification s'opera. Relisant les pages finales,
aujourd'hui figees, inertes, j'ai peine ä croire qu'en les redigeant j'avais la gorge
nouee comme j'avais vraiment charge mes epaules d'un assassinat. Pourtant c'est
ainsi. Stylo en main, je fis avec une sorte de terreur 1'experience de la separation.
Le meurtre de Xaviere peut paraltre la resolution hätive et maladroite d'un drame
que je ne savais pas terminer. Il a ete au contraire le moteur et la raison d'etre du
roman tout entier.
(La Force de 1'ägep. 348-9.)

The Gothic diction Simone de Beauvoir useshere is striking. The Gothic symbolic

universe she createdprovided her with the ideal location for her confrontation with

madnessand pain. Her writing invites readersto feel, prompting empathy and

identification as opposedto analysis.As Elizabeth MacAndrew puts it, the Gothic

87
makesreadersexperienceideas. In L'Invitee the philosophical veneeris no more than

that, a veneerplacedthere in an attemptto justify the unjustifiable. Simone de Beauvoir

(our implied author) together with her alter ego, Francoise,can be read as a perfect

nineteenthcentury Gothic subject,an embodimentof Botting's definition: `Gothic

subjectswere [...] no longer in control of [their] passions,desiresand fantasies[...].

Excessemanatedfrom within, from hidden, pathological motivations that rationality

was powerlessto control.'88 L'Invitee functions as a Gothic text, providing a structure

to contain the threatsto rational and humanistvalues that it explores.

86Jung, Carl G., `Approaching the Unconscious', in Man

and His Symbolsby Jung, Carl G. and M. -L.
von Franz, JosephL. Hendersonet al., New York: Dell Publishing, repr. 1979, p. 51.
s' MacAndrew, ix.
p.
saBotting, 12.
p.
 87

Chapter Two

Continuities in Change:

Imagery in L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femme rompue

In this chapterI want to examine Simonede Beauvoir's use of imagery in her first

published novel and in her later fiction, tracing connectionsand developmentsin the

imagesthemselvesand in the way they are used.I want to examinehow far what I

identified as the Gothic economy of L'Invitee can be seento persist in the imagery of

the later fiction, texts of a different tone, that are generally perceivedto be quite

different from her earlier fiction. ' Notwithstanding the evident differencesbetweenthe

early and late fiction, Toril Moi has assertedthat by 1949 `Simone de Beauvoir had

truly becomeSimone de Beauvoir' and that her `repertoire of themesand obsessions'

was largely It
established. will be interesting to to
assess what extent this is borne out

by a study of imagery.

A close and comprehensiveexaminationof Simone de Beauvoir's imagery is

important for a number of reasons.It is a soundbasis for an appreciationof her fiction

as fiction, of the richnessof her texts as literary works. Images encapsulateand add to

our understandingof the themesof the texts, not necessarilyin ways that Simone de

Beauvoir anticipated. Moreover, networks of imagescontribute to the tone of the texts.

Specifically, they mediatethe madnessin the texts; they are an expressionof pain and

fear and a nostalgic evocation of somethinglost. Obsessiveimagery structuresan

obsessivesituation.

' Elizabeth Fallaize makesthe point that Les Belles imageswas received as a radical departurefrom
Simone de Beauvoir's earlier fiction: TheNovels, p. 118. She discussesthe changesthat have
occurred in Simone de Beauvoir's narrative strategiessince Les Mandarins. Seealso Brosman, p. 86.
2Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, p. 6.
3Toril Moi's reading of the imagery in L'Invitde revealsthe unconsciousat work in Simone de
Beauvoir's figurative language.Simone de Beauvoir, Chapter4.
 88

Little critical attention has beenpaid to this aspectof Simone de Beauvoir's

fiction. To my knowledge no comprehensivesurvey of her imagery has been

aspectsof it have been examined.Toril Moi analysesthe

undertaken,although certain

imagery in L'Invitee surroundingXaviere to supporther fascinating psychoanalytical

reading of the text as a `family romance' in which Xaviere plays the role of mother/

4 Phil Powrie looks at the imagery in La Femmerompue, arguing that the

monster.

imagesof vision that he identifies, `form the metaphoricfabric of the failure to achieve

5 He also considersGothic imagesof

an authentic mode of self-expression'.

entombmentwhich he links to women writers' `possiblesenseof entrapmentwithin a

328). It is interestingargumentand I agreethat elementsin La

mile tradition'(p. an

Femmerompue are Gothic but find no textual evidenceto support his assertionthat

`clarity, purity and freedom are all associatedwith the male, [...] whereaswomen are

but the opacity of the body, sexuality,

associatedwith opacity: the opacity of vision also

(p. 328). This is

opposition not drawn along gender distinctions in La
entombment'
6
Femmerompue His suggestionthat imagesof the sky/ clarity of vision are associated

`a is helpful but, as Phil Powrie himself demonstrates,

with vanishedgolden age' more
7
light is not always connotedpositively in Simonede Beauvoir's texts.

One of the difficulties involved in organising a review of the imagery in

L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femmerompue is the need to impose a linear

progressionon a massof material that itself doesnot progressin this fashion, indeed a

4Moi, Simonede Beauvoir, p. 110-21.

5Powrie, Phil, `RereadingBetween The Lines: A Postscripton La Femmerompue', Modern Language
Review, 87 (1992), 320-29 (p. 325).
6His argument appearsto rely principally on his analysisof `Monologue'. He holds that Murielle
the
associates purity of the moon with her father, yet the quotations he gives to support his argument
do not bear this out. Seep. 326 of his article.
7Other studiesthat give someconsiderationto Simone de Beauvoir's imagery include Anne Ophir's
readings of La Femme rompue in Regards feminin, pp. 17-87 and Francoise Arnaud Hibbs' study:
L'Fspace Bansles romans de Simonede Beauvoir: son expressionet safonction.
 89

massof material that development.

resistssuch a sequential The is
material made up of

clustersof imagesthat overlap and intersect.Although a particular cluster of images

might usefully be placed alongsideand discussedin relation to a number of other

clustersof images,in a successionof images,it must inevitably be placed betweenjust

8
two other clustersof images. In Simonede Beauvoir's texts, the different clustersof

imagesform a denseand complex web, rich in resonances.The aim of this study is to

trace a pattern in the rich network of imagesshecreatesto mediatemadness.

Francoise,Laurence,the unnamedwoman protagonist in `L'Age de discretion',

Murielle and Monique all experiencebreakdownand loss of self and are brought face to

in
fadewith madness.Francoise's madnessis underplayed the text of L'Invitee 9

Nevertheless,she struggleswith threatsto her stability/ identity in a claustrophobic

atmosphereand closed rooms. In the later fiction too, the woman protagonistsconfront

the pain of loss and abandonmentin closedrooms. Francoise,for example,coping with

intensefears and anxiety provoked by Xaviere's extremereaction to having made love

with Gerbert, feels cut off from the apparentnormality representedby the busy street

she seesfrom her window and trappedin her room `englueed'angoisse oü les pensees

leur treve' (p. 388).10A

poursuivaient
obsedantes ronde sans claustrophobicatmosphere

pervades L'Invitee. In Les Belles Images, Laurence's crisis reaches its climax in a closed

room. On her return from Greece,defeatedover Catherineand deeply disappointedby

the reconciliation of her parents,Laurenceretreatsto her room to contendwith her pain:

`J'ai tire les rideaux. Couchee,les yeux fermes,je recapitulerai ce voyage [...]' (p. 153).

In `L'Age de discretion', during Andre's absence,isolated in her flat ('le telephoneaux

abonnesabsents'p. 62), the woman, admittedly to a lesserdegreeof intensity, faces up

8Crossreferencesbetweenclustersof imageswill be given where appropriate.

This will be discussedin greaterdepth in a subsequentchapter.
'o The symbolism of closed rooms is related to XaviBre too (see
my Chapter One). The terms `cloitrer'
and `se terrer' used in connectionwith Xavibre are also applied to Monique. Seebelow.
 90

to her disappointmentand disillusionment, goesover the life shehas sharedwith Andre

and looks for answersto the questionsthat preoccupyher. Shetoo shuts out the light:

`Je suis donc resteechez moi, ä ruminer. Il faisait tres chaud;meine si j'abaissais les

j'etouffais.
stores, [...] Il fallait recapitulernotre histoire. [...] J'ai arrete. Ce qu'il fallait,

c'etait reflechir. [...]' (pp. 64-65). Murielle's crisis, her monologue, takes place on New

Year's Eve in her lonely flat behind closedcurtains, her telephonesilenced (p. 87). She

goes over her and

abandonment her daughter's suicide, defending herself against the

accusing,mocking voices she hearsin her head.In `La Femme rompue', when Maurice

goeson a skiing trip with Noellie, Monique shutsherself away in her flat: `Je me suis

clöitree. [...] J'ai de

choisi me terrer dansmon caveau' (p. 221). During thesetwo weeks

when she stopseating and washing, abusesalcohol and drugs, Monique goesover what

she has written in her diary, tracesher relationship and break up with Maurice and faces

the pain of disillusionment.

It would be wrong to suggestthat the crises of the women protagonistsin the

later fiction are restricted to theseepisodesin closedrooms. However, it can be argued

that their breakdownsdo reach a climax/ turning point at thesemoments. Murielle is

perhapsthe only exception as she appearspermanentlytrapped in her delusions.The

unmistakablesymbolism of closed rooms/ spaceshas attractedcritical attention. It is

hard to disagreewith FrancoiseHibbs'view that `tout au long des romansbeauvoiriens

nous retrouvons le theme de la folie qui menace1'etreenferme dannun espaceclos,

lui-meme'. 11It
enfermesur seemsclear that thesespacesare related to the unconscious.

However, I cannot agreethat thesespacesrepresent`despiegesoü la tentation de se

replier sur soi-memepesecomme une menace:menaced'asphyxie de la conscience

11Hibbs, p. 47.
 91
la la folie 12
dansle narcissisme, passivite, ou mort'. Rather, I read these spacesas the
la

figuration of a confrontation with repressedfeelings; they are spaceswhere women are

brought face to face with feelings that have beendenied and ignored, spaceswhere they

are brought to addressquestionsof self and identity. Thus, for me, enclosedspacesare

13
sites of possibletransformation.

Powerful imagery in Simonede Beauvoir's fiction communicatesthe women

protagonists' experienceof the threat of madness.There is an important cluster of

imagesrelatedto the void and nothingness.Relatedimagesof falling are frequent.

Thesewere key motifs in L'Invitee. For example,during Francoise'swalk in

Montmartre:

[Francoise]se sentit envahied'un ennui si mortel qu'elle eut les jambes coupees.
Qu'est-ceque ca pouvait pour eile toutes ceschosesetrangeres?C'etait pose, ä
distance,ca n'effleurait memepas ce vide vertigineux dans lequel eile etait
happee.Un maelstrom. On descendaiten spirale de plus en plus profondement,il
semblait qu'ä la fin on allait toucher quelquechose:le calme, ou le desespoir,
n'importe quoi de decisif; mais on restait toujours ä la meme hauteur,au bord du
vide.
(L'Invitee, p.216.)

The threat that Xaviere representsto Francoiseis evoked in a related image:

C'etait comme la mort, une totale negation,une etemelle absence,et cependant

par une contradiction bouleversante,ce gouffre de neant pouvait serendre present
ä soi-memeet se faire exister pour soi avec plenitude; l'univers tout entier
s'engloutissait en lui, et Francoise,ä jamais depossedeedu monde, se dissolvait
elle-meme dans ce vide dont aucunmot, aucuneimage ne pouvait cemer le
contour infini.
(L'Invitee, p. 364.)

12Hibbs, p. 48. (In connectionwith the idea of the threat

representedby closed spaces,FrancoiseHibbs
suggeststhat in L'Invitee, Francoise`choisit d'enfermer [Xaviirre] dans sa chambreapresavoir ouvert
le gaz' (p. 47). This is a misreading of the text; XaviBre shutsherself in her room, locking Franroise
out (L'Invitee, p. 502).)
"My disagreementwith FrancoiseHibbs may be due to the fact that
our understandingof the notion of
closed spacesis not the same.For example,she limits her remarks on Les Belles imagesto the mole
image (seebelow) and dealsonly with `Monologue' in La Femmerompue. I remain unconvinced by
Anne Ophir's suggestionthat `l'appartementclos' is a site of mauvaisefoi whereas`la chambre close
est le lieu oti les personnagesfeminin regardentla realitb en face'. Regardsfeminin, footnote, p. 32.
I can find no evidencefor this opposition and make no distinction between enclosedspacesalong
these lines.
 92
Emptinessis vast, the chasmbottomless.Vertigo/ dizziness,falling are metaphorsfor a

senseof abandonmentand loss of self. For Laurencethe terror/ horror it inspires is

worse than death: `Et il

aussi ya ce creux, ce vide qui glace le sang,qui est pire que la

mort [...]' (p. 85). In Greece:`Il me semblait etre arracheeä moi-meme. Oü etaisje? [...]

Je me disais: "Comme c'est beau!" etj'etais au bord d'un vertige, prise Bansun

tourbillon, ballotee, niee, reduite ä rien' (p. 160). `Une grandefatigue me venait, dans le

corps et dans 1'äme[...]. (je] ä

coulais pic dansun gouffre d'indifference [...]. [...] mon

jusqu'ä
ennui s'exasperait 1'angoisse[...]' (p. 167). In `L'Age de discretion' feelings of

loss arousedby the woman's separationfrom her son, Philippe, when he announcesthat

he'is going to get married, are mediatedby an image of an abyss: `Il ya eu ce coup de

gong dans le ä
ma poitrine, sang mesjoues, toutes mes forces tenduespour reprimer le

tremblement de mes levres. Un soir d'hiver, les rideaux tires, la lumiere des lampes sur

l'arc-en-ciel des coussinset ce gouffre d'absencesoudaincreuse' (p. 23). Philippe and

his wife, Irene come to dinner one eveningafter their honeymoon;when they leave, or

rather when Philippe leaves,the woman's senseof loss is renewed: `Ce vide de

'
nouveau... (p. 27). As her crisis falling/
deepens, diving becomesa more persistent

notion: `somber', `cooler ä pic', `senoyer', (p. 45). In addition, emptinessevokesthe

depressionthat arisesfrom feelings of abandonment.The woman in `L'Age de

discretion' suggestsher experienceof crisis ten years earlier in terms of emptiness:`Moi

aussij'ai traverseune mauvaiseperiode, il ya dix ans.J'etais degoüteede mon corps,

Philippe etait devenuun adulte, apresle succesde mon livre sur Rousseauje me sentais

videe. Vieillir m'angoissait' (p. 16). As Murielle relives the pain of Sylvie's death, her

loss, the key image is one of falling. Her senseof abandonmentis clear.

Elle est morte. Pour toujours. Je ne le supportepas. Au secours.J'ai mal trop mal
qu'on me sorte de 1äje ne veux pas que ca recommencela degringoladenon
aidez-moije n'en peux plus ne me laissezpas Beule...
('Monologue', p. 104.)
 93

Of all three stories in the collection, it is in `La Femmerompue' that imagesof

falling are most profuse. Monique discoversthat Maurice has beenlying to her about

how long his relationship with Noellie has been going on. Shewrites in her diary:

`Chaquefois je crois avoir touche le fond. Et puis je m'enfonce plus loin encoredansle

doute et le malheur' (p. 170). If shewas not altogether surprisedto learn that Maurice

was having an affair (`je ne suis pas tombee des nues' p. 171), when she is told that the

affair startedmuch earlier than Maurice has led her to believe, her distressis

experiencedas a fall: `Tandis que Luce me parlait, je tombais, je tombais et je me suis

retrouveecompletementbrisee' (p. 171). On the thirty-first of January,she writes in her

diary: 'Je tombe plus bas,toujours plus bas' (p. 232). When Marie Lambert tells her that
.

she can fall no lower, Monique is scathing: `Quelle stupidite! On peut toujours

descendreplus bas, et plus encore,et encoreplus bas. C'est sansfond' (p. 238).

Monique's senseof self has dependedon Maurice, his eyesreflected her image back to

her, he guaranteedher identity. Now she feels he is judging her and finding her wanting:

`Il pensede moi des chosesqu'il ne dit pas: ca me donne le vertige' (p. 180). The

metaphorof vertigo communicatesMonique's fear as her senseof self is jeopardised.

Monique can no longer make senseof the life shehas led, she has no more faith in her

own judgment. Her identity is bound up with her role as mother and when this is

undermined,she experiencessimilar feelings and the vertigo metaphorrecurs. She had

prided herself on bringing up her daughterswell and is tormented by the idea that she

may not have been a good mother and that her life is a failure: `je ne peux pas le croire.

Mais des que le doute m'efeure, quel vertige! ' (p. 214). Her experienceof loss and

separationis conveyedin a powerful image: `Quandca arrive aux autres,ca sembleun

evenementlimite, facile ä cerner,ä surmonter.Et on se trouve absolumentseule, Bans

 94
1'imagination (p. 14
une experiencevertigineuseque n'a memepas approchee' 192). Her

sadnessis a fall. The diary entry on Monique's birthday begins with the asyntactic

sentence:`L'affreuse descenteau fond de la tristesse' (p. 203). Abandoned,Monique

has an overwhelming senseof emptiness.Everything seemsa waste of time to her:

`L'amour de Maurice donnait une importanceä chaquemoment de ma vie. Elle est

creuse.Tout est creux: les objets, les instants.Et moi' (p. 210). Despite her

disillusionment with her diary becausesherealisesthat she cannot and doesnot tell the

truth of her experience,Monique beginsto write in it again to resist her consciousness

of overwhelming emptiness.Shewrites: `le vide etait si immenseen moi, autour de moi,

qu'il fallait ce gestede ma main pour m'assurerquej'etais encorevivante' (p. 223). The

cluster of imagesrelated to the that

void and nothingness, are found in all the texts,

combine the motifs of the abyss,vertigo and falling. They evoke the dissolution and loss

of self that threatenthe women protagonistsas they cope with feelings of abandonment

and loss. As they lack secureboundaries,their senseof identity is put at risk of

expandingto the point of disintegration in the terrifying vastnessof the empty space

where there is nothing or no one to hold them.

Moving on from this imagery of absenceI want now to examinea related group

of imagesof collapseand engulfmentthat also evoke the protagonists' fear and senseof

loss of self. Their tenuoushold on a senseof identity, their fragile boundaries,mean that

they are as vulnerable to feelings of being overwhelmedas they are to feelings of

abandonment.In L'Invitee the threat to Frangoiseis frequently typified by metaphorsof

engulfment, of being swallowed alive. Xaviere is representedas a natural disasterliable

to overwhelm her: `Avec un peu d'effroi, Francoiseconsideracette vivante catastrophe

14This image echoesthe evocation of the dangerXavibre

representedto Francoisein L'Invitee. `on ne
pouvait pas s'en approchermeme en pensde,au moment oti eile touchait au bout, la penseese
dissolvait [...j' (pp. 354-55).
 95

qui envahissaitsoumoisemcntsavie; c'etait Pierre qui par son respect,son estime avait

brise les digues oü Francoisela contenait.Maintenant qu'elle etait dechainee,jusqu'oü

ca irait-il? ' (p. 128). As Laurence'scrisis reachesits climax her emotions threatento

submergeher; is
she paralysed:`Des deux mains eile s'accrocheä ses draps. Voici venir

ce qu'elle redouteplus que la mort: un de ces momentsoü tout s'effondre; son corps est

de pierre, eile voudrait hurler; mais la pierre n'a pas de voix; ni de larmes' (p. 176).

Laurenceis overwhelmedas she losesany senseof boundaries,as everything

disintegrates,collapsesin upon itself. Monique is also submergedby suffering. She

writes in her diary: `La douleur fond sur moi' (p. 141). Her life has collapsed: `Ma vie

derriere moi s'est tout effondree,commedanscestremblementsde terre oü le sol se

devore lui-meme; il s'engloutit dansvotre dos au fur et ä mesureque vous fuyez' (p.

193).Natural disastersfunction as a metaphorfor the way in which her life has been

transformed.During her stay in New York with her daughter,Lucienne, she tells her

how she seesherself: `- Comme un marecage.Tout s'est englouti daps la vase' (p.

251) and in her diary shedescribesher senseof bewilderment and lack of a senseof

identity: `Le noir et le blanc se confondent,le monde est un magmaet je n'ai plus de

contours' (p. 251). The image usedto evoke the sleepof the woman in `L'Age de

discretion', underlinesthe notions of blackness,thickness,stickinessand suggests

drowning/ submergence:`J'avais sombredansdes epaisseursnoires; c'etait liquide et

etouffant, du mazout, et ce matin j'emergeais ä peine' (p. 45).15 She opensher eyesto

fmd Andre eagerto make up; she is faced with a choice: `Me raidir davantage,couler ä

pic, me noyer dansles epaisseursde solitude et de nuit. Ou essayerd'attraper cette main

qui setendait' (p. 45).

15Laurence in Les Belles imagesrefers to her dreamless

sleep as 'ces epaisseursde nuit' (p. 71).
 96
Natural disastersalso figure powerful emotionsthat shakecharacters'being and

threatento overwhelm them. When Francoiserealisesthat Pierre is seriously

considering going on tour with the theatrecompanyand taking Xaviere along with

them, somethingthat doesnot at all fit in with her plans, `ce fut une tournadequi secoua

Francoisede la tete aux pieds' (p. 210). The hyperbole in the later fiction is comparable

to that found in L'Invitee. When Jean-Charlesand Laurencequarrel about Catherine,the

way that he brings up Laurence's breakdown five years earlier (11 lui jetait 1'incident au

visage avec une especede hargne') is experiencedby Laurenceas a violent betrayal

('Quelle trahison!' p. 133). She goesagainstthe code of behaviour instilled in her since

childhood and for once, doesnot repressher angerat Jean-Charles:

`Boire un verre

d'eau, faire de la gymnastique:non. Cette fois eile se donneä sa colere; un ouraganse

dechainedanssa poitrine, il secouetoutes sescellules, c'est une douleur physique, mais

on se sent vivre' (p. 134). The woman in `L'Age de discretion' is submergedby feelings

she had been repressing: `Soudainca deferlait sur moi, une avalanchede soupcons,de

malaisesquej'avais refoules' (p. 34). Her anger at Andre is `une tournadequi

[1]'emporteä des milliers de kilometres de lui et d'[elle]-meme dansune solitude ä la

fois brillante et glacee' (p. 40). Their quarrel is `un tourbillon fumeux' (p. 47). In

`Monologue', Murielle imaginesher revengein apocalyptic terms that translatethe

intensity of her rage:

Le vent! soudain il s'est mis ä souffler en tournadequej'aimerais un grand

cataclysmequi balaierait tout et moi avec un typhon un cyclone mourir me
reposeraits'il ne restait personnepour penserä moi; leur abandonnermon cadavre
ma pauvrevie non! Mais plonger tous dans le neant ce serait bien.'
(`Monologue', p. 100.)

In all of the texts the imagery of engulfment evokesthe characters'fears of being

overwhelmed,of losing themselves.Associatedimagesof natural disasterssuggestthe

 97

powerful emotions that also threatento swamp them and undermine their senseof

cohesion

Imagesof engulfment intersectwith another important cluster of painful images

that mediate the experienceof madness,a cluster of imagesrelating to weight, enclosure

and immobilisation. Thesetypically Gothic images in the later fiction recall the network

of such images in L'Invitee where Francoise'sexperienceof the threats to her self was

evoked by them. Laurence's pain is heavy and hard: `Il restait cette barre de fer dannma

poitrine' (p. 45). Her feelings are petrified and she doesnot want her daughter,

Catherineto suffer the samefate: `Faudra-t-il qu'elle devienneune femme comme moi,

avec des pierres dansla poitrine et des fumeesde soufre dannla tete?' (p. 122).

Laurencefeels imprisoned in her life and looks on the trip to Greeceas an attempt to

break out (seepp. 154 and 170). In Greece,Laurenceexchangesone prison for another;

she feels crushedby the weight of history: `Je me sensetrangereä tous ces siecles

defunts et ils m'ecrasent'(p. 161). The key image of the mole (seebelow) also suggests

Laurenceis trapped.In her version of the story the mole doesnot emergeinto the fresh

air at all; tragically, it its

although opens eyes,it remains trapped in its tunnel where all

it seesis blackness(p. 169). There are also overtonesof live burial here. Laurence's

senseof being trapped is underlined as she identifies with a young suicide in prison,

projecting her pain onto him: `le freie cadavreaccrocheaux barreaux de la fenetre' (p.

85). The image of the circle usedin L'Invitee to suggestFrancoise's senseof

imprisonment, (` [Francoise]avait envie de briser ce cercle magique oü elle se trouvait

retenueavec Pierre et Xaviere et qui la separaitde tout le reste du monde' p. 345),

in
reappears a much less more
elaborate, banal form in Les Belles Images. Laurence

regretsthe fact that eachof us is `confine daps son petit cercle' (p. 71). She is obsessed

by a Bunuel film, envying the characters`enfermesdansun cercle magique, des gens

 98

repetaientpar hasardun moment de leur passe;ils renouaientle flu du temps et evitaient

le piege oü, sansle savoir, ils etaienttombes' (p. 153).16

Images of weight also characterise La Femme rompue. Just as Xaviere

heavy, `comme (p. 255), the woman in `L'Age de

experienced the trio as une gangue'

discretion' imagines her future with Andre, `chacun dans sa gangue' (p. 75). Gothic

images of live burial in L'Invitee find an echo in `Monologue'. Murielle is buried alive:

`c'etait moi qu'on enterrait. Je suis enterree. Its se sont tous ligues pour m'enfoncer' (p.

99). The silence in her flat is the silence of death, the same silence that had characterised

`la chambre mortuaire' when Sylvie died (p. 111). Looks condemned her without appeal

then and now she is imprisoned: `Ils voudraient me supprimer ils m'ont mise en cage.

Enfermeeclaquemureeje finirai par mourir d'ennui vraiment mourir' (p. 106). Monique

is also imprisoned, buried alive. Shehas decidedto shut herself away (like Laurencein

Les Belles Images,like the woman in `L'Age de discretion'): `J'ai choisi de me terrer

dansmon caveau' (p. 221). Dirt is a protective shell: `La chambrepue le tabac froid et

1'alcool, il ya des cendrespartout,je suis sale, les draps sont sales,le ciel est sale

derriere les vitres sales,cette saleteest une coquille qui me protege' (p. 222). The dirty

sky recalls Murielle's dirty moon. Monique feels she is in one of Poe's Gothic tales

trappedby `les murs de fer qui se rapprochent' (p. 242) ( seebelow). Rejected sexually

by Maurice, it seemsto her that sheis `au fond d'un tombeau,le sangfige Bans[ses]

veines, incapable de bouger ou de pleurer' (p. 163). Her dreamsare Gothic nightmares:

Souventen reve je m'evanouis de malheur. Je reste lä sousles yeux de Maurice,

paralysee,avec sur mon visage toute la douleur du monde. J'attends qu'il se

'6In Luis Bufluel's film, El angel exterminador, (1962), an invisible magic barrier preventsbourgeois
guestsat a dinner party from leaving the room in which they are assembled.The guestsregressto
primitive brutality and cannibalism; someof them become ill, one dies and two young lovers kill
themselves.Only when the guestsreturn to exactly the samepositions they were in when the spell
first preventedtheir leaving, is the spell broken. Shortly afterwards,the spell begins again and the
guestsfind themselvesunableto leave the cathedralwhere they have gatheredfor a thanksgiving
service. SeeAranda, Francisco,Luis Bunuel: A Critical Biography, trans. and ed. by David Robinson,
New York: Da Capo Press,1976,pp. 206-13.
 99

precipite vers moi. Il me jette un regard indifferent et s'eloigne. Je me suis

reveillee, c'etait encorela nuit; je sentais le poids des tenebres, j'etais dans un
je
corridor, m'y engouffrais, il devenaitde plus en plus etroit, je respiraisä peine;
bientöt il faudrait ramper etj'y resteraiscoinceejusqu'ä ce quej'expire. J'ai hurle.
Et je me suis mise ä l'appeler plus doucement,dansles larmes.
(`La Femmerompue', pp. 192-93.)

Shewakes in the dreamto an evenmore terrifying scene.The dream/reality boundary

becomesuncertainand vague.Suffocationand live burial are familiar motifs. The

cumulative effect of this cluster of imagesof weight and enclosure/imprisonment and

immobilisation, that recur in all our texts, is a forceful senseof helplessnessand

suffering and fear. This is amplified by the next, closely connected cluster of images I

images death '7

am going on to consider, of and paralysis.

is in in
Death a recurring motif L'Invitee and the later fiction. 18In Les Belles

Images and La Femmerompue,deathis typified as cold, silenceand emptiness.Images

return obsessivelyto death.Laurenceis hauntedby a senseof nothingnessat the heart of

life, `ce creux, ce vide, qui glacele sang,qui est pire que la mort' (p. 85). Shehad

known this senseof emptinessduring her breakdownfive yearsearlier. It is what drives

peopleto commit suicide and for Laurence`c'estce qui fait froid aux os quand on lit le

recit d'un suicide: non le freie cadavreaccrocheaux barreauxde la fenetre,mais ce qui

s'estpassedannce coeur,juste avant' (p. 85). It is a sensethat sheexperiencesagain as

she lies in bed trying to understandwhat is happeningto her: `Voici venir ce qu'elle

redouteplus que la mort: un de cesmomentsoü tout s'effondre;son corpsest de pierre,

eile voudrait hurler; mais la pierre n'a pas de voix; ni de larmes' (p. 176). Laurence is

paralysedas everything collapsesinto itself and sheis on the point of being suckedinto

19
the void. Nothingness,death-in-life is an experiencethat the protagonistsin La

"Images of death
and paralysisare also embeddedin the cluster of imagesrelatedto the void and
nothingness.
'8 Elaine Marks studiesthe theme of deathin Simone de Beauvoir's
works in Simonede Beauvoir:
Encounterswith Death, New Brunswick, New Jersey:RutgersUniversity Press,1973.
"This recalls Francoise's
paralysisin the night-club in L'Invitee, pp. 356 and 364.
 100
Femmerompue all have in commonwith Laurenceto someextent. The woman in

`L'Age de discretion' feels her life is over and, in an image reminiscent of that usedin

L'Invitee to evoke Francoise'ssenseof barrenness('Ce n'etait pas vraiment un avenir:

c'etait une etenduede tempsuniforme et nu' p. 291), her life is represented

metaphorically as a desertthrough which shehas to drag herself towards death(p. 68).

Death dominatesher horizon (pp. 83-4). Death is also at the heart of `Monologue'.

Murielle's thoughtsreturn obsessivelyto her daughter's suicide and funeral. She

imaginesher own death: `Jepeux bien clameceravec mon pauvre coeur surmene

personnen'en saunarien ca me fout la trouille. Derriere la porte ils trouveront une

chärogneje pueraij'aurai chie sousmoi desrats m'auront bouffe le nez' (p. 96).

Deprived of others' attention, her senseof self is tenuous:`Comme si j'etais effaceedu

monde. Comme si je n'avais jamais existe' (p. 111). Like Laurence,Murielle finds

deathitself easierto bearthan the pain of certain thoughts: `assezassezj'aime mieux

mourir sur place que de revivre ces Neures-lä'

(p. 113). Shefantasisesabout committing

suicide to blackmail or punish Tristan: `m'ouvrir les veins sur leur paillassonca ou

autre chosej'ai des armes' (p. 93); je me descendrai

dansson salonje m'ouvrirai les

ils il du
vainesquand se rameneront y aura sangpartout et je serai '
morte... (p. 118). Yet

shewants to live: je veux vivre' (p. 96); je veux vivre je veux revivre' (p. 99). Death is

a key motif in `La Femme rompue' as well. Maurice's hostility during a quarrel made

Monique's blood run cold ('soudain mon sangs'est glace' p. 191), it was like a

premonition of death: `Ensuite il m'a persuadee que c'etait une dispute semblable ä

beaucoupd'autres.Mais le froid de la mort m'avait effleuree' (pp. 191-92).In the

depthsof her depressionsheis deadin life, one of the living dead: `Maintenantje suis

une morte. Une morte qui a encorecombien d'anneesä firer? Dejä unejournee, quand

j'ouvre un oeil, le matin, il me sembleimpossible d'arriver au bout' (p. 251). Life is

 101

movement; in life is
she paralysedas shehasbeen in her recurring nightmares.Simple

gestureslike lifting her arm or putting one foot in front of the other presentenormous

difficulties. Alone, `[eile] resteimmobile pendantdesminutes sur le bord du trottoir,

entierementparalysee' (p. 252)20 Once back in Paris, the temptation is to remain

paralysed,not to open the door to the future: `Ne pas bouger;jamais. Arreter le temps et

la vie' (p. 252). Death-in-life hauntsthe womenprotagonistsin all the texts. It is a

metaphor for the despair at the heart of existence. The image of paralysis captures a

senseof hopelessness Although

and wretchedness. ending the pain of existenceis an

option almost all of them consider,eachof them ultimately chooseslife, however bleak.

L'Invitee, Les Belles ImagesandLa Femmerompue are sombreworks. In the

imaginary universescreatedby Simonede Beauvoir, imagesof black and night recur. In

her memoirs Simonede Beauvoir usestheseimagesto encapsulateLaurence'ssituation;

telling Laurence'sstory, shewished to `faire transparaitredu fond de sa nuit la laideur

du monde oü elle etouffait'21 They are imagesusedby Simonede Beauvoir in

connectionwith La Femmerompue as well; transposinginto fiction stories of women

debattaient dans l'ignorance', her intention `donner ä leur 22

who `se was to voir nuit'

Ignorance, depression, pain, fear; dark and night enjoy a multiplicity of connotations.

There are a number of series of images relating to darkness that overlap and intersect

within and between texts. I trace a pathway through these clusters of images, connecting

20Readersrecall that Francoisein L'Invitee `eut envie de s'asseoirau bord du trottoir et de n'en plus
bouger' (p. 421). In 'Monologue' the fact that inertia keepsMurielle in her armchair might be read as
a pseudo-paralysis.Seep. 91: `Merdeje crbve de soifj'ai faim mais me lever de mon fauteuil aller ä
la cuisine me tue'. Sheis still in her armchair when shemakesthe telephonecall to Tristan that will
bring to an end (for now) her monologue(p. 114).(It is for this reasonthat I cannot agreewith Phil
Powrie that we imagine Murielle 'pacing up and down her flat'. See`RereadingbetweenThe Lines'
p. 322.)
21Tout
comptefait, p. 172.
22Tout camptefait, p. 175.In `PriBred'inserer' Simonede Beauvoir wrote: 'J'ai voulu faire entendreici
les voix de trois femmesqui se d6battentavec desmots dansdes situationssansissue'. Francis and
Gontier, Les icrits, pp. 231-32. This suggestsa much less severejudgment of her characters.
23The cluster of imagesrelatedto darknessfollows on naturally from imagesof deathbut it also
intersectswith the group of imagesthat evoke emptiness.
 102
imagesof darknessand night and blindnessthat are metaphorsfor failed understanding

with other imagesof troubled vision and opaquenessthat work in a parallel way,

intensifying the resonances each cluster has in the texts. The experience of madness is

conveyedby imagesthat evokethe distressof incomprehensionand epistemological

insecurity and the bleaknessof depression.

Imagesopposedarknesson the one hand and knowledge and clarity of vision/ an

ability to seeon the other. In L'Invitee, Franroise imaginesthe future to be a dark tunnel

`dont il faudrait subir aveuglementles detours' (p. 291). Her dependanceon Xaviere

grows and with it her uncertainty; her lack of secureknowledge is evokedby the image

of night: `Elle n'y voyait plus clair, plus clair du tout. Il n'y avait que desdebris

informes autour d'elle, et le vide en eile et partout la nuit' (p. 314). Night and emptiness

are intertwined. This image is echoedin a key image in Les Belles Images.Laurence

who feels literally and metaphysicallycompletely empty/ emptied (shehasjust

vomitted), identifies herself with a mole:

Il fait nuit en eile; eile s'abandonne ä la nuit. Elle pense ä une histoire quelle a lue:
une taupe tätonne ä travers des galeries souterraines, eile en sort et sent la
fralcheur de fair; mais eile ne sait pas inventer d'ouvrir les yeux. Elle se la raconte
autrement: la taupe daps son souterrain invente d'ouvrir les yeux, et elle voit que
tout est noir. ca n'a aucun sens.
(Les Belles Images,p. 169.)24

The mole inhabits a milieu where it has no need to `see', there is no light. Out of its

milieu, where to seewould have somemeaning,it is unableto work out how to see.

Laurence'ssituation is more tragic. Sheis trappedin a milieu where there is no needto

seeand yet shedoesopenher eyesand seesonly blackness,that there is nothing to

24Simone de Beauvoir talks

abouther useof this image in an interview with JacquelinePiatier, Le
Monde, 23 December1966,p. 17. Of Laurenceshesays:`Elle soupconnela verite, eile la cherche,
mais eile ne va pas au bout de sa quete'. Sheaddsthat sheborrowed the image from Alain Badiou's
Almagestes,thus signalling, asElizabeth Fallaize points out, a connectionbetweenLes Belles images
and this experimentalwork (TheNovels,p. 140, footnote 2).
 103
5 It is an image that in the final pagesof the novel: `fette taupe qui ouvre les
see. recurs

yeux et voit qu'il fait ä

noir, quoi ca I'avance-t-il?Refermer les yeux. Et Catherine?lui

clouer les '

paupieres? (p. 180). `[...] peut-titre eile s'en sortira... De quoi? De cettenuit.

De 1'ignorance,de l'indifference' (p. 181). Laurenceis resignedto her fate; not seeingis

the easieroption for her. But for her daughter,there is a glimmer of hope; if Laurence

can help her to see,then maybe shewill not have to spendher life trapped in the same

dark tunnel. Theseimagespick up the notion of Laurence's blindness,first evoked

during the trip to Greecewith her father: `[...] aveugleä toutes ces chosesque mon pere

me montrait. (Sesyeux, ceux de Catherine:des visions differentes mais colorees,

eniouvantes;et moi ä cote d'eux, aveugle)' (p. 157). Colour and light have gone out of

Laurence's life. Her `blindness' makesher insensibleto beauty.

In `L'Age de discretion', depressionis suggestedin similar terms. The woman

asks,initially in relation to Andre and also recalling her own bout of depressionten

years earlier, `Que faire quand le monde s'est decolore?' (p. 16). As her own stability

and well-being becomeincreasinglyjeopardized,her mood darkensand castsa shadow

over her whole existence:`[...] j'avais le coeur lourd et ma tristessefaisait täche d'huile;

eile le
assombrissait monde' (p. 32). This recalls the effect that Xaviere has on

Francoise'slife in L'Invitee: `Xaviere s'obstinait ä demeurercette etrangeredont la

presencerefuseeetendaitsur Francoiseune ombre menacante'(p. 420); `cettepresence

ennemiequi etendaitsur eile, sur le monde entier, une ombre pernicieuse' (p. 484).

25A
number of critics neglect the secondpart of this image and simply assertthat Laurencecompares
herself with a mole that cannot open its eyes.See,for example, Hibbs p. 48. Her argumentthat
Laurence is a prisoner of her milieu and its myths is convincing but contradictedto some extent by
her identifying Laurencewith the image of the mole that emergesfrom the tunnel into the fresh air.
JaneHeath readsthe metaphorof the mole in terms of ideology and false consciousness.I am
somewhatpuzzled by her assertionthat the mole in the first version of the story could open its eyes
and seethe light (pp. 125-26).
 104
In `La Femmerompue', as Monique losesher senseof self, her identity (`j'ai

perdu mon image'), darknessand blindnessevoke her senseof loss and emptinessas

well as her inability to make senseof her existenceand who she is: `Il fait noir, je ne me

vois plus' (p. 238). Monique to

comes realise that she doesnot even possessher past,

fully know her past: `C'est horrible de penserque ma propre histoire n'est plus derriere

moi que tenebres' (p. 225). Imagesof dark and night are echoedin the final pagesof the

story. Monique is severelydepressed,unsurenot only of who she is but how she should

be (p. 251) shewrites: `Autour de moi, la nuit est toujours aussi epaisse'(p. 252).

Darknessis pervasive.

Troubled vision is a recurring metaphor.Threatenedby madness,the women in

Simone de Beauvoir's fiction struggleto understandwhat is happeningto them, to see

clearly. In `La Femmerompue' Monique is blinded (`aveuglee') by a vivid, visual

memory ('une image') of Maurice as he had been he

when was first in love with her.

Sherealisesthat for years shehas seenMaurice as through the veil of this image. We

read: `ce souvenir se superpose,commeune mousselinediaphane,aux visions quej'ai

de lui' (pp. 162-63).In a moment with Gothic overtonesthis image disintegrates(`est

tombee en poussiere') as it collides with reality, is mirrored, in the samehotel room

where it had beengeneratedand comesinto contactwith the man of flesh and blood.

The discrepancybetweenthe mood in the image and the mood in reality is too great.

The image that had seemedfrozen (`figee') but still shiny and fresh had in fact decayed.

The woman in `L'Age de discretion' also has a kind of double vision of Andre, her

husband.Sheno longer knows who he is:

Comme lorsqu'on a recu un choc sur le crane,que la vision s'est troublee, qu'on
apercoit du monde deux images,ä des hauteursdifferentes, sanspouvoir situer le
dessuset le dessous.Les deux imagesquej'avais d'Andre au passe,au present,ne
s'ajustaientpas.
(`L'Age de discretion', p. 42.)
 105
A related seriesof imagesconcernopaqueness.Fog, fumes, vapoursare

metaphorsfor emotionsthat hinder lucidity analogousto the way in which darkness

functions in the texts. In L'Invitee Francoisewants to seeclearly what is happeningto

her, `Jeveux voir clair', but sheis preventedfrom doing so; `satete etait remplie d'un

grand tournoiementrougeätreet piquant' (p. 192). Her lack of lucidity is `le brouillard'

(p. 193). In Les Belles Images the sameimage is usedto evoke Laurence'sfear: `autour

d'elle la peur est epaissecomme un brouillard' (p. 48). This image is echoedlater in the

text: `Je n'avaispas reussi ä m'evaderde ma prison,je la voyais refermer sur moi tandis

que 1'avionplongeait dannle brouillard' (p. 170). The fog enshroudingParis airport

suggestsLaurence's deepeningsenseof enclosureand submergence.In an interesting

image, Laurenceis describedas a woman `avecdespiercesdansla poitrine et des

fumeesde soufre dans la tete' (p. 122).This image is redolent of the burning fires of

hell, a familiar motif in L'Invitee. In `L'Age de discretion' the sameinsistenceon

rednessand opacity is found in the metaphorfor the woman's anger.It reproduces

Francoise'sexperience:`II y avait soudaindes fumeesrougesdansma tete, un

brouillard rouge devant mes yeux, quelquechosede rouge qui criait dansma gorge' (p.

40). The woman's quarrel with Andre is `un tourbillon fumeux, de la fumee sansfeu' (p.

47); its very lack of lack of substancemakesit hard to clear up (`se dissiper'). Alone in

their flat, the woman sinks into depressionand obsession.Shemanagesto steady

herself: `je m'arrachais ä cesbrumes' (p. 58). Monique in `La Femmerompue'

discoversthat life is opaque,that we do not know anything about anyoneincluding

ourselves(p. 248). The accumulationof imagesof vision overarchedby imagesof

darknessin all the texts conveysthe women protagonists' painful struggle to make sense

of existence.
 106
There are two other key clustersof imagesthat centre on darknessin the texts.

Firstly, black is the colour of the future, evocativeof hurt and loss. The imagesof

L'Invitee reappearin the later fiction but are understated,more restrained.`La fenetre

etait noire' (La Femmerompue', p. 127).This image opensthe diary entry that Monique

home late 26
flat Ostensibly before
writes on returning one eveningto an empty she

suspectsMaurice of being unfaithful, sheneverthelessfinds herself comparing the

presentwith before, `- avant quoi? -' she asksherself. The image of the dark window

evokesMonique's senseof alonenessand It

abandonment. is echoedin the final diary

entry where sherecordsher return to the flat now that Maurice has moved out: `La

fenetre etait noire; eile seratoujours noire' 7

(p. 252). The lonely future threatening

Monique, symbolisedby a dark window, is depictedin a Gothic image; the future is

somethingmenacinglurking behind a closed door: `Une porte fermee, quelque chose

qui guette derriere. [...] je verrai ce qu'il ya derriere la porte. C'est l'avenir. [...] Il n'y a

que cette porte et ce qui guette derriere' (p. 252). Repetition underlines Monique's fear,

communicatesher anxiety. The suspensecreatedis also a feature of the Gothic. The

emphasison black is remindful of the imagesthat communicateFrancoise's detachment

in the face of the ominous future sheapprehends:

[... ] eile se laissait flotter passivement comme une epave, mais il y avait de noirs
ecueils partout ä l'horizon; eile flottait sur un ocean gris, tout autour d'elle
s'etendaient des eaux bitumeuses et soufrees, et eile faisait la planche sans penser
ä rien, sans rien craindre et sans rien desirer.
(L'Invitee, p. 236.)28

26This episodeis read differently by Phil Powrie. He writes: '[Monique] rushesup the stairs to her flat,
commenting on the lack of light coming through the curtains'. ('Rereading Between The Lines' p.
326.) Yet, in fact, that evening Monique walked up the stairs and openedthe door with her key. In the
past, when the light coming through the curtains showedthat Maurice was at home waiting for her,
shewould run upstairsand ring the doorbell, too impatient to look for her key. There is a
characteristictension betweenthe imperfect and perfect tensesin the relevant passageand a striking
use of rhythm to contrastpast excitementwith presentdepression.See`La Femmerompue', p. 127:
'Je montais les deux 6tagesen courant,je sonnais,trop impatientepour chercherma c16.je suis
montde sanscourir, j'ai mis la cle dans la serrure'.
27This image is a reversal of the image in L'Invitee, where, in the
middle of the night, Francoise seesone
lit up window in the dark theatre: `une vitre rose dansune facadenoire' (p. 13).
28Paralysisis also underlined here.
 107

When Xaviere quarrelswith Pierre and the trio is destabilised,Francoisebursts into

tears at the prospectof the future, `un noir enfer' (p. 397). The image.of night is usedto

evoke Francoise'sdismay and terror when she knows that Xaviere has read her letters

from Gerbert and to convey her dreadof the future: `Une nuit acre et brillante venait de

le
s'abbatresur monde. [...] Devant eile et en eile cette nuit de bitume' (p. 497). The

horizon is dark for the woman in `L'Age de discretion' too. Sheknows what horrendous

things the future holds but not how to cope with that knowledge:

Ne pas regarder trop loin. Au loin c'etaient les horreurs de la mort et des adieux;
c'etaient des räteliers, les sciatiques, les infirmites la sterilite mentale, la solitude
dans un monde etranger que noun ne comprendrons plus et qui continuera sa
course sans nous. Reussirai je ä ne pas lever les yeux vers ces horizons? Ou
apprendrai-je ä les apercevoir sans epouvante?
(`L'Age de discretion', pp. 83-4.)

The horrors enumeratedare intimate and ordinary and all the more threatening.

The final cluster of imagesto do with darknessconstructsblack as the colour of

hatred.In L'Invitee the idea of Elisabeth's pain in relation to her long term
pain and

affair with Claudeprompts Francoiseto exclaim, `comme il devait faire noir dans son

coeur!' (p. 31). In Les Belles Images Laurenceis frightened by the vehemenceof

Dominique's reaction to Gilbert's rejection: `II fait si noir dans ce coeur, des serpentss'y

tordent' (p. 117) 29

Emphasison black in all the texts contributesto the pervasiveatmosphereof

pain and despair.Light in the texts is opposedto dark and but

opaqueness it is not

benign. Hope is a light that piercesFrancoise'sblack dismay and terror but it is a hope

29Dominique is constructedas a quasi-demoniacalcharacter,reminiscent of XaviBre. (The name

Dominique suggests`dominer'.) Laurencehas always felt slightly afraid of her mother and since her
parents' divorce `il y avait toujours eu autour de Dominique une espbcede halo malefique' (p. 52).
The sinister flowers in Dominique's lounge are emblematic: `bans un vase,un enorme bouquet de
fleursjaunes et aiguesqui ressemblentä de mCchantsoiseaux' (p. 49); `Laurencerevoit les fleurs qui
ressemblaientä de m6chantsoiseaux' (p. 100). (After the reconciliation betweenLaurence's father
and Dominique, theseflowers will be replacedby `des fleurs printani6res' p. 176, a further sign of
Dominique's duplicity as far as Laurence is concerned.)
 108
that Xaviere has taken her own life (L'Invitee, p. 497). Similarly, what shinesthrough

Laurence's fear is hatred: `autour d'elle la peur est epaissecomme un brouillard; mais

lumineuse,dure, une evidencepercecestenebres:«je le hais!»' (p. 48). Light is

associatedwith pain. This has alreadybeendiscussedin relation to L'Invitee where the

metaphorof light is to
used evoke the painfulnessof lucidity and self knowledge: `Avec

un eblouissementdouloureux, Francoisese sentit transperceed'une lumiere aride et

blanche qui ne laissait en eile aucun recoin d'espoir' (p. 180). In Les Belles Images,

Laurenceseesherself reflected in Lucien, her lover's eyesand, feeling endangeredby

the strength of his love for her, finds the brightnessof her image almost unbearable:`Il

la regardeavec sesyeux oü brille d'un eclat presqueinsoutenableson image' (p. 61).

The notion of the gazehas alreadybeenassociatedin Les Belles Imageswith light that

is menacing;Laurencevisualisesthe light of a boat probing the river bank: `fouillant les

rives de son regardblanc' (p. 21). As the light strikes the window panesit starkly lights

up loving couples.The words `brutalement' and `eclabousser'

add to the negative

overtonesthat clash with the overt mood of Laurence'svision. In `L'Age de discretion'

the motif of the neon light that recurs a number of times, acquiressymbolic

significance. During the woman's discussionwith Andre about their son, Philippe, the

neon light outsidetheir window flashesfrom red to green(p. 31). As the woman comes

to realise how things have changed,that shehas cherishedillusions, she sits in a cafe

`les yeux blessespar la cruelle lumiere de neon' (p. 41). The sun is also cruel. Just as

she is unable to enjoy her leisure time onceall her time is leisure time, the woman

prefers the filtered light of the sun through the blinds: `il m'aveugle si je l'affronte dann

30
sa crudite torride' (p. 58) Light aswell as darknessis associatedwith blindness and

30The harshness light underlined here,

of recalls the image Laurenceapplies to her husband: `auprbsde
Jean-Charlesil est toujours midi: une lumibre dgaleet crue' (Les Belles Images, p. 59).
 109

failure to comprehend.As she facesup to the reality of her relationship with Andre, the

long climb in the sun symbolisesthe painful struggle to self awareness:`Le soleil me

vrillait les tempes [... ]. La lumiere me blessait les yeux [... ] (p. 70).

In contrastto bright light, the dimmer light of the setting sun and moonlight are

connotedpositively in the text. They are depicted as gifts: `Des chosesquej'aimais ont

disparu.Beaucoupd'autres m'ont ete donnees.Hier soir, je remontaisle boulevard

Raspail et le ciel etait cramoisi [...]' (p. 17). (Significantly `les arbrescachaientle

rougeoiementd'une enseigneau neon'.) They for

are unanticipated,unsought pleasures:

`Clairs de lure et couchersde soleil, odeur de printemps mouille, de goudron chaud,

lueurs et saisons,j'ai connu des instants au pur eclat de diamant; mais toujours sansles

avoir sollicites' (p. 58). The woman's reconciliation with Andre takes place in

moonlight, a conventional romantic setting, the romantic tone apparentlyreinforced by a

from Aucassin Nicolette31: `La lone brillait ainsi que la petite etoile qui
quotation et

1'escortefidelement et une grandepaix est descendueen moi' (pp. 79-80). Shetakes

gratuitouspleasurein gazing at `destoits de tuiles, baignesde clair de lone' (p. 80).

However, the moonlight suggeststhat the woman is failing to seeher situation clearly. It

is as if shehas failed to absorbthe lessonof her experience,to take in the messagethat

things change.Her words here are a direct echo of her words at the very beginning of

the story: `Le monde se cree sousmes yeux dansun eternel present;je m'habitue si vite

A ses visages qu'il ne me parait pas changer' (p. 11); `La perpetuelle jeunesse du monde

me tient en haleine' (p. 17); `Et cette et

renaissance cette permanenceme donnaient une

impressiond'eternite. La terre me semblait fraiche comme aux premiers Ageset cet

31Phil Powrie discussesthe significance of this quotation and the unintentional irony produced by the
comic context of Aucassinet Nicolette in Rereading BetweenTheLines, pp. 323-24. His argument is
ambiguous;although the irony may be unintentional on the part of the character/narrator, there is no
evidenceto suggestthat it is unintentional on the part of the implied author. It would not be
inconsistentfor Simone de Beauvoir to undercut the reconciliation betweenthe woman and Andre.
 110

instant se suffisait' (p. 80). The woman's belief in permanencyand perpetual

32
juvenescenceis unshaken.

Imagesof light and the moon reappearin `Monologue'. Significantly, Murielle

has drawn her curtains againstthe bright Christmaslights. Shetells how she clung to the

shadowof the walls and avoided the sun after Sylvie's death: `[...] je n'osais plus sortir

de chez moi je me faufilais le long desmurs le soleil me clouait au pilori' (pp. 112-13),

if
as she were being accusedby the sun. The moon plays a special symbolic role in

`Monologue'. Murielle identifies with the moon. Traditionally a feminine symbol and a

in
symbol of madness, this story it also takes on connotationsof lost purity and

innocence.`Je1'aimaisla lune eile me ressemblait;et ils l'ont salie comme ils salissent

tout c'etait affreux cesphotos; une pauvrechosepoussiereuseet grisätre que n'importe

qui pourra fouler aux pieds' (p. 89). Murielle the

shares moon's victim status,she too is

trampled underfoot: `une femme seuleils se croient tout permis c'est si lache les gens

quand vous etesä terre ils vous pietinent' (p. 93). But, according to Murielle, she,unlike

the moon, remains pure and innocent: `J'etais propre pure intransigeante' (p. 89); `je

suis propre' (p. 90); `je suis trop propre trop blanche' (p. 105). She is different from

`je le
everyoneelse: suis merle blanc. Pauvremerle blanc: il est seul au monde' (p. 106).

The purity of white is opposedto the black and dirt of guilt that Murielle projects onto

others.

Violent, cruel imagespredominatein all three texts. Different clustersof these

imagesmediatethe suffering of madness.They are hyperbolic. Many of the images

consideredso far have a violent edge.Violence and pain are common in L'Invitee where

imagesforeground biting, tearing, burning and squeezing.Violent imagesalso

32This cluster of imagesof positively connotedlight could equally be placed with the clusters of positive
imagestreatedat the end of this chapter;the evocation of glittering moments and the womans feelings
of plenitude and well-being, together with the fact that the reconciliation takes place in an elevated
position, are details that cut acrossthe imagescollected together as clustersof `happy' imagery.
 111

characteriseLes Belles Images. Strangulation:`1'horreurprend Laurenceä la gorge,

1'horreurde ce qui s'estpasseen Dominique pendantcesquelquesinstants,de ce qui se

passeen ce moment.' (p. 124). Murder:

Moi aussij'etais possedeepar cetteenfant que la musiquepossedait.Cet instant

passionnen'aurait pas de fm. La petite danseusene grandirait pas; pendant
1'eterniteeile tournerait sur eile- memeet je la regarderais.[...] Petite condamneeä
mort, affreusemort sanscadavre.La vie allait l'assassiner.Je pensaisä Catherine
qu'on etait en train d'assassiner.
(Les Belles Images,p. 158.)

Laurencerealiseswhat the treatmentshehas agreedto meansfor Catherine.( `Sous

pretexte de guerir Catherine[...] on allait la mutiler' p. 159.) Cure is mutilation. Rape:

`[...] discuter en public le cas de Catherine.Une trahison, un viol' (p. 173).

In `L'Age de discretion' a violent image of strangulationis usedto describethe

woman's repressionof fond memoriesof her son: `Tant de souvenirsemouvants,

boulversants,delicieux se levaient en moi. Je leur tordrais le cou' (p. 37). Torture, a key

image in L'Invitee, (in the trio `leur amour ne leur servait qu'ä se torturer les uns les

autresp. 397), is picked up again in La Femmerompue. Murielle in `Monologue'

fantasisesabout telling her son how Tristan has tortured and hit her (p. 93) and

complains of `deja cinq ans de ce supplice' (p. 106). It is as if she is being killed slowly

and painfully: `J'ai mal j'ai trop mal ils me tuent ä petit feu' (p. 118). She imagines

taking her revenge,forcing God to do her will so that she can enjoy her sadistic

pleasure:`Eux tous ils setordront Bansles flammes de 1'envieje les regarderairötir et

gemir je rirai je rirai [...]' (p. 118). This image is reminiscent of imagesof burning and

hell in L'Invitee which are associatedwith Francoise's shameand suffering when her

relationship with Gerbertis discoveredby Xaviere. Monique accusesMaurice of torture:

`On m'a envoyeechez le psychiatre,on m'a fait reprendredes forces avant de m'assener
 112
le coup definitif. C'est comme cesmedecinsnazis qui ranimaient les victimes pour

qu'on recommenceä les torturer. Je lui ai crie: «Nazi! Tortionnaire!»' (p. 241).

In L'Invitee, Francoise'semotional and physical suffering was evokedby images

of tearing, burning, biting and stabbing. One major seriesof imagesin the later fiction is

to do with sharpness,cutting, stabbingand breaking. A recurring image is of splintered,

shatteredimages.As Dominique is in the throes of anguish, Laurenceexclaims: `Ah!

toutes les imagesont vole en eclats,et il ne serajamais possible de les raccommoder' (p.

124). When Laurencegoesto seethe psychiatrist who is treating Catherine,we read:

`J'etaissur la defensive:herisseede fils de fer barbeles' (p. 171). The pain of Laurence's

emotions and thoughts is by

suggested imagesof stabbing: `Pointe de feu ä travers le

coeur. Anxiete, remords' (p. 135). ). In the final chapterof Les Belles Images when

Laurencetakesto her bed theseimagesgathermomentumas her breakdownand pain

reach a climax. They are related to words and ideas,to language.Laurencerealisesthat

her holiday with her father is almost over and that shehas not got to know him any

better: `cettepenseequeje retenaisdepuis...quand?m'a soudaintranspercee'(p. 167).

Then,

[...] terrasseepar une galopaded'imageset de mots qui defilaient dans sa tete, se

battant entre eux comme des kriss malais dansun tiroir ferme (si on louvre, tout
est en ordre). Elle ouvre le tiroir. Je suis tout simplementjalouse. [...] Le tiroir est
referme, les kriss se battent.
(Les Belles Images,p. 179.)

When Laurencenamesher pain: `J'ai ete decue.Le mot la poignarde' (p. 179). One of

the most violent and disturbing imagesin Les Belles Images is the metaphorfor

protecting/ mutilating Catherine,preventing her from seeing;the image of nailing down/

shut her eyelids; Laurencewonders if she should `lui clouer les paupieres?'. The image

is
of a sharpnail piercing a child's eyes vivid and repellent 33

33There is a link here with the cluster of imagesrelated to `not

seeing' discussedearlier.
 113
We have seenthat light can be painful. The action of light is associatedwith

metal and cutting. In `L'Age de discretion' the sun pierces the woman's forehead: `Le

soleil me vrillait les tempes' (p. 70). Cutting is an image that recurs in `La Femme

to
rompue' evoke Monique's pain, past and present: `Les premiers mensongesde

Lucienne et de Colette m'ont scie bras et jambes' (p. 134) finds a direct echo in: `On me

le
scie coeur avec une scie aux dentstres fines' (p. 141). The remnantsof Monique's

hope are representedmetaphorically as sharp,painful splinters: `Ah! cesechardes

d'espoir qui de temps en temps me traversentle coeur, plus douloureusesque le

desespoirmeme' (p. 197). In a Gothic image Monique seesherself as a characterin one

of Poe's tales, trapped and tortured, a knife about to penetrateher heart:

Je penseä la nouvelle de Poe: les murs de fer qui se rapprochent,et le pendule en

forme de couteauoscille au-dessusde mon Coeur.A certainsmomentsil s'arrete,
mais jamais il Il
ne remonte. n'est plus qu'ä quelques centimetresde ma peau.
('La Femmerompue', p. 242.34

After a conversationwith Diana aboutNoellie, a sort of `characterassassination',

Monique imagines: `ca ressemblaitä un envoütementmagique: lä oü on plante des

epingles, la rivale seramutilee, defiguree,et l'amant verra sesplaies hideuses' (p. 154).

Cruel words are so many pins stuck in Noellie's image/ effigy. Monique herself is

identified with a bull pierced by banderillas(barbeddarts): 'Avant d'en venir ä un aveu

il fatigue le taureau' (p. 184)35 When shewakes

complet, m'a «fatiguee»comme on

from her nightmaresshe is broken, `brisee' (p. 193) 36

34Poe, Edgar Allen, `The Pit and the Pendulum', (first published in `The Gift', 1843), in Tales of Mystery
and Imagination, new edn, London: Dent, 1993,pp. 239-53. (Translatedinto French by Charles
Baudelaire as `Le Puits et le Pendule' in Nouvelles Histoires Extraordinaires, OeuvresCompletes,
Paris: Louis Conard, 1933,pp. 117-38.)
35The role of the banderillero (bullfighter) is to tire the bull by thrusting banderillas (barbed darts) into its
neck.
36Theseclustersof violent imagesthat concretisemental suffering as physical pain intersectwith clusters
of imagesrelating to the body (seelater).
 114
Violence and cruelty recur too in incidents of self harm that typify madness.

Xaviere's deliberateburning of herself in L'Invitee was discussedin the last chapter.

Murielle pinches herself to make sureshe exists (p. 111) and hits her headagainstthe

in
wall a paroxysm of despairand anger: `Ah! j'ai cogne trop fort je me suis fete le

cranec'est sur eux qu'il faut cogner.La tete contre les murs non non je ne deviendrai

pas folle [...]' (p. 118). In related images,the `double vision' of the woman in `L'Age de

discretion' is presentedas the result of a blow on the head,and in `La Femmerompue'

Monique's being trappedin her obsession,trying to understandwhy this is happeningto

her, is suggstedin the image of her knocking her head againstthe walls of a dead-end

(p. 223). Xaviere escapedfrom the pain of her existenceby smelling ether,Dominique

in Les Belles Images and all the women protagonistsin La Femmerompue abuse

alcohol and/ or drugs. In all three books, violent, cruel imagery epitomisesthe acute

suffering of madness.

As the woman protagonistsin Simonede Beauvoir's fiction face madnessand

their personality disintegrates,they searchhopelesslyfor a senseof who they are, a

senseof identity. Imagesare closely relatedto the question of identity and the self.

Mirrors/ imagesthrow into questionthe distinction betweenthe real and the imaginary

and delusional. In Les Belles Images,as in L'Invitee, mirrors, reflections, images,and

the gazeof others form a densenetwork of symbolisation. The text is a `jeu de miroirs'.

Laurencewonders: `Derriere les imagesqui virevoltent dansles miroirs, qui se cache?

Peut-etrepersonnedu tout' (p. 17). Imagesare associatedwith `illusion' (p. 33),

`mirage' (p. 33), `faux' (p. 108), `mensonges'(p. 168), 'disillusions' (p. 168), and

ultimately `rien' as Laurencelosesher senseof identity: `Jen'etais pas une image; mais

pas autre chosenon plus: rien' (p. 170). Laurence'slooking at herself in a mirror

punctuatesthe text. In a bar with Lucien sheobservesherself: `bans la glace eile sejette
 115

un coup d'oeil. Une jolie femme delicatement

gaie, un peu capricieuse,un peu

mysterieuse,c'est ainsi que Lucien me voit. ca me plaisait. Pour Jean-Charles

eile est

efficace, loyale, limpide. C'est faux aussi.Agreable ä regarder,oui. Mais beaucoupde

femmessont plus belles' (p. 108). Again when she is out shoppingfor Christmas

presentswith Jean-Charles:

Elle incline la tete pour qu'il puissede nouveauassujettir le collier: parfaite image
du couple qui s'adoreencoreapresdix ans de marriage. Il achetela paix conjugale,
les joies du foyer, l'ententel'amour; et la fierte de soi. Elle se contempledans la
glace.
Mon cheri, tu as eu raison d'insister:je Buisfolle dejoie.
-
(Les Belles Images,pp. 140-41.)

At the Chrismasparty, dancing with Dufrene, Laurenceacceptshis compliments but:

`Elle s'apercoitdansune glace. [...] Elle setrouve quelconque' (p. 143). In the final lines

of the novel, Laurence,in a way reminiscentof Francoisein L'Invitee, looks at herself

in the mirror as she determineshow shewill go on: 'Laurence brossesescheveux, eile

remet un peu d'ordre dans son visage.Pour moi les jeux sont faits, pense-t-elleen

regardantson image un peu pale, les traits tires. Mais les enfantsauront leur chance'
-

(p. 183). Laurencewho until this point has lacked an inner conviction of who she is, has

sought in her reflection the Laurencethat in

others see an attempt to find her self. In her

final gesture,it is as though Laurencetruly seesher/ self for the first time.

Others also act as mirrors throughout Les Belles Images. It is in their eyes that

Laurenceseesher image, her reflection and searchesfor her self. Thesemirrors can be

false reflectors. She usesLucien as a mirror: `Et puffssous son regard eile se sent

precieuse.Precieuse:
eile se laisse avoir, eile aussi. On croit tenir ä un hornme: on tient ä

une certain We de soi, ä une illusion de liberte, ou d'imprevu, ä des mirages' (p. 33).

Laurence'sprecarioussenseof self meansthat sheis easily unsettledby reflections of

herself. Threatenedby the intimacy his love holds out, the image of herself she finds in
 116
Lucien's eyes is almost unbearable:`Il la regardeavec sesyeux oü brille d'un eclat

presqueinsoutenableson image' (p. 61). It is as if Lucien looks too closely and seestoo

much. Similarly, Laurenceis troubled by the honest gazeof her daughterCatherine, `cet

impitoyable regard des enfantsqui nejouent pas le jeu' (p. 29). She is afraid of what

others will seein her and is especiallyaware of Brigitte's gaze: `Debout devant moi,

Brigitte m'examinait, sanseffronterie, mais avecune franchecuriosite. J'etais un peu

gene. Entre adultes,on ne se regardepasvraiment. Ces yeux lä me voyaient' (p. 53).

Laurenceis also unsettledby Mona's gaze;Laurencehas shown her round her home and

as she leaves, `eile jette autour d'elle un dernier regard que Laurencedechiffre mal: en

tont cas ce n'est pas de 1'envie' (p. 70).

Dominique consults her mirror, the gazeof others,in desperation:`Dominique

s'approchedu miroir. [...] Dans le miroir Laurenceexaminesa mere. La parfaite, l'ideale

image d'une femme qui vieillit bien. Qui vieillit. Cette image-lä, Dominique la refuse.

Elle flanche, pour la premiere fois' (p. 16). Sheis horrified, panicked at the idea of

ageing.And when Gilbert leavesher shetells Laurence: `Meme avec un nom une

femme sanshomme, c'est une demi-ratee,une especed'epave...Je vois bien comment

les gensme regardent:crois-moi ce n'est plus du tout comme avant' (pp. 142-43). (One

of her vivid childhood memoriesis of being staredat. Shetells Laurence: `Tu ne sais

pas ce que c'est d'etre toisee par des copinesaux cheveuxbien laves [...]' pp. 21-2.) At

the end of the novel, Laurenceappropriatesthe power of the gazeto which she has been

subjected:`Elle regarde[Jean-Charles],droit dansles yeux, il detournela tete' (p. 182).

Laurencehas defeatedJean-Charles,her gazesignifies her triumph.

Image is opposedto real in the text. Laurencelives her life at a distance,with a

senseof unreality, as if she were in a glossy photograph.This was true during her

childhood and adolescence.It is also true in the present. Sitting at her desk at home in
 117

the evening, she imagines herself and Jean-Charlesare figures in an advertisement.The

boundarybetweenreality and image/ imagination becomesblurred, Laurenceis

observerand participant in the story line she invents (p. 21). `Regardattentif du man,

joli sourire de la jeune femme. On lui a souventdit qu'elle avait un joli sourire: eile le

sent sur seslevres' (p. 22). Dominique madeher into an image: `Elle a toujours ete une

image. Dominique ya veille [...]' (p. 21). Jean-Charlesalso reducesher and her

daughtersto an image: `[...] furieux si nous derangeons1'imagequ'il se fait de nous,

petite fille, jeune femme exemplaires,se foutant de ce que nous sommespour de bon'

(p. 133). Early in the novel, Laurenceidentifies with Midas, the king whose touch

turned everything, including his daughter,into gold: `Tout ce qu'elle touche se change

image' (p. 21)37 By the the fords the to to bring up

en end of novel, she strength refuse

Catherinein the sameway that shewas brought up (p. 132) and tells Jean-Charles:

`Elever un enfant, ce n'est pas en faire une belle image...' (p. 182).

For all their associationwith the unreal, imagesare powerful, powerful even to

the point of devastation.Laurence,prostratein her room, `terasseepar une galopade

d'images et de mots' (p. 179), determines,`je recapitulerai ce voyage image par image,

mot par mot' (p. 153). As shereviews the trip and eventssince her return, painful

imagesthreatento engulf her. Sheremembersthe family dinner when she felt excluded

and alone:

Et de nouveaufond sur eile l'image qu'elle refoule avec le plus de violence, qui
surgit des que savigilence sereläche:Jean-Charles, papa,Dominique, souriant
comme sur une affiche americainevantant une marque de oat-meal. Reconcilies,
s'abandonnantensembleaux gaietesde la vie de famille.
(Les Belles Images,p. 175.)

37This recalls Elizabeth in L'Invitee: `C'6tait un sort

qui lui avait etejete: eile changeaittout ce qu'elle
touchait en carton-pate' (p. 272).
 118
This image crystallises for Laurence,her abandonmentand utter isolation: `Elle seule

est differente; rejetee; incapablede vivre; incapabled'aimer' (p. 176). It is at this point

in the text that she experiencesa feeling of total collapse.

The imagery of mirrors, reflections and imagesthat forms such a densenetwork

in Les Belles Images is also found in La Femmerompue. In this collection too, these

imagesencapsulatethe women protagonists' unstable senseof self and the fragile

boundary betweenreality and delusion. When the woman in `L'Age de discretion'

wakes from heavy sleep,it is the reality aroundher that seemschimerical, dreamlike: it

is `l'envers illusoire et chatoyantdu neantoü j'avais plonge' (p. 57). It is as if she finds

herself through the looking glass. 8 Reflections and echoesare connotedpositively at

first:

Reflets, echos,se renvoyant ä l'infini: j'ai decouvertla douceur d'avoir derriere

moi un long passe.Je n'ai pas le temps de me le raconter,mais souventä
l'improviste je 1'apercoisen transparenceau fond du moment present;il lui donne
sa couleur, sa lumiere comme les rochesou les sablesserefletent dansle
chatoiementde la mer.
(`L'Age de discretion', p. 17.)

Later, the woman's optimism is replacedby disillusionment:

Je m'etais plus ou moins imagine que ma vie, derriere moi, etait uii paysagedans
lequel je pourrais me promenerä ma guise, decouvrantpeu ä peu sesmeandreset
sesreplis. Non. [...] de loin en loin, ressuscitentdes imagesmutilees, pälies, aussi
abstraitesque celles de ma vieille histoire de France;elles se decoupent
arbitrairement, sur un fond blanc.
(`L'Age de discretion', p. 65. )

Transparencyand movement give way to lifeless, two-dimensional pictures. In contrast,

an image of Philippe is real and painful: `Philippe... avec quelle douleurje le regrettais!

J'ecartais son image, eile me faisait venir les larmes aux yeux' (p. 64). Like Laurence,

the woman can be hurt by images.

38SeeL'Invitee, p. 239. Francoiseleavesher hospital

room for the first time: `c'etait presqueaussi
6trangeque de pen&trerä travers une glace' (p. 239).
 119
In `Monologue', Murielle is preoccupiedwith her image. She fantasisesabout

la 39
writing her life story, telling the world `la verite vraie', and about how otherswould

gripe `en voyant [son] nom et [sa] photo dansles vitrines' (p. 90). She imagines her

reconciliation with Tristan as a triumph: `Je retournerai chez les couturiersje donnerai

des soireesdes cocktails on passerama photo dans Vogueen grand decolletemes seins

la
ne craignent personne.«Tu as vu photo de Murielle? » Its seront salementbaises [...]'

(p. 97). Murielle's image/ photo is one more weapon in her all consuming quest for

revenge.She wants to be the woman in the pictures, to be seento be rehabilitated. As it

is, photos have the power to hurt her. At a harrowing point in Murielle's monologue,

is
she moved to tears by photos of her daughterwhom she directly:
addresses

J'ouvre 1'album de photographiesje regardetoutes les Sylvie! ce visage d'enfant

un peu hagard ce visage secret d'adolescente. A la fille de dix-sept ans qu'on m'a
assassinee je dis les yeux dapsles yeux: «J'ai ete la meilleure des meres. Tu
m'aurais remercieeeplus tard.»
('Monologue', p. 114.)

Murielle's monologue itself acts as a distorting mirror where values are inverted and

where Murielle to
attempts constructa positive image of herself as the best mother in

the world.

In `La Femmerompue' Monique losesher senseof self and with it her image:

Un homme avait perdu son ombre. Je ne saisplus ce qui lui arrivait, mais c'etait
terrible. Moi, j'ai perdu mon image.Je ne la regardaispas souvent; mais, ä
l'arriere-plan eile etait lä, teile que Maurice 1'avait peinte pour moi. [...] II fait
noir, je ne me vois plus.
('La Femme rompue', p. 238. )

Shehas dependedon Maurice to know who sheis, just as Francoisein L'Invitee

0
dependson Pierre. Ostensibly cooperatingwith her psychiatrist but almost defiantly,

39An interesting echo of the words of Louise in Les Belles imageswhen she is seekingreassurancethat
her sister loves her best: `-C'est vrai? c'est vraiment vrai? ' (p. 81).
aoMonique's experienceconvergeswith Francoise'sin a number of repects.Both characterslose their
senseof self and wonder who they are. Monique asks,`est-cequeje sais qui je suis?' and loses her
`image'. Franpoiseconcludes,`je ne suis personne' and discoversthat her face is `un masqueblanc'
(p. 184), then, as her plight worsens,that `eile avait cessdd'6tre quelqu'un; eile n'avait m¬me plus de
 120

Monique looks at herself in the mirror in an attemptto find herself: `«Collaborez»,

demandele docteur Marquet. Je veux bien. Je veux bien essayerde me retrouver. Je me

suis plante devant la glace [...]' (p. 240). Her action recalls Francoise'sand Laurence's

correspondinggestures.When Monique rereadsold letters in an attempt to make sense

of her relationship with Maurice, shebecomesconvinced that it is the memory of love

that has replacedthe real love they had; like an echo, the auditory equivalent of a

reflection, memory has given things a ring not their own. And yet, Monique recalls, his

smiles and looks had been no different. Her lament interrupts the text: `(Oh! si

je
seulement retrouvais ces regards et ces sourires! )' (p. 224). In her delirium as her

crisis it
deepens, is if
as reflections, echoeshave becomedisembodied,free-floating:

Ces sourires,cesregards,cesmots ils ne peuventpas avoir disparu. Its flottent

dansl'appartement.Les mots souventje les entends.Une voix dit ä mon oreille,
tres distinctement: «Ma petite, ma cherie, mon cheri...» Les les
regards, sourires, il
faut les attraperau vol, les poserpar surprisesur le visage de Maurice, et alors
tout serait comme avant.
('La Femmerompue', p. 237.)

In summary,in all the texts, images,reflections and echoesfigure the frail line that

divides the real and the illusory and the fragility of the women's senseof self. Closely

related to them are clustersof imagesof the body.

My starting point is that the body is a metaphorfor the self and is intimately tied

up with questionsof identity. We project our selvesonto our bodies. In L'Invitee, the

body is a site of pain; as we have seen,Franroise's physical pain and emotional pain are

conflated and evoked by imagesof tearing, burning, biting and stabbing. The body is

in Les Belles Images La Femme too. 1 The body is

manifestly a site of pain and rompue

figure' (p. 216). Both characterswonder what others seewhen they look at them. In a moving
moment in L'Invitee, Frangoiselooks to Pierre to find herself but he is looking not at Francoisebut at
XaviBre. The paragraphbreak marks the blow: `Elle tourna les yeux vers Pierre, mais Pierre ne la
regardait past II regardait Xaviere [...]' (p. 184).
41It is appositethat clustersof imagesof the body in eachtext be examined in this section of my chapter
as they are related to questionsof identity and overlap with imagesof mirrors and reflections. Clearly,
they also intersectwith clustersof imagesthat evoke cruelty and violence (see above).
 121

of central importance in all three books and it is true to say that the texts inscribe the

body. It is a key elementof their imagery, their symbolic framework. Les Belles Images

standsout from the other texts insofar as it incorporatesa cluster of positive images

related to the body. The body can expresspleasureand through pleasureconnect

Laurencewith her self, the real. When she first knew Jean-Charles:`Soudain,un soir, au

retour d'une promenade,dansla voiture arretee,sa bouche sur ma bouche,cet

ce
embrassement, vertige. Alors, pendantdesjours et des semaines,je n'ai plus ete une

image, mais chair et sang,desir, plaisir' (p. 22). She experiencedthe samepowerful

feelings in the early days of her relationship with Lucien: `De nouveau,il ya dix-huit

möis, avec Lucien; le feu dansmes veins, et dansmes os cette exquisedeliquescence'

(p. 22). The notions/ lexis associatedwith loss of self ('vertige', `feu', `deliquescence')

reappearhere. It seemsas though in theseboundary softening moments,Laurence

experienceda fleeting fulfilment of her desirefor oneness,a senseof onenessshehad

known with her father. Indeed, shebegins to make the connection,though the idea is not

pursued: `Et j'ai retrouve aussicette douceurplus secretequej'avais connuejadis,

assiseaux pieds de mon pere ou tenant sa main dans la '

mienne... (p. 22). (Ultimately,

Laurenceis threatenedby the intimacy that Lucien offers her. It holds out the promise of

repossessinga lost closenessbut is experiencedby Laurenceas engulfing, like an

overpowering perfume in a closedbedroom: `la voix nostalgique [de Lucien] fait lever

en eile comme un echo brouille de quelquechosevecujadis, dansune autre vie, ou

peut-etre en ce moment sur une autreplante. C'est insinuant et pernicieux comme un

parfum, la nuit, dansune chambrefermee- un parfum de narcisses'(p. 60).) Although

Laurencecomplains that love making has become `lisse, hygienique, routinier' (p. 27),

she continuesto enjoy sex with Jean-Charles.At Feuverolles,Laurencegoesup to their

room to wait for him to join her:

 122
Dans un instant Jean-Charlesseralä: eile ne veut plus penserqu'ä lui, ä son profil
eclaire par la lueur dansantedes flammes. Et soudain il est lä, il la prend dans ses
bras, et la tendressedevient dans les veins de Laurenceune coulee brillante, eile
chavire de desir tandis que leurs levres sejoignent.
(Les Belles Images,p. 101.)

The way imagesforeground movement and light, flames and burning is striking.

More frequently the body is a sourceor expressionof pain. As Elizabeth Fallaize

so aptly puts it, `repressionleads [...] to the inscription of [Laurence's] feelings in her

42
body', thus, as for Barthes,the body here is a text. Pain is associatedwith hardness

and tightness, as it is in L'Invitee. And as in L'Invitee, the throat is a recurring motif.

Pain is also concentratedin Laurence's chestfor emotion stops her breathing. 3 When

she leavesDominique, who has learnedthat Gilbert is going to leave her and who is

terribly distressed,she can find no compassionfor her mother: `Quelque chosese

convulse dans sa poitrine et de

1'empeche respirer' (p. 52). We have already

the
considered violent image: `L'horreur prend Laurenceä la gorge' (p. 124). Laurence

is distressedwhen Jean-CharlesdiscussesCatherineduring a family dinner: `La gorge

de Laurencese contracte.[...] Une sorte de honte 1'etouffe [...]' (p. 173). Laurenceis a

woman `avec des pierres daps la poitrine' (p. 122); as her crisis reachesits climax `son

corps est de pierre' (p. 176). But it is on eating, or rather the rejection of food and

vomiting, that the text focuses.Thesetake on explicit symbolic significance as the text

Lack
progresses. of appetite developsinto an inability to eat and then a rejection of food

and through this a rejection of her world and her self. Laurence's upset is centeredin her

42Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 135.

43The suffocation motif in Simone de Beauvoir's fiction, recalls her words in the preface she wrote to
Violette Leduc's La Bätarde, Paris: Gallimard, 1964. She saysof Leduc's texts that they might all be
called L'Asphyxie: 'Vest le symbole d'un confinement plus profond: eile s'etiole dans sa peau' (p.
18).
"It is not always the casethat Laurenceremainsdetachedfrom her
mother's suffering. Seep. 115:
`Laurencea un Can vers [Dominique]'. Shetries to comfort her, calling her `Dominique cherie'. It is
true that Laurencenever calls Dominique `mother' and that she shies away from physical contact with
her (seepp. 52 and 124-25),yet I cannot agreewith Brosman who assertsthat Laurencethinks of
Dominique as a stranger.Simonede Beauvoir Revisited,p. 89.
 123

stomach.After meeting Gilbert and learning that he is about to reject Dominique, `Elle

est en sueur soudain, eile a envie de vomir' (p. 48). The following weekend `Laurencea

1'appetitcoupe' (p. 98). When shewas afraid that Lucien might leave her: `C'etait plutöt

sordide: la bouche des

päteuse, envies de vomir' (p. 65). When she learnsthat

Dominique has written to Gilbert's new partner,Patricia, telling her about her mother's

affair with Gilbert: `un spasmelui dechire l'estomac,eile vomit tout le the quelle vient

d'absorber;ca ne lui etait pas arrivee depuis des annees,de vomir d'emotion. L'estomac

vide, des spasmeslui tordent encore' (p. 121). After her quarrel with Jean-Charles`(eile

a dit quelle avait mangeavec les enfants,eile ne pouvait rien avaler)' (p. 137). It is after

the trip to Greecethat Laurence's anorexiais exacerbated.It is relatedto her

During
powerlessness. the dinner when Catherineis discussedand when no one, not

even her father, supportsher, `Laurences'estobligee ä manger,mais c'est alors quelle a

eu le premier spasme.Elle se savait vaincue' (p. 175). Three days later, Laurencelearns

that her father and mother are going to live togetheragain: `Le soir eile avait vomi son

diner; eile ne s'etait pas levee le lendemain;ni le jour suivant [...]' (p. 179). Prostrate,in

her darkenedroom, Laurenceconfronts her pain, going back over the trip to Greece,

`image par image, mot par mot' (p. 153). Her body is the site of her pain: `Je n'ai pas de

mots pour me plaindre ou pour regretter.Mais ce noeud dansma gorge m'empechede

manger' (p. 153). Emotional pain is reified. When sheremembersBrigitte and the

friendship her entourageseemsdeterminedto deprive Catherineof, `le noeud se resserre

dans [sa] gorge' (p. 172). Sherepeatsthe acceptedwisdom that shewill soon get over it,

but at the idea that Catherinewill not be allowed to spendEasterwith her friend, she

contradicts this analysis:

Done A Päques - eile sera guerie, bien sOr, c'est l'affaire de quelques jours, on se
degoüte de manger pendant quelques jours et forcement ca finit par se tasser ils
-
emmeneront Catherine i Rome. L'estomac de Laurence se crispe. Elle ne pourra
peut-etre pas manger avant longtemps.
 124
(Les Belles Images,p. 175.)

Laurenceseemsto derive some satisfactionfrom the idea that she may not be able to eat

for sometime. Her passivity is conspicuous.Her sister,Marthe, interrupts Laurence's

thoughts and persuadesher to try to eat some soup (`un bouillon'), she has made:

Pour leur faire plaisir Laurencel'avale. Deux jours qu'elle n'a pas mange.Et
apres?puisqu'elle ea pas faim. Leurs regardsinquiets. Elle a vide la tasse,et son
coeur se met ä battre, eile se couvre de sueur.Justele temps de se precipiter ä la
salle de bains et de vomir; comme avant-hier et le jour d'avant. Quel soulagement!
Elle voudrait se vider plus entierementencore,se vomir tout entiere. Eile se rince
la bouche, sejette sur son lit epuisee,calmee. [...] Maintenant quelle a vomi eile
se sent bien.
(Les Belles Images,pp. 168-69.)

Laurence's vomiting signifies a rejection of her self; sheis emptying herself, ejecting

45
her self. Moreover, her repeateddenialsthat she is making herself ill deliberately, her

idea be for her do 46

rejection of the that not eating may a way to resist, not ring true.

She comesto seeher refusal to eat as an expressionof her revolt; she refusesto seethe

doctor, to be manipulated:`Ils la forceront ä manger,ils lui feront tout avaler; tout quoi?

tout ce qu'elle vomit, sa vie, celle desautresavec leurs faussesamours, leurs histoires

d'argent,leurs mensonges.Its la gueriront de sesrefus, de son desespoir' (p. 180). Her

vomiting expressesmetaphorically her rejection of the life she leads, a rejection of the

in
world which she lives. Laurencedoesnot want Catherineto suffer the samefate as

herself: `Qu'a-t-onfait de moi? Cette femme qui n'aime personne,insensible aux beautes

de
du monde, incapablememe pleurer, cette femme je (p. 181). 7 Shetells
que vomis'

45Laurence's refusal to eat doesnot appearto be an instanceof anorexianervosawhich is characterised

by a refusal to maintain a normal body weight and a distortion in the perception of body shapeand
size (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth ed., Washington DC: American
Psychiatric Association, 1994,p. 539). For an interesting discussionof anorexia nervosa and gender,
seeEvans, Fits and Starts, pp. 229-33.
46SeeLes Belles images,pp. 170 and 175.
47Laurence echoesElizabeth in L'Invitee here. Elizabeth tells Francoise`[Claude]
s'imagine qu'il peut
me faire tout avaler' (p. 58).
 125

`Je de
Jean-Charles: ne veux pas medecin.C'est vous qui me rendez malade, et je me

guerirai toute je
Beuleparce que ne vous cederaipas' (p. 181).

In `L'Age de discretion' too, emotional pain is inscribed in the woman's body.

The terms usedto describeher pain are hyperbolic. After her quarrel on the phone with

Philippe, je me suis assise,en sueur,tremblante, les jambes brisees' (p. 35). The

suffocation motif, so common in L'Invitee and presentin Les Belles Images, reappears

here. The woman writes: `Toute la nuit la rancunem'a etouffee' (p. 37). Her emotional

bitterness against Andre is expressed metaphorically as a physical illness,

upset/

remindful of Francoise's illness in L'Invitee: `A chaque seconde, evoquant son visage,

voix, j'attisais devastait. Comme dans ces maladies oü on forge

sa une rancune qui me

sa propre souffrance, chaque inspiration vous dechirant les poumons, et cependant vous

etes oblige de respirer' (p. 41). Pain makes her body stiff and hard. When Andre

they talk things through she refuses: `Cette colere, cette douleur, ce
suggests

de les mots s'y briseraient' (p. 42). Her body contracts, is

raidissement mon Coeur,

`Le visage d'Andre, sa voix; le meme, un autre, aime, hai, cette contradiction
paralysed:

descendait dans dans une espece de

mon corps; mes nerfs, mes muscles se contractaient

tetanos' (p. 44) 48 Her is `cette barre de fer Bans [sa] poitrine' (p. 45).
pain

In `La Femmerompue' the body is presentin the symbolism of the text in a

more muted way. Nevertheless,

powerful emotion is still linked with painful difficulty

in breathing. When Monique fords out about Maurice's seeingNoellie, her angerwakes

her early and she leavesthe flat, obsessedby the words `il m'a menti': `Jene voulais pas

je la
souffrir, ne souffrais pas,mais rancuneme suffoquait: «Il m'a menti! »' (p. 133). In

a way similar to the other women protagonists' but far more Monique's
understated,

48The reconciliation is presentedas a loosening: `de nouveaunous pouvions nous parler et quelque chose
s'est dinou6 en moi' (p. 79).
 126
is metaphorically
emotional pain represented as physical pain. During a weekendaway

with Maurice, Monique says: `j'ai senti au coeur quelque chose d'aigu: un bonheur

douloureux tant il est devenuinsolite' (p. 161). Even happinessis painful. Like

Laurence,Monique suffers from loss of appetite: `Parfoisj'avale un toast, pour avoir la

paix. Mais les boucheesne pas'

passent (p. 193. `Dimanche 6 decembre.
'). Her weight

loss is emblematic of her suffering (Diana: `Oh! comme vous avez maigri! ' p. 233). Not

until months later doesMonique note in her diary, `j'arrive ä manger un peu' (p. 239.

`23fevrier'). More foregroundedin the text is Monique's constantbleeding that lasts

sometwenty-three days.The bleeding is noted in a restrainedtone, gathering its

symbolic power from reiteration: `J'ai recommenceä saignerce matin, quinze jours plus

tot queje ne l'aurais dü' (p. 233. `31janvier. '). It is a metaphor for her loss of self,

analogousto Laurence'svomiting: `Je continue ä saigner.Si ma vie pouvait s'echapper

de moi sansquej'aie le moindre effort ä faire pour ra! ' (p. 235. `6fevrier, puis sans

date.'); `Je continue ä saigner.J'ai peur' (p. 237). Monique's self is seepingaway. Not

until the diary entry for the twenty-third of February do we read: `L'hemorragie s'est

(p. 239) 49
arretee'

In `Monologue', the body is an expressionof Murielle's hurt, the site where she

projects her anger and disappointment. And for Murielle, the body equates with

perverted sexuality. Murielle's monologuereturns obsessivelyto images of sex. Sex is

consistently associatedwith dirt and disgust. The text is as much an instanceof

coprophilia (morbid pleasurein dung/ filth), as a caseof coprolalia (obsessiveuse of

obscenelanguage).`Monologue' is shocking for the obscenity and violence of its

language.The whole text is hyperbolic, excessive.It confutes Murielle's claim to have

49This metaphorof bleeding as loss of self is taken up and developedby Marie Cardinal in Les Mots
pour
le dire, Paris: Grasset,1975.Her heroine's bleeding stops as she rebuilds her personality/ self in
psychotherapy.
 127

renouncedsex: `ca ne m'interesseplus je suis barreeje ne penseplus jamais ices

lä
choses pas meme en reve' (p. 105). Sex permeatesthe story. Murielle seessex

everywhere.One of her earliest childhood memories is filtered through the sordid lens

that distorts all Murielle's perceptions;sheremembersone fourteenth of July: `Papa

perchait Nanard sur son epaulepour qu'il voie le feu d'artifice et moi la grandeje restais

par terre presseeentre leurs corpsjuste ä la hauteur de leur sexedaps l'odeur de sexe de

cette foule en chaleur [...]' (p. 88). Sex is animal. Murielle is deprived of the light/ joy/

excitementthat her brother is lifted up to see.Murielle's disgust is focusedon her

mother. She her

accuses of incest with Nanard: `Elle le prenait Bansson lit le matin je

lei entendait se chatouiller [...] eile sebaladait ä travers son bordel de chambreä moitie

Apoil dans son peignoir de soie blanchetache et troue de brülures de cigarettesil se

collait ä sescuisses' (pp. 88-9); `quandeile faisait semblantde se doucherc'etait pour

montrer son cul ä Nanard. Son fils son gendre:ca donneenvie de degobiller' (p. 106).

Murielle is also convinced that her mother seducedMurielle's first husbandand

manipulatedher into marrying him: `eile assuraitsesplaisirs et mon malheur' (p. 105).

Shevisualisesthe sex act in violent terms, preoccupiedby animality and filth:

C'est eile qui l'a harponneau cours de gymnastiqueet eile se fest envoyecrado
comme eile etait ca n'avait Tiende ragoütantde se la farcir mais avec les hommes
qui lui etaientpassessur le corps eile devait en connaitredestrues et des machins
c'etait le genreä se mettre ä cheval sur le mecje la vois d'ici c'est tellement
degueuxla facon dont les bonnesfemmesbaisent.
('Monologue', p. 105.)

Murielle is reluctant to namethe female genitalia although shemight have chosenfrom

an available repertoire of obsceneterms. Instead,they figure as an empty space,a filthy

gap: `fette momie ca donne le frisson d'imaginer son entrejambeseile degouline de

parfums mais par en dessouseile sent [...] eile ne se lavait pas [...]' (pp. 105-6). The

term `momie' addsovertonesof putrefaction. The sameemphasison animality and filth

 128

recurs in Murielle's recollection of Albert's infidelity: `Il dansait avecNina sexe ä sexe

eile etalait sesgros seinseile puait le parfum mais on sentait en dessousune odeur de

bidet et lui qui tremoussaitil bandait commeun cerf (p. 91). Such is Murielle's

the is
obsession, past reenactedin the presentas she imagines the scenein the party in

the flat upstairs:

Je les vois d'ici c'est trop degueuxils se frottent Fun contre 1'autresexeä sexeca
les fait mouiller les bonnesfemmeselles se rengorgentparce que le type a la
queueen l'air. Et chacunseprepareä cocufier son meilleur ami satres chere arnie
ils le feront cette nuit meme dansla lalle de bains meme pas allongesla robe
retrousseesur les fessessuantesquandon ira pisser on marcheradansle foutre
comme chez Rose la nuit de mon eclat.
('Monologue', p.91.)

Mizrielle's hurt and senseof betrayal is evident in her bitter irony, `satres chere arnie'.

In Murielle's delusion, Sylvie's suicide must also be linked in someway to what she

defines as pervertedsex. She suspectsSylvie of having a sexualrelationship with her

S°
teacher,a woman, conjecturesthat shemay have beenpregnantor that `eile etait

tombee dansles pattesd'une gouine ou sur une bandede debauchesquelqu'un abusait

d'elle [...]' (p. 113). For Murielle, the `salehistoire' behind the suicide can only be sex.

Murielle's needto sleepand the fact that shemust take her sleepingdrug in

suppository form make up a constantrefrain in the story. The imagesusedto express

this are sexualand obscene.Sheaccusesthe doctor of sadism: `Jene peux pas me

bourrer comme un canon' (p. 88). This is an appropriation and reversalof a phallic

image.

Murielle's obsessivethoughts of sex are matchedby her equally obsessivefears

of contamination,abhorrenceof dirt associatedwith physicality. Sheaffirms her purity

in the face of accusationsthat sheherself is corrupt: `ignoble' (p. 89); `«Tu as de la boue

dansla tete.»' (p. 106); 'Ils me couvraient de boue [...]' (p. 114). Risks of

soSee`Monologue', La Femmerompue, pp. 98 and,

especially, 113.
 129

contamination, infection are everywhere;Murielle's thoughts slip naturally from being

sickenedto being sick:

Its me rendentmaladej'ai la bouchepäteuseet ca m'epouvante ces deux petits

boutons sur ma cuisse.Je fais attentionje ne mangeque desproduits de regime
mais il ya tout de meme des gensqui tripotent avec des mains plus ou moins
propres ca n'existe pas l'hygiene sur cette terre l'air est pollue pas seulementä
causedes autos et des usinesmais ä causede cesmillions de bouchessalesqui
l'avalent et le recrachentdu matin au soir; quandje pensequeje baigne dansleur
haleinej'ai envie de fuir au fond du desert;comment se garderun corps propre
dansun monde aussi degueuxon est contaminepar tous les pores de la peauet
pourtantj'etais sainenetteje ne veux pas qu'ils m'infectent.
('Monologue', p. 95.)

Sherefusesto travel: `Des draps douteux des nappessalesdormir dansla sueurdes

autresdansleur crassemanger avec des couvertsmal laves il ya de quoi attraperdes

morpions ou la verole et les odeursme font vomir' (p. 107). The picturesqueis sordid:

`de la crassequi pue du linge saledestrognons de chou' (p. 107). Excrement is the

ultimate foulness that preoccupiesMurielle: shepictures her corpsecovered in faeces(p.

96); shetells othersthat `ils pataugentdans la merde' (p. 106); `les femmesc'est toutes

des furriers' (p. 106); it is an obstacleto her being away from home: je me constipe ä

mort parce que les chiottes oü tout le monde chie ca me bloque net; la fraternitb de la

merde tres peu pour moi' (p. 107). Her obsessionwith contamination is all

encompassing:`Si j'etais la terre ca me degoüteraittoute cette vermine sur mon dos je la

secouerais'(p. 103). It is not surprisingthat Murielle's fixation should be accompanied

by compulsive cleaning. She is concernedthat Tristan and Francis will messup her

lounge during their visit (p. 92) and her thoughts return automatically to her obsession:

je descendraiacheterdespetits fours que Francis ecraserasur la moquette il casseraun

de mes bibelots il n'est pas dressecet enfant et maladroit comme son pere qui foutra de

la cendrepartout [...]' (p. 101). For Murielle, the cleanlinessof her flat is the outward

sign of the inner purity shepretendsto: `Il est impeccableen ce moment ce salon net
 130
lustre brillant comme la lure d'autrefois' (p. 101). Sheand her flat are identified with

the former untaintednessof the moon.

Clusters of imagesrelating to ageingbodies can be found in all the texts under

consideration.In Simone de Beauvoir's fiction, ageing bodies are connotednegatively,

associatedwith distasteand evenrepulsion/ disgust. This is particularly the casewhen it

to 51 In L'Invitee, Dominique faces old agewith dread. She studiesher

comes sexuality.

mirror for signs of ageing, disturbedby the deterioration she seesaround her eyesand

on her neck (p. 16). Her neck acquiressymbolic weight in the text. Facedwith Gilbert's

rejection and the news that he is to marry a twenty year old, Dominique becomes

hysterical: `Elle eclatede rire, la tete renverseeen arriere, appuyeecontre le dossier du

fauteuil; eile rit, eile rit, l'oeil fixe, toute blanche,et sousla peaudu cou de grosses

cordessaillent, c'est soudainun cou de tres vieille femme' (p. 114). Dominique's neck

condensesher ageand everything that means.It is a motif repeatedwhen Laurencegoes

to her mother after Gilbert's physical abuse,when `comme 1'autrejour, la tete renversee

en arriere, les yeux au plafond, des sanglotsgonflent son cou aux cordesraidies' (p.

123). The idea of growing old alone horrifies her: `Vieille et seule:c'est atroce' (p.

115). It is a theme that is developpedin `L'Age de discretion' and `La Femmerompue'.

The women protagonists' relationship with their ageingbodies is problematical. The

woman in `L'Age de discretion' acknowledgesthat sheno longer has the sameeasy

relationship with her body, and is seeminglyuntroubled by this:

Et voila! Moins je me reconnaisdansmon corps,plus je me sensobligee de m'en

occuper.Il est ä ma chargeet je le soigne avec un devouementennuye,comme un
vieil ami un peu disgracie,un peu diminue qui aurait besoin de moi.
(`L'Age de discretion', p. 21.)

s' In her very stimulating article `Transgressingthe (In)cont(in)ent Boundaries:The Body in Decline'
(Yale French Studies,72,1986 pp. 181-200),Elaine Marks arguesthat, in Simone de Beauvoir's
writing, `sexuality emergesthrough discourseson ag[e]ing and that the uncontrollable body in decline
is a body manifesting its sexuality' (p. 183).
 131
Her attitude to sex is ambivalent; sheappearsto despiseIrene for being `capablede

dechainements'but is forced to reassessher own situation: `La sexualitepour moi

n'existe plus. J'appelais serenitecetteindifference; soudainje l'ai compriseautrement:

c'est une infumite, c'est la perte d'un seas;eile me rend aveugleaux besoins,aux

douleurs, auxjoies de ceux qui le possedent'(p. 27). When they quarrel over Philippe,

the fact that she and Andre no longer have a sexualrelationship proves to be a further

obstacleto their making up: `[...] jadis nous avions au lit des reconciliations fougueuses;

dans le desir, le trouble, le plaisir, les griefs oiseux etaient calcines;nous nous

retrouvions en face Pun de 1'autre,neufs et joyeux. Maintenant nous etions prives de ce

recours' (p. 48). Alone in Paris, the woman begins to reassesswhat growing old means

to her. Shehas always beenflattered when people told her how young shewas; now she

seesit as a double edgedcompliment, `qui annoncede penibles lendemains': `Je ne suis

pasjeune, je suis bien conservee,

c'est tres different. Bien conservee,
et peut-titre finie'

(p. 62)52 The revelation that sheis old is devastating:`Inutile. Les Grecsappelaient

leurs vieillards des frelons. «Inutile frelon», se dit Hecube dansLes Troyennes.11s'agit

de moi. J'etais foudroyee' (p. 63). When the woman joins Andre in Villeneuve, her

awarenessof her body is transformed; she follows Andre fearfully, hesitatingly down

the slopeto the pool where he swims; shedeclinesto swim, reluctant to exposeher `old

woman's body' even to Andre; and when it comesto climbing back up the slope in

intenseheat, she strugglesto catchher breath and make her legs obey her. Alone in her

room later, sherevisesher position:

J'avais dit ä Andre: «je ne vois pas ce qu'on perd ä vieillir. » Eh bien! maintenant,
je voyais. J'ai toujours refuse d'envisager la vie ä la maniere de Fitzgerald comme
«un processusde degradation. [...] Mon corps,je ne m'en inquietais pas. [...]
Quelle illusion! [...] Mon corps me lächait. [...] [La degringolade]etait amorce.Et
maintenant,ce serait tres rapide et tres lent: nous allions devenir de grands
vieillards.

52In L'Invitee, the

notion of well preservedwomen has pejorative overtones.Seep. 176.

Yk
 132
(`L'Age de discretion', pp. 71-2.)

In `Monologue', Murielle's disgust at sexuality which is focussedon her mother

is magnified by her mother's age.Murielle believes, in line with popular prejudice, that

no one should indulge in sex after fifty. She imagines her mother may have gigolos and

finds the idea of her making love repugnant.53 She is repelled at the idea of her mother's

body: `fette momie ca donne le frisson d'imaginer son entrejambes [...]' (p. 105).

According to Murielle's dementedlogic, her mother's age was related to the fact that

shehad to palm her lover off on Murielle: `Elle etait trop vioque pour le gardereile s'est

servie de moi ils ricanaient dansmon dos [...]' (p. 105).

Monique is awarethat her body is ageing but is not unduly concerned.She

remembersan incident that happenedon the beach in Greecetwo years earlier. Maurice

had told her: `«Achete-toi dons un maillot d'une piece.» Je sais,je savais:un peu de

cellulite sur les cuisses,le ventre plus tout A fait plat. Mais je pensaisqu'il s'en fichait'

(p. 191). He defendedthe right of older women to feel the sun and fresh air on their

bodies and Monique felt that what shewas doing did not bother anyone; shedid not buy

the one piece swim suit! She is shockedbut also somewhatdetached/indifferent when

she seesherself in the mirror somemonths later: `[...] queje suis laide! que mon corps

est disgracieux! Sur mes photos d'il ya deux ans,je me trouve plaisante. Sur celles de

Fan dernierje n'ai pas 1'air si mal, mais ce sont des photos d'amateur. Est-ce le malheur

de ces cinq mois qui m'a changee?Ou ai-je commenceä degringoler depuis longtemps

dejä?' (p. 240). Monique encountersimagesof her ageingbody as shemight encounter

a stranger,or, as the woman in `L'Age de discretion' says,'comme un vieil ami un peu

disgracie' (p. 21).

53Dominique in Les Belles imagesbelieves she is

suspectedof having gigolos (p. 178).
 133
In summary,the body informs all the texts. A metaphor for the self, the body is

generally a site of pain where the mental and emotional suffering of madnessare reified.

Physical symptomsare badges/tokensof disintegration and loss of self. Ageing bodies

in the later fiction can exemplify this process.Body imagery is hyperbolic in keeping

with the intensity of the women protagonists' distress.

The texture of all the books is sombre.Imagery of pain and distressforms the

denseweave of the texts. Yet running through them, in the weave, is a thread of

poignant imagery. Theseimages are the evocation of something lost, of a fleeting

moment of joy or of somethingout of reachand their effect is poignant. They provide

the measureof the characters'presentunhappiness.Light and water are common motifs.

Franroiseexperiences
anunexpected of
sense oneness
with Xavierein a danceclub:

Et brusquement,Francoisese trouva comblee,eile aussi;eile n'etait plus rien,

qu'une femme noyee dansune foule, une miniscule parcelle du monde, et toute
entieretenduevers cette infamepaillette blonde dont eile n'etait meme pas capable
de se saisir; mais danscette abjection oü elle etait tombee,voila que lui etait
donne ce qu'elle avait souhaiteen vain six mois plus tot, au sein du bonheur: cette
musique,cesvisages,ceslumieres se changeaienten regret, en attente,en amour,
ils se confondaientavec eile et donnaientun sensirremplacableä chaque
battementde son coeur. Son bonheuravait eclate,mais il retombait tout autour
d'elle en une pluie d'instants passionnes.
(L'Invitee,p. 314.)

Francoiseexperiencesa boundary softening moment that deepensrather than threatens

her senseof self. It is a fleeting fulfilment of her desirefor oneness.Light and water

figure prominently. The glittering sequin that represents the promise that Xaviere holds

for Franroise is matchedby the shardsof glass,the metaphorfor Francoise's shattered

happiness,catching the light as they fall like raindrops, beautiful but with the power to

wound. The moment is brief. Francoisewould like to hold on to it but doesnot know

how. (The idea of separatingfrom Xaviere fills her with anxiety. Back in Xaviere's

hotel room their leave-takingis awkward: `- Je vais vous laisser,dit Francoise.Elle se

 134
leva, sa gorge etait serree,mais il n'y avait rien d'autre ä faire: eile n'avait rien su faire

d'autre' (p. 316). As she reachesthe door she impulsively takes Xaviere into her arms in

what she comesto think of as `un gestede tendresseinutile'. )

In Les Belles Images Laurencehas an experiencesimilar to Francoise's.She

feels an unexpectedsenseof onenesson a balcony, high up, overlooking Paris:

Laurences'immobilise; le temps soudains'estarrete.Derriere ce paysageconcerte,

avec routes, sesgrandsensembles,seslotissements,les voitures qui sehätent,
quelque chosetransparait,dont la rencontreest si emouvantequ'elle oublie les
soucis, les intrigues, tout: eile nest plus qu'une attente sanscommencement ni fin.
L'oiseau chante,invisible, annoncantle lointain renouveau.Une roseurtrain ä
l'horizon et Laurenceresteun long moment paralyseepar un emoi mysterieux.
(Les Belles Images,p. 126.)

Characteristically,positive momentsin the later fiction are encounteredwhen

protagonistsfind themselvesin an elevatedposition. Positive images in Les Belles

54
Images are generally associatedwith Laurence'schildhood. Light is a dominant motif.

As Laurence,Jean-Charlesand the children drive away from Feuverollesone evening,

Laurenceexperiencesa senseof well-being: `Une odeur de feuilles mortes entre par la

fenetre ouverte; les etoiles brillent dansun ciel d'enfanceet Laurencese sent soudain

tout ä fait bien' (p. 19). The smell of deadleavesis evocative, adding to the nostalgia

evinced. Colour, light and movementare combined in an image of a kaleidoscope('un

cylindre de carton, cercle de rayuresbrillantes, qui ressembleä un sucrede pomme

geant'), that excites a childlike senseof wondermentand pleasurein Laurence:

`enchantementdes couleurs et des formes qui se font, se defont, papillotent et se

multiplient dansla fuyante symetrie d'un octogone' (p. 37). When Laurencegoesinto

Louise's bedroom and finds her drawing at her desk, childhood is exemplified in a

I have read with interestTilde A. Sankovitch's work on Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs. In the chapter
on Simone de Beauvoir, entitled `The Giant, the Scapegoat,the Quester', she examinesthe myths that
inform her autobiographicalwriting. The myth of the questershe identifies is the `desireto recapture
childhood and its innocence'. French WomenWriters and the Book. Myths ofAccess and Desire,
Syracuse,New York: SyracuseUniversity Press,1988,pp. 101-21 (p. 117).
 135

poignant recollection: `La piece sombre,avecjuste une petite lampe allumee, les

de
crayons couleur, derriere moi une longuejournee pailletee de petits plaisirs, et le

monde dehors,immenseet mysterieux' (pp. 56-57). The motifs of light and colour are

found once more. And minor delights typified as glittering sequinsrecalls Frangoise's

anticipation of joy in L'Invitee. Light Laurence's

expresses pleasurewhen her father

suggeststhey go on holiday together: `La joie comme un feu d'artifice' (p. 152). `fette

explosion de joie [...]' (p. 153). His invitation is like Laurence's dream come true; she is

afraid it is `trop '

beau... (p. 152). The trip holds out the promise of finding again a lost

intimacy/ onenesswith her father. The fact that he promisesnot to changehis mind

`comme quand eile etait petite' (p. 152) is suggestive.At first during the trip Laurence

doesknow unity but then comesseparationand loss. Laurencehas a feeling of well-

being as the plane leavesParis:

L'avion pique brutalementvers le ciel, je 1'entendscrever les murs de ma prison:

mon etroite vie cemeepar des millions d'autres,dont j'ignore tout. Les grands
ensembleset les petites maisons s'effacent,je survole toutes les clötures, sauvee
de la pesanteur;au-dessusde ma tete s'eploie l'espace infiniment bleu, sousmes
pieds s'etalent de blancs paysages qui m'eblouissent et qui n'existent pas. Je suis
ailleurs: nulle part et partout.
(Les Belles Images,p. 154.)

The image evokesher senseof spaceand her momentary loss of boundaries,her

experienceof unity/ Her

oneness. is
regression suggestedby her enjoyment of

imaginary landscapesformed by the clouds. This regressionis underlined in Laurence's

accountof the early days of the trip. She delights in her dependenceon her father: `[...]

et papa traduisait les inscrits

caracteres au fronton des bätiments: entree,sortie, poste.

J'aimais retrouver devant cet alphabetle mystere enfantin du langageet que, comme

le
autrefois, sensdes mots et des chosesme vint par lui' (p. 154). She is filled with a

senseof wholenessand congruity:

Sur la place qui a 1'air d'une immenseterrassede cafe papa a commandepour moi
une boisson ä la cerise, fraiche, legere, aigrelette, delicieusementpuerile. Et j'ai su
 136

ce que voulait dire ce mot qu'on lit dannles livres: bonheur. [...] cet accord d'un
ciel bleu et d'un gout fruite, avec le passeet le presentrassemblesdansun visage
Cheret cette paix en moi, je l'ignorais - sauf ä travers de tres vieux souvenirs.le
bonheur: comme une raison que la vie sedonneä elle-meme.
(Les Belles Images,p. 155.)

However, Laurencecannot maintain this symbiotic/ regressedposition. Her critical

senseassertsitself and she must face separationand anguish.

For Murielle in `Monologue', happinessis situatedfirmly in the past when her

father was alive and she was his favourite, his `sacreepetite bonne femme' (p. 88). She

has never recoveredfrom this first loss: `Mon pere m'aimait. Personned'autre. Tout est

venu de lä' (p. 90). Happinessis out of reachfor Murielle. She was deprived of the

light/ joy of the fireworks. Whilst her brother was lifted high to seethe light, shewas

trappedon the ground, closed in by `cettefoule en chaleur' (p. 88). The lost purity and

innocenceof that time is symbolisedby the moon, now soiled and trampled

55In a perversion of the imagesof plenitude/ unity experiencedby Laurence

underfoot.

and the other women protagonistsin La Femmerompue, Murielle's `happy' vision is

looking down on those whom sheholds responsiblefor her plight, moaning as they

roast in hell.

Two of the happiestmoments in `L'Age de discretion' (which recall Laurence's

experienceon the restaurantbalcony) occur when the woman standson the balcony of

her flat to gazeat the view. Her appreciationof what she seesis childlike:

Je suis resteeun long moment sur le balcon. De mon sixieme,je decouvreun

grand morceaude Paris, l'envol des pigeonsau-dessusdestoits d'ardoise, et ces
faux pots de fleurs qui sont des cheminees.Rouge ou jaunes, des grues- cinq,
neuf, dix, j'en compte dix - barrent le ciel de leurs bras de fer; ä droite, mon
regard se heurte ä une haute muraille de
percee petits trous [...].
( `L'Age de discretion', p. 11.)

ssAnne Ophir suggeststhat Murielle adoptsthe

moon as a `feu d'artifice-ersatz' and tracesthe moon-
fireworks link. Regardsfeminin, p. 49.
 137

Note how chimneysare flower pots, the counting out loud of the primary coloured

cranesthat are humanised,the literalnessof the wall with little holes. The effect is

repeatedseveralpageslater: `[...] je suis encoreresteeun long moment sur le balcon.

J'ai regardetourner sur le fond bleu du ciel une grue couleur de minium. J'ai suivi des

yeux un insectenoir qui tracait dans1'azurun large sillon ecumeux et glace' (p. 17).

Here the effect is more self-conscious,strainedalmost. The precise, adult term used for

the red of the cranes,the poetic terms usedto describethe plane's vapour trail clash

somewhatwith the impression of a fresh/ innocent vision of the world. (This is

comparablewith Laurence's childlike pleasurein the imaginary landscapesformed by

)56
the clouds. Happy memoriesare prompted for the woman by the smell of cut grassin

to
the park when she goes meet her friend, Martine: `En entrant dans le jardin, l'odeur

d'herbe coupeema prise au coeur: odeur des alpagesoü je marchais, sacau dos, avec

Andre, si emouvanted'etre l'odeur desprairies de mon enfance' (p. 17). The smell takes

the woman back to in

walks mountain pastures(note elevation) and further back still to

her childhood. The text goeson to evokethe pleasuresof memory in an image that

light and colour: `j'apercois [mon passe]en transparenceau fond du

combineswater,

moment present;il lui donne sa couleur, sa lumiere comme les roches ou les sablesse

refletent Bansle chatoiementde la mer' (p. 17). The impression of joyfulness is

underminedby the poignancy of the woman's addendum:`1'ombre desjours defunts

veloute mes emotions,mes plaisirs'. Clasheshere are disturbing. Not only the

opposition shadowand light, but also the associationof death and thick velvet that

contrastswith transparencyand movement.Movement replicated in the rhythm of the

56A similar techniqueis used to evoke the woman's delirium as, alone in her flat, sheconfronts the
depressionbrought on by a definitive (for now) separationfrom Philippe after an angry quarrel: `Un
rien me fascinait, m'obsedait. Rencontred'un foulard rouge et d'un coussin violet: quand ai-je vu
pour la derni6refois des fuchsias,leur robe d'dv¬que et de cardinal, leur long sexe fr¬le? le volubilis
lumineux, la simple eglantine, le chCvrefeuilledchevelb,les narcisses,ouvrant dans leur blancheur de
 138
beginning of the quotation contrastswith the slow, insistent rhythm of its final words.

Progressively,the discrepancybetweenthe woman's myth and her experience,hinted at

here, will impose itself. 57 When the womanjoins Andre in Villeneuve, sheresponds

wistfully to the landscape,

to its sights and smells, `eauverte, ciel bleu, odeur de

maquis' (p. 69), as if she were apart from it, an outsider. She realisesshewould have

beenbetter off there if only Andre had wanted her there; it is as if the landscapemirrors

and embodiesthe distanceshe feels has come betweenherself and Andre. She excludes

herself from the happinessrepresentedby the greenpool where Andre swims freely and

(p. 69). 58
unselfconsciously

Transparencyreappearsin `La Femmerompue' in evocationsof joy.

Unexpectedly,at a New Year's Eve party, Monique feels lighthearted and happy: `La

gaiete: une transparencede fair, une fluidite du temps, une facilite ä respirer;je n'en

demandaispas plus' (p. 218). Her momentarycheerfulnessone evening is expressed

metaphorically as But
transparency. her moment of well-being is ephemeral;she

the
reexperiences anguish of self doubt as shetries to imagine what Maurice thinks of

her. Happinessin `La Femme rompue' is representedmetaphorically as a blue sky.

When Maurice tells Monique there is anotherwoman in his life, the dialogue is

interrupted by a vivid memory of the moment when they promised they would be

faithful to eachother: `(Tout etait bleu au-dessusde notre tete et sousnos pieds; on

apercevaitä travers le detroit la cote africaine. [...])' (p. 131). The samemotif recurs,the

grands yeux etonnes,quand?' (p. 57). This description of flowers suggestsa drug induced obsession
with detail.
57Smells are powerful vehicles for emotion in `L'Age de discretion'. The changein the woman's frame
of mind is figured by two opposing images of roses.Early in the story, the library is full of the scent
of `un gros bouquet de rosesfraiches et naives comme des laitues' (p. 11). Later, in the garden in
Villeneuve, `les rosesmeutries par le soleil exhalaientune odeur poignante comme une plainte' (p.
66).
s$Anne Ophir offers an interesting reading of this image, suggestingthat the
pool is a symbol of the
maternal and that Andrd undergoesa form of rebirth in the pool. Regardsfeminin, p. 31. Ellen
Moeurs exploresthe feminine symbolism of landscapesin Chapter 11, `Metaphors: A Postlude', in
Literary Women,pp. 243-64.
 139

evocation of something lost, as Monique watchesMaurice leave to join Noellie for the

weekend.Again interrupted by a memory: `Il faisait un tendre ciel d'ete, au-dessusdes

derniersfeuillages d'automne. (La pluie d'or des feuilles d'acacia, sur une route rose et

grise, en revenantde Nancy) (p. 150). The small wooden statuettethat Monique and

Maurice had bought together in Egypt, comesto symbolise the happiness/love that

Monique has lost. Devastated,shesobswhen Quillan, a man shecontemplateshaving a

sexualliaison with, accidentally/ symbolically breaksthe statuettein two (p. 170). Later

sheprojects her feelings onto the statuette:`Je regardema statuetteegyptienne:eile s'est

tres bien recollee.Nous l'avons acheteeensemble.Elle etait toute penetreede tendresse,

dü bleu du ciel. Elle est lä, nue, desolee.je la prend dansmes mains et je pleure' (p.

232). `Monique has a dream at the height (depth?) of her breakdown/ crisis in which the

colour blue figures her lost happiness:`L'autre nuit, en reve,j'avais une robe bleu ciel

et le ciel etait bleu' (p. 237). There are childlike overtonesin the simplicity of the syntax

here. (Readersare reminded of the blue sky at Sylvie's funeral in `Monologue' (p. 99).

The blue sky/ sunshinethrow into relief Murielle's misery.)

There is a further cluster of imagesthat intersectswith the seriesof poignant

imagesjust examined.They are imagesof danceand performancethat figure moments

when charactersare open to surgesof semiotic energy and an experienceof merging but

when the balancetips too far and the integity is 59

of their personality endangered.

Potentially positive momentsin the texts shift to negative. One of the central images in

Les Belles Images is that of the little Greek girl's dance.Significantly, the dance is

performed in a cafe overlooking a valley, under a vast, starlit sky. Laurencewatchesthe

little girl: `eile tournait sur elle-meme,les bras souleves,le visage noye d'extase, l'air.

tout A fait folle. Transporteepar la musique,eblouie, grisee,transfiguree,eperdue' (p.

59For an explanation of `semiotic energy', see

my Introduction and ChapterThree.
 140
158). The child is ecstatic,carried away by the music. The term `folle' (repeatedlater

when Laurenceremembersthe child as `1'enfantfolle de musique', p. 174) has

inescapableconnotationsof madnessas well as extravagance.For Laurenceit is a

boundary melting moment; sheidentifies with the dancer: `Moi aussij'etais possedee

par cette enfant que la musique possedait.Cet instant passionnen'aurait pas de fin' (p.

158). She experiencesa moment out of time. In a suddenshift in the text the little girl is

transformedin Laurence's imagination: `Petite condamneeä mort, affreusemort sans

cadavre.La vie allait l'assassiner' (p. 158). Laurenceidentifies the little dancerwith her

daughter, Catherine. As Elizabeth Fallaize argues, the little dancing girl represents

Laurence's `dim perception of a different way forward for Catherine'.60A future where

feeling and self expression,however risky they may be, are nurtured not repressed.

This danceat the heart of Les Belles Imagesthat is connectedto Laurence's

senseof identity, is a point of intersectionwith L Invitee. Dance in particular and

performancegenerally are key motifs in that book. Dancing in L Invitee is also linked to

momentswhich weaken boundaries,when charactersare subjectto powerful feelings.

There are the two key performancesin the Spanishnight-club, the danceand the poem,

during which Xaviere deliberately burns herself and entersa trance like stateand during

which Francoiseexperiencesthe horror of engulfment and loss of self (pp. 353-55 and

362-65). Theseincidents are foreshadowedearly in the novel as Francoiseand Xaviere

(`fascinee') watch the dancerin the Moorish cafe (pp. 21-22) and when later, in a night-

club, Xaviere herself dances`la tete un peu rejeteeen arriere, le visage extatique' (p.

36). Francoise'sexperiencein the Spanishnight-club is foreshadowedwhen, during

Paule's first performanceat the Christmasparty, she comesto the shocking realisation

`- Je ne suis personne' (p. 184). Her senseof identity is precarious,her boundary

60Fallaue, TheNovels, 134.

p.
 141

tenuous: `fette femme eile 1'avait laisseepousserau hasard,sanslui imposer de

contours' (p. 184). When Paule dancesagain, Francoiseis torn by the recognition that in

her relationship with Pierre shehas not the symbiosis she desires.Again, during Paule's

performance,Xaviere appearsto be in an ecstatic trance,just as she will be in the

61
Spanishnight-club JaneHeath arguesthat the performancesin the Spanishnight-club

are characteristicof the Kristevan semiotic; in eachperformanceit is rhythm and

that 2 The be to the dance in

movement prompts a response. sameargument can applied

Les Belles Images.Exposureto the forces of the semiotic is destabilising. In my view,

the significance of thesemomentsresidesin their power to remove protective barriers.

Charactersare open to experiencesof merging/ onenesswhich can endangertheir sense

of self rather than allow them a fleeting fulfilment of their desire for unity.

The imagery in L'Invitee, in Les Belles Images and in the stories collected in La

Femmerompue, is an imagery of madness.Clustersof imagesform a rich symbolic

landscapethat transmits the women protagonists' experienceof madness.To a large

extent, the imagery accountsfor the tone of the texts, a tone at once sombreand

hyperbolic. Running through the bleak, desperatelandscape,a streamof nostalgic

imagesevoke a senseof the well-being and happinessthat now eludesthe women.

There is a notable affinity betweenthe symbolic landscapesof the early and later

fiction. Imagesfirst found in the extravagantGothic text of L'Invitee, persist in the later

fiction. Embeddedmore sparselyin the text, they neverthelessretain traces of excess.

Simone de Beauvoir's imagery voices the inexpressiblepain and isolation of madness.

61It is worth noting that Francoise'sexperienceof onenessdiscussedaboveoccured while she watched

Xavibre dance.Interestingly, Francoiseclaims not to enjoy dancing herself and early in the novel is
reluctant to dance(seepp. 34 and 37). Shedefines herself as `une femme qui ne sait pas danser' (p.
180). As the novel progresses,her determinationnot to dancerelents. For other instancesof the
dancing motif in L'Invitee, seealso pp. 179-80,185-86,277-79,302,310-12,339.
62Heath, pp. 31-32.
 142
Chapter Three

Instability and Incoherence

This chapterwill examine the textual strategiesthat disrupt and unsettlethe narrativesof

L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femmerompue. The disruption and instability in

its It
the text which subvert coherenceconstitute madness. is specifically the way in

which madnessis a quality of the telling of the stories, of the text (the discoursethat

'
tells the story), that is my subjecthere.

I want to look at how Simonede Beauvoir's texts duplicate the `dedoublement'

and disintegration of senseof self experiencedby characterson the brink of madness

and how notions of identity as fixed and stableare undermined. Characterfunction, not

characteras such,will be the centre of interest. In I

particular, shall explore the way in

which characterdoubles are used. I shall also consider other textual strategiesthat

introduce instability into the narrative and unsettlemeaning. I shall then go on to

the
analyse particular textual strategiesthat disrupt the fiction and introduce incoherence

into the narratives.Firstly, temporal incoherenceand the distortion of time will be

Focus
considered. will then shift to textual fragmentation and interruption and

incoherence.Finally, I shall treat disrupted syntax.2

Julia Kristeva has identified a number of featureswhich disrupt and destabilise

the text under the influence of semiotic drives. Shearguesthat semiotic energy is

in
expressed a variety of ways affecting rhythm, languageand meaning. A number of

I am adopting the definitions proposedby Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. I understand`story' to be a

successionof events. `Text' refers to the discoursethat tells the story. `Narration' (not treated here) is
the processof production of the text. SeeNarrative Fiction, pp. 3-4.
2Although theseaspectsof Simonede Beauvoir's writing practice might be illustrated by a close reading
of all the texts under consideration,the textual strategiesbeing presentto a greater or lesserextent in
L'Invitee, Les Belles images,and in the three stories in La Femmerompue, in each caseI have opted
to considera particular feature in just one, two, or sometimesthree, texts that best exemplify it. I do
not discuss'L'Age de discretion' here but the disruptive textual strategiesin question are by no means
absentfrom the leasttransgressivetext of my corpus.
 143
the `mad' textual strategiesI am concernedwith in this chaptercoincide with-these

features.Deviations from conventional syntax which disrupt the signifying order are

characteristicof such writing. Ruptures,absences

and breaksin symbolic language

reveal semiotic tension in a text. Likewise, any irregularity, modulation or rhythm

which disrupts the anticipated structureof the text is evidenceof semiotic activity. In

this connection,Kristeva mentionsthe use of exclamationmarks, ellipses, and surgesin

energy evoking panting, breathlessness

or acceleration.In addition, an apparentlack of

logical construction is, as Toril Moi points out, evidencethat the semiotic has broken

through `the strict rational defencesof conventional social meaning'. Kristeva also

considersthe inclusion of plural meaningswithin a text to signal that semiotic energy is

4
disrupting the text The is also called into question by disrupted texts
reader'sposition

that refuse to corroboratetheir position as unified, masterful subjects.

Notwithstanding Simone de Beauvoir's rejection of her ideas, Helene Cixous'

theories on ecriturefeminine intersectwith Simone de Beauvoir's writing practice. A

number of the textual strategiesthat constitute the madnessin Simone de Beauvoir's

fiction correspondto aspectsof feminine writing. It is possibleto read her texts as a

challengeto the `rules of (linear) logic, objective meaning,and the single, self-

referential viewpoint decreedby masculinelaw'. Simonede Beauvoir's writing can be

describedas `feminine' to the extentthat it `deconstructsthe `all-powerful, all-knowing

"I"' and calls into question conventionalnotions of characteras a stable,unified

7
construct

3Moi, SexuaVTextual Politics, 11.

p.
`This aspectof Simone de Beauvoir's
writing practice will be treated in depth in ChapterFour. It is
relevant here insofar as ambiguousnarrative situations and multiple focalisation generateplural
meanings.
This is discussedin relation to languageand meaning in ChapterFour.
6Sellers, Susan,Language
and SexualDifference.- Feminist Writing in France, London: Macmillan,
1991, p. 144.
7Sellers,Language
and SexualDifference, p. 145.
 144
To begin then, I will considerthe treatmentof identity in Simone de Beauvoir's

fiction. Conventional definitions of identity as fixed and stableare called into question.

Characterswho find themselvesat the limits of sanity are threatenedby a loss of

identity as their personalitiesdisintegrate.This processand the `dedoublement'they

experience,is duplicated on a textual level. One of the ways in which the integrity of

is in is
character undermined the text the use of characterdoubles, 8
mirrored characters.

In L'Invitee readersencounteran interlacing of mirrored characters.Although

the narrative foregroundsthe unity of Francoiseand Pierre, this is constantly undercut

(in many ways Francoiseand Pierre are a pseudo-duo)and the text substitutesthe

Elisabeth 9
Fräncoise/ pair. Simonede Beauvoir draws our attention to her use of

characterdoubles in
and, particular, to the connectionbetweenFrancoiseand Elisabeth,

in her memoirs. Shenotes:

Je remarqueque dapsla plupart de mes romansj'ai place ä cote des heroiines

centralesun repoussoir:Denise s'opposea Helene dansLe Sang des autres, Paule
ä Anne dansLes Mandarins. Mais la relation de Francoiseä Elisabeth est plus
etroite: la secondeest une inquietantecontestationde la premiere.
(La Force de 1'äge,footnote 1, p. 350.)

Elisabeth is more than a foil to Francoise.Elisabeth representsa challengeto Francoise

in as much as `eile [Francoise]voyait en eile comme une parodie d'elle meme: mais par

$Of course,the text doesnot

simply presenta pre-existing fixed identity but charactersconstruct
themselves/are constuctedby their narratives.In `La Femmerompue', Monique writes her diary
precisely in order to forge an identity, to discover who she is. Aware that her diary is not a repository
of absolutetruth, she continuesto keep it all the same:`J'ai repris mon stylo non pour revenir en
arri6re mais parce que le vide btait si immenseen moi, autour de moi, qu'il fallait ce gestede ma main
pour m'assurer quej'6tais encorevivante' (p. 223). The processof characterconstruction is referred
to explicitly in the text. Monique's psychiatrist insists that shewrites her diary and she is in no doubt
as to his reasoning: `il essaiede me rendre de 1'intbretpour moi-m@me,de me restituer mon identit6'
(p. 239). In L'Invitee, Francoise'sidentity dependson her grasping narrative supremacyand
eliminating Xavi6re and with her 'cette femme detesteequi dtait ddsormaisFrancoise' (p. 500),
jalouse, traltresse,criminelle' (p. 500). Frangoiseclaims the right to determinewho she is, to tell her
own story. Harold WardmandiscussesFrancoise'sdesire `to be the omniscient narrator of her own
life and of the lives of others' in `Self-Coincidenceand Narrative in L'Invitee', EssaysIn French
Literature, 19,1982,87-103.
9JaneHeath discussesthe
relationship betweenPierre and Francoise,arguing convincingly that Pierre
acts as a mirror for Frangoise.Heath, p. 26.
 145
lui question sa (p. 350).10At
moment cette caricature semblait mettre en propre verite'

the sametime, Simone de Beauvoir affirms that Francoiseand Elisabeth are essentially

different in that, unlike Elisabeth,`il etait rare que Francoises'inquietät de ce vide

installe au coeur de toute creaturehumaine' (p. 350). Theseassertionsappearto be

somewhatcontradictory and imprecision is increasedbecauseof the proliferation of

third personpronouns in the last but one quotation. We know that Simone de Beauvoir

deal herself in I
Francoise. I She tells in La Force de 1'äge that she
put a great of also us

important aspectsof herself to Elisabeth: `Elle cedait ä ce vertige quej'avais connu

gave

A cote de Zaza [...]; la verite du mondeet de son titre meme appartenaitä d'autres: ä

Pierre, A Francoise' (p. 350). There are distinct echoeshere of the interpretation Simone

de Beauvoir gives of the murder. Shetells us that Francoise(like Simone de Beauvoir

herself) is threatenedby the dangerthat `autrui pouvait non seulementlui voler le

de
monde, mais s'emparer son etre et 1'ensorceler'(p. 347). Despite this essential

affinity, Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs focus attention on what them.

separates In

the differences betweenFrancoiseand Elisabeth, it is as if Simone de Beauvoir

stressing

to the
sought preserve positive in herself (that is, what she fords for
acceptable)

Francoise (her alter ego) whilst distancing herself from the negative that is projected

onto 12
Elisabeth:

10Brosman also refers to the fact that Simonede Beauvoir calls Elizabeth a challengeand a foil, `un
I
repoussoir'. cannot agreewith Brosman's interpretation of the challenge that Elizabeth representsto
Francoise.Shewrites: `[Elizabeth] is the portrait of a failure - what the heroine doesnot want to
become.An aspiring painter, Elizabeth is unconvincing as a potential artist, either becauseBeauvoir
wanted to portray failure or becauseshewas unable to draw the portrait of any artist except herself,
projected onto Francoise. [...] In a classicillustration of bad faith, she attemptsto fool herself into
believing that her lover, Claude,who no longer even desiresher, will divorce his wife'. Simone de
Beauvoir Revisited,pp. 53-4. This interpretation is basedon a misreading of the text. Elizabeth is in
fact a successfulartist. The fact that shecannot enjoy her successis part of her tragedy, seepp. 88,
237,271. Elizabeth doesnot persist in her hopesthat Claudewill leave his wife, seebelow and p. 271.
"In La Force de 1'Oge,Simone de Beauvoir writes: `J'adoptai d'ordinaire le
point de vue de Frangoiseä
quije pretai, ä travers d'importantes transpositions,ma propre experience' (p. 347); and explaining
why Pierre is not, perhaps,a fully rounded character.`J'ai mis en Frangoisetrop de moi-meme pour la
Tierä un homme qui We-at 6t6 Ctranger[...]' (p. 351).
12Inher discussionof the amoureuse,Toril Moi points to Simone de Beauvoir's
efforts to distance
charactersresembling herself from madness.Simonede Beauvoir, p. 218.
 146
I
As shall show, Elisabeth bearsthe burden of Francoise's darker side. She is the

negative mirror image of Francoise,constructedin opposition to her as Francoise's evil

double. Furthermore,Francoise's`madness'(that is, the way in which her psychic

is threatened)is in the text and projected onto Elisabeth. It is her

stability underplayed

mauvaisefoi, not Francoise'sthat is underlined. However, at the sametime as they are

opposed,they are intimately connectedon a textual level by sharedimagery and lexis

and the to the

attempt separate two charactersfails. In constructing Francoiseand

Elisabeth as characterdoublesthe text underminesthe demoniac/benign dichotomy.

For if Elisabeth is constructedas demoniac,textual inter-referencesand interferences

mike it impossible to sustainthe image of Francoiseas blamelessvictim. The sane/

insanedichotomy is also undermined.Elisabeth's emotional and mental instability is

by imagesthat, textually Francoisehave in 13

evoked speaking,she and common.

Textual parallels exposeFrancoise'smauvaisefoi that otherwise remainsunnamed.

Theseargumentsfind support in an analysis of the network of sharedimagesand

lexis connectingthe two characters.Firstly, I shall deal with imagesand lexis that evoke

distress.When Francoisetells Xaviere that Elisabeth's problem is that she is

emotional

`tout affolee quand eile regardeau-dedansd'elle-meme parce qu'elle ne trouve que du

vide et du creux' (p. 171), Francoise might well be speaking of herself too. At the

Chrismasparty for example: `Avec un eblouissementdouloureux, Franroise se sentit

transperceed'une lumiere aride et blanchequi ne laissait en eile aucunrecoin d'espoir'

(p. 180). She is no one: `La lumiere qui 1'avait penetreetout ä 1'heurene lui avait

decouvertque du vide' (p. 183). The heart Elisabeth

emptinessat the of existencethat

13Elizabeth is portrayed asmad. Gerbert explicitly questionsher sanity, `de temps en temps il avait
l'impression qu'elle dtait un peu folle' (p. 331), `peut-¬tredtait-elle vraiment en train de devenir folle'
(p. 333). His judgment is upheld throughout the text.
 147
(p. 271) is also experiencedby Francoise.Elisabeth's and Francoise'spanic
experiences

is evoked in analogousterms:

SoudainElisabeth eut un eblouissementde souffrance;eile vit son atelier vide, oü

aucun coup de telephone ne serait plus attendu,le casier vide dans la loge du
le
concierge, restaurantvide, les rues vides. C'etait impossible, eile ne voulait pas
le perdre [...] eile avait besoin de lui pour vivre.
,
(L'Invitee, p. 103.)

L'angoisse qui la [Francoise] saisit soudain etait si violente qu'elle eut presque
envie de crier; c'etait comme si brusquement le monde se fat vide; il n'y avait
plus rien ä craindre, mais plus rien non plus ä aimer. Il n'y avait absolument rien.
[... ] si 1'amitie de Pierre et de Xaviere n'etait qu'un mirage creux, l'amour de
Francoise et de Pierre n'existait pas davantage [... ].
(L'Invitee, p. 159.)14

Elisabeth's mental and emotional distressis repeatedlyevokedby imageswhich match

those associatedwith Francoise.Compare:`Elisabethfut traverseed'une douleur aigue'

(p. 89); `eile allait souffrir tout ce soir encore,eile prevoyait, les frissons, la fievre, la

moiteur des mains, les bourdonnements

dansla tote, eile en etait ecoeurreeä 1'avance'

(p. 90) with the evocation of Francoise'smental and physical suffering that become

conflated: `Satete bourdonnait' (p. 196); `Elle frissonna; eile devait avoir la fievre, ses

mains etaient moites et tout son corps brülait' (p. 211); `ce goüt de fievre dans la

bouche' (p. 15
379). Echoesin the text establishthe correspondencebetweenthe two

women. Elisabeth's `eblouissementde souffrance' (p. 103) is echoedby the `explosion

de souffirance'that Francoisesuffers when sherealisesthat her `hypocrite lächete1'avait

ä
conduite n'etre rien du tout' (p. 359). This in turn echoesElisabeth's realisation that

shehas nothing to hope from Claude: `la verite lui etait apparueclansson intolerable

crudite: c'est par lächete de

qu'elle s'etait nourrie vain espoirs' (p. 271). Elisabeth's

experienceof time - `il n'y avait que desminutes qui s'egouttaientlentement; la

journee s'etait passeedansl'attente de cesheureset cesheuress'ecoulaient a vide, eile

14Seealso 89-90 Elizabeth doubtsthe reality of her love for Claude.

pp. where
13The representationof Francoise'ssuffering is discussedin detail in Chapter One.
 148

n'etaient plus ä leur tour qu'une attente.[...] on etait indefiniment rejete dans1'avenir,

des qu'il devenaitpresent,il fallait fuir [...]' (p. 92) - will find a striking echo in the

evocation of Francoise's existence:`Des attentes,des fuites, toute 1'annees'etait passee

ainsi. [...] Il ne restait aucun salut. On pouvait fuir, mais il faudrait bien revenir, et ce

d'autres attentes,et d'autres fuites, sansfin' (p. 438). Elisabeth's `enfer sordide'
seraient

(p. 104) is matchedby Francoise's`noir enfer' (p. 397). At different points in the text,

both characters'alienation is suggestedby their looking at reality in a mirror. Elisabeth,

when she is in the Pole Nord with Claudeand desperatelyunhappy, watchesthe

apparently happy trio `au fond du mirroir' (p. 104) and later, studies her own flat in the

it
mirror where somehowseemsmore real (p. 271). Francoise,feeling excludedby

Pierre and Xaviere, watchesthem laughing and talking in the mirror behind the bar in

the cafe (p. 300), `separeede Pierre, et du plaisant decor dont la glace lui renvoyait le

d'elle-meme' (p. 301). Both Elisabeth and Francoiseare hauntedby the

reflet, separee

sensethat they are shut out of a secret.FrancoiseimaginesPierre and Xaviere together:

[Elle] evoquales banquettesde cuir avec leurs gros clous cuivres et les vitraux, et
les abat-jour a carreauxrougeset blancs,mais c'etait en vain: les visageset les
voix et le gout des cocktails ä l'hydromel, tout avait revetu un sensmysterieux qui
se füt dissipe si Francoise la
avait pousse porte. [...] Jamais,meme pas par eux, le
secretde leur tete-ä-tetene pourrait etre devoile.
(L'Invitee, pp. 152-53.)

When they are on holiday together,ElisabethwatchesFrancoiseand Pierre from the

doorway to the garden:

[Elle] restaclouee sur place: desqu'ils l'apercevraient,ils changeraientde visage,

il ne fallait pas se montrer avant d'avoir dechiffre leur secret.
(L'Invitee, p. 46&)16

is to make it impossible to dissociate

The cumulative effect of thesecorrespondences

Francoisefrom the madnessthat threatensElisabeth. Their mental and emotional

16Seealso 87: `Francoisene livrait pas son vrai visage [...). Ici, c'&tait la
p. vraie figure de Francoise qui
avait laissesa trace, et cette trace 6tait inddchiffrable', and p. 93: `jamais les amis de Frangoisene se
montraient ä Elizabeth sousleur vrai jour'; `tous les secretsde Francoisedtaient bien gardes'.
 149
instability coincide despitethe fact that Francoise'sstability is never overtly questioned.

This network of sharedimagesand lexis meanthat readers' confidence in Francoise's

stability and reliability as focaliser is undermined.

In a similar way, readers' faith in the image of Francoiseas innocent victim of

Xaviere's wiles is put into questionby a sharednetwork of imagesand lexis that

connecther with Elisabeth's Elisabeth

demonisation. is clearly demoniacalin her

madnessand delirium as she fantasisesabout harming the trio:

Est-ce un jour ils n'allaient pas descendreeux aussiau fond de cet enfer sordide?
Attendre en tremblant, appelerau secoursen vain, supplier, rester seul dansles
regrets,l'angoisse et un degoüt de soi sansfin. Si sirs d'eux, si orgueilleux, si
invulnerables.Ne trouverait-on pasun moyen de leur faire du mal, en guettant
.bien?
(L'Invitee, p. 104.)

Her jealousy sustainsher desireto make them suffer: `Quelquechoseä faire; un acte

authentiquequi ferait couler de vraies larmes' (p. 283). She seesit as a way of feeling

truly alive. Her evil is underlined. In the scenewhere shemanipulatesGerbert,using

him to upsetwhat shetakesto be the harmony of the trio, she is an Iago figure (pp. 333-

35). In contrast,it is Francoise'shigh moral standardsthat are highlighted in the text.

Admittedly she talks of jettisoning them: `Il ne se passeraitpeut-titre plus longtemps

avant qu'elle s'en affranchisse' (p. 444), and when shelearnsthat Pierre no longer loves

Xaviere `Francoiseaccueillit sansscandalela joie mauvaisequi envahissaitson coeur;

lui de 1'äme 17
ca avait coüte trop cher naguere vouloir se garder pure' (p. 466). Yet

shortly after this Francoiseassertsthat `c'etaient les vieilles vertus dedaigneesqui

remportaientla victoire' (p. 467). Sheinsists that her affair with Gerbertwas an

innocent, bucolic idyll and in order to maintain this version of eventsshe will kill

Xaviere. On one level the text vindicates Francoise.At the sametime, on anotherlevel,

17Even this is echoedby Elizabeth. `Observerdes

rbgles,jouer loyalement le jeu, c'6tait idiot, personne
ne vous en savait gre' (p. 105).
 150
FrancoisesharesElisabeth's demoniacalstatus.A web of textual connectionsconstructs

her as Elisabeth's counterpart.

Elisabeth's ambivalent desireto either becomeor destroy Francoise(p. 87), is

reminiscent of Francoise's attitude towards Xaviere, her desire to annex Xaviere's

to her her recourseto murder. Elisabeth's hatred of

existence own and, ultimately,

Claude (pp. 102-103,270-71) is echoedby Francoise'shatred of Xaviere (pp. 313,

18
445). Elisabeth's parodical fantasymurder foreshadowsFrancoise'smurder of

Xaviere. As the theatre lights down, `une image traversaElisabeth, un revolver, un

go

poignard, un flacon avec une tete de mort; tuer. Claude?Suzanne?Moi-meme? Peu

importait, ce sombredesir de meurtre gonflait puissamentle coeur' (p. 94). Francoise

her fantasy in the final the Just as Elisabeth looks at

will act out own pagesof novel.

herself in the mirror as shedeterminesto act and compel Claude to choosebetweenher

and his wife, Suzanne,

so Francoisegazesat her reflection at decisive moments:

Elisabethj eta un coup d'oeil dansune glace et eile vit sescheveuxroux, sa

boucheamere;il y avait en eile quelquechosed'amer et de fulgurant, sa
resolution etait prise, cette soiree serait decisive.
(L'Invitee, p. 93.)

Francoisese regardadapsla glace. [...]

- J'ai gagne, pensa Francoise avec triomphe.
(L'Invitee, p. 467.)

Sonimagejaillit soudaindu fond du miroir. [...]

[Francoise]fixa l'image. [...]
C'est eile ou moi. Ce seramoi.
(L'Invitee, pp. 500-501.)

19
Both charactersappeardemoniacalasthey stareat their reflection. Likewise, both of

them shareFaustianovertones.There is not only Francoise'sFaustianordeal once her

18It is interesting to note the textual correspondencethat connectsFrancoiseand Elizabeth in terms of

their attitude to Xaviere. Compare: `une moue de Xavibre comptait plus que tout son ddsarroi ä eile'
[Francoise] (p. 195); `la moindre de ses[Xaviare] humeurs comptait plus que tout le dentin
d'Elizabeth' (p. 276).
19This defiant gestureof Francoiseis discussedin detail in Chapter One.
 151
betrayal of Xaviere has been discovered,when in her paroxysm `les lettres sur le tapis

etaientnoires comme un pacte infernal' (p. 499)20 Elisabeth's torment as she leaves

Pierre is also marked by Faustianovertones.As Marlowe's Dr. Faustus,on the brink of

hell, was preventedfrom by Lucifer and Mephistophilis21, so too Elisabeth is

repenting

to
unable speaksincerely to or make a gesturetowards her brother (p. 472-73). In turn,

this recalls Francoise'sreaction to Xaviere's distressearlier in the novel: `eile aurait

voulu trouver un geste,un mot, mais ce n'etait pas facile, eile revenait de trop loin' (p.

132). There is one final textual echothat should be pointed out in relation to Francoise's

and Elisabeth's construction as evil doubles.Elisabeth experiencesa senseof calm and

plenitude in the face of war. She is about to say goodbyeto Francoiseand Pierre at the

end of their holiday when she looks at the horizon: `Tout etait calme; le monde entier

etait en suspenset dans cette attenteuniverselle, Elisabeth se sentit accordeesans

crainte, sansdesir ä l'immobilite du soir' (p. 470). Her feelings are echoedby the

impressionsFrancoisehas as shedecidesto kill Xaviere: `Soudainun grand calme

descenditen Francoise.Le temps venait de s'arreter. Francoiseetait seuledansun ciel

glace' (p. 501). This complex network of sharedimagesand lexis leadsme to arguethat

into 22
it is not only the murder that unexpectedlyturns Francoise a monster. The textual

parallels that construct her and Elisabeth as demoniacaldoubles allow readersto

glimpse a Francoisewho does not conform to the image of innocent sufferer.

Francoisealternately recognisesher resemblanceto Elisabeth and acts in

opposition to her, constantly projecting what she fords unacceptablein herself onto

Elisabeth. Sherecognisesfor examplethat in loving Pierre `au fond eile ressemblaitä

,
Elisabeth; une fois pour toutes eile avait fait un acte de foi' (p. 157). She is dauntedby

20SeeChapter One.
21`Oh, he stays
my tongue! I would lift up my hands,but see,they hold them, they hold them! '. Marlowe,
Movement V, lines 179-81, p. 69.
22This is contrary to
what Simone de Beauvoir saysin her memoirs. La Force de 1'dge,p. 348.
 152
the prospectof having to review her relationship with Pierre, `ca demandaitune force

surhumaine'. Later, shecomparesherself to Elisabeth again, awarethat she must face up

to the truth of what is happeningbetweenherself and Pierre:

ca faisait desjours et desjours que toutes sespenseesavaient un goüt aigre: ä

l'interieur d'Elisabeth ca devait etre comme ca. Il ne fallait pas faire comme
Elisabeth.
- Je veux voir clair, se dit Francoise.
Mais satete etait remplie d'un grandtournoiementrougeätreet piquant.
Il faut descendre,dit-elle brusquement.
(L'Invitee, p. 192.)

Again, although sheopposesherself to Elisabeth,she is continuing to evadethe truth.

When she doesconfront her feelings and sharesthem with Pierre, she is aware of the

danger:`Il allait trouver de beaux argumentset ra serait commoded'y ceder. Sementir

comme Elisabeth, Francoisene voulait pas,eile y voyait clair; eile continua de sangloter

avec entetement'(p. 200). In fact, Pierre doesfind clever, baffling argumentsto reassure

her and Francoiseallows herself to be convinced: `Elle le croyait; mais ce n'etait pas

la Elle la 3A
exactementca question. ne savait plus trop quelle etait question' (p. 204).

close reading of the text revealsthat if Elisabeth is play-acting, then so too is Francoise.

She is awareof her own lack of sincerity: `Sesparoles,sesconduites,ne repondaient

plus tout & fait aux mouvementsde son coeur' (pp. 204-205). Ultimately, Francoisehas

no more honesty and integrity than Elisabeth.Francoise'smauvaisefoi is not namedin

the text but is nonethelessdiscernable,pointed up by the textual parallels that construct

her as Elisabeth's double.

The samemirroring of charactersthat underminesnotions of identity as unified

and stablecan be traced in Les Belles Images.Although less developedthan in

L'Invitee, a complex web of identifications is neverthelessbuilt up through repetition

23For the sakeof argument,I am taking Elizabeth's

mauvaisefoi as given here, but there is textual
evidencethat she can be perfectly lucid/ honestwith herself. Indeed,this makesher suffering more
acute. Seep. 271.
 153
Laurence
and echoes. and Catherineand the little Greek girl are connected.Between

Laurenceand her daughterthe connectionis explicit. Laurence's father tells her that of

her two daughters,`c'est Catherinequi to ressemblele plus', prompting Laurenceto

wonder: `- Oui je lui [...

ai ressemble, ]. (Me )'
ressemblera-t-elle? (pp. 104-105). In

Greece,watching the `enfant folle de musique' dancing, Laurenceidentifies with her

then identifies her with Catherine,as thejoyful, life-affirming danceis transformed into

a macabredanceof death: `Moi j'etais

aussi par
possedee cette enfant que la musique

possedait.[...] Petite condamneä mort, affreusemort sanscadavre.La vie allait

1'assassiner.Je pensaisä Catherinequ'on etait en train d'assassiner'(pp. 158,174).

Jean-Charles'sbetrayal of Catherineis also a betrayal of Laurence.When he discusses

Catherineat the dinner table Laurenceis appalled:

La gorge de Laurence se contracte. Jean-Charles n'aurait pas dü, le lendemain,

discuter en public le cas de Catherine. Une trahison, un viol. Quel romantisme!
Mais une sorte de honte l'etouffe, comme si elle etait Catherine et qu'elle eüt
surpris leurs propos.
(Les Belles Images,p. 173.)

The word `trahison' and the violent imagery are a direct link with Jean-Charles'searlier

betrayal of Laurence,when, during an argumentover Catherine,he brings up her

breakdownthat he refers to as `une crise de mauvaiseconscience',and `throws it in her

face', confuting the sympathy and understandinghe had feigned: `Laurencese sent

1'avait [...] Quelle trahison!' (p. 24

133). The
palir: comme s'il giflee. cumulative effect

of textual links betweenLaurenceand Catherineand the little Greek girl is to subvert

solid boundariesof identity, thus duplicating Laurence's experiencein the text.

I have shown that networks of sharedimagesand lexis construct charactersas

doubles and have arguedthat the use of mirrored charactersis one way in which the text

24As JaneHeath argues,Laurence's identification with CatherineheightensLaurence's desireto protect

Catherinein that 'Catherine's escapeis to some extent Laurence's too' (Heath, p. 133).
 154

reproducesthe disintegration of identity that charactersthreatenedby madness

experience.I have also suggestedthat this underminesthe notion of a stable,unified

identity which is further put into questionby the instability that is inherent in the je/ eile

split in the narrative in Les Belles Images.

One of the most unstableand unsettling aspectsof Les Belles Images is the way

the narrative voice shifts from `je' to `elle'25 This split, that is at the heart of the

narrative, duplicates,on a textual level, Laurence's loss of psychic unity and feelings of

alienation. First and third personnarrativesalternatenot only from paragraphto

paragraph but also within paragraphs and even within sentences. Let us consider the

The
opening scenes. novel seemsto open in the first person,at least, the only indicators

of the origin of narrative voice are in the first person ('Qu'est-ce que les autresont que

26
je n'ai pas?' `Pourquoi est-cequeje penseca?'). Then, after the first, long,

fragmentedparagraph,the narrative shifts to the third person(`Laurencea proposele

27
test du passeur[...]' p. 8), before shifting back to the first personwithin a sentence:

`Elle s'est beaucoupdepensee,c'est pour ca que maintenanteile se sent deprimee,je

suis cyclique' (p. 8). As the narrative continues,mainly in the third person,the first

personnarrative interposesa commentaryon it. Laurencemakes a self-conscious

revision of the witty reply she gave to Gilbert ('(Ce n'est pas vrai, en fait. Je dis ca pour

etre dröle.)' p. 12). Subsequently,her unspokenresponseto the effusive terms her sister

to
uses speak of their father breaks up the third person narrative once more:

Laurence se penche sur les dahlias; ce langage la gene. Bien sür, il a quelque
chose que les je
autres n'ont pas, que n'ai pas (mais je
qu'ont-ils que n'ai pas non
plus? ). Roses, rouges, jaunes, oranges, eile serre dann la main les dahlias
magnifiques.

25Strictly speaking,narration as such doesnot fall within the terms of referenceof this study. Comments
on the narrative situation in Les Belles imageswll be restrictedto a considerationof how the text is
unsettled/ disruptedby shifts in narrative voice.
26Thesemight well, of course,be taken for first person interpolations in third
a personnarrative.
Z' The psychological test, le test du passeur (the ferryman's test) is describedby Elizabeth Fallaize in The
Novels, p. 141, footnote 21.
 155
(Les Belles Images,p. 14.)

Then Laurence's looking out of the window and seeingJean-Charlesflirting with Gisele

Dufrene seemsto be narratedin the first person(p. 17). Here, as in the first paragraph,

this is what the only indicators imply. The narrative shifts to the first personagain as

Laurencerecalls her breakdownof five yearsearlier and tries to convince herself that

she is not about to be ill again: 'Maintenantje n'ai pas de raison de craquer.Toujours du

travail devant moi, des gensautour de moi, je suis contentede ma vie. Non, aucun

danger.C'estjuste une question d'humeur' (p. 19). Theseshifts and ambiguities present

in the opening sectionof the novel, are replicatedthroughout the text. However, by the

final chapter,the balancehas shifted.

Here, the first personnarrative is much stronger,more sustainedand it is the

third personnarrativethat appearsto intrude. Laurencedetermines:`Jerecapitulerai ce

voyage image par image, mot par mot' (p. 153). She engageswith and tells her own

story in the first person.The third personbreaksinto the text in the presentmoment

when Laurencebreaksoff her retrospectivenarrative to drink the soup Marthe has

brought her and to speakto Jean-Charles(pp. 168-70),and again, very briefly, at the

point in the narrative when Laurence gets back from the trip. Her alienation is perfectly

conveyedby the shift as Jean-Charlesmeetsher at the airport (p. 170). From this point

`eile' erupts in the the most painful momentsof Laurence's story, when, during the

family dinner, Jean-CharlesdiscussesCatherine(p. 173) and when Laurencebecomes

awareof her utter isolation (pp. 175-76).Although Laurence's finding out about her

parents' reconciliation from Dominique is narratedin the first person,her painful

meeting with her father, where he confirms it is true, is narratedin the third person. So,

too, is Laurence'staking to her bed. As Laurence's anguishreachesits climax, and as

 156
text-time and story-time reconverge,(story-time and narrative moment coincide), the

narrative voice oscillates between`eile' and `je'.

Je Buisjalouse mais surtout, surtout...Elle respiretrop vite, eile halete. [...] Ce

se
secretqu'elle reprochait de n'avoir pas su decouvrir, peut-etre qu'apres tout il
I1 le
n'existait pas. n'existait pas: eile snit depuis la Grece. J'ai ete decue.Le mot
la poignarde.Elle serrele mouchoir contre sesdentscomme pour arreter le cri
qu'elle est incapablede pousser. Je suis decue. J'ai raison de 1'etre.
(Les Belles Images,pp. 179-80.)

Laurence's battle to face up to her pain is reproducedin the text as je' and `eile'

succeedeachother. When he narrative is picked up again as Laurencewakes from

exhaustedsleep,the first personvoice fadesonce more and the narrative revertsto `eile'

for the final three pagesthat relate Laurence'stalk with Jean-Charles.The first person

assertsitself only once; `il n'a pas envie queje craquede nouveau. Si je tiens bon, je

gagne' (p. 182). The intermittency of the first personvoice at the end of Les Belles

Images contributesto readers' lack of confidencein Laurence's stability and senseof

self.

The je/ eile split that clearly unsettlesthe text has been addressedand understood

differently by a number of critics. It is clear that Laurenceis both characterin, and at

times, first personnarrator of her story. Doubt arisesover the user of the third person

also presentin the text. I believe this too can be taken to be Laurenceas, alienatedfrom

herself, shewatchesherself act and speaklike shewatchesthose around her, `soudain

indifferente, distante,comme si elle n'etait pas des leurs' (p. 19). She is divided against

herself and, struggling to hold on to her senseof identity, incapable of sustainingher

`I928 The fact that the first personvoice is more sustainedin the early sectionsof the

final chapter,togetherwith the pattern of third personerruptions into the narrative, add

support to this reading as it makespsychological sense.Laurencerelives the trip and her

28JaneHeath also arguesthat Laurence

occupiesboth the first-person and third-person narrative
positions. SeeHeath, p. 128.
 157
homecoming not distancedfrom herself. As she saysof the trip: `Tout ce qui m'arrivait

etait vrai' (p. 155). Laurence's `I' is stifled in momentsof overwhelming pain as if she

withdraws and has recourseto the third personin order to protect herself. The dominant

use of the third personin the narrative presentaccordswith her overriding senseof

alienation.

An alternative explanation is that the user of the third person is an external

narrative agent.In this version of the narrative situation, we are dealing with two

narrative agentsand it is not just Laurence's`I' that emergesonly intermittently, it is

her voice too. This is the view of Elizabeth Fallaize who arguesthat `though Laurence's

is the consciousnesswhich the narrative draws on, her voice is intermittent, fading for

long stretchesof the narrative in which the characterapparentlyretrenchesbehind her

social persona,and re-assertingitself at momentswhere the characterseemsto approach

9 Thesedifferent
somethingresemblingself-awareness'. readings are not mutually

exclusive. What is of crucial importanceis precisely the ambiguity of the narrative

situation, the fact that it is fluid, impossibleto pin down. The je/ eile split unsettlesand

destabilisesthe text and enactsits madness.

Before leaving the narrative situation in Les Belles Images,I want to address

briefly the related questionof focalization.30 The narrative is always focalized through

Laurence. 1 At times she is both focalizer and focalized, focalizing herself from within.

Others are focalized from 32

without. Laurenceis generally speakingan internal

(character)focalizer in that `the locus of [...] focalization is inside the represented

29Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 120.

30Whereasthe narrative agentis the voice in the text, the focaliser is the
agentwhose perception orients
the text. SeeShlomith Rimmon-Kenan,Narrative Fiction, pp. 72 and 74.
31I am adopting the classification of focalizers
put forward by Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative
Fiction, pp. 71-77.
32There is one notable exception
when the focalizer appearsto penetrateDominique's feelings and
thoughts : `Dimanche A Feuverolles,eile est rest6 enfermeedans sa chambre en prdtextant un mal.de
tete, ravagdepar l'absencede Gilbert, pensant:«I1ne viendra plus jamais.»' (p. 72).
 158
3 However, the situation is renderedmore complex in retrospectivesectionsof
events'.

the narrative as the focalizer can be either the experiencingcharacter(Laurenceat the

time the narratedeventswere happening)or the narrator (Laurencelooking back on the

In the latter Laurenceis (narrator) focalizer.34 In

narrated events). case, an external

ChapterFour of Les Belles Images, for example,Laurenceknows the outcome of the

is telling begins it. 35 Focalization is

story she when she generally synchronouswith

representedeventsbut shifts from internal to external focalization are a sourceof

ambiguity and instability in the text. For example, during the trip, Laurence's father

makesgenerouscommentsabout Dominique and we read: `Je ne 1'ai pas contredit; je ne

voiilais pas priver ma pauvre mere desbribes d'amitie qu'il lui accordait' (p. 157). The

focalizer can either be Laurencein Greeceor Laurencenarrating the incident in the full

knowledge of her mother and father's reconciliation. In the latter casethe tone is

6
ironic. Likewise, there is no indication whether the angry interjection `Du cheval! ca

c'etait une idee formidable; meme affectivement. Remplacerune amie par un cheval!'

(p. 172), betraysthe awarenessof Laurenceat the time of the quarrel or of Laurence

recalling it. And when discusses

Jean-Charles Catherineit is impossible to distinguish

between Laurence's synchronous response and her retrospective understanding: `Une

trahison, un viol. Quel romantisme!' (p. 173). Unstable focalisation introduces

inconclusivenessinto the text, unsettling meaning and thereby introducing madnessinto

the text.

I now want to go on to read the incoherencein Simone de Beauvoir's fictional

texts as madness.For, as PeterBrooks has argued,`mental health is a coherentlife

33Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan,Narrative Fiction, p. 74.

34If the narrator is not Laurencebut an external narrator then we
must neverthelessposit the existenceof
two different levels of focalization and distinguish betweeneventsfocalized at the time they took
place and other eventsfocalised subsequently.
35Up to p. 179, that is, when story-time and text-time reconverge.
36Irony is discussedin detail in my ChapterFour.
 159
is faulty 37
story, neurosis a narrative' Nothing is meaningful in itself. We create

meaning by organising our experience.Now, insofar as the text resists order and logic,

insofar as it tendstowards meaninglessness

(which is the meaning of the text), then the

text is mad. In the mad textual universeSimone de Beauvoir creates,readersare

disorientatedand sharethe helplessnessof characterstrying to make senseof their lives.

I am going to begin by looking at temporal confusion and incoherencebefore going on

to deal with textual disruption and fragmentation.

Simonede Beauvoir's later texts, Les Belles Images and La Femmerompue,

refuse to convey a senseof chronology, a senseof linear logic. Readershave to work to

impose a sequentialpattern on events.I want to illustrate this by briefly analysing

`Monologue', `La Femmerompue', andLes Belles Images.In `Monologue', readersare

drawn into Murielle's madnessand obsessionas they attempt to make senseof her

monologue at the sametime as they are repelled by the vulgarity and sordidnessof her

delusion.They are confusedby the non-linear structureof the story. No concessionsare

made; readerspiece together Murielle's history, learning a little of the puzzle at a time.

Readerslook in vain for linear logic in the text; incidents are related in disorder,

by
prompted seemingly inconsequentialdetails. An associativelogic carriesthe

narrative forward. The past intrudes in the presentand the presentdisrupts the narration

of past events.Quoting a fairly lengthy passagein full will allow me to demonstrate

this. It occurstowards the beginning of the narrative:

ca devait arriver ils dansentau-dessusde ma tete. Alors lä ma nuit est foutue

demainje seraien morceauxje devrai me doper pour voir Tristan et ca foirera. 11
ne faut pas! Salauds!Je n'ai que ca dannla vie le sommeil. Salauds.Its ont le droit
de me pietiner ils en profitent. «L'emmerdeused'en dessouseile ne peut pas
gueuler c'est le jour de 1'an.» Rigolez je trouverai un moyen de vous avoir eile
vous emmerdera1'emmerdeuse jamais je ne me suis laisse pietiner. Albert etait
furax: «Pasbesoin de faire un eclat!» bien si justement! Il dansaitavec Nina sexe

37Brooks, Peter, `PsychoanalyticConstructionsand Narrative Meanings', Paragraph, 7,1986,53-76 (pp.

53-54).
 160
A sexeeile etalait sesgros seinseile puait le parfum mais on sentait en dessousune
odeur de bidet et lui qui se tremoussaitil bandait comme un cerf. [...]
Its wont crever le plafond et me degringoler sur la gueule. Je les vois d'ici
c'est trop deguexils se frottent Fun contre l'autre sexea sexeca les fait mouiller
les bonnesfemmeselles serengorgentparce que le type a la queueen 1'air. Et
chacunseprepareä cocufier son meilleur ami satres chere amie ils le feront cette
nuit meme dans la salle de bains meme pas allonges la robe retroussee sur les
fessessuantesquandon ira pisser on marcheradans le foutre comme chez Rose la
nuit de mon eclat.
(`La Femmerompue', pp. 90-91.)

In terms of eventsthat make up the story, it emergesonly gradually that Murielle's ex-

husband,Albert, was unfaithful to her, with her best friend, Nina, at a party given by

Rose and that Murielle, when she found out, made a scene.Sheis reliving those events

in the present,imagining the sameevent taking place again, (only this time multiplied,

as every guest, `chacun' is about to betray their partner), at her upstairsneighbour's

where there is a noisy party going on. (If this be

sequenceof eventscan worked out, it is

neverthelessvirtually impossible to distinguish fantasy and reality.) The text presents

readerswith a baffling, disorderedseriesof statements,an extremely convoluted

narrative. The dancing in the presentgives rise to Murielle's insistancethat shewill not

allow herself to be trampled on (`pietiner') which prompts the memory of an incident in

the past when Albert might have thought he could trample on her but when sherefused

to acquiesce.This memory in turn moves Murielle to imagine the presentsceneupstairs

until her lurid, delusionalvision of the presentgives way once more to the painful

recollection of the incident in the past. The past and presentcoalesce.A successionof

textual echoesservesas a narrative thread providing hinges on which it pivots: `ils

dansentau-dessusde ma tete' -'Il dansaitavecNina' -'Ils vont crever le plafond';

`Ils ont le droit de me pietiner' -j amaisje ne me suis laissepietiner'; `Il dansaitavec

Nina sexeä sexe' - `ils se frottent Pun contre 1'autresexeä sexe'; `eile etalait sesgros

seins' - `elles serengorgent'; `il bandait comme un cerf - `le type a la queueen
 161
l'air'; `une odeur de bidet' - `dansla salle de bains' - `les fessessuantes'; `<<Pas

besoin de faire un eclat!»' - `on marcheradansle foutre comme chez Rose la nuit de

mon eclat'. It is accordingto this associativelogic that the narrative progresses.

Disrupted chronology is characteristicof the text as a whole. Present,past and

future jostle in the text, within the sameparagraphand even within the samesentence:

`Si je pouvais donnirje n'ai pas sommeil l'aube est encoreloin c'est une heure lugubre

et Sylvie est morte sansm'avoir compriseje ne m'en guerirai pas' (p. 104).

Although it is far from being as disrupted as `Monologue', the secondtext I want

to examinein terms of temporal incoherence,`La Femmerompue', is not a simple

linear/ chronological narrative either. The past disrupts the presentto a lesser,though

nonethelessreal degreeas memories involuntarily erupt into Monique's thoughts. For

example,as Monique imagines Maurice's presentwith Noellie, evoking intimate details

of their sharedlife, a memory, an image of Monique and Maurice's sharedlife obtrudes:

11se rase,il lui sourit, les yeux plus sombreset plus brillants, la boucheplus nue
sousle masquede mousseblanche.Il apparaissaitdans 1'embrasurede la porte,
avec dansles bras, enveloppede cellophane,un grand bouquet de rosesrouges:
est-cequ'il lui apportedes fleurs?
('La Femmerompue', p. 141.)

At this point in the text, the detail slows the paceof the narrative to such an extent that it

almost stops,as if Monique were paralysedby this vivid, painful memory. Sometimes

the past intrudes, breaking into the narrative, breaking up the text with brackets.When

Maurice first tells Monique about his relationship with Noellie, their dialogue is

interrupted by a parenthesis(eight and a half lines long) as Monique relives, in the space

of an instant, the moment when they swore to be faithful to eachother (p. 131). Noting

in her diary how shewatchedMaurice leave to join Noellie for the weekend,Monique's

narrative is interrupted by a memory: `Il faisait un tendre ciel d'ete, au-dessusdes

derniers feuillages d'automne. (La pluie d'or des feuilles d'acacia, sur une route rose et
 162

grise, en revenantde Nancy.) Il est monte dans la voiture [...]' (p. 150). Such

interpositions unsettlethe narrative and disorient readers.

Temporal confusion and incoherencealso characterizethe text of Les Belles

Images.It is neither a straightforwardretrospectivenor a presenttensenarrative. Much

of it is in the presenttense38but there are shifts into the past tense (le passe compose'),

for examplewhen Laurencerelatesher first meeting with Brigitte and her conversation

with Catherineafterwards(pp. 52-57). Shifts in narrative perspectivedisorient readers.

With no typographical indication of a break in the narrative, we read: `C'etait hier. Et

Laurenceest preoccupee'(p. 57). Readersare disconcertedby the apposition of past and

Another instanceof the text resisting linear chronology occurs after Laurence's
present.

Jean-Charles
over Catherine.The delivery of the bouquet of red rosesis
quarrel with

recountedin the presenttense (p. 136),then the narrative shifts into the past tenseto

Jean-Charles'
coming home from a point in the presentwhere `ils marchent,rue
recount

Faubourg Saint-Honore, par un beau froid sec' (p. 137).The trip to Greece is also

in the past tense although the present tense intrudes, translating the intensity of
narrated

Laurence's impressions as the plane takes off and she experiences a moment of

plenitude, outside time and space: `L'avion pique brutalement vers le ciel [... ]. Je suis

ailleurs: nulle part et partout' (p. 154). The trip is narrated from a point in the present

when Laurence is in bed on the brink of madness. The present interrupts the

Breaks are abrupt and confusing for readers. Laurence is

retrospective narrative.

recollecting how one evening she and her father had eaten in a small `typical' restaurant,

when Marthe's voice intrudes:

Je mangeaisavec appetit et indifference...

La voix de Marthe:
- Laurence! il faut absolument que tu mangesquelque chose.

38One effect of the use of the presenttenseis to reinforce the inference that Laurence is alienated from
herself and watchesherself live.
 163

- Je dors, laisse-moi.
Au moiresun bouillon. Je vais to preparerun bouillon.
-
Elle m'a derangee.Oü en etaisje? La route de Delphes.
(Les Belles Images, pp. 156-57. )

The past and presentoverlap. The narrative is interrupted again as Marthe returns with

the soup. Laurencetries to drink it but vomits and Jean-Charlesappealsto Laurenceto

seea doctor. When they leave her, Laurencepicks up her story in the past tenseagain

(p. 168-69).

At times, an associativelogic, comparableto the associativelogic at work in

`Monologue', seems to operate in Les Belles Images too. The narrative thread weaves

from point to point, hinging on words repeatedin the text. An impressionof

contingency is createdthat to
corresponds Laurence's sensethat chancegoverns her

existence.Even with regard to her marriageto for

Jean-Charles, instance,`eile s'etonne

que ce soit si important et un hasard.Sansraison speciale.(Mais tout est ainsi.)' (p. 67).

One example of this hinges on the repetition `vexee' - `vexant' (p. 71). On a Sunday

morning Laurenceand Mona, her colleague,meet at Laurence's to finish an urgent

project. Laurencefeels `vaguement

vexee' when Mona leavesthe flat. Readersknow

that Laurenceand Jean-Charlesare aboutto leave for Feuverolles.There is a

typographical break in the text. The next section of the narrative openswith the words

`c'est vexant'. Readers' expectationsthat the narrative thread might continue by moving

on to lunch at Feuverollesare disappointed.Associative logic takesthe narrative to

Laurence's inability to rememberher dreams.It is probably severaldays later, the only

mention of Sundayat Feuverollesis a brief referenceto the fact that Dominique stayed

in her room (p. 72). A further examplehinges on the repetition `belle' -'belle' (p.

167). The is
narrative ruptured though the break is 39
unmarkedtypographically When

39I shall return to this

rupture in the text below.
 164

the narrativethread is picked up again the textual echo provides the link. The text pivots

on the word `belle':

Je ce
supposeque pays est plus gai l'ete.
-
La Grecen'est pas m'a
gaffe, dit papa avec un soupcon de reproche; eile est
-
belle.
Les Korai etaient belles [...]
(Les Belles Images,pp. 166-67.)

Before concluding my examinationof temporal incoherencein the texts, I want

to addressbriefly the experienceof time that is conveyed.It is typified by distortion and

reification. This is exemplified in `Monologue'. Actual time is marked in the text, time

moves on and yet the narrative seemsto trap readersin the eternal presentof an

unchanging Words,
obsession. motifs and images are repeatedand echoedin the text,

Murielle doesnot move on. Repetition can literally stop time in the text. `J'en ai marre,

j'en ai marre marre marre marre [...]' takes up twelve lines of text, making (story) time

(p. 96). Readers held fast, to 40 Likewise, `Je

stand still are unable move/ read on. veux

Je je je je je
gagner. veux veux veux veux veux' (p. 109) traps readersin the text. In a

way, by making time stand still, the text exemplifies Murielle's own words: `Toute ma

il deux heuresde l'apres-midi de join' (p. 41

111).
vie sera un mardi

I now want to addressthe incoherencethat stemsfrom fragmentation and

interruption. I am going to concentrateon the most fractured text of my corpus, Les

Belles Images.The first pageof the novel introducesreadersinto a disorienting textual

universe. Laurence's monologue is fragmentedby dialogue which is in turn fragmented

by Laurence'sreflections thus bringing about what Irene M. Pagescalls a

40Elizabeth Fallaize makesthe following point: `The reader is left embarassed,bewildered, confronted
with the responsibility as readerand uncertain whether to conscientiouslyread the words, contemplate
them on the page or fall back on counting them (a surprisingly frequent reaction). TheNovels, p. 161.
(The word `marre' is repeatedeighty-one times altogether.)
"Repetition is discussedin detail in ChapterFour.
 165
is
`desubstantificationof the real', making what real 42
insubstantial. She shows

convincingly how the first paragraphof Les Belles Images consistsof a monologue
43
interrupted by direct speechand narrative comment However, there are, I believe,

problems with her analysis. It is not clear how `outside concretereality can be either

negatedor confirmed according to the level to which punctuation assignsit within the

story' or how Laurence "`empties" the existenceof others of all reality' (p. 138) simply

by commenting ironically or otherwiseon it. Desubstantification cannotbe a function of

the statusof an utteranceas indicated by punctuation nor of the purport of a remark.

Rather,it comesabout as a result of fragmentationand exists on a textual level. It is a

function of a textual practice that deprivesboth descriptive monologue and

"
interpolations of coherenceand meaningfulness. This effect is felt in the shocking

(from an unpreparedreader's point of view) opening paragraphand subsequently,at

different momentsthroughout the narrative. In the sameway that Laurence'spersonality

disintegrates,so too doesthe text. In the sameway that her senseof the real becomes

more fragile, readersexperiencethe dissolution of the real on a textual level.

Other textual strategiesunderminethe coherenceof the narrative in a similar

way. Fragmented/interrupted dialoguesare drained of Conversations

sense. already

underway are picked up and cut off as Laurence's attention wanders.As the narrative

42PagBs,Irene M., 'Beauvoir's Les Belles images:"Desubtantification" of Reality Through a Narrative',

Forum For Modern Language Studies, 11(1975), 133-41.
43Pages,`Desubtantification" of Reality', p. 137.
44There are other, more minor, problems with Pagbs'sargument.Her commentsrelate to the French text
yet the passage is quoted in her article in an English translation with its different punctuation (p. 138).
More seriously, there appearsto be someconfusion as to whether the different levels of narration she
has distinguished are in direct or indirect speech.At first Pagessuggeststhat the descriptive part of
Laurence's monologue is in direct speechand that the speechof others and Laurence's thoughts are in
indirect speech(p. 137). This is not the case;the fact that both levels of narration are in direct speech
actually addsto the incoherenceof the passageand the disorientation of readers.As Pagesdevelops
her argument,shebegins,bafflingly, to refer to the direct speechof the secondlevel of narration. Her
assertionthat `in Les Belles imagesthe dialoguesalways take place betweenLaurence and one of the
characterswhose existenceis part of her own' (p. 135) is simply not true. Laurence repeatedly listens
in to the dialoguesand conversationsof others(seepp. 90-94,97,99,144,145,146-47,149).
 166
recountsone Saturdayevening at Feuverolles,an excerpt from a conversationabout chic

restaurantsbetweenDominique and an anonymousinterlocutor (there are no reporting

clauses)is supersededby a snatchof conversationbetweenJean-Charlesand Dufrene

before Laurence's attention is caught once more by Dominique's voice and, mid-way,

her conversationbecomesthe focus of the narrative (pp. 92-93). As the guests

`s'arrachentla parole' the conversationis representedwith no typographical clues that it

is in fact a dialogue. The distinction betweendialogue and narrative is blurred. Two

long sentencescontain all the contradictory utterancesof all of the participants in the

conversation.There are, of course,no reporting clauses.

Avouez qu'il ya des livres qu'on ne peut plus ecrire, des films qu'on ne peut plus
voir, des musiques qu'on ne peut plus entendre, mais les chefs-d'oeuvre,ca ne
datejamais, qu'est-ce qu'un chef d'oeuvre? Il faudrait eliminer les criteres
subjectifs, c'est impossible, pardon c'est 1'effort de toute la critique moderne,et
les criteres des Goncourt et des Renaudot,je voudrais les connaitre, les prix sont
encoreplus mauvais que l'annee derniere, [...] mais non il n'y a pas d'autre
critere, de critere objectif.
(Les Belles Images,pp. 94-95.)

This irreverent representationof the conversationconveys the jostling of the guestsfor

spaceto speak.Incoherenceis exacerbatedas towards the end of the paragraphthe

conversationseemsto split into two parallel conversationshappening simultaneously,

the final comment apparentlya responseto an opinion expressedsix inputs earlier, or

perhapsit is simply the commentof someoneunable to force their way into the

conversationuntil now. Unorthodox punctuation (most commasare omitted within what

I take to be individual utterancesor contributions to the conversation),addsto the

impressionof speed.The text raceson until a fervent remark from M' Thiron stops

everyonein their tracks and the text is brought to an abrupt halt. Not for long, it appears:

`Puis ils repartent...' (p. 95); this time, Laurencedoesnot bother even to listen. The

representationof dialogue at the new Year's Eve party is equally unsettling/ disorienting
 167
for readers.Again, dialogue is incorporatedinto the text with no typological clues:

`Brouhaha,bruit de vaisselle, c'est delicieux, servez-vousmieux' (p. 145). The text

it
makes clear that there is to
nothing choosebetweendialogue and the clatter of

crockery. Once more, readersare dependent

on Laurence's attention and it is not

sustainedfor long. The dialogue that is about wine (p. 145), when Laurence's thoughts

drift to last year's party and to Lucien, has shifted to astrology by the time Laurence

tunes into the conversationagain.In this section of the text too, dialogue is fragmented.

The representationof a snatchof conversationbetweenLaurence's father and Dufrene

about literature and art consistsof the former's utterancein direct intercalated
speech,

with Laurence's observations(new paragraph)and then Dufrene's responsein elliptical

free direct discourse(new paragraph).His responseis not distinguished from the rest of

the long paragraphin which it is subsumed:`L'abstrait ne se vend plus; mais le figuratif

non plus, crise de la peinture, que voulez-vous, il ya une teile inflation. Rabächages.

45
Laurences'ennuie' (p. 150).

Incoherencealso derives from the fact that the text is multi-layered. Repeatedly,

Laurencedistancesherself to make an observationthen distancesherself again to

comment on her observation,then again to comment on her comment. This is

disconcertingfor readers.Encounteringsuch layering in the text, this `jeu de miroirs',

with its concomitant contradictoriness,readerswill shareLaurence's uncertainty and

ultimately, her distress.Multi-layering is conspicuousin Laurence's reflections on how

45The distinction betweendialogue and narrative is also blurred on p. 32 where the representationof
Laurence's conversationswith Lucien have a pantomime quality: `Ensuite, que d'agitation! Il me
poursuivait, il pleurait, je cedais,il rompait, je souffrais, je cherchaispartout la Giulietta rouge,je me
pendaisau tdldphone,il revenait, il suppliait : quitte ton marl, non jamais mais je t'aime, il m'insultait,
il repartait,j'attendais, j'espdrais, je desespdrais,nous nous retrouvions, quel bonheur,j'ai tant
souffert sanstoi, et moi sanstoi : avouetout a ton marl, jamais...'; `Discussiontrop connue:tu ne
veux plus me voir, mais si je veux, comprends,je ne comprendsque trop...'. Seealso pp. 66-67 where
Jean-Charles'sremarks on architectureare interrupted by a whole page of Laurence's reflections on
relationships and her marriage before they begin again, only to be interrupted immediately by the
doorbell ringing.
 168
her mother is perceived.Sherejectsthe view that Dominique owes her successfulcareer

to Gilbert and goeson:

Its disent aussi, Gisele Dufrene le pense,que maman a mis le grappin sur Gilbert
par interet: cette maison, sesvoyages, sans lui eile n'aurait pas pu se les offrir,
soit; mais c'est autre chose qu'il lui a apporte; eile etait tout de meme desemparee
(il
apresavoir quitte papa errait dans la maison comme une ame en peine, avec
quelle durete eile est partie aussitötMarthe mariee); c'est grace ä Gilbert qu'elle
est devenuecette femme tellement sored'elle. (Evidemment, on pourrait dire...)
(Les Belles Images,p. 9.)

In this example,the intrusion of a memory breaksup the text. Inconclusivenessis

heightenedas Laurence'sthoughts are interrupted by the return of Hubert and Marthe

from their walk in the forest. Likewise, multi-layering characterisesthe text as Laurence

and drive
Jean-Charles away from Feuverollesand discussGilbert. Laurence's response

to Jean-Charles'sobservationthat it is natural she should dislike Gilbert, is marked by

plurality: `- Mais si, je l'aime bien. (L'aime-t-elle ou non? eile aime tout le )
monde.

Gilbert ne perore pas, c'est vrai, se dit-elle. Mais personnen'ignore qu'il dinge une des

plus grandessocietesde machineselectroniquesdu monde [...]' (p. 18). Multi-layering

can obscurethe boundary betweenthe real and the imaginary. Indeed, they become

conflated as Laurenceis at once observerand participant, subject and object, in what

might be a scenefrom an that

advertisement is cut through by the advertising text she is

thinking up:

Quellejolie image publicitaire, promettant- au profit d'un marchandde

meubles, d'un chemisier, d'un Heuriste - la securite,le bonheur. Le couple qui
marche sur le trottoir, longeant le parapetdans le doux bruissementdes arbres,
contempleau passagel'interieur ideal: sousle lampadaire,l'homme jeune et
elegantdaps son pullover en angoraqui lit une revue d'un air attentif; la jeune
femme assiseä satable, un stylo en main, l'harmonie des noirs, des rougeset des
jaunes si bien assortis(heureuxhasard)aux rouges et aux jaunes des dahlias. Tout
ä l'heure, quandje les ai cueillis, c'etait des fleurs vivantes. [...] Avec des
panneaux de bois vous alliez ä 1'elegancecitadine toute la poesie desforets. [...]
La lumiere eclabousseles vitres, elle eclaire brutalement les amoureux enlaces,
image du passepour moi qui suis l'image de leur tendre avenir, avec des enfants
qu'ils devinent endormisdansdes chambresdu fond. Des enfantsse glissent a
1'interieur dun arbre creux et Usse trouvent dans une ravissante chambre aux
panneaux de bois naturel. Idee ä suivre.
 169
(Les Belles Images,pp. 20-21.)

A similar effect is achievedat the point in the text where Laurencefinds

Dominique devastatedafter a violent confrontation with Gilbert:

Gilbert a sonneä dix heures,eile a cru que c'etait le concierge,eile a ouvert.

Patricia a tout de suit ete pleurer dansles bras de Gilbert, et Lucile criait, il a
la
referme pone derriere lui d'un de il
coup pied, caressaitles cheveux de Patricia,
si tendrement,avec une voix apaisante,et lä dansl'antichambre il l'avait insultee,
giflee, il l'avait saisiepar le col du peignoir bleu et trainee dans la chambre.
(Les Belles Images,p. 124.)

The text acquiresan hallucinatory quality as two narrativesare blended in one, the

receipt of the letter and Gilbert's visit. The passageis marked by abrupt shifts in tone, a

convulsive rhythm. Reported in the third person, the events are, nevertheless, implicitly

recountedby Dominique herself. (The is

account enclosedbetween `[Dominique] parle

d'une voix qui n'appartient ä personne'and `La voix de Dominique s'etouffe'. ) Thus

the narrative situation that prevails in the novel as a whole is paralleled here in this

narrative within a narrative.

A further example of multi-layering translatesLaurence's inner conflict. In this

passageshe is recalling the moment during the family meal when shewas forced to

recogniseher powerlessnessin the face of the united opposition of everyoneelse:

Son pere et Dominique l'ont dit ensemble: Alors? Hubert a hoche la tete, d'un air
entendu. Laurence s'est obligee ä manger, mais c'est alors qu'elle a eu le premier
spasme. Elle se savait vaincue. On n'a pas raison contre tout le monde, eile n'a
jamais ete assez arrogante pour penser ca. (Il ya eu Galilee, Pasteur, et d'autres
que nous citait Mil` Houchet. Mais je ne me prends pas pour Galilee. ) Done A
Päques - eile sera guerie, bien sür, c'est 1'affaire de quelques jours, on se
degoüte de manger pendant quelque jours et forcement ga finit par se tasser ils
-
emmeneront Catherine a Rome. L'estomac de Laurence se crispe. Elle ne pourra
peut-titre pas manger avant longtemps.
(Les Belles Images,p. 175.)

As Laurenceis torn by painful emotions so too the text is divided againstitself.

Laurence's anguishis manifest.

 170
The passagesI have beenquoting to illustrate the incoherencethat is the product

of fragmentation it
and multi-layering, make clear that the use of bracketsand dashes

and the use of ellipses and silencesand breaks in tone have been instrumental in

disrupting the text and fostering incoherencein Les Belles Images. Moving closer to the

text as it were, I want now to focus specifically on thesetextual strategies.On a

typographical level, the markers,(), -, and..., conspicuously fracture the text.

Virtually no pageof the novel is without them. With regard to meaningfulnessand

they
madness, function in a number of different ways.

The narrative is disrupted by Laurence'sobservationsthat are frequently

separatedfrom the rest of the narrative by bracketsor dashes.However, there is no

consistentpattern.Not all asidesare isolated typographically and commentsthat appear

in bracketsat one point in the narrative may appearwithout bracketsat another.On the

whole, it appearsthat asidesbetweendashesare informative, they are often stage

directions, or cliched interjections, whereasbracketstend to contain more emotionally

chargedmemoriesand intimate thoughts, feelings and ideasthat have no place in

Laurence's milieu. A significant proportion of the parenthesesare questionswhich adds

to the tentative tone of the text. However, once more, there is no consistencyand

I
exceptionsto the pattern am suggestingare easily found. 6 Perhapsthat is the

46Examples of the use of dashesand bracketsin Les Belles images,

some of which conform to the schema
proposedand someof which do not:
"Tout en se recoiffant dans la chambrede sa mere, dr8lementjoli ce rustique espagnol
- -
Laurencefait un dernier effort [...]. ' (p. 15)
`Ils avaientbeaucoupdans6ensemble il dansetrCsbien its s'6taient embrassds [...]. ' (p. 31)
- -
"- Non merci. - Elle a la gorge nude. - Qu'est-ce qui sepasse?' (p. 45)
`Il ne viendra pas ä Feuverollesce week-end. La voix persiflante vibre de haine:
- -Il me plaque,
quoi! ' (p. 49)
x'- Qu'est-ce que les autresont queje n'ai pas?-' (p. 7)
x`Est-ce quej'aime Jean-Charles- ai-je aime Lucien -d'amour? ' (p. 67)
x'Et le fait est que des gens setuent - il a demand8desbananeset une serviette- parce qu'il existe
justement quelquechosede pire que la mort.' (p. 85)

"[Dominique talking about her ex-husband]`S'il btait mystique [...] je comprendrais.(Mais

non,
penseLaurence.)' (p. 15)
 171
important point. Readersseekto impose a pattern,to make senseof the text only to be

repeatedlythwarted and frustrated as the pattern they expect to find is upset. They

encountera disrupted text and the disruption itself resists order and logic.

Readers'expectationscan be disappointedto dramatic effect. For example,when

Jean-Charlesis determinedto end Catherine's friendship with Brigitte, a comment that

we might have anticipatedwould appearin bracketserupts directly into the text: `Du

cheval! ca c'etait une idee formidable; meme affectivement. Remplacerune arnie par un

cheval!' (p. 172). It is as if Laurence's angertowards is

Jean-Charles so intensethat it

be
cannot containedwithin brackets, it has broken through all Laurence's defences.
The

exclamationmarks (relatively rare in Les Belles Images) add to the impression of a

surgeof powerful emotion.

Notwithstanding the instability of the patternsof parenthesesin the text, their

to
use gives rise a number of interesting The
conjectures. use of bracketscan be linked

with Laurence's senseof alienation. Her is

apartness reproducedon a textual level, not

all her thoughts can be incorporated in her narrative. I have suggestedthat the asidesin

bracketstend to be more emotionally chargedwhich fits in with Freud's belief that

obsessionalor unthinkable thoughts can be faced without affect becausethey are

isolated or bracketed 47
off. It may be that, on occasion,Laurencebracketsoff the

`(Pas de gene,pas de mauvaiseconscience,pas de delectationmorose.)' (p. 69)

`- Oui je lui ai ressemble[ä Catherine], dit Laurence.(Me ressemblera-t-elle? )' (p. 105)
`Mais je ne t'aime plus d'amour. (L'ai-je jamais fait? Cesmots ont-ils un sens?)' (p. 110)
x`[... ] eile s'6tonne que ce soit si important et un hasard.Sansraison speciale.(Mais tout est ainsi.)'
(p. 67)
x`(elle a dit qu'elle avait mangeavec les enfants,eile ne pouvait rien avaler)' (p. 137)
x`[... ] sebattant entre eux comme des kriss malais dansun tiroir ferme (si on l'ouvre, tout est en
ordre).' (p. 179)
In theselatter examplesthe use of brackets addsan emotional edgeto otherwise seemingly neutral
interpositions.
47`Inhibitions, Symptomsand Anxiety', (1926), The CompletePsychological Worksof Sigmund Freud,
Volume XX (1925-1926),pp. 87-175 (pp. 119-21).In his discussionof the technique of isolating, a
variation of repression,Freud arguesthat in obsessionalneurosis, a traumatic experiencecannot be
forgotten as it can be in hysteria. Instead, `it is deprived of its affect and associativeconnectionsare
 172

painful and unstabilising, that in this way she protects herself. This idea finds some

support in the distribution of bracketsin the narrative. In the final chapter of Les Belles

Images,there are significantly fewer parentheses.It is in this chapterthat Laurencefaces

her disappointmentand so pain and affect are no longer bracketedoff. What was

repressedbecomesconsciousand is therefore included in narrative. As Nicole Ward

Jouve said of Helene Cixous's texts, Les Belles Imagesmight be said to display `the

inner logic of a psychoanalyticcure'. 8

At other times, bracketsand dashesare a way of indicating intonation, they

introduce voice into the text. It is not only the casethat we `hear' Laurence's voice in

the narrative. The intonation of voices shehearsis marked in the text too. The cadence

of Thirion's speech,for instance,is patent:

Qu'est-ce que je pense de mes consoeurs, petite madame? dit-il ä Gisele. Le

-
plus grandbien; beaucoupsont des femmescharmanteset beaucoupont du talent
(en generalce ne sont pas les memes).Mais une choseest sure:jamais aucunene
de
seracapable plaider aux Assises.Elles n'ont pas le coffre, ni l'autorite, ni -je
vais vous etonner- le senstheätral necessaires.
(Les Belles Images,p. 99.)

Ellipsis as well, is a disruptive strategythat functions in a number of different

ways in the text. In every case,ellipsis disrupts the narrative and createsblanks/ empty

spacesin the text, spaceswhere meaning,unexpressed,can expand.It opensup the text.

Ellipsis is a device that enhancesthe subjectiverealism of the text. It can simply mark

the interruption of Laurence'sthoughts by an event in the story. For example,in the

opening scenesat Feuverolles:`(Evidemment,on pourrait dire...)/ Hubert et Marthe

reviennent de la fork [...]' (p. 9); or on a later occasionat Feuverolleswhen Laurence's

suppressedor interrupted so that it remains as though isolatedand is not reproducedin the ordinary
processesof thought' (p. 120).
48Ward Jouve,Nicole, `H6l6neCixous: From Inner Theatreto World Theatre' in White WomanSpeaks
with Forked tongue: Criticism as Autobiography, ed. by Nicole Ward Jouve, London: Routledge,
1990,pp. 91-100 (p. 94), quoted in Shiach,Morag, Helene Cixous: A Politics of Writing, London:
Routledge, 1991.
 173

musings over her feelings for Jean-Charles

are interrupted: `[...] la tendresse:si elle

pouvait 1'avoir retrouveepour toujours... La voix de Dominique 1'arracheä sa reverie'

(p. 92)49 Ellipsis repeatedlymarks Laurence's, or anothercharacter's,breaking off one

train of thought to pursueanother.Laurencerepresentsto herself how Dominique might

cope with Gilbert's rejection then imagines forewarning her mother: `Elle sejettera Bans

le travail, eile prendraun nouvel amant...Et si j'allais moi-meme la prevenir, tout de

suite?' (p. 48). Laurenceis paralysedby indecision and fear, `immobile, au volant de sa

voiture' (p. 48). Later, Gilbert is informing Laurencethat he is going to disillude

Dominique and tell her about his impending marriage to Patricia when his chain of

thought is deflected: `-Je rentre ä Paris ce soir... - Le visage de Gilbert s'illumine: -

Ecoutezdonc; je suis en train de me demander[...]' (p. 96). Correspondingly,ellipsis

marks a character'sbreaking off a train of thought to speakas when Laurenceleaves off

her appraisalof Dominique's characterto urge her mother to get ready to go out: `On la

prend pour une femme de tete, maitressede soi, /

efficace... - Habille-toi, repete

Laurence.Mets des lunettesnoires etje t'emmene dejeunerquelquepart [...]' (p. 125).

Similarly, ellipsis representsthe way in which, in conversation,not all utterancesare

completed.This occurs for instancewhen Jean-Charlestells Laurencea story he thinks

will appeal to her father. Laurence's reply, `- Oui, papa aimera ca...' captures the

opennessof informal speech(p. 91). Likewise, the way Laurencedoesnot conclude her

retort to Gilbert's requestthat shebe there to support Dominique once he has informed

her of his plans to marry, accordswith Laurence's angrily walking away: `- Pour

l'empecher de se descendreen laissantun mot oü elle dirait pourquoi? Ca ferait mauvais

effet, du sangsur la robe blanche de Patricia.../ Elle s'eloigne' (p. 97). The way

interlocutors constantly interrupt eachother is also marked by ellipsis. This is

49For further examples

seepp. 108 and 156.
 174

particularly the casewhen strong convictions and emotions are involved. Marthe

desperatelywants Laurenceto allow Catherineto take her first communion and when

Laurenceexplains that they had Catherinebaptisedonly to pleaseJean-Charles'smother

is
who now dead,Marthe cuts off Laurence: `[... ] maintenant qu'elle est morte.../ -Tu

prends une grave responsabiliteen privant to fille de toute instruction religieuse') (p.

75). When Laurence's father fails to supporther view that it is normal to be

`toumeboule' (upset) at Catherine'sageand that she should be allowed to remain

friends with Brigitte, Laurence'sdismay and anger lead her to interrupt his

pronouncements:`Si la psychologuela trouve desaxee...

/- Mais tu ne crois pas aux

psychologues!(p. 174). The final way in which ellipsis promotes subjective realism is

by marking a pause,as when Jean-CharlesasksLaurenceif sheis ready, `«Tu es

»
prete?... (p. 85). In all thesecases,
ellipsis heightensambiguity, creating a spacefor the

unspokenin the text.

At other comic momentsin the narrative, ellipsis is usedto cut off potentially

endlessrepetition, more of the same.Seefor examplethe point where Laurence

remembersthe early days of her relationship with Lucien: `Tons cesaller et retour et

toujours retomber au memepoint...' (p. 32). The suggestionis that, were it not broken

off, the parodic representationof Laurence'saffair with Lucien might continue.

Likewise, ellipsis implies the endlessnessand also the predictability of the Feuverolles

guests' conversation:`Puis ils repartent...' (p. 95). It is as if the text is turning its back

on what they are saying. Once more, ellipsis opensup a spacein the narrative.

Ellipsis leavesroom for the unexpressedand inexpressible.Thoughts may not be

completedbecausethey aretoo emotionally charged(with Jean-Charles,Laurence says,

`j'ai retrouve aussicette douceurplus secretequej'avais connuejadis, assiseaux pieds

de mon pere ou tenant samain dansla mienne...' p. 22), or becausethey are too
 175
frightening/ threatening (Laurence struggles to name her disappointment, `Je suis

jalouse mais surtout, surtout...' p. 179). Ellipsis repeatedlyintroduces ambiguity and

uncertainty into the narrative. It addsto readers' uncertainty about the statusof the

comment: `Dix idees ä la minute...' prompted by Jean-Charles'sutilitarian responseto

the kaleidoscope(p. 38). Ellipsis also translatesLaurence's own uncertainty on a textual

level. What should she do to preserveprecious moments for her children? `Les

de Ou ' (p. 57).50 Ellipsis

empecher grandir. alors... quoi? suggeststhe tentativenessof

Laurence's stepstowards understanding:`Il me manquequelque choseque les autres

A A
ont... moins... moins qu'ils ne 1'aientpas non plus' (p. 83): `Ce soupconqui lui est

venu 1'autrejour... il etait peut-etrefonde' (p. 91). As she lies in bed trying to determine

how she should go on, ellipses leave spacesin the text for a wealth of associationsand

to
meaning expandand fill: `Catherine[...] peut-titre eile s'en sortira... De quoi? De

cette nuit. De de
1'ignorance, 1'indifference. '
Catherine... (p. 181).

Not all breaksand silencesin the text are marked by ellipses. Often signalled by

an abrupt shift in tone, typographically unmarkedbreaks and in

ruptures the text are

unsettling and destabilising.This is the casein the following examplethat occurs early

in the text. Laurenceis at work thinking about how she is going to visit her father and

about her relationship with her parentswhen the narrative thread is broken and readers

are disorientedby the exclamationthat begins the following paragraph.It takesthem

sometime to realisethat the narrative has moved on and that Laurenceis trying to park:

C'est son pere qu'elle aime le plus - le plus au monde - et eile voit Dominique
bien davantage. Toute ma vie ainsi: c'est mon pere que j'aimais et ma mere qui
m' a faite.
«Especede mufle! » Elle a hesiteune demi-secondede trop [...].
(Les Belles Images, p. 33.)

S0There is a similar exampleon p. 167: `cettepensdequeje retenaisdepuis... quand?

ma soudain
transpercde'.In an interview with JacquelinePiatier in Le Monde, Simone de Beauvoir draws
attention to the fact that Laurence,'un 6tre de fuite', often doesnot finish her sentences,that `ses
conclusionsrestenten suspens'.`Simone de Beauvoir PrdsenteLes Belles images', Le Monde, 23
December 1966,p. 17.
 176

Elsewhere,a silence in the text where the readerexpectsan indirect object createsan

empty spacewhich meansnothing/ everything. The narrator is recounting an afternoon

at Dominique's country house.As the talk turns to feminism, Laurence switches off:

`C'est comme la psychanalyse,le Marche Commun, la force de frappe, eile ne sait pas

qu'en penser,eile n'en penserien. Je suis allergique' (p. 99). Allergic to The text
...?
begsthe question.The readeris dizzy and disoriented,experiencingmomentarily,

feelings which evoke Laurence'sbreakdown,`un vertige [...] un tourbillon' (p. 160), `un

gouffre' (p. 167).

Rupturesin the text also signal Laurence'sanxiety at the gulf she seesopening

up between herself and her father. During the trip to Greece,she cannot agreewith him

but doesnot voice her disagreementabout the poverty she sees(`je passaisoutre' p.

162). When she seesno sign of the `austerebonheur' that her father is convinced

rewards the poor (seepp. 84 and 162), her doubts are made explicit in the text: `j'aurais

bien voulu que papame dise oü exactementil avait rencontredes gens que leer

denuementcomblait' (p. 162); `«Un austerebonheur»: ce n'est pas du tout ce queje

lisais sur cesvisagesrougis par le froid' (p. 165). Laurencetries to explain to herself

how her father could be so mistaken and supposeshe has known Greecein the summer

months when it must be `plus gai'. However, when she holds out this possible

mitigation to her father he rejects it: `- La Grecen'est pas gaie, m'a dit papa avec un

soupconde reproche;eile est belle' (p. 167). Laurence'sdisillusionment is not

There
expressed. is a sharpbreak in the text. The narrative shifts abruptly to the visit to

the museum.A similar rupture occursearlier when Laurencedoesnot challengeher

father's unconvincing reasonsfor not signing petitions. Her disagreementand

 177
disappointmentare implicit in her silencethat is reproducedon a textual level as the

narrative unexpectedlymoves to Athens (p. 166).

Moving on from how brackets,dashes,ellipses, ruptures and silencesfragment,

disrupt and destabilisethe text of Les Belles Images, I now want examine how Simone

de Beauvoir's texts are disruptedat a syntactical level. Syntax and punctuation, which

establishessyntax, are important because,

as Roger Fowler points out, `syntax exercises

a continuousand inexorable control over our apprehensionof literary meaning and

51 1 construetransgressive(disorderedand fragmented) syntax as a symptom
structure'

of madnessin the text. For, as Alice Jardineputs it, `disturbancesin the syntactic chain

- the insurgenceof rhythm and intonation into the ranks of grammatical categoriesfor

identity'. 52
example- may be seenas an attack againstthe ultimate guarantor of our

`Monologue' is Simonede Beauvoir's most transgressivetext and her most

`crazy'. That it is perceivedas suchis, to a considerableextent, owing to its eccentric

syntax. It is in this text that her (mis)useof punctuation is flagrant. The text is not

without punctuation but conventionalrules of punctuation are flouted. A senseof

disarray is generatedas readers,largely deprived of boundariesnormally marked by

punctuation,attempt to make senseof the text. Sometimes,sentence-internal

is
punctuation missing. At other times, confusion arisesbecauseutterancesthat might

normally be divided into two sentencesor more are amalgamated,as when Murielle

goesover Sylvie's suicide, seekingto disculpateherself: `Oui, si j'etais de cesmeres qui

se levent ä septheuresdu matin on 1'aurait sauveemoi je vis sur un autre rythme ce

n'est pas criminel commentauraisje devine?' (p. 112). Whole sectionsof text lack

punctuation.Readersencounteringseriesof undifferentiated clausesmust themselves

51Fowler, Roger,A Dictionary Modern Critical Terms,London: Routledge, 1987, 243.

of p.
52Jardine,Pre-Texts, 234.
p.
 178
impose order on the text. Disorientation is increasedwhen clausesthey might

differentiate appearjumbled. This is the casefor instanceearly in the text where

Murielle imaginesher family celebratingNew Year without her. Noisy, festive people

in the street ('Salauds! ils me dethirent les tympans [...]' p. 87) becomeconflated with

Murielle's family ('Salauds! Its me cavalentdans la teteje les vois je les entends' p. 88)

and we read:

Je n'ai rien ä foutre d'eux seulementqu'ils ne m'empechent pas de dormir; on

devient bon pour le cabanonon avouetout le vrai et le faux qu'ils ne comptent pas
lä-dessusje suis une forte natureils ne m'auront pas.
('Monologue', p. 88.)

I believe few readersare not forced to rereadsuch utterancesa number of times in order

to make senseof them. In so doing, in repeatinga fragment of text over and over, they

replicate the that

obsessions grip Murielle.

Elsewhere,disarticulated,disjointed syntax translatesMurielle's distress.When

she bums some incensebecausesheimagines she smells vomit, she is reminded of

Sylvie's funeral: `fette odeur d'encensc'est celle du service funebre; les ciergesles

fleurs le catafalque:mon desespoir.Morte; c'etait impossible!' (p. 104). The convulsive

rhythms of this jerky In

syntax are unmistakable. addition, seriesof short, asyntactic and

duplicating a rapid intake of breath. This

disarticulated sentencessuggestbreathlessness,

can suggestMurielle's being by

rocked powerful emotions. For instancewhen she

remembersher father: `Mon pere m'aimait. Personned'autre. Tout est venu de lä' (p.

90). Or when sherelives the pain of Sylvie's death: `Sylvie est morte. Cinq ans dejä.

Elle est morte. Pour toujours. Je ne le supportepas' (p. 104). This exampleoccursjust

after the example of convulsive syntax quoted above and is immediately followed by

Murielle's breaking down and uttering desperatepleas: `Au secoursj'ai mal j'ai trop
 179
de lä je ca
ne veux pas que recommence1adegringolade non aidez-
mal qu'on me sorte

je
moi n'en peux plus ne me laissez '
pas seule... (p. 104).

Together, the lack of sentence-internalpunctuation in much of the text and series

have the hurrying 3 Murielle's

of short, asytactic utterances effect of readersalong.

thoughts and rapid speechare mirrored in the text. The representationof

racing

Murielle's telephonecall to Tristan is exemplary. Murielle's voice leavesno room for

Tristan's. Long, unpunctuatedsentencesreproduceher relentlessonslaught. This is how

Murielle puts her caseto Tristan early in the call:

Toute la nuitj'ai reflechi je n'avais rien d'autre ä faire et vraiment je t'assure c'est
anormal cette situation on ne va pas continuer comme ca enfin nous sommes
toujours manes quel gaspillage ces deux appartements tu revendrais le tien pour
je to derangerais pas n'aie pas peur pas question de
au moins vingt millions et ne
la d'amour je m'enfermerais Bans la
reprendre vie conjugale on ne s'aime plus
du fond ne m'interromps pas tu pourrais avoir toutes les nanas que tu
chambre
je il
m'en torche mais puisqu'on est restes amis n'y a pas de raison pour
voudrais
qu'on ne vive pas sous le meme toit.
('Monologue', p. 115.)

Thesethirteen lines of print without a pauseappearin more than three pagesof text

break. Tristan's brief utterancesappearin the text only as blanks

without a paragraph

(ellipses), their import is gatheredonly from Murielle's response.`Tu n'as pas le droit

de priver [Francis] d'un vrai foyer... Mais si revenonslä-dessus[...]' (p. 115).

`Quelquefoisje me demandesi ce n'etait pas un coup monte... Oui un coup monte: c'est

tellement incroyable ce grand amour et puis ce lächage...Tu ne t'etais pas rendu

de ' (pp. 54
116-17). like
Readers, Tristan, can experienceMurielle's
compte? quoi?

monologue, her only weapon (((Elle le

se vengepar monologue.»), as an assault.It

seemsto pin us down.

53Readersattempting to read unpunctuatedsectionsof text aloud can actually experiencebreathlessness

as they are deprived of the breathing spacepunctuation provides.
S4Seealso pp. 114,117.
 180

The effects identified in `Monologue' are not unique to that text. Many of the

found in Les Belles Images. It, too, is characterised by contorted,

same techniques are

transgressive syntax. Syntax is often broken and disarticulated, conveying pain and the

55 One the the in

pangs of Laurence's anguish. of most striking examples occurs at point

the text where Laurence realises the enormous responsibility she bears as a parent:

56
`Pointe de feu ä travers le coeur. Anxiete, remords' (p. 135). Contorted syntax recurs

when Laurenceremembersher depressionfive years earlier: `Il me semblait n'avoir plus

d'avenir: les
Jean-Charles, ä
petites en avaient un; moi pas; alors quoi bon me cultiver? '

(p. 43). And spasmodicsyntax translatesthe intenseemotion that destabilisesLaurence

asshe watchesthe little Greek girl dance:

Une charmantefillette qui deviendrait cette matronne.Non. Je ne voulais pas.

Avais je bu trop d'ouzo? Moi aussij'etais possedeepar cette enfant que la
musique possedait. Cet instant passionnen'aurait pas de fin. La petite danseusene
grandirait pas; pendant 1'eterniteeile tournerait sur elle-meme et je la regarderais.
Je refusaisde l'oublier, de redevenirunejeune femme qui voyage avec son pere;
je refusals qu'un jour eile ressemblätä sa mere,ne se rappelantmeme pas avoir
ete cette adorablemenade.Petite condamneeä mort, affreuse mort sanscadavre.
La vie allait l'assassiner.Je pensaisA Catherinequ'on etait en train d'assassiner.
(Les Belles Images,p. 158.)

Disarticulation is especially marked during the culmination of Laurence's

breakdownthat has beenbuilding up throughout the novel. Laurenceconsidersand

rejects the idea that jealousy is at the root of her collapse: `Oedipe mal liquide, ma mere

demeurantma rivale. Electre, Agamemnon.Est-cepour cela que Mycenesm'a tant

emue?Non. Non. Billevesees' (p. 179). The repressedemotion that is giving rise to her

inner conflict (`Le tiroir est referme, les kriss sebattent.') is her disappointmentwith her

55I am reminded of what Julia Kristeva saysabout Marguerite Duras in an interview with SusanSellers:
`It's through being imperfect that Duras' sentencestranslatesuffering rather than in the fireworks of
find in Joyce. For Duras, the expression of pain is painful'. Women's
musical and vocal pleasurewe
Review,Number 12,19-21, p. 21.
56An alternative analysis of such syntax is to read it as sentencesthat are fragmentedand the fragments
separated by full-stops. SeeLiisa Dahl's discussion of James Joyce's expressionistic sentencesin `The
Attributive SentenceStructure in the Streamof ConsciousnessTechnique with SpecialReferenceto
the Interior Monologue usedby Virginia Woolf, Joyce and O'Neill', NeuphilogischeMitteilungen, 68,
1967,440-54, pp. 449-50.
 181
father. Laurence'spain at recognising and naming her disappointment is conveyedby

that is denotedin the text: `Je suisjalouse

broken syntax, duplicating her breathlessness

mais surtout, '

surtout... (p. 179). Laurencedosesoff, exhaustedafter confronting her

pain and wakes to find Jean-Charles

there. Her refusal to seethe doctor is expressedin

disarticulatedsyntax: `-Non jamais! Je ne me laisserai pas manipuler. Elle crie: -

Non! Non! ' (p. 180). Laurence's struggleto find a way forward is related in fractured,

convulsive syntax:

Elle retombe sur son oreiller. Its la forceront ä manger, ils lui feront tout avaler;
tout quoi? tout ce qu'elle vomit, sa vie, celle des autres avec leurs fausses amours,
leurs histoires d'argent, leurs mensonges. Its la gueriront de son refus, de son
desespoir. Non. Pourquoi non? Cette taupe qui ouvre les yeux et voit qu'il fait
noir, ä quoi ra I'avance-t-il? Refermer les yeux. Et Catherine? lui clouer les
paupieres? "Non"; eile a crie tout haut. Pas Catherine. Je ne permettrai pas qu'on
lui fasse ce qu'on m'a fait. Qu'a-t-on fait de moi? Cette femme qui n'aime
personne, inensible aux beautes du monde, incapable meme de pleurer, cette
femme que je vomis. Catherine: au contraire lui ouvrir les yeux tout de suite et
peut-titre un rayon de lumiere filtrera jusqu'ä eile, peut-titre eile s'en sortira... De
quoi? De cette nuit. De l'ignorance, de l'indifference. Catherine... Elle se redresse
soudain.
(Les Belles Images,pp. 180-81.)

This paragraph,quoted in full becauseit exemplifies Simone de Beauvoir's use of

fragmented,disrupted syntax, begins with Laurencefalling back on her pillow and ends

with her sitting up, a reversalthat marks a critical moment, a turning point for her.

Laurencehas found in herself the strengthto challengeJean-Charlesand fight for her

daughter.The intenseemotionsthat are destabilising Laurenceare parallelled in the

unsettled,disrupted syntax of the passage.

The use of syntax in L'Invitee is not at first sight so radical. Nevertheless,it does

contribute to the madnessof the text. There is a typical sentencestructure in L'Invitee

that correspondsto the prevailing claustrophobicand obsessiveatmospherein the book.

Given its reputation as a philosophical novel, there is a surprising absenceof complex or

compoundsentencesin L'Lrvitee. In the main, Simone de Beauvoir has not constructed

 182

carefully arguedsentenceswhere clausesare linked by subordinating or coordinating

conjunctions. Rather, her is

writing paratactics7, characterisedeither by simple

sentencesor by sentencesmadeup of seriesof clauses,sometimesincluding subordinate

or coordinateclauses,separatedor linked by semi-colons and colons. I have in mind

like
sentences this one that occurs early in the novel, depicting Francoisein the Moorish

cafe where sheand Xaviere are watching a dancer:

Francoise s'enfonca dans les coussins; eile aussi, eile etait touchee par tout ce
clinquant facile, mais ce qui 1'enchantait surtout c'etait d'avoir annexe ä sa vie
cette petite existence triste; car ä present, comme Gerbert, comme Ines, comme
Canzetti, Xaviere lui appartenait; rien ne donnait jamais ä Francoise des joies si
fortes que cette espece de possession; Xaviere regardait attentivement la danseuse,
eile ne voyait pas son propre visage que la passion embellissait, sa main sentait les
contours de la tasse qu'elle serrait, mais Francoise seule etait sensible aux
contours de cette main: les gestes de Xaviere, sa figure, sa vie meme avaient
besoin de Franroise pour exister.
(L'Invitee, pp. 22-3.)

This very long sentence(twelve lines of print) is Gothic in its complexity, its

convolutions. There is in
a sense which thesesentencescould go on an on, clauses

to infinity. 58 Theselong uncoordinated that

sentences characterizethe text,
added

harmonizewith and contribute to the senseof suffocation and enclosureevoked.

Moreover, such sentencesresist any imposition of closure or conclusiveness.This

syntax is in keeping with Francoise's senseof being overwhelmed and the illimitable

peril that Xaviere personifies.Two compositesentences

evoke Francoise's fears that

to
come a head in the Spanishnight-club; it is one of the climactic moments in the text:

Cette presenceennemiequi s'etait reveleetout ä 1'heuredannun sourire de folle

devenaientde plus en plus proche, il n'y avait plus moyen d'en eviter le
devoilementterrifiant; jour apresjour, minute apresminute, Francoiseavait fui le
danger,mail c'en etait fait, eile l'avait enfin rencontrecet infranchissableobstacle
qu'elle avait pressentisous des formes incertainesdepuis sa plus petite enfance;a
travers la jouissancemaniaquede Xaviere, ä travers sahaine et sajalousie, le

57Parataxisis the placing of sentences,clauses,or propositions together without connectives.

58Thesesentencesfollow the principles of attributive structure as it is presentedby Liisa Dahl. She argues
that `different additions can be made,becausethere is no definite subordination to which a new word
should conform. The connectionbetweenthe parts is "half open", for the starting point is the subject
but it has no fixed termination' (p. 443).
 183

scandale eclatait, aussi monstrueux, aussi definitif que la mort; en face de

Francoise,et cependantsanseile, quelquechoseexistait comme une
condamnation sans recours: libre, absolu, irreductible, une conscienceetrangerese
dressait.C'etait comme la mort, une totale negation,une eternelleabsence,et
cependantpar une contradiction boulversante, ce gouffre de neant pouvait se
rendrepresent ä soi-meme et se faire exister pour soi avec plenitude; l'univers tout
entier s'engloutissait en lui, et Francoise, ä jamais depossedee du monde, se
dissolvait elle-meme dans ce vide dont aucunmot, aucuneimage ne pouvait
cerner le contour infini.
(L 'Invitee, pp. 363-64. )

The accumulationof clauseupon clauseconveysa senseof relentlessnessand

inevitability. Just as Francoiseis deciding to murder Xaviere, the threat of engulfment

sherepresentsis evoked again:

En face de sa solitude, hors de l'espace, hors du temps, il y avait cette presence

ennemie qui depuis si longtemps 1'ecrasait de son ombre aveugle; eile etait lä,
n'existant que pour soi, tout entiere reflechie en elle-meme, reduisant au neant
tout ce qu'elle excluait; eile enfermait le monde entier dans sa propre solitude
triomphante, eile s'epanouissait sans limites, infinie, unique; tout ce qu'elle etait,
eile le tirait d'elle-meme, eile se refusait ä toute emprise, eile etait 1'absolue
separation.
(L'Invitee, pp. 502-503.)

Again, just one long convoluted sentencebuilds up the menacing picture. The

appositenessof the syntax that magnifies and mirrors a senseof submergeanceis

incontrovertible.

At this point in the text, there is a distinct contrastbetweenthis long sentence

applied to Xaviere and a seriesof short sentencesassociatedwith Francoise:`Seule.

Sansappui' (p. 502); 11 n'y avait plus personne.Frangoiseetait seule./ Seule.Eile avait

agi seule.Aussi seuleque dapsla mort' (p. 503). Francoise'semancipationfrom

Xaviere is figured on a textual level. Her solitude being `enacted' by single-word

sentencesthat standalone.

Shorter and single-word sentencesintrude elsewherein the text too. Definitive

and self-contained,they produce a spasmodic,jerky rhythm. A one-word sentence

enclosedby longer, discursive sentencesconveysthe decisive nature of Francoise's

 184
illness: `Malade' (p. 222). Similarly, the word `prisonniere' is isolated, imprisoned in

the text (p. 261). A short asyntacticsentenceplaced after a long seriesof clauses

evoking Montparnasseon the last evening before the war, Pierre's last evening in Paris

before he is called up, conveys a senseof finality. It is like a door closing:

Its s'assirentä la terrasse;le cafe etait plein de gens, de bruit et de fumee; il y

avait une bande de tres jeunes gens qui chantaient; une nuee d'officiers en
uniforme avait jailli du sol au cours de la nuit, ils s'etaient repanduspar groupes
autour des tables; des femmes les harcelaient avec des rires qui restaientsans
echo. La dernierenuit, les dernieresheures.
(L'Invitee, p. 475.)

A seriesof short sentencesconveysfear and panic when Francoiserealisesthat

the key to her desk where she keepsher letters from Pierre and Gerbert is missing.

Elle vida nerveusementson sac.Le poudrier. Le baton de rouge. Le peigne. Il

fallait que la clef füt quelquepart. Elle ne s'etait pas separeede son sacune
minute. Elle retourna le sac, le secoua. Son coeur se mit ä battre avec violence.
Une minute. Le temps de porter le plateaude dejeunerde la cuisine dansla
chambre de Xaviere. Et Xaviere etait dans la cuisine.
(L'Invitee, p. 496-97.)

As the narrative continues,short sentencesrelate how Francoiseruns home and finds

that Xaviere has read her letters, («Xaviere sait.)>(p. 497)). Speedand breathlessness

and then irrevocability by

are suggested a successionof short sentences.

L'Invitee is also marked by fragmented,disrupted syntax as the novel reachesits

climax. After Francoise's confrontation with Xaviere once she has read the letters,

disarticulatedand convulsive syntax accordswith Francoise's anguish:

[Francoise]traversale couloir, eile titubait comme une aveugle, les larmes

brülaient sesyeux: `J'ai etajalouse d'elle. Je lui ai pris Gerbert.' Les larmes
brülaient, les mots brülaient commeun fer rouge. Elle s'assit au bord du divan et
repetahebetee:`J'ai fait cela. C'est moi. ' Dans les tenebres,le visage de Gerbert
brülait d'un feu noir, et les lettres sur le tapis etaient noires comme un pacte
infernal. Elle ports son mouchoir ä seslevres. Une lave noire et torride coulait
danssesveins. Elle aurait voulu mourir.
(L'Invitee, p. 499.)
 185
She cannot bear the idea that Xaviere will define her as maleficent: `Chaquematin

renaitrait cette femme detesteequi etait desormaisFrancoise.Elle revit le visage de

Xaviere decomposepar la souffrance.Mon crime. Il existait pour toujours' (p. 500).

Tortured, fragmentedsyntax betraysFrancoise'spangs.Equally contorted and

disruptive syntax marks her defianceand resolveto wipe out Xaviere and, with her,

Francoise'sown guilt:

C'etait une longue histoire. Elle fixa l'image. Il y avait longtempson essayaitde
la lui ravir. Rigide commeune consign. Austere et pure comme un glacon.
Devouee,dedaignee,buteedansles moralescreuses.Et eile avait dit : «Non.»
Mais eile 1'avait dit tout bas; c'est en cachettequ'elle avait embrasseGerbert.
«N'est-ce pas moi?» Souventeile hesitait, fascinee.Et maintenant,eile etait
tombee dansle piege, eile etait ä la merci de cette consciencevorace qui avait
attendudans1'ombrele moment de 1'engloutir. Jalouse,traltresse,criminelle. On
ne pouvait pas se defendreavec desmots timides et des actesfurtifs. Xaviere
existait, la trahison existait. Elle existe en chair et en os, ma criminelle figure.
Elle n'existera plus.
(L'Invitee, pp. 500-501.)

As Francoiselooks at her reflection in the mirror, others' definitions of her are told in a

seriesof asyntacticsentences.A questionin the first person breaksinto the text. The

delayedpast participle, `fascinee' reproducesFrancoise'shesitation as the text seemsto

falter. Xaviere's definition of Francoise,a stark enumeration,eruptsinto the text. Syntax

posesthe existenceof Xaviere and the existenceof Francoise'sbetrayal as equivalent

since two clausesare simply placed in the samesentencewith no conjunction (`Xaviere

existait, la trahison existait'). The displacementof the subject to the end of the final

sentenceof the paragraphheightensambiguity and strengthensthe identification

Xaviere, betrayal, guilt. The following one-sentenceparagraphis decisive.Xaviere, the

betrayal and Francoise's guilt (`eile') will be extirpatedin one move,just as their fate is

decided in one short sentence.

Disrupted, contorted syntax in L'Invitee is mimetic. For example,it mirrors

Francoise's lack of franknesswhen she speaksto Pierre about their relationship: `-

 186
Peut-etre,dit Francoise;on ne peut meme pas parler de negligence, simplement' (p.

204). Similarly, Elisabeth's hysterical laughter and bewilderment is imitated by

convoluted syntax:

Ce rien, dit Elisabeth. eile se tut. Elle avait ete trop loin; j'ai ete trop loin,
- n'est
se dit-elle; trop loin; mais alors ca aussic'etait donc fait expres,ce degoüt cynique
devant son personnage?Et ce mepris de ce degoüt qu'elle etait en train de se
fabriquer, n'etait-il pas aussicomedie?Et ce doute devant ce mepris... ca devenait
affolant, si l'on se mettait ä titre sincere,on ne pouvait dons plus s'arreter?
(L'Invitee, p. 282.)

Echoesin the text ('trop loin') suggesther laughter dying away to be replacedby a

dizzying seriesof questionsthat fit into eachother like ever receding reflections in

reflections. The seriesthat might go on forever is ruptured in the sameway as

Elisabeth's laughter was broken off. Also, mimetic syntax replicates what Francoise

defines as her lack of harmony, her awkward aridity:

Me voila donc, pensaFrancoiseen se considerantavec un peu d'horreur; cette

gaucheriemaladroite existait ä peine autrefois, quand eile n'y prenait pas garde:
eile avait envahi maintenanttoute sapersonneet sesgestes,sespenseesmemes,
avaient des angles raides et cassants,
son equilibre harmonieux s'etait changeen
sterilite vide; ce bloc de blancheurtranslucide et nue, aux aretesräpeuses,c'etait
eile, en depit d'elle-meme, irremediablement.
(L'Invitee, p. 312.)

This long disarticulated,ungainly sentence,like Francoise,has sharpedgesand

awkward angles.Contorted, fractured syntax parallels the anger and exasperation

Francoisefeels towards Xaviere who persistsin cherishing an image of Pierre that

contradictsFrancoise'sown. Sheimaginesbringing Xaviere face to face with the

`truth':

Samain se crispa sur la pochettede cuir noir. Jeter les lettres sur les genoux de
Xaviere. Dans le degoüt et la fureur, Xaviere elle-memeproclamerait sa defaite; il
n'y avait pas de victoire possible sansson aveu. Francoisese retrouverait solitaire,
souveraine,ä jamais delivree.
(L'Invitee,p. 495.)
 187
Ambiguous syntax meansthe disgust and rage projected onto Xaviere in a hypothetical

future, are momentarily linked in readers'minds with Francoiseand the angry gestureof

throwing Pierre's letters into Xaviere's lap.

I have shown how stability and coherenceare underminedby Simone de

Beauvoir's textual strategiesand locatedthe madnessof the text in instability and

incoherence.Madnessis duplicatedon a syntactical level too. Simone de Beauvoir's

writing practice maintains readersin a stateof tension and confusion and her texts are

often demandingand uncomfortable.The rejection of a conception of identity as fixed

and stable is in keeping with the idea that meaning is fluid and not to be enclosed.

Ultimately, textual disruption and fragmentationsubvert meaningfulness.In my final

chapterI shall analysehow Simonede Beauvoir's writing practice throws the

meaningfulnessof languageitself into question.

 188
Chapter Four

Language and Meaning: Les Belles Images

Les Belles Images is the story of Laurence,the portrait of a woman facing a nervous

breakdown,on the brink of madness.Simone de Beauvoir's textual strategiesduplicate

this madnessin the text which structuresthe experienceof madness,which is an effect

of the text as a whole. The author createsa mad textual universe where readersshare

Laurence's experience,her helplessnessand confusion, her `desarroi'. This chapterwill

focus on one areaof the mad textual universe createdin Les Belles Images and

concentrateon languageand meaning.Madnessis exemplified at those points in the text

when languagerefusesto signify. The madnessin the text is specifically that quality in

the writing that unsettlesmeaning.As Laurenceloses faith in language,so too, readers

are forced into a position where their confidence in language its

and meaningfulnessis

undermined.Laurence's struggle to make senseof the world, senseof who she is and

what is happeningto her, coincideswith her struggle with languageand is paralleled by

to
readers' efforts make senseof the text. The particular textual strategiesI shall deal

with are the opening up of meaning,the use of irony and enumerationand repetition.

Thesestrategieswill be elucidatedby an initial examination of Simone de Beauvoir's

changing and contradictory attitudesto languageand meaning. I do not wish to suggest

that Simone de Beauvoir was an advocateof radical language.I am arguing that, as she

struggled with language to make it express her meaning, in a way comparable to the

in La Femme `qui debattent des '

women protagonists rompue se avec mots', the

languageSimonede Beauvoir producedactually undermined the (patriarchal)

ideological assumptionsabout languageand meaningthat she,in part, subscribedto.

1Beauvoir, 'Pribre d'inserer', reproducedin Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 231-32.
 189
Did Simone de Beauvoir believe that languageis transparent,a straightforward

sign systemwhich allows us to say what we mean?Toril Moi arguesthat Simone de

Beauvoir `relies on Sartre's disastrouslysimplistic theory of languageas a transparent

instrument for action', that for her, languageis `the author's most reliable ally; a faithful

workhorse that never fails to convey the desiredmessage'. Other critics sharethis

judgment. Irene Pagesbelives that Simonede Beauvoir's language`is a rational

languagewhich never will allow itself to transgresslogic' and that she `usescurrent

languageas an unequivocal sysemreferring to reality'. In her study of Simone de

Beauvoir's memoirs Leah D. Hewitt writes:

For contemporarycritics interestedin the way writing (`ecriture') plays havoc

with identity, puts into questionthe subject of/ in languageand disrupts
oppositional thought, de Beauvoir's work is perhapstoo readable,that is, naive.
[...] De Beauvoir assumeswith conviction the existenceof the coherentego that
attributes meaning and occupiesan unassailableposition over language.For this
powerful subject, unconsciousdesirehas no place.
(Autobiographical Tightropes, p. 15.)4

Without doubt theseviews do find support in Simone de Beauvoir's writing and in

interviews shegave, but I considerthat her beliefs to do with languageare more

complicated and contradictory than the commentsof thesecritics might suggest.

In her contribution to a 1964debate,Quepeut la litterature?, Simone de

Beauvoir arguesthat true communicationis possible and deniesthat languageis a

barrier though, significantly, shetypifies languageas opaquenot transparent:je pense

que je dis ce que je dis et qui est ce que vous entendez; il ya lä un rapport vrai qui se

cree ä travers le langage:celui-ci est opacitemais c'est aussiun vehicule de

2Moi, Simonede Beauvoir,

pp. 144 and 248.
3Pages,Irene, `Simone de Beauvoir
and the New French Feminisms', Canadian WomanStudies: Les
Cahiers de la Femme,6 (1), 1984,60-62, p. 61.
° Hewitt, Leah D., Autobiographical Tightropes: Simonede Beauvoir, Nathalie Sarraute,
Marguerite
Dural, Monique Wittig, and Maryse Conde,Lincoln: University of NebraskaPress, 1990, 15.
p.
 190
5
signification commun ä tous et accessibleä tous' This contrastssharply with the

sentimentshe in
expresses L'Existentialisme et la sagessedes nations in 1948 to the

`les trahisons du langage[...] 6

empechenttoute communication veritable'. As
effect that

for languagein literature, Simonede Beauvoir is clear that, unlike scientific language

where there exists `un rapport univoque' between words/ signs and ideas, where le

languagein literature in 7
vocable est transparent', operates a much more complex way.

In her memoirs we read:

Il n'y a d'oeuvre litteraire que si le langageest en jeu, si le sensse chercheä

travers lui, provoquant une invention de la parole meme. [...] Une oeuvre qui se
refere au monde ne saurait etre une simple transcription, puisqu'il n'est pas doue
de parole. Les faits ne determinentpas leur expression,ils ne dictent rien: celui
qui les relate decouvrece qu'il aä en dire, par l'acte de le dire.
(Tout comptefait, pp. 162-63.)

Languagein literature doesnot transmit a pre-existing meaning or representreality, but

it is involved in a processof signification, of creating meaning. Later in the same

chapterof Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs, in the account she gives of an interview with

Francis Jeanson,she confirms this view, affirming that `le langagen'est pas la

traduction d'un texte dejä formule mais qu'il s'invente ä partir d'une experience

indistincte'. 8 In an interview with Ved Solverg Saetre,speakingabout the nouveau

roman, Simone de Beauvoir doesnot dismiss the movement out of hand, expressingher

appreciationof the first novels of Robbe-Grillet and Nathalie Sarrauteand commenting

on Sollers' Drame in the following terms:

Il decrit bien 1'echecdesmots devant la realite qu'ils pretendentexprimer - c'est

cet echecqui est interessant.Ce theme est essentiel.Je ne l'ai jamais nie: les mots
ne collent pas ä la realite - mais je dis les mots sont notre seul moyen de
5In Que
peut la litterature? , p.78. Sartre's contribution to the samedebateappearsin the same
collection, pp. 107-27.
6L'Existentialisme la sagessedes nations, p. 28.
et
Tout comptefait, pp. 162-63.
$Tout comptefait, pp. 166-67.The interview is published in Jeanson,Francis,Simone de Beauvoir
ou
1'entreprisede vivre, Paris: Seuil, 1966.A summary of the interviews that lasted four hours can be
found in Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 220-21. (Particularly interesting in connection with Les
Belles imagesand Laurence'sbreakdown is Simone de Beauvoir's Freudian interpretation of her own
psychology and Oedipuscomplex.)
 191

communication et qu'on doit essayer d'etablir une realite ä travers les mots bien
que noun sachionsquels pieges ils nous tendent.
(Interview with Ved Solverg Saetre,1968.)9

Words fit reality imperfectly but they are our only tool. There is an undeniabletension

in Simone de Beauvoir between,on the one hand, her conviction that she sayswhat she

that her is
meaning unambiguously presentin the words she usesand, on the
meansand

other hand, her that

acknowledgement meaning is the outcome of a struggle with

is
language,a process.This tension revealedin her fiction. '°

With regard to women and language,her point of view certainly evolved in some

respectsover time. This is what she said to Nina Sutton in 1970: `Une femme ecrit-elle

auirementqu'un homme? daps

Seulement la mesureoü sa situation est differente daps

actuelle. Un style litteraire ne fait que refleter la situation de 1'ecrivain et

notre societe

ä " This can be comparedwith her commentsin the preface to

son rapport sa situation'.

Anne Ophir's book published in 1976:

Nous rejettions la notion de litterature feminine parce que nous voulions

parler ä egalite avec les hommes de l'univers tout entier.
Nous le voulons toujours. Seulementla recenteevolution du feminisme nous
a fait comprendre que noun occupons dans cet univers une situation singuliere et
que, loin de il
renier cette singularite, nous faut la revendiquer.
Est-ce ä dire que pour ecrire nous devonsnous inventer un langage
specifique? Certaines d'entre nous le pensent : pas moi. On ne peut pas creer
artificiellement un langage. Sur ce point les precieuses - dont le feminisme etait
du
tres proche nötre - ont echoue; leur parole n'etait comprise que daps les ruelles
et s'est vite fange. De meme aujourd'hui, l'ecriture au feminin n'atteint qu'un
petit cercle d'initiees. Elle me paralt elitiste, destine ä le
satisfaire narcissisme de
1'auteuret non ä etablir une communication avec autrui.

9Saetre,Ved Solverg, 'Interview with Simone de Beauvoir', Vinduet, 3,1968,196-201. Summary and
translated from Norwegian in Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 233-34 (p. 233).
extracts
10Ursula Tidd examinesSimone de Beauvoir's disagreementwith Sartre about about languageand
writing and the representation of experience as it is exemplified in a debate they had one day at Saint-
Cloud and repeatedly afterwards.Shearguesthat Beauvoir concedesonly reluctantly and
provisionally to Sartre's view that in order to `s'approprier les choses [...] il faut saisir leur sens et le
fixer dans desphrases'which opposedher own view that `la rdalit6 dabordetout ce qu'on peut en
dire; il fallait 1'affronter Bansson ambiguite, dans son opacite au lieu de la r6duire ä des significations
qui se laissentexprimer par desmots' (La Force de 1'dge). See`Simone de Beauvoir. Writing the
Self, Writing the Life', unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Birmingham, 1997, pp. 266-68.
" Sutton, Nina, Inteview with Simone de Beauvoir, `Sartre and TheSecondSex', Guardian, 19 February
1970, p. 11. Summary and extract in Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, p. 245.
 192
Je sais que le langagecourant est plein de pieges.Pretendantä l'universalite,
il porte en fait la marquedesmalesqui l'ont elabore; il reflete leurs valeurs, leurs
pretentions,leurs prejuges.11convient de n'en user qu'avec prudence.
(Preface,Regardsfeminin: condition feminine et creation litteraire. )12

Whilst Simone de Beauvoir firmly rejectsthe notion of ecriturefeminine, these

commentsneverthelessreveal a more nuancedattitude to language.However, although

Simone de Beauvoir's ideason women and languagedid indeed evolve, they remained

ill defined and, to someextent, contradictory. In 1979, in an interview with Alice

Jardine, Simone de Beauvoir was still rejecting the theories of Helene Cixous in the

terms.13During the interview, Simone de Beauvoir talks of languageas a

same

universal instrument that can be used `in a feminist perspective' and thus `find itself

in
changed a feminist manner'. Shereiteratesthe warning she gave in 1976. Although

we `can't not use this universal instrument', sheargues,women must be awarethat it

incorporatesmasculinebias and must `enrich their language,clean it up'. She dismisses

the role of the unconsciousin the production of languageand with this the notion that

women have a different relation to languagethan men. For her, languageis social

practice, a function of social situation. The interview at this point is confusedand

confusing. Alice Jardine rephrases her question about women's relation to language,

trying to elicit, I believe, Simone de Beauvoir's views on women's (distinctive) entry

into languageand the Symbolic Order whereasher replies deal with the unconsciousin

languageproduction at a less `primitive' level. Simone de Beauvoir seemsto flounder

as she attemptsto outline her position on women's and men's relationship to language;

askedwhether there should be a difference betweenfeminine and masculine discourse,

given their very different social situations at the presenthistorical moment, Simone de

12Ophir, Regardsfeminin, pagesnot numbered.Preface

reproducedin Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits,
pp. 577-79.
"Jardine, `Interview', pp. 229-31.
 193
Beauvoir replies that it dependson the topic as there are topics common to women and

men and suggeststhat `if a woman speaksof oppression,of misery, she will speakof it

in exactly the sameway as a man' (p. 231). Shebelieves women speakdifferently only

when they speakof their own personalproblems as a woman, assertingthat women are

at once singular and universal. One could be forgiven for forming the impression that

Simone de Beauvoir rejects Helene Cixous' ideaswithout having properly understood

them. She saysas much herself: `I can't read her, understandher'. 14Be that as it may,

during this interview sheis clearly uncomfortable discussinglanguagein generaland

Helene Cixous in particular and puts an abrupt end to the topic of conversation.The

break is startling:

A. J.: So that meansthat you don't agreewith Cixous when she says...
S.B.: No, not at all.
(Interview with Alice Jardine, 1979,p. 231.)

When Alice Jardine goesback to the topic a little later in the interview, Simone de

Beauvoir expressesa somewhatdifferent attitude, seemingto arguethat a woman will

necessarilywrite differently to a man and assertingthat her own books could certainly

have been by 15 She however, define how her texts are

not written a man. cannot,

marked by her femininity/ femaleness.

Simone de Beauvoir's ideas on women and

language,the contradictions and blindspots inherent in her views find expressionin her

fiction where women are given a voice.

For Simone de Beauvoir's women protagonists,languageis fraught with

difficulties. Becausethey lose faith in language,becausethey do not use language

unequivocally to establishthe `truth', we are invited to condemnthe protagonists in

14Jardine, `Interview', p. 229. It is striking that Simone de Beauvoir

usesthe sameverb as H6l6ne Cixous
to describewomen's relationship/attitudeto language;as Alice Jardinepoints out, they both use the
verb voler - Simone de Beauvoir to mean `to steal' and Hblbne Cixous in its double meaning, `to
steal' and `to fly' (p. 230).
15Jardine, `Interview', p. 233.
 194
Simone de Beauvoir's later texts. Sheis explicit that in `La Femme rompue' Monique's

is in the `de le journal 16The fact that the

guilt evident way page en page se conteste'.

woman in `L'Age de discretion' is failed by languageis a symptom of her breakdown.

Murielle's monologuedivorces truth from discourseand Simone de Beauvoir can seeno

for her '7 In Les Belles Images, Laurence's

outcome except madnessor suicide.

difficulties with language,her struggleto make words signify, is representedas a

symptom of her disintegrating personality and mental collapse.However, as Toril Moi

has arguedin relation to `La Femmerompue', the fact that the narrator constantly

contradicts herself is not interpretedby modern readersas a sign of her guilt and

blindness but rather as demonstrationof the inadequacyof languageand the unstable

nature of meaning. Toril Moi that

suggests `La Femmerompue' `may paradoxically -

and quite unintentionally - come acrossas a far more "modern" text than any of
18
Beauvoir's other writings'. I believe that the sametension related to languageand

meaning is to be found in Les Belles Images, in the other stories in La Femmerompue

and can evenbe traced in her earlier fiction too, notably in L'Invitee. To someextent,

almost all Simone de Beauvoir's texts undermine a patriarchal ideological position on

16Tout comptefait, p. 175.

17See Tout comptefait, p. 177. In Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs, hope is held out for the woman in
`L'Age de discretion' as, in the end, sheis able to talk to Andre again and as shenever at any point
loses `1'amourde la verit6'. Failure is overcome.Remarksto do with La Femmerompue are
ambiguousat this point in the memoirs. Simone de Beauvoir refers to the three stories as the first,
secondand third according to the order in which she commentson them in the memoirs (`La Femme
rompue', `Monologue', `L'Age de discretion') not according to the order in which they appear in La
Femmerompue collection. Elizabeth Fallaize clarified which story Simone de Beauvoir's remarks
about failure being overcomeapplied to, during the courseof an interview (footnote 21, TheNovels,
p. 174). An addedconfusion is the fact that Simone de Beauvoir writes that in choosing to lie to
themselves,Laurenceand Muriel[le] `s'interdisent toute communication avec autrui'; this does not
make senseas her commentsdeal exclusively with La Femmerompue at this point and we must
assumethat shemeansto write Monique and Murielle. This is especiallythe casein the light of
commentsmade a page earlier when Simone de Beauvoir specifically contraststhe way Laurence and
Monique behave:`Laurencecherchetimidement la lumi6re [...] tout 1'effort de Monique tend ä
l'oblitCrer' (p. 142).
18Moi, 'Intentions and Effects', p. 78.
 195

language,refusing to corroboratethe view (that she sharedto some extent) that language

is an unequivocal sign system.

JacquesDerrida's and Julia Kristeva's and, to some extent Helene Cixous's

writing on language,despite Simone de Beauvoir's dismissal of the notion of women's

writing, provide a useful theoretical framework for my discussionof the textual

strategiesthat unsettle meaning in Les Belles Images and, in part, account for its radical,

modern aspect.Theseare the textual the

strategies, qualities that I am reading

My
metaphorically as madness. intention is to locate points of convergencebetween

their theories about languageand meaning and Simone de Beauvoir's writing practice.

For Derrida meaning is not presentin words, rather meaning is producedthrough

the `free play of the signifier', the interplay between presentand absentsignifiers-19His

concept of differance, translatedas both `difference' and `deferral' in English, expresses

° Meaning is never present,it is the outcome of an endless

this view of meaning.

processof presentand absentdifferences and is endlessly deferred.As meaning cannot

be reducedto a single or fixed meaningthere can be no `transcendentalsignified' that

confersmeaning, no truth
transcendental beyond language.Derrida rejects as

logocentric (from the Greek word logos or `word'), philosophiesthat are basedon a

transcendentalsignified, a belief that meaning is fully presentin the Word. He argues

that written texts in particular can always be read 'other'wise as languageconstantly

evokesmeaningsthat exceed,contradict or disrupt the intended meaning. As Terence

Hawkes puts it, becausethere is a gap betweenthe text and its `meaning', `a text can

19For my accountof Derrida's theories and indeed,my explanationsof Cixous and Kristeva's analyses,I
am indebtedto Moi, Sexual Textual Politics and to Sellers,Language and Sexual Deference.
20ChristopherNorris' commentsabout the term dierance are interesting: `Its senseremains suspended
betweenthe two French verbs `to differ' and `to defer', both of which contribute to its textual force
but neither of which can fully capture its meaning. [...] Derance [...] offers in its own unstable
meaning a graphic example of the processat work'. Deconstruction: Theory and Practice, London:
Methuen, 1982,repr. 1986,p. 32.
 196
have no ultimate, final meaning'? ' There can be no comforting closure. Derrida

advocatesa mode of writing that doesnot seekto impose a single meaning but

incorporatesmultiple meanings.

Derrida's theories amountto a critique of binary logic, binary oppositions which

have shapedWesternmetaphysics.Cixous arguesthat the hierarchical binary

oppositionsthat underlie the patriarchalvalue system, can always be traced back to the

fundamentalmale/ female opposition where woman systematically incorporatesthe

negative pole. Toril Moi sumsup Cixous's theoretical project as `the effort to undo this

logocentric ideology' that silencesand oppresseswomen.22 For Cixous, `la critique du

logocentrisme[est] inseparabled'unemise en question du phallocentrisme', that is the

23 Ecriture feminine
systemthat privileges the phallus asthe symbol or sourceof power.

is writing that subvertspatriarchal binary schemesand opensup meaning. Cixous, like

Derrida, believesthat attemptsto fix the meaning of a text are not only impossible but

also reductive.

The active inclusion of plural meaningswithin a text, that is both in the

multiplicity of meaningswithin eachword or phraseor other languageunit and through

intertextuality, the transposition into the text of meaningsfrom other texts, is seenby

Kristeva as one of the ways the semiotic disrupts symbolic language.4 Furthermore,the

semiotic energypresentin the rhythms and movement of a poetic text can, she argues,

return readersto the rhythms, movementand echolaliasof the chora affording readersa

total pleasure (`jouissance') that is `polymorphic, polyphonic, serene, eternal,

21Hawkes, Terence,Structuralism
and Semiotics,London: Methuen, 1977, repr. 1986,p. 148.
u Moi, SexuaVTextual Politics, 105.
p.
23Cixous, Prenomsdepersonne, Paris: Seuil,1974,
p236.
24For the distinction betweenthe semiotic and the
symbolic, seemy `Introduction'. A useful definition of
intertextuality is provided by Roudiez,p. 15.
 197
25 Toni Moi sumsup the chora as a rhythmic pulsion
unchangeable'. perceptible as

contradictions, disruption,
meaninglessness, silencesand in
absences the symbolic

language.Kristeva contrastswomen's and men's experienceof languageand the chora,

suggestingthat women's strong links with the pre-Oedipal mother meanthat many

women are open to allowing the `spasmodicforce' of the unconsciousto disrupt their

language.However, if women are susceptibleto surgesof semiotic energy,they also are

more vulnerable, more at risk. SusanSellersprovides the following summary of

Kristeva's argument:

Whereasmen's return to the semiotic chora is brought about through the

explosion of rhythms and echolaliaswe have known as children which act as
comforting reminders of early plenitude or, alternatively, give rise to laughter and
symbolic play, Kristeva suggeststhat for women reactivating theserhythms
threatensthe tenuousnature of our symbolic construction, rendering us `ecstatic,
nostalgic or mad'.
(Languageand SexualDifference, pp. 104-105.)

Women who let the semiotic disrupt their languageexposethemselvesto the dangerof

madness.

A close reading of Les Belles Imageswill allow us to pinpoint where the theories

of languageand meaning I havejust outlined intersect with Simone de Beauvoir's

writing practice. I want to examinehow differance operatesin the text, to consider how

plurality and subversion contribute to in

madness the text. Given the fact that the

disruption of symbolic language(that I have read metaphorically as madness)posesa

(greater)threat to women, it might be expectedthat semiotic energy will break into the

text, that is into Laurence'svoice, at thosepoints where her psychic stability is most at

risk. It is also the casethat the rhythms, movement and echolalias of the chora,

generatedby Simone de Beauvoir's use of enumerationand repetition, are found at

u Quoted in Sellers,p. 103. `Echolalia' is a term that conveys the ceaseless

echoing back and forth
betweensigns. SeeHawthorn, Jeremy,A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory, London:
Arnold, 1992,p. 72.
 198

momentswhen Laurence's lost plenitude is evoked. It is also possible to identify them

at certain points where humour disrupts the narrative.

The text of Les Belles Images exposesthe problematic nature of meaning, of the

relation between signifier and signified, exemplifying a rejection of logocentrism. It

embodies/enactsthe inadequacyof languagethat forms an important strand in the

narrative. The text of Les Belles Imagesincludes a metacommentaryon language.

Laurencefinds herself in a world where meaning, for her, is never fixed, always

uncertain.Unlike those around her, Laurencecannot take the meaning of words for

granted.This is true well before her breakdown.Reflecting that children should be

protectedfrom imagesthat might upsetthem, she distancesherself from this idea and

makesthe comment: `Reflexion abjecte.Abjecte : un mot de mes quinze ans.Mais que

signifie-t-il? '(p. 30). Likewise, when Gilbert informs Laurencethat he intends to end his

sevenyear relationship with her mother, `[Laurence] entenddes mots qui restent

en
suspendus fair, denuesde sens[...]'(p. 46). Her attitude to languagecontrastswith

her father's. When he speaksof love, Laurenceaffirms: `Aimer d'amour; vraie valeur.

Pour lui cesmots ont un sens'(p. 35). By implication, thesewords lack meaning for

Laurence.When she endsher relationship with Lucien, sheusesthe word `love' without

knowing exactly what she means:`Mais je ne t'aime plus d'amour. (L'ai je jamais fait?

Cesmots ont-ils un sens?)' (p. 110). Even when words do mean something,Laurence is

awarethat meaningsare not necessarilyshared.Were sheto read the books her daughter

Catherinereads,she could not know what they meanto her: `De toute facon, les mots

le
n'auraient pas meme senspour moi que pour eile' (p. 25). Sherealisesthat `il nous

[Laurenceand Catherine] manqueun langagecommun' (p. 77). The sameis true of all

signs,not only of language.Laurencecomparesher own understandingof television

imageswith her daughter's:

 199
Pouvoir de l'image. «Les deux tiers du monde ont faim», et cette tote d'enfant, si
belle, avec les yeux trop grandset la bouchefermee sur un terrible secret.Pour
moi c'est un sign : le signe que se poursuit la lutte contre la faim. Catherine a vu
un petit garcon de son age, qui a faim.
(Les Belles Images, p. 29.)

Similarly, the meaning of the flowers that Jean-Charlessendsher after a quarrel is not at

all transparent:`Un bouquet, c'est toujours autre choseque des fleurs [...]. Des roses

rouges:amour ardent.Justement
non. [...] Ce n'est pas un voluptueux flamboiement de

passion;mais elles sont belles et si on les a chargeesd'un messagemensonger,elles en

sont innocentes' (p. 136).

Thus discourseis reducedto words, empty words in which Laurencehas no

faith. Words refuse to signify for Laurence.When she getshome after the trip to Greece,

even apparentlystraightforward questionsare problematic for her. Asked whether she

hashad a good time, she gives the expectedreply, `formidable! ', but cannot determine if

sheis telling the truth: `Elle ne mentait pas, eile ne disait pas la verite. Tous cesmots

qu'on dit! Des mots...' (p. 170). She is neither truthful nor lying. The oppposition is

underminedand the nature of truth and even its existenceare called into question. As

Laurence'sbreakdownreachesits climax, languagelets her down: `Jen'ai pas de mots

pour me plaindre ou pour regretter' (p. 153). She is left without a voice: `Voici venir ce

la
qu'elle redouteplus que mort: un de ces moments oü tout s'effondre; son corps est de

la de 26
pierce,eile voudrait hurler; mais piercen'a pas voix; ni de larmes' (p. 176)

Although words may have no stablemeaning, a subject excluded from language

altogetheris condemnedto mental breakdown and madness.

Interestingly, happinessin Les Belles Images is associatedwith childhood when

Laurencecould look to her father to make words/ languagemeaningful. As an adult she

26Laurence'swords are reminiscent of what Simone de Beauvoir writes in the epilogue to La Force des
choses:`il ya desheuressi noires qu'il ne resteplus d'autre espoir que ce cri qu'on voudrait pousser'
(p. 679).
 200
is still willing to accepther father's definitions; during a discussionabout art she

realises: `Ce qu'il dit lä, eile 1'a pensesouvent : enfm je ne le pensaispas avec ces mots;

mais maintenantqu'ils sont dits eile les reconnalt pour liens' (p. 150). Travelling with

her father in Greece,Laurence's regressionis exemplified by her dependenceon him in

relation to language:`J'aimais retrouver devant cet alphabetle mystere enfantin du

langageet que, comme autrefois, le sensdesmots et des chosesme eint par lui' (p.

154). This is explicitly the happiestmoment in the book. It is no coincidencethat

happinessis linked with the illusion of transparencyin language,with a time when

meaning seemedunproblematical.And in the presentof the narrative, Laurence

the
comprehends word `happiness';it is as if the word incorporatesmeaning:

[...] Papaa commandepour moi une boisson ä la cerise,fraiche, leg6re,aigrelette,

delicieusementpuerile. Et j'ai su ce que voulait dire ce mot qu'on lit dansdes
livres: bonheur. [...] Cet accord d'un ciel bleu et d'un gout fruite, avec le passeet
le presentrassemblesdannun visagecher et cette paix en moi, je l'ignorais -
sauf ä travers de tres vieux souvenirs.Le bonheur: comme une raison que la vie se
donne ä elle-meme.Il m'enveloppait [...].
(Les Belles Images,p. 155.)

In complete contrast,as Laurenceexperiencesmental collapse and is forced to reassess

her relationship with her father, languagecomesto be associatedwith pain and violence.

Laurence is prostrate:

[...] terrasseepar une galopaded'images et de mots qui defilaient danssa tete, se

battant entre eux comme des kriss malais dansun tiroir ferme (si on l'ouvre, tout
est en ordre). [...] J'ai ete decue.Le mot la poignarde.Elle serre son mouchoir
contre sesdents comme pour arreterle cri qu'elle est incapablede pousser.
(Les Belles Images,pp. 179-80.)

Paradoxically, it is by naming her pain that shewill recover from it. At the end of the

7
book Laurencefords her voice. Languageis her weaponthat she will use to silence

others: `Malgre eile, la voix de Laurencese monte, eile parle, eile parle, eile ne sait pas

27Until this point Laurencehas failed to

voice the disagreementshe feels. Seefor example pp. 12,15,26,
41,128,156,162,166.
 201

exactementce qu'elle dit, peu importe, l'important est de crier plus fort que Jean-

Charleset que tous les autres,de les reduire au silence' (p. 182).

In Simone de Beauvoir's textual universewords and silence are equally

meaningful/lessand both are contingent.The starving little boy in the poster has `la

bouchefermee sur un terrible secret'. Laurenceanguishesabout the effects of words/

silence on Catherine: `Les humeurs les

quotidiennes, hasardsd'un mot, d'un silence,

toutes ces contingencesqui devraients'effacer derriere moi, ca s'inscrit dans cette

enfant qui rumine et qui se souviendra,commeje me souviensdes inflexions de voix de

Dominique' (p. 135). Later shewonders,with referenceto Jean-Charles:`Est-ce qu'il ne

sentpas entre nous le poids des chosesnon dites?non pas du silence, mais des phrases

vaines [...]' (p. 140). Silence is redefined; it is not necessarilywhat is unspokenbut can

be what is spokenwithout meaning,sentencesthat signify nothing.

The problematic nature of meaningis further underlined as accepteddefinitions

are called into question; Laurencewonderswhat being normal means.When Jean-

Charlesis advocatingconsulting a psychologist about Catherine,Laurenceaskshim, `-

Tourner rond: qu'est-ce que ca veut dire? A mon avis ca ne tourne pas tellement rond

chez les gensque tu juges normaux' (p. 132). Being `normal' is also something she

discusses with her father in Greece:

Sans doute ä toute epoque il est normal d'etre effraye quand on commence ä
-
decouvrir le monde.
- Alors, si on la rassure,on la rend anormale,ai-je dit.
C'etait une evidenceet eile me foudroya. Souspretexte de guerir Catherine...on
allait la mutiler.
(Les Belles Images, p. 159.)

This identification of curing with mutilation recalls Laurence's responseto the little

Greek girl shehad watcheddancing; life and deathare conflated: `La vie allait

1'assassiner'(p. 158).
 202
Here, story meetstext. So far, I have, in part, been discussinglanguage/meaning

as theme in Les Belles Images. Now, just as the content of the book calls the

meaningfulnessof languageinto question, so too doesthe text itself. It repeatedly

assertsthe equivalenceof opposites,thus undermining binary oppositions. Just as lying

and truthfulness cancel each other out, so do `completely different' and `exactly the

same' ('tout ä fait different, exactementpareil' pp. 7,9,50). and `always' and `never';

Laurence's anxiety is presentand not present: `En realite, c'est lä sansy titre, c'est dans

la couleur du jour. Elle y pensetout le temps, eile n'y pensejamais' (p. 75). The

distinction between`full' and `empty' is subverted:`Vie trop remplie? trop vide?

Remplie de chosesvides. Quelle confusion!' (p. 146). The effect is accentuatedby

repetition. Laurenceattempts in vain to make senseof her existence,impose some order.

By assertingthe equivalenceof oppositesin this way, the text can epitomise Laurence's

senseof unreality, her of

sense existing at a distance.Speakingof the trip to Greece,

Laurencecan affirm: 'Je mangeaisavec appetit et indifference...' (p. 156). Such

contradictory assertionscan expressa positive moment in the text as when Laurencehas

a feeling of wholenessand onenesswith the world when the plane takes off for Greece:

`[...] sousmes pieds s'etalent de blancspaysagesqui m'eblouissent et qui n'existent pas.

$
Je suis ailleurs: nulle part et partout' (p. 154)2. Laurenceis elsewhere,nowhere and

everywhere;her strange,out of body is

experience condensedin this undercutting of

distinctions. The accumulationof statementsof this kind createsan impression of

strangenessand alienation for readers.The text is, in a sense,crazy. Placing together as

complementarywords which are usually defined as contradictory, involves redefining

both terms and allowing meaning/ nonmeaningto emergefrom the spacebetweenthem.

28This is an echo and revision of Laurence's earlier affirmation that `le

monde est partout ailleurs, et il
n'y a pas moyen d'y entrer' (p. 26). It is also an appropriation and valorisation of an earlier pejoritive
statementof Laurence's father's about tourists who `ne sont nulle part, tout en dtant partout' (p. 40).
 203
Meaning not fully presentin words themselves,not expressibleby them, emanatesfrom

the blank of `non-meaning' that exists in the spacesbetweenthem. In a senseit is

unspoken,un-speakable.

The problematic nature of meaningis further accentuatedby the use of irony.

is
Les Belles Images an ironic book. 9 Irony contributesto the creation of a mad textual

universe in that it is a sourceof ambiguity in the text and an embodiment of the

`treacherous', `slippery' nature of meaning; at the simplest level, irony is saying one

30
thing whilst meaning another. It foregrounds the discrepancy that exists between

words and meaning and duplicates the gap between appearance and reality. It also

involves a certain distancing, which, taken to its extreme, is a form of alienation.

Readers,who are invited to collude with Laurence,the narrator, are thus implicated in

her alienation from her environment. On anotherlevel, irony functions to distance

readersfrom Laurenceherself. Does irony suggesta contradiction since it involves

control which is patently not an elementof madness?Certainly, irony is a knowing form

of defence.However, I am suggestingthat `madness'in the text is the outcome of the

ambiguity and feelings of alienation createdin readersby the use of irony, not an

intrinsic quality of the irony itself.

How, then, are theseeffects of ambiguity and a heightenedsenseof alienation

created?The irony in Les Belles Imagesis multi-layered. This layering, which

accentuatesLaurence's alienation, is renderedeven more ambiguousby the je/ eile split

is heart 1
which at the of the narrative. Although much of the irony can be attributed to

Laurenceas narrator, Laurenceas characteris also ironic and, at times, sarcastic.From

the very first pageof the novel, irony is directed at Laurence's milieu. As Elizabeth

29The title Les Belles imagesis itself ironic

and open to a multiplicity of interpretations.
30Irony can also be read as an inscription hysteria in the
of text insofar as in hysteria the symptom
appearsto `mean' one thing while it actually concealsanother `meaning'.
31The je/ elle
split is discussedin Chapter Three.
 204
Fallaize says,as the novel opens,readersseekuneasily the sourceof the malicious

description Feuverolles 32
remarksthat undercut the of and the guests' conversation.

Favourite butts for Laurence's irony are her sister and brother in-law, Marthe and

Hubert. The tone of Laurence's ironic asidesinclines towards the cruel. Her portrait of

Hubert is vicious and very funny:

Hubert allume sa pipe qu'il est bien le dernier homme en Francea appeler«ma
vieille bouffarde». Son sourire de paralytique general, son embonpoint. Quand il
voyage il porte des lunettesnoires: «j'adore voyager incognito.» Un excellent
dentistequi pendantsesloisirs etudie consciencieusementle tierce.
(Les Belles Images,p. 9.)

Her contempt for him even intrudes into Laurence's account of the crucial family meal

where Catherine's caseis discussedand Laurencerealisesher complete isolation; she

imagines Hubert is eating in silence because`il devait combiner de tortueux echangesde

porte-cles,c'est sa derriere lubie' (p. 174). As for Marthe, it is her religious faith that is

met by Laurence's irony. Sheputs her sister's conversion down to her being married to

Hubert and mocks the posesshe adopts,like `une sainte,ivre du joyeux amour de Dieu'

(p. 9). When Marthe drops by to seeLaurence `ä 1'improviste', something Laurencehas

expresslyaskedher not to do, Laurenceimputes this to the fact that `eile obeit ä des

impulsions surnaturelles;eile est devenuetres imperieusedepuis que le ciel l'inspire' (p.

74). Laurenceis sarcasticto Marthe's face when shepresumesto interfere in the way

Laurencebrings up Catherine.`Il to restetoujours la ressourcede prier pour eile', she

tells her, refusing to relent and let Catherinetake her first communion.

To what extent is it meaningful or possibleto separatethe two layers of irony,

narrator and character?SometimesLaurencethe narrator is clearly directing irony at

Laurencethe character.Note the light, playful tone of this example occuring early in the

book which will be marked by a progressionto bitternessas Laurencereachesbreaking

32Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 119.

 205

point: `il ya desjours comme ra oü on se Jevedu mauvais pied, oü on ne prend plaisir A

rien! eile devrait avoir 1'habitude' (p. 19). However, much of the time the distinction

betweenthesetwo levels of irony is latent rather than actual and is a sourceof

ambiguity, particularly when the utterancein question may be free direct discourse.

Readers,dependenton Laurence,haveno way of knowing the statusof the utterance

and are left wondering, for example,whose anger and bitternessis being expressed,

narrator's or character's,when they read: `Suivre son bonhomme de chemin, sansdevier

d'un pouce, defense de regarder ä droite ou ä gauche, ä chaque age ses täches, si la

colere to prend avale un verre d'eau et fais des mouvementsde gymnastique.Ca m'a

bien reussi, ca m'a parfaitementreussi [...]' (p. 132). Similarly, the statusof the bitter

irony evinced as the narrative recountsthe moment when Laurenceis forced to accept

Jean-Charles'decision that Catherineshould be separatedfrom her friend, Brigitte, is

ambiguous: `Du cheval! ca c'etait une idee formidable; meme affectivement. Remplacer

une amie par un cheval!' (p. 172). The fact that the interpolation is not in brackets or

betweendashesincreasesambiguity. It suggeststhat the irony is Laurencethe

character's.However, a number of lines later this impression is contradictedto some

extent as Laurenceappearsto have adoptedJean-Charles'

point of view that once in

Rome, `eile ne penseraguereä son amie' and that with `un peu de doigt6, [...] Pan

prochain eile 1'auracompletementoubliee' (p. 173). Here, Laurencethe narrator of her

story (there is no indication at this point whether the story is being narrated in the first

or the third person),may possibly be directing irony/ (self-) criticism at Laurencethe

character.

The retrospectivenarration of the final chapterof Les Belles Images allows

Laurence (narrator)to be ironic at the expenseof Laurence(character),exploiting the

potential for dramatic irony. Laurencerecountshow during a conversationwith her

 206

father about Dominique, she did not contradict his kindly estimation of the changesin

her personality. The irony directed at herself is scathing: je ne voulais pas priver ma

des bribes d'amitie qu'il lui accordait' (p. 157). Laurence's ironic response
pauvre mere

to her mother and father's behaviour before she learned of their reconciliation takes on a

further level of irony in the context of Laurence'sretrospectivenarration. Laurence,

looking back at what has is

happened, critical of the blindness and naivety her initial,

ironic reaction displayed: `(Maman prenantgout aux reunions de famille! on aura tout

la
vu! et courtoisie de papa A son )'
egard! (p. 173). Such free play with the statusof

utterancescan be read as evidenceof the expressionof semiotic energy in the text.

At other times theselayers of irony, narrator's and character's,arejuxtaposed;

Laurenceas characteris ironic, this implies a certain distancing, then Laurenceas

distancesherself even further and directs irony at Laurence as character,irony

narrator

Laurenceis to her becauseshe is

at her irony. Thus when unable concentrateon work

about Catherine,we read: `«Voilä bien la condition dechireede la femme qui

worried

travaille», se dit-elle avec ironie. (Elle se sentait bien plus dechireequand eile ne

'
travaillait pas). (p. 28). This split and the acute dissociation it reveals are emblematic of

the madnessof the text.

There is a further level of irony basedon complicity betweenthe implied author

Despite
and readers. her reservations,Laurenceis targetted along with Gilbert and

others by the irony generatedby the use of the mystifying/ distorting languageof the

bourgeoisie33 One the most shocking examplesis Gilbert's responseto

technocratic of

the suicide of a twelve-year old boy in prison: `«Des faux frais.» Gilbert expliquait

33Simone de Beauvoir writes about her intention to evoke the 'societt technocratique' and to `faire
entendre ce qu'on appelle aujourd'hui son «discours»' in Tout comptefait, p. 172. There is also a
reference to technocratic society in Quepeut la litterature? where Simone de Beauvoir is disparaging
about its optimism `qui appelle la misbre abondance et qui se seit de l'avenir comme d'un alibi' (p.
91). The transpositionof meaningsderived from other texts into Les Belles images,the processof
intertextuality, is, for Kristeva, evidence of semiotic activity.
 207

qu'en toute societe il ya forcement des faux frais. Oui, forcement' (p. 58). Laurence is

sincere in her appraisal of Jean-Charles

yet readersenjoy a wry smile at her expense

when they read: `«le cote convulsif des femmes, dit Jean-Charlesqui est pourtant

feministe' (p. 44). Again, readers`know' that Laurence is wrong when she asserts:`On

la
ne peut pas prendre responsabilitede tout ce qu'on fait - ne fait pas. «Qu'est-ce que

tu fais pour eux?» Ces comptesexigessoudaindansun monde oü rien ne compte

tellement. C'est comme un abus'(p. 136). We are invited to judge her negatively. The

same is true when her mauvaisefoi is revealed: `La psychologue dirait qu'elle fait

expres de se rendre malade...Absurde. Si vraiment eile ne voulait pas, eile refuserait,

elle se battrait' (p. 175). [Emphasis ]

added. I believe that modem (women) readerstend

to resist the invitation to `condemn' Laurencefor her apparentfailings and are more

likely to sympathiseand identify with her, perhapseven considering that the implied

author is somehowtaking an unfair advantage.

There is a further group of utteranceswhose statusis ambiguousin that it is

impossible to know whether the irony, which is clearly intended, is the narrator's or the

implied author's. Are we being invited to direct our criticism with Laurence(narrator)

or at her when she refers to books not by their title but by the prize they have won? `Sur

un gueridon ä cote d'elle, il ya des revues- Realite, L'Express, Candide, Votre Jardin -

et quelqueslivres : le Goncourt, le Renaudot' (p. 91). We wonder if Laurence is sincere

when sherepeatswhat `everyone' knows about the condition of the working class, `qui

n'est pas ce qu'elle doit etre [...] bien qu'avec les allocations familiales ils aient presque

tous une machine ä laver, la te1e,et memeune auto'(p. 73). [Emphasisadded.] Is

Laurenceawareof the irony when sherepeatedlyrefers to le coin «relaxe-silence»in

her mother's appartment,even as sheis describingDominique's distress?34 A similar

34Seepp. 49,50,58,100.
 208

ambiguity adheresto the more playful remark prompted by Jean-Charles'responseto

the kaleidoscope,so out of key with Laurence's and the children's, to the effect that it

would be an excellent tool for designersof fabrics and wallpaper. The statusof the

unfinished observation,`dix idees ä la minute...' (p. 38). is unclear. If it belongs to

Laurencethe character,is shebeing sincereor ironic? Does it expressthe indulgence or

distancedderision of the narrator?Is the irony then the implied author's? The

cumulative effect of this ambiguity is, yet again, to deprive readersof any firm foothold,

a secureplace from where they can makejudgements.

Enumerationis also relatedto the questioning of meaning and the undermining

of our confidence in languagein Les Belles Images. The use of lists is one of the most

striking featuresof the text. The text is so dominated by enumerationthat this strategy

could almost be describedas a textual `tic'. There are exampleson virtually every page

book35 This is
of the perhapsquite natural, given the premisethat a sign never means

one thing only. As Laurencereflects when she receives a bouquet from Jean-Charles,

`un bouquet,c'est toujours autre choseque des fleurs : c'est de 1'amitie, de 1'espoir,de

la gratitude, de la gaiete' (p. 136). Conversely,given the inadequaciesof language,one

word is not enoughto convey meaning.Interesting theoretical work has beendone on

by Beatrice Damamme. 6 Shehas how

enumeration shown enumerationcan work to

createan impression of uncertainty, of groping towards true meaning/ the right term. In

Les Belles Images,adjectives,verbs and nouns are multiplied. There is an interesting

example of this in the final pagesof the book; Laurenceis depressedand fording it

painful to come to terms with her parents' reconciliation and, in particular, to squareher

33Indeed, it is characteristicof much of Simone de Beauvoir's

writing as a whole. Claire Cayron
discussesthe pleasureSimone de Beauvoir derives from enumeration in La Nature chezSimone de
Beauvoir, Paris: Gallimard, 1973,pp. 163-68.
36Damamme,Beatrice, `Reflexions sur le
role desddmarcateursde coordination dans les 6numirations
littdraires', Le Francais Moderne: Revuede Linguistique Francais, 49(1), January 1981,20-35.
 209
mother's presentself-satisfactionwith the distressshehad been feeling. The

synonymity of the terms in the two parallel lists is evocative: `On crie, on pleure, on se

convulse comme s'il y avait dannla vie quelquechosedigne de ces cris, ces larmes, ces

agitations' (p. 177). Spacesare createdbetweenthe different terms and meaning

there,
reverberates as in a sound box; it is the outcome of the interaction betweenthem,

more than the sum of the individual words that are themselvesdeficient. Enumerations

in Les Belles Images embodythe displacementand deferral of meaning.

An important aspectof Simonede Beauvoir's use of lists is rhythm. It is a useful

criterion for the selection of quotationsto illustrate my contention that enumerationcan

in
challengeour confidence words/ language/meaning by the way in which

synonymousand antonymousterms are linked. Furthermore, it will be useful to

examinetheseenumerationsin the light of the theoretical work done by Madelene

37
Frederic She has shown how enumerationsslip almost imperceptibly from highly

organised,tightly structuredformulations at one end of the spectrumto what sheterms

`enumerationschaotiques' at the other. According to her classification, most of the

enumerationswe are dealing with in Les Belles Images vere towards or belong in the

disorderedcategory,possessingeither a vague synthesizingexpression('formule

synthetique') that sumsup the terms that make up the enumerationor none at all and

frequently linking heterogeneouselements38 This is in keeping with the `madness'of

37Frederic, Madeleine, `Enumeration,enumCrationhomologique, 6numCration

chaotique: essaide
caracterisation', in Styistique,rhetorique et poetique dans les languesromans, Actes du XVIIe
Congrbsinternational de linguistique et de philologie romanes,(Aix-en-Provence, 1983), vol 8, Aix-
en-Provence:UniversitC de Provence,1986,104-17.
38FredCricgives the following definition of 'formule synthCtique': `un tenne
ou un groupe de termes dont
le contenu sCmantiquerecouvre celui de 1'ensembleou d'une partie seulementdestermes/ des
syntagmesconstituant la serie' (p. 106). Among the examplesshe gives of vague synthesizing
expressionsare those that include the word `chose' (seep. 108). A classic examplewith `chose'
occurs in Les Belles imageson p. 81: `[Catherine] apprenddes chosesqui ne s'enseignentpas en
classe:compatir, consoler,recevoir et donner, percevoir sur les visageset dans les voix des nuances
qui lui 8chappaient'. `Tout' is another such expression. Seethe following quotation that begins: `Tout
etait net, frais parfait [...]'.
 210
the text. Towards the beginning of Les Belles Images we find the following striking

examplesof enumeration;describing the early days of her relationship with Jean-

Charles,Laurencesays:

Tout etait net, frais, parfait: l'eau bleue de la piscine, le bruit luxueux des banes de
tennis, les blanches aiguilles de pierre, les nuages roules en boule dans le ciel
lisse, l'odeur des sapins [... ]. Dans le parc de 1'hotel, les garcons et les fines en
clairs vetements, la peau hälee, polis par le soleil comme de beaux galets. Et
Laurence et Jean-Charles de clair vetus, häles, polis. Soudain un soir, au retour
d'une promenade, dans la voiture arretee, sa bouche sur ma bouche, cet
embrasement, ce vertige. Alors, pendant des jours et des semaines, je n'ai plus ete
une image, mais chair et sang, desir, plaisir.
(Les Belles Images, p. 22.)

The quotation begins with an enumerationof three closely related adjectives, none of

them alone sufficient to convey the meaningwhich emergesfrom the gapsbetween

them. Then follows a list of objects,of which I will say more later. The next

enumeration,`de clair vetus, hales,polis', made up of three past participles, echoesand

the
condenses description of the view from Laurence's window. The text reachesa

crescendohere as is
Jean-Charles about to kiss Laurence for the first time, a kiss

expressedby a further enumeration,communicating a senseof urgency. In the final

enumeration- `chair et sang,desir, plaisir' - rhythm underlines the sensuality of their

relationship. The rhythm and movementof this passagecan be interpreted as a surge of

semiotic energy in the text, providing the kind of polymorphic/ polyphonic pleasurethat

Kristeva links to the chora. Semiotic energyis apparentlater in the text when

Laurence's ecstatic,giddy responseto the dancing of a Greek child and the intensity of

her experienceis suggestedby a list of past participles: `Transporteepar la musique,

eblouie, grisee,transfiguree,eperdue'(p. 158). The effect is reinforced by the way in

which theseterms echo and reinforce eachother. Use of rhythm is also interesting as

Laurenceseemsto reachthe lowest point in her breakdown; there are, in fact, five

parallel lists here, whose rhythms convey, not only her panic and despair,but also her
 211
confusion in the face of such complexity; feelings sharedby readerswho sink down

with Laurenceinto the seemingly impenetrable/enveloping mass createdby the lists

before experiencingthe dawning of hope as the rhythm of the final list rises up, lifts

Laurenceand readersto a point beyond despair:

Its la forceront ä manger, ils lui feront tout avaler; tout quoi? tout ce qu'elle vomit,
sa vie, celle des autresavec leurs faussesamours, leurs histoires d'argent, leurs
mensonges.Its la gueriront de sesrefus, de son desespoir.[...] Qu'a-t-on fait de
moi? Cette femme qui n'aime personne, insensible aux beautesdu monde,
incapablememe de pleurer, cette femme queje vomis. Catherine [...] peut-etre eile
s'en sortira... De quoi? De cette nuit. De l'ignorance, de l'indifference.
Catherine...Elle se redressesoudain.
(Les Belles Images, pp. 180-81.)

Readingthis, it seemsto me that the text also reproducesLaurence's experienceof

breathlessnessfor readers.The semiotic energythat Kristeva identifies as erupting in

and `acceleration' of pace erupts in the text

Celine's verse as `panting', `breathlessness

of Les Belles Images as Laurenceconfronts breakdown and madness.Such lists within

lists, lists upon lists, are a common featureof Les Belles Images.Elsewherein the text,

it is a techniqueusedto portray the advertising industry and the psychological

it
motivations appealsto. Here, the use of parallel lists suggestsnot only complexity but

also excessand duplicity. Note the seriesof synonymsthat begins the following

quotation and the linking of divergent elementsin the fmal list: `Le lisse, le brillant, le

luisant, reve de glissement,de perfection glacee;valeurs de 1'erotismeet valeurs de

1'enfance(innocence);vitesse,domination, chaleur, securite'(p. 42).

Enumerationis a suppletool that Simone de Beauvoir usesskillfully in Les

Belles Images to communicateLaurence'smood. Comparerespectively the joy,

determination,wistfulness and bitternessin the following quotations. Assonanceand

alliteration reinforce the childlike senseof happinessevokedwhen Laurenceand her

daughterslook in a kaleidoscope:`[...] enchantementdescouleurs et des formes qui se

 212
font, se defont, papillotent et semultiplient dans la fuyante symetrie dun octogone' (p.

37). When Laurenceis rememberingher first breakdown and trying to convince herself

that it will not happenagain, a seriesof verbs together with the repetition of `je suis'

conveysher determination: `Jene retomberaipas. Maintenant je suis prevenue,je suis

armee,je me tiens en main'(p. 44). Repetition combines with enumerationagain to

expressLaurence'swistfulness when she is shopping for Christmas presents:`[... ] une

veste en daim d'une couleur indefinissable:couleur de brume, couleur du temps, couleur

des robesde Peau-d'Ane' (p. 139). The jacket is at once all and none of these colours.

She doesnot buy the jacket but allows Jean-Charlesto choosea necklace for her. Her

tone is bitter as sherealiseswhat the gift represents:`C'est une compensation,un

symbole,un succedane'(p. 140).Here too the use of a seriesof quasi-synonyms

reminds us of the inadequacyof words. Alliteration intensifies the effect.

All of the examplesI have quotedare what Beatrice Damammerefers to as open

enumerations.That is, the final term of the enumerationis not precededby an `and'

which would give an impressionof finality/ completion, of closure. Without an `and' we

feel the list could go on. This openness,this inconclusivenessis characteristicof Les

Belles Images as a whole and correspondswell with Laurence's frame of mind. It also

deprivesreaders,who are dependenton Laurence'snarrative, of any certainty. The lack

of closurein Simone de Beauvoir's text is an instanceof her radical writing practice.

Lists can also createa senseof meaninglessness,deprive reality of its

seriousnessso that it seemsunreal. This is most strikingly the casewhen it is a matter of

lists of catastrophesand the processof detachmentis explicated in the text:

Les horreursdu monde, on est force de s'y habituer, il y en a trop: le gavagedes

oies, l'excision, les lynchages,les avortements,les suicides, les enfantsmartyres,
les maisonsde la mort, les massacresd'otages,les repressions,on voit ca
au
cinema,ä la tele, on passe.
(Les Belles Images, p. 30.)
 213
Cadavressanglantsde Blancs, de Noirs, des autocarsrenversesdans des ravins,
vingt-cinq enfants tues, d'autres coupes en deux, des incendies, des carcasses
d'avions fracasses,cent dix passagersmorts sur le coup, des cyclones, des
inondations,despays entiers devastes,des villages en flarnmes, des erneutes
raciales, des guerres locales, des defiles de refugies hagards. C'etait si lugubre
qu'ä la fin on avait presque envie de rire. [...] On n'apercoit que des images,
proprementencadreessur petitle ecran et qui n'ont pas leur poids de realite.
(Les Belles Images, p. 147.)

Laurence's latent responseto the review of the year's events,hysterical laughter,

might easily be replicated by readersin responseto the transcribed catalogueof

disasters.Enumerationis for humour in Les Belles Images. 9

certainly usedas a vehicle

Elizabeth Fallaize has drawn attentionto the comic subversionthat operateswhen Jean-

Charlesconjuresup a picture of the future: `les desertsse sont couverts de ble, de

legumes,de fruits, toute la terre est devenuela terre promise; gaves de lait, de riz, de

tomateset d'oranges,tous les enfantssouriaient' (pp. 40

30-31) Laurence lists the titles

of books she seesin a shop window; included in the high-sounding list of eleven titles

that could go on (it `ends' with an ellipsis) we find `Une nouvelle classeouvriere, Une

classeouvriere nouvelle' (p. 73). A comic repetition and reversal. Laurenceour narrator

detachesherself from her world in order to mock it and, by extension,herself. Self-

parody is characteristicof the text. Can humour be defined as transgressive?To what

extent can humour be consideredmad?Is there somethingslightly `hysterical' in the

burlesquedescription of Laurence'srelationship with Lucien, for example?This is what

she says:

Ensuite, que d'agitation! Il me poursuivait, il pleurait, je cedais,il rompait, je

souffrais, je cherchaispartout la Giulietta rouge, je me pendais au telephone, il
il
revenait, suppliait: quitte ton maxi, non jamais mais je t'aime, il m'insultait, il

39It has been suggestedthat from a certain length, all enumerationsmay be comic, whatever the subject
matter. SeeBarbara C. Bowen's commentduring the discussionthat follows Francis Bar's paper
'Ripetition et Enumerationchez les auteursburlesquesdu XVIIe si8cle', reported in Actes du colloque
organisepar I'Institut d'etudes romaneset le Centre de civilisation de 1'Universfte de Varsovie, 1981,
pp. 163-86 (p. 186).
40Fallaize, TheNovels, p. 126.
 214

repartait,j'attendais, j'esperais, je desesperais,

nous nous retrouvions, quel
bonheur,j'ai tant souffert sanstoi, et moi sanstoi: avoue tout ä ton mari, jamais...
(Les Belles Images, p. 32.)

It is revealing to comparethis hyperbole used to portray the early days of their

relationship once Laurencehas becomedisillusioned, with the language/the

enumerationusedto convey her of

awareness well-being at that time. We read:

`J'ecraseraismes remords, si c'etait comme avant; le trouble qui foudroie, la nuit qui

flambe, tourbillons et avalanchesde desirs et de delices: pour ces metamorphoseson

peut trahir, mentir, tout risquer' (p. 63). The brittle nature of this hyperbole and

Laurence'sbitter disappointmentare exposedshortly afterwards when she recalls that

even last Christmas `[...] du moins il y avait quelque choseä regretter, quelque choseau

monde qui valait son poids de chagrin', and she envies Lucien: `Il connalt encorecette

fievre, et le desespoir,et l'espoir. I1 a plus de chanceque moi' (p. 65). It is interesting to

note the closure of this list by the use of `and'. Exceptionally, the impression we have is

one of finality. Laurencehas not been able to maintain the jolly front behind which she

had tried to hide her emptinessfrom herself.

Her feelings of remotenessbecomemore acute in Greece.Lists of objects in the

museumin Athens reproducein readersthe indifference and boredom of Laurencewho

remembersthat she `coulai[t] ä pic, dannun gouffre d'indifference' and that her `ennui

jusqu'ä
s'exasperait (p.
1'angoisse' 167). Her feelings of suffocation are experiencedby

readerswho can feel smotheredby the lists of objects which are so typical of the text

and which are sometimesvery lengthy indeed: lists of food (p. 8); furniture (p. 45);

furniture and clothes (p. 58); books (pp. 72-73); drinks (p. 90); magazines(p. 92);

objects in shopwindows (pp. 137-38),which take up twenty-one lines. These lists

convey a senseof over abundanceand leave `no spaceto breathe'. Clearly they mirror

the world in which Laurencelives and reflect its materialistic values.

 215
A further interesting effect of theselists of objects is to slow down the text. They

pin down the text on a temporal level, literally make time stand still. There is something

in
obsessional Laurence's apparentcompulsion to catalogueher environment, perhaps

in an attempt to gain some semblanceof control over it. The text relentlessly traps

readersin the Reading

narrator's obsession. long inventories, I am also reminded of

Simone de Beauvoir's expressdesire,apparentlyrepudiatedwhen she met Sartre, to

`say it all': `«je dirais tout' shewrote in Memoires d'une jeune fille 41
rangee

The feelings of suffocation I have mentioned are effectively reinforced by the

use of repetition, an equally striking characteristicof Simone de Beauvoir's textual

practice in Les Belles Images. I have identified forty-four words, expressions,sentences,

dialogues and constructionsthat are repeatedthroughout the the text, sometimesup to

six times. This use of repetition createsa denseweb of utterancesand duplicates

Laurence's feelings of entrapment.Utterancesreverberatethroughout the narrative like

mirror images,en abyme,reflections of reflections of reflections. The text structuresan

obsessivesituation. In Freudian terms the text itself can be describedas neurotic as

is
repetition neurotic or, to be more precise,neurosis is repetition. Freud arguedthat the

neurotic `repeatsinstead of remembering'. Therapy involves converting repetition into

42 The final chapterof Les Belles Images can be read as an attempt to

remembrance.

"See Memoires d'une jeune falle rangee,p. 481. The incident in the Luxembourg Gardenswhen Sartre
`defeats' Simone de Beauvoir, leading her to abandonher project of saying/ telling everything, is
discussedby Moi in Simonede Beauvoir, pp. 15-17. (Note that the use of the conditional tense
undercuts the possibility of saying/ telling it all.)
42`Remembering,Repeatingand Working Through', The CompletePsychological Worksof Sigmund
Freud, ed. JamesStrachey,London: The Hogarth Press,1958,Volume XII (1911-1913), pp. 147-56
(p. 151). My reading accordswith Simone de Beauvoir's referenceto the discoveriesof
psychoanalysisin Existentialismeet la sagessedes nations: `Il pourrait sembler inutile et meme
ndfastede rivbler ä un adolescentqu'il haft son p8re; mais s'il n'a pas avoue cette haine avec des
mots, il ne 1'apas moansaffumde danssessentiments,sesconduites,sesreves, sesangoisses;le
psychanalystene choisit pas de d&couvrirgratuitementet brutalementune v6ritb ignorbe; il essaie
d'aider son maladeä modifier les conduitespar lesquellesil reagit 6 cette rdalit8; au lieu d'employer
sesforces ä se dissimuler sa haine, il faut que le sujet s'en lib8re, non en la niant, mais en l'assumant
et en la ddpassant;cc qui exige d'abord qu'il la reconnaisseexplicitement et la comprenne' (pp. 48-
49).
 216

remember.Furthermore,repetition can evoke a senseof unreality, duplicating

Laurence's experiencefor readers.I suggestthat readerswho encountersuch extensive

repetition will inevitably becomeself consciousas readers,that is, they will distance

themselvesfrom the fictional world of the text and in this way experienceLaurence's

alienation.

It will be useful to quote in full two of the seriesof repetitions, so as to illustrate

just how densethe text can become.Early in the narrative we read:

Justeen ce moment, dapsun autrejardin, tout ä fait different, exactementpareil,

quelqu'un dit cesmots et le meme sourire sepose sur un autre visage. (p. 7.)

A few pageslater we find:

Dans un autrejardin, tout a fait different, exactementpareil, quelqu'un dit [...] (p.
9.)

Again, someforty pageslater we read:

(Dans un autre salon,tout ä fait different, exactementpareil, avec des vasespleins

de fleurs luxueuses,le meme cri sort d'une autre bouche :« Salaudb>)(p. 50.)

This recalls:

(Est-ce qu'en cet instant, dapsun autre coin de la galaxie, un autre Lucien, une
autre Laurencedisent les memesmots?) (p. 32.)

which is echoedlater in the text:

Mais la voix nostalgiquefait lever en eile comme un echo brouille de quelque

chosevecujadis, dansune autre vie, ou peut-etreen ce moment, sur une autre
plante. (p. 60.)

All of thesequotationsareechoedagainwhenLaurencesays:

Justea cetteminute, destas d'amants sont en train de rompre [...]. (p. 110.)

(Une autre jeune femme, des centaines de jeunes femmes en cette minute se
demandent : pourquoi lui plutöt qu'un autre?) (p. 137.)

This last quotation links with anotherseriesof repetitions:

«Pourquoi Jean-Charles plutöt que Lucien? » [... ] (Pourquoi moi plutöt qu'une
autre?) (p. 65.)
 217

Pourquoi Jean-Charlesplutöt que Lucien? [...] Pourquoi un homme plutöt qu'un

autre?(p. 66.)

Pourquoi Jean-Charlesplutöt qu'un autre?(p. 137.)

Grouping repeatedutterancesin this way, illustratesjust how weighted down the text of

Les Belles Imagesis. One seriesof repetitions is echoedby another. Moreover, the word

`salaud' which appearsin the seriesjust quoted, ricochets through the text, repeated

thirteen other times on four different occasions.Certain words are concentratedin a

particular section of the work; lies and lying are repeatedsix times in the final third of

3
Les Belles Images. As Laurencecomesto seemore clearly through the glossy veneer

of the in
world which she lives, her rejection of it becomesmore and more vehement

and `no' throughout

reverberates the last part of the text, building to a crescendowhen

Laurence,unableto deny her true feelings any longer, finds her voice and screamsher

refusal to comply.

Non. Je ne voulais pas. [...] Je refusaisde l'oublier, [...] je refusais qu'un jour eile
ä
ressemblät samere[... ]. (p. 158.)

La psychologue dirait qu'elle fait expres de se rendre malade parce qu'elle ne veut
pas emmener Catherine. Absurde. Si vraiment eile ne voulait pas, eile refuserait,
eile se battrait. (p. 175.)

Non. Non. (p. 179.)

Non, jamais! Je ne me laisserai pas manipuler. Elle crie : -Non! Non! [... ] Non.
Pouquoi non? [... ] "Non"; eile a crie tout haut. (p. 180.)

Here Simonede Beauvoir is also using repetition to make explicit the connections

betweenLaurence,Catherineand the little Greek girl. Another seriesof repetitions

developsfurther the identification of Laurencewith Catherine:

43Seep. 136 `mensonger';p. 139 `mensonge';p. 140 `mensonge';p. 168 `la chaine de mensonges';
p.
180 'il parlerait ä cette radio qu'il accusaitde mensonge'; p. 180 `leurs mensonges'.(Laurence herself
lies a number of times in the narrative; to Catherineabout Jean-Charles'swork p. 29 and to Jean-
Charles,not only about Lucien, but also about Goya's Christmasbonus, p. 128; about the number of
times Catherinehas cried at night, p. 129 (cf. p. 135); about having eaten,p. 137.)
 218
C'est toi [Laurence]qui la [Catherine] detraqueavec tes scrupules,to sensiblerie.
(p. 133.)

Souspretexte de guerir Catherinede cette "sensiblerie" qui inquietait Jean-

Charles,on allait la mutiler. (p. 159.)

Donc A Päques- eile seraguerie, bien sür [Laurence]. (p. 175)

Its la [Laurence] gueriront de sesrefus, de son desespoir.(p. 180.)

This repetition and seriesof identifications reflect Laurence's disintegrating senseof

self and accentuatereaders' discomfort as regardsthe narrator's identity. They are

placed in the painful position of dependingon a narrator who is not only unreliable, but

is
whose personality disintegrating.

Clearly, eachtime words reappeartheir meaning is transformed, embeddedas

4
they are in different contexts. Thus the whole processof undermining our confidence

in fixed meaning is reinforced. When Laurencelearns from her mother that her parents

intend to live togetheragain,news which she finds 45

utterly painful, she recalls the

words Gilbert had spokenwhen he told her that he was about to reject her mother; his

words have acquirednew layers of significance and are recalled by Laurenceto refer to

both herself and her mother with bitter irony:

- On supporte,on supporte,dit Gilbert. (p. 47.)

"On supporte,on supporte." Gilbert avait raison. (p. 177.)

The text underlinesthe ambivalenceof even apparently straightforward words such as

the term which meansto force feed that is usedto designatefour very different

situations:

44Kristeva follows Vologinov to arguethat all meaning is contextual. Context does not allow us to
determine/close the meaning of a text as context itself cannotbe fixed. Derrida has shown how every
text possessesa number of different contexts.SeeMoi, Sexuall Textual Politics, p. 155.
45Repetition of what Dominique said to Laurenceunderlines the acutepain she feels. This is further
reinforced by the use of direct speech.Laurenceis `hearing' her mother's voice in her mind.
`"Tu n'imagines pas le plaisir que ca lui a fait."' (Dominique, p. 177.)
"`Tu n'imagines pas le plaisir que ca lui a fait."' (Laurence,p. 180.)
 219
le gavagedes oies (p. 30.)

gavesde lait, de riz, de tomateset d'oranges (p. 31.)

se gavant de glace (p. 38.)

Elle se gave de tranquillisants (p. 143.)

The horrific presentis linked with Jean-Charles'sutopic vision of the future which is

linked with an apparentlyidyllic family meal which is in turn linked with Dominique's

pain and despair.The resonanceof this seriesof repetitions is intensified by the central

importanceof food and eating in the symbolic landscapein Les Belles Images. The term

`se gayer' is remindful of Laurence'splight, or rather, her words as she lies in bed will

recall theseearlier instancesof force feeding: `Ils la forceront ä manger, ils lui feront

tout avaler [...]. '(p. 180).

Also in relation to meaning,it is interesting to note how repetition in Les Belles

Images is usedto confer symbolic significance on certain words. Paradoxically, through

repetition, words can not only lose their meaning but also come to meanmore than

themselves.Simone de Beauvoir's choice of such objects as banal as a safety pin

suggestsshewished to challengeacceptednotions of objects worthy of symbolic status.

In the text the safety pin comesto standfor the true friendship that Laurencehas never

known and which Jean-Charlesbelievesto be inappropriate:

J'ai allume, Brigitte s'est levee : «Bonjour, m'dame.» J'ai tout de suite remarque
la grosseepingle de nourrice planteeBansl'ourlet de sajupe. (p. 53.)

Laissez-moi au moins arranger1'epingle.(p. 55.)

[...] 1'epingleetait encoreplanteedansla Jupede Brigitte. (p. 78.)

Je revois Brigitte, l'epingle fichee Bansson ourlet : "Bonjour, m'dame" [...]. (p.
172.)

Subtle changes,when utterancesare echoedrather than repeated,can be

extremely eloquent; they are an economicalway of marking the progressionin

 220
Laurence's frame of mind. The nature of her uncertainty changes.Early in the text we

read:

(mais qu'ont-ils queje n'ai pas non plus?) (p. 14.)

And then:

Et de nouveau Laurence se demande : qu'ont-ils que je n'ai pas? (p. 19.)

This becomes:

Ii me manque quelque chose que les autres ont... A moins... A moins qu'ils ne
1'aient pas non plus. (p. 83.)

Then,finally:

Est-ce moi qui Buisanormale?une amdeuse,une angoissee: qu'est-ce quej'ai

qu'ils n'ont pas?(p. )
150.

Repetition underlinesLaurence'srevision of her position; shemoves from uncertainty

through tentative doubt/hopeto certainty:

Ce secretqu'elle se reprochait de n'avoir pas su decouvrir, peut-etre qu'apres tout

il n'existait pas.Il n'existait pas : eile le sait depuis la Grece. (p. 179.)

There is a similar progressionwith regardto her perception of Jean-Charles.It centres

around his reactionto the car accidentwhen Laurenceswervesto avoid a young cyclist.

Words echo in the text as they echoin Laurence's mind, replicating her obsession.

La voiture est en miettes. (p. 102.)

«Je ne trouve vraiment pas ca malirr; nous n'avons qu'une assurancetierce-

collision. » [...] Tout le mondeaurait temoigne en to faveur. Il a dit ca sansen
penserun mot [...]. (p. 103.)

«La voiture est en miettes.» (p. 109.)

«Je ne trouve ca vraiment pas malin; nous n'avons qu'une assurancetierce-

collision... Tout le mondeaurait temoigne en to faveur.» Et eile realise en un eclair
qu'il ne plaisantait pas.(p. 134.)

«Jean-Charlesne plaisantaitpas.)) Combien de fois s'est-elle repetecette phrase

pendantcette semaine?Elle se la repeteencore.(p. 150.)
 221
As Laurencetells her story her feelings changeand shebecomesgradually more aware

of her true feelings:

Mais si, je l'aime bien. [Gilbert] (L'aime-t-elle ou non? eile aime tout le monde.)
(p. 18.)

«J'ai toujours detesteGilbert.» (p. 48.)

Mais non. Je 1'aimebien. [Lucien] Je vais rompre avec lui, mais je 1'aime bien.
J'aime bien tout le monde. Sauf Gilbert. (p. 87.)

[...] incapabled'aimer. (p. 176.)

Qu'a-t-on fait de moi? Cette femme qui n'aime personne[...] incapable meme de
pleurer [...]. (p. )x6
181.

This progressionalso underminesany notion of truth as an absolute.Just as meanings

are never fixed once and for all, truth can never be immutable. It is not so much that

Laurencemoves from a position of ignorance/error to knowledge and truth but that

what is true changes.

At the height of Laurence's crisis, repitition underlinesconnectionsbetweenthe

past and the present.`J'ai ete decue' (p. 179). becomes`Je suis decue' (p. 180). The

words in Laurence's head are voiced: `Je ne permettrai pas qu'on lui fasse ce qu'on ma

fait' (pp. 180-81).becomes`- On ne lui fers pas ce qu'on m'a fait' (p. 181).

Repetition exemplifies Laurence'spowerlessness,the trap in which she is

caught. However profound her disagreements

with Jean-Charles,
there is no way out:

`Quoi qu'il fasse,ou dise, quoi qu'elle dise ou fasse,il n'y aura pas de sanction' (p.

137). This repetition combinedwith reversalsuggeststhe net in which Laurence is

caught.The hopelessness
of her predicamentis evoked by the repetition that occurs

when shewonderswhy she decidedto end her relationship with Lucien: `Pourquoi

avait-elle decide de faire le vide dannsavie, d'epargnerson temps, sesforces, son coeur

46The readeralso recalls what Laurencesaid earlier. `Moi aussi,ä son Age,je pleurais: commej'ai
pleurd!
C'est peut-@trepour ;a queje ne pleure plus jamais' (p. 25).
 222

alors qu'elle ne sait trop quoi faire de son temps, sesforces, son coeur?' (p. 146). The

repetition of the terms `trop', `vide' and `remplie' in apparentdisorder in the next

sentencesexemplifies Laurence's befuddlement:`Vie trop remplie? trop vide? Remplie

de choresvides. Quelle confusion!' (p. 146).

A further, specific use of repetition in Les Belles Images occurs particularly in

the early part of the book. Laurence,alienatedand unsureof herself, echoesthose

around her, holding onto the languageof othersin an attempt to anchor herself, gain

some semblanceof stability. Sometimesthis echoing/ imitation is conspicuous:

Merveilleuse, dit Marthe avec ferveur.

Merveilleuse, repeteLaurence.(p. 14.)

-Un week-end vraiment reussi! dit Jean-Charles.

-Vraiment reussi. (p. 19.
)

At other times, it is less foregrounded.For example,at FeuverollesLaurence

unwittingly echoesDominique though she hasjust been irritated by her mother's

phraseology;`C'est d'un ',

banal... applied by Dominique to Florence and Granada

twenty yearsearlier, is now used in connectionwith Saint-Tropezand echoedby

Laurencein her comment on the Paris suburbs,`c'est d'un deprimant!' (p. 10). 7 When

Laurencegoesto Dominique who hasbeenphysically maltreatedby Gilbert, her words

are a direct echo of those usedby her colleague,Mona, with regardto aggressivemale

drivers, `ce sont desbrutes' (pp. 86 and 124). Once,when speakingto Mona, she

becomesawareof what sheis doing and stopsherself:

Elle allait dire machinalement: indispensable,eile s'est reprise a temps. Elle

entendla voix de Gilbert : «Une detenteindispensable))[...]. (p. 69.)

Laurence'sbehaviour is especiallyinteresting in the light of the way the text explicitly

and insistently associatesimitating with Dominique:

"Elizabeth Fallaize
also discussesthis example. TheNovels, pp. 126-27.
 223

- Qui imite-t-elle en ce moment? C'est une scie, entre eux, cette question que
posait Freud ä propos d'une hysterique.Le fait est que Dominique imite toujours
quelqu'un. (p. 34.)

[...] (qui imite-t-elle?). (p. 88.)

Imitant toujours quelqu'un faute de savoir inventer des conduites adapteesaux

circonstances.(p. 125.)

Qui imitait-elle? la femme qu'elle souhaitait devenir? (p. 176.)

Laurence,like Dominique, lacking any inner conviction about who she is and how she

should be, looks to her entouragein searchof models. She echoesand imitates others as

the text echoesand imitates iself.

I have shown how languagein Les Belles Images is usedto reproduce

Laurence'sbreakdown.Enumerationand repetition mediateher feelings of alienation,

strangeness,indifference, boredom,and suffocation. They mirror Laurence's uncertainty

and her disintegrating senseof identity. The text duplicatesher obsessionand is, itself,

neurotic. And aboveall, the text epitomisesher loss of faith in language.In Laurence's

universethe meaningfulnessof languagecannot be taken for granted.Readerswho are

invited to interpret a loss of confidencein languageas a symptom of breakdown and

madness,a sign of failure and guilt, find themselvesplaced in this sameposition. In the

mad textual universecreatedby Simonede Beauvoir, readersare trapped in an

uncomfortableplace where they shareLaurence's distress.

Simonede Beauvoir is generally perceivedto producetexts which are lisiblel

readerly. Yet a close reading of her texts doesnot corroboratethis view. Les Belles

Images demonstratesthe intrinsic inadequacyof language.Languagewill not submit to

control and meaningremains fluid. Simone de Beauvoir's texts have much in common

with texts which are scriptiblel writerly. Indeed, her texts underminethe lisiblel
 224

scriptible opposition. Simone de Beauvoir crossesthe ecrivain/ ecrivant boundary.

 225

Conclusion

It has clearly emergedthat far from being flat, detachedand controlled, Simonede

Beauvoir's writing is frequently inflected by forceful emotions and disrupted.' Madness

is enactedin the text of her fiction, duplicated by textual strategies.It is inherent in the

text in those qualities that destabilisemeaning and identity, that representchaos.Marks

of excess,plurality, disruption and transgressionare an inscription of madnessat a

discursive level. In Simone de Beauvoir's fiction, symbolic languageis disrupted by the

semiotic.

Madnessis inscribed in the text of L'Invitee as excess,hyperbole and ambiguity.

In this work, languageis taken to the limits of expressibility. The realist novel is

embeddedin a Gothic textual universethat Simonede Beauvoir createsto be the space

in which sheconfronts pain and madness.Gothic conventionsand figures inform the

novel to an extent that makesit justifiable to speakof the Gothic economyof the text. In

L'Invitee, as in the Gothic mode, feeling and emotion exceedreason,and ambivalence

and ambiguity prevail. In so far as the text is Gothic and transgressiveit is mad, it enacts

madness.

It is true that in her oeuvre as a whole, variations in tone are considerable.Toril Moi argues
convincingly that the range in tone of Simone de Beauvoir's writings (vital to lifeless) is related to the
`degreeof disavowal she engagesin'. Simonede Beauvoir, pp. 249-52. My readingsof L'Invitee, Les
Belles imagesand La Femmerompue are in complete opposition to those such as SusanMarie
Loffredo's. She contendsthat 'Beauvoir's fiction is written unambiguously,both in terms of action
and chronology' and that `her skillfully and coolly controlled prose' doesnot fit situationswhere
emotional control is lost. See`A Portrait of the Sexes:The Masculine and the Feminine in the Novels
of Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras and Christiane Rochefort', unpublished doctoral
dissertation,Princeton University, 1978,pp. 280-81. Seealso Evans,Masks of Tradition, p. 92 where
sherefers to the `flatness' of Simone de Beauvoir's prose and pp. 99- 100 where shediscussesthe
`no-frills quality' of her style. She quotesapprovingly, JacquesEhrmann's view that Simone de
Beauvoir always maintains `her distance,her self-control and an entire lucidity'. `Simone de Beauvoir
and the related destiniesof woman and intellectual', YaleFrench Studies,27,1961,26-32 (p. 29.) As
I recordedin my Introduction, Brosmandefines the tone of Les Belles imagesas `detached', 86.
p.
 226

Simone de Beauvoir's imagery is an imagery of madness,an expressionof the

pain and distress the

of madness, evocation of lost plenitude. Networks of imagesin

L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and La Femmerompue mediatemadnessin the text.

Madnessexperiencedas dissolution and loss of self is suggestedby interlocking

patternsof images.Feelings and

of abandonment loss that threatenthe self are evoked

by images of the void and nothingnessthat combine the motifs of the abyss,vertigo and

falling. Images of collapseand engulfment also evoke fear and senseof loss of self.

Theseare apocalyptic imagesof submergence,weight, enclosure,immobilisation,

imprisonment and live burial. The forceful senseof helplessnessand suffering and fear

communicatedby theseimages,is amplified by images of death and paralysis.

Emphasison black in all the texts contributesto the pervasiveatmosphereof pain and

despair.Light, too, is associatedwith pain. Violent, cruel imagespredominatein all

three texts. Emotional and physical suffering is evoked by imagesof tearing, burning,

biting, sharpness,cutting, stabbingand breaking. An imagery of mirrors, reflections,

images,andthe gazeof othersformsa densenetworkof symbolisation.Theseimages

figure the frail line that divides the real and the illusory and the fragility of the women

protagonists' senseof self. The body is a key elementof the imagery and symbolic

framework of all three books. It is a metaphorfor the self, generally a sourceor

expressionof pain and disgust.A thread of nostalgic imagesthat evoke a senseof lost

well-being and happinessruns through the sombreand desperateweave of the text.

Light, water and transparencyare recurring motifs. A remarkableaffinity exists between

the symbolic landscapesof the early and later fiction where excessand hyperbole
 227

persist. It seemsapparentthat Simone de Beauvoir did not eschewthe `chaos' of

'
metaphor.

Madnessis also located in the text in instability and incoherence.The text

reproducesthe disintegration of identity experiencedby charactersthreatenedby

madnessand subvertsnotions of a unified and stable identity. Mirrored charactersand

unstablenarration and focalisation are instrumental in this. Inconclusivenessand

ambiguity in the text can also be read as symptomsof madness.Disruptive textual

strategiesintroduce incoherenceinto the narrativesand unsettlemeaning.Temporal

confusion characterisesthe later fiction in which the text refusesto convey a senseof

chronology, a senseof linear logic. Time in Simone de Beauvoir's novels and short

stories is experiencedas distorted and reified. Fragmentedand interrupted narratives

also contribute to the incoherencethat exemplifies madnessin the text. The use of

brackets,dashes,ellipses, rupturesand silencesfragment, disrupt and destabilisethe

text. Multi-layering is a further sourceof incoherence.Syntax, too, is instrumental in the

creation of a mad text. Disarticulated and contorted syntax evokesthe pain of Simone de

Beauvoir's women protagonistsand conveysa senseof claustrophobiaand obsession.

In Les Belles Imagesmadnessis identifiable in the text at those points where

languagerefusesto signify and where the meaningfulnessof languageis subverted.The

use of plural meanings,irony, enumerationand repetition are instrumental in the

creation of a mad textual universewhere readers'faith in languageis undermined and

where they shareLaurence's `desarroi'. The text exposesthe problematic nature of

2This term is
used by Fowler in his comparisonof simile and metaphor, metaphor,unlike simile, he
argues,`upsetsreality' (p. 223.). The rich networks of images I have uncoveredmean that I cannot
agreewith Martha Noel Evans's argumentthat Simone de Beauvoir `banished' metaphor: `Taking up
a position of masterywith respectto her own femaleness,shethus drained her writing of the enriching
power of its own vulnerability. The metaphoric languagethat might have emergedfrom confusion as
its expressionand its transcendencewas sappedof its vitality and
cast aside' (Masks of Tradition, p.
100.).
 228

meaning and enactsthe inadequacyof languageand Laurence's experienceof madness.

Irony reproducesa senseof alienation and also contributesto the creationof a mad

textual universe in that it is a sourceof ambiguity in the text and an embodimentof the

`treacherous',`slippery' nature of meaning.Enumeration,too, challengesreaders'

confidence in words, languageand meaningby linking synonymousand antonymous

terms. This technique embodiesthe displacementand deferral of meaningand can even

foster meaninglessnessand be a sourceof transgressivehumour. Togetherwith

repetition, it mediatesfeelings of alienation, indifference, boredom, and suffocation,

mirroring Laurence's uncertainty. Repetition also underlinesthe ambiguity and

ambivalenceof language.It exemplifies obsessionand powerlessness.Rhythm and

movement in the text are an expressionof the disrupting presenceof semiotic energy.

The closer one gets to Simonede Beauvoir's writing, the more conspicuousits

rich complexity becomes.Such writing resistsclosure.L'Invitee, Les Belles Images and

La Femmerompue correspondto Simonede Beauvoir's definition of true fiction:

Un vrai roman ne se laisse donc ni reduire en formules, ni meme raconter;on ne

peut pas plus en detacher le sensqu'on ne detache un sourire d'un visage.
Quoique fait des mots, il existe comme les objets du monde qui debordenttout ce
qu'on peut en dire avec des mots.
(`Litterature et metaphysique',p. 107.)

Far from being definitive, my readingsof madnessin the text open up meaning.

Reading madnessin the text is to perceivethe ambiguities and contradictionsof

existenceoperatingthere. The insistentvoice of madnessbreaksinto the text, disrupting

order and logic, demandingto be heard.

 229
Bibliography

Works by Simone de Beauvoir

Books

L'Invitee, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1943

Le Sang des autres, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1945
Tous les hommes sont mortels, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1946
Pour une morale de 1'ambiguIte, coll. idees, Paris: Gallimard, 1947
L'Existentialisme et la sagesse des nations, including `Idealisme moral et realisme
politique', `Litterature et metaphysique' and `Geil pour oeil', Paris: Nagel, 1948
Le Deuxieme Sexe, 2 vols., coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1949
Les Mandarins, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1954
Memoires d'une jeune fille ran gee, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1958
La Force de Page, Paris: Gallimard, 1960
LaForce des choses,Paris: Gallimard, 1963
Une Mort tres douce, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1964
Les Belles Images, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1966
La Femme rompue, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1968
La Vieillesse, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1970
Tout compte fait, coll. folio, Paris: Gallimard, 1972
Quand prime le spirituel, Paris: Gallimard, 1979
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Interviews. lectures and prefaces

Prefaceto Leduc, Violette, La Bätarde, Paris: Gallimard, 1964

Contribution to a 1964 debate on literature published in Que peut la litterature?, ed. by
Yves Buin, Paris: Union Generale d'Editions, 1965, pp. 73-92
Interview in Jeanson, Francis, Simone de Beauvoir ou l'entreprise de vivre, Paris: Seuil,
1966. Summary in Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 220-21
`Mon experience d'ecrivain', Lecture given in Japan, October 1966, published in Francis
and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 439-57
`Simone de Beauvoir Presente Les Belles images', Interview with Jacqueline Diatier, Le
Monde, 23 December 1966, p. 17
`Friered'inserer', La Femmerompue,reproduced in Francis Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp-
and
231-32
`Interview with Simone de Beauvoir', Ved Solverg Saetre,Vinduet, 3,1968,196-201.
Summaryand extractsin Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp. 233-34
`Sartre and The Second Sex', Inteview with Nina Sutton, Guardian, 19 February 1970,
p. 11
Preface to Ophir, Anne, Regards feminin: condition feminine et creation litteraire,
Paris: DenoeU Gontier, 1976 reprinted in Francis and Gontier, Les Ecrits, pp.
577-79
 230
`Beauvoir elle-meme', Interview with Catherine David, Le Nouvel Observateur, 22
January 1979, pp 82-90
`Interview with Simone de Beauvoir', Alice Jardine, Signs, Winter, 1979,224-36
Interview with Simone de Beauvoir. Paris, 6 July 1985, Elizabeth Fallaize and Jill M.
Wharfe, in Wharfe, Jill. M., `Perfect Interlocutors: Intertextuality and Divergence
in the Fiction of Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre', unpublished doctoral thesis,
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