The Mandarins

The Mandarins is a 1954 novel by Simone de Beauvoir, a Prix Goncourt-winning work that marks her turn away from early Kantian-inflected moral theory. It is a fictionalized account of French intellectual life after World War II, though Beauvoir rejected roman à clé (key novel) readings of it.

Claims that use this term

• The Mandarins marks Beauvoir’s break from early Kantian-inflected moral theory.
• Beauvoir rejected the roman à clé reading of The Mandarins