The point is not for women to simply take power from men’s hands, since that wouldn’t change anything about the world. It is the question of precisely destroying that notion of power.

–Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir’s influence as a feminist writer is far-reaching and sometimes overshadows her other contributions as a philosopher, political activist and writer. In 1954 she published her novel titled “The Mandarins” which followed the lives of French intellectuals immediately after World War II. The novel contains strains of existentialist and feminist thought. She won the Prix Goncourt Award for the book and is one of the eleven women to have ever received that award. Prix Goncourt is the highest literary award in France is awarded to novels for the imagination and excellence of prose. Her writings stood the test of time and are still popular.