Abstract

The paper deals with the theme of old age and aging as depicted chiefly in Simon de Beauvoir’ work “The Old Age” and her autobiographical works – “Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre”, “A Very Easy Death”, “All Said and Done”, “The Prime of Life” and in her literary works – “Les Belles Images”, “The Woman Destroyed”. The work “The Old Age” is structurally similar to “The Second Sex” and exposes the mythical character of aging and the social status of old age, bearing upon an aging human being in the form of otherness, of a non-subject. Beauvoir shows that old age which is objectively a common destiny for all people, is actually subjectively different for each individual, this being determined by their own subjectivity, their own bodily experience, their own sexuality. There is a difference in the subjective perception of old age by men and women. Beauvoir’s main conclusion is that the truth about old age is complex – it bears relation to the body, identity, femininity, sexuality, beauty, activity, youth; it involves also the attitude of society towards old age and the manner in which each individual internalizes these social attitudes.