French and Francophone Literature Commons^™

Femmes À Huis Clos : Les Féminités Non-Normatives Dans Le Théâtre De Sartre, Megan Caljouw

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis explores Jean-Paul Sartre’s depiction of women in theater, focusing on the female characters of The Respectful Prostitute (1946) and No Exit (1944). More specifically, I argue that Sartre presents women who reject normative conceptions of femininity prevalent in France during the twentieth century. Using Claire Duchen’s Women’s Rights and Women’s Lives in France 1944-1968 to provide a baseline understanding of gender roles during this time, I illustrate the ways in which the plays’ female characters “fail” to adhere to stereotypical notions of femininity in the realms of motherhood and sexuality. My argument is informed by a variety of …