Identity in Crisis: The Gothic Textual Space in Beauvoirs LInvitee

This close reading of LʹInvitee explores the insights to be gained by looking again at Simone de Beauvoirʹs first published novel, in the light of the Gothic tradition. In particular, it examines the extent to which Beauvoir has recourse to Gothic conventions and figures in the depiction of the crisis faced by the central character, Françoise. Challenging some of the realist assumptions that surround the text, it argues that Beauvoir creates a Gothic textual universe as the space in which she confronts pain and the threat of the dissolution of self.