Sartre’s love relationships reveal steady growth toward accepting another’s self-abandon

Evidence

By the time of Notebooks and of the Vanetti liaison, Sartre had defi nitely made some progress since the days of his and Beauvoir’s fi rst love— when he was terrifi ed of her self-abandon to him and obviously did not reciprocate. He seemed by now to be better able to accept a woman’s self-abandon and to partly reciprocate by giving himself, in his own way, although he did write Beauvoir from New York that “Dolores’ passion … literally scares me, particularly since that’s not my strong suit.” His deep love aff air from 1962 to 1967 with Lena Zonina, which Rowley uncovers for the fi rst time, certainly helped him make further progress. For she was a strong, independent woman, interpreter for the Soviet Writers Union, and she was a mother. Her whole being radiated the force of independence and the joy of motherhood. — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 144

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Hazel Rowley’s biography of the Beauvoir-Sartre couple, a key secondary source in the authorship debate. — connects to: Late-life Sartre endorsed reciprocal mutual self-abandon in love, reversing his earlier stance — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 122; Sartre’s late Hope Now ideas emerged from Beauvoir’s notion of reciprocal self-abandon — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre: The Riddle of…, 156; Authentic love requires reciprocal recognition of both partners’ freedoms — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1883

Broader Connections

• Sartre’s late Hope Now ideas emerged from Beauvoir’s notion of reciprocal self-abandon #corroborates (0.85) — Christine Daigle, Jacob Golomb (eds.), Beauvoir and Sartre, 156
• Authentic love requires reciprocal recognition of both partners’ freedoms #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1883