Plato and Beauvoir: Opposing Views on Myth and Reality

At first sight Plato and Simone de Beauvoir do not seem to have much in common--he was a Greek philosopher who lived around the year 400 B.C., she a French intellectual from the twentieth century--aside from the fact that their works are still read and admired to this date. However, there is something else that connects them: they both thought that people do not see reality as it truly is, and so they both worked through their writings to educate others on this issue. The commonality between them ends here, however, since they each had a thoroughly different perception of what comprises reality. As can be seen in "The Allegory of the Cave," Plato thinks that true reality is found in ideals that lay beyond the senses of men, in an upper realm to which one can ascend after reaching an enlightened state of being. On the other hand, Beauvoir makes it clear in "Woman: Myth and Reality" that reality is in what is perceived in everyday experience in this earthly realm, and that there is no ideal to seek, and she focuses on how the female ideal affects women and society at large. Although Plato does not specifically discuss women in his essay, we can see how, if his principles are applied to women, it would result in an idealized image of the female that would not match its earthly counterpart. As their two views differ greatly in this issue, a more detailed look at both thinkers' arguments is in order, so that a decision can be reached as to which claim is more convincing.

In "The Allegory of the Cave" Plato (through a conversation between Socrates and his student Glaucon) describes the fact that what we perceive with our senses in this earthly world is not true reality. When he claims that "the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images," Plato is referring to his belief that the things we perceive here on earth are not the actual true forms, but only their darkened reflections (316). According to his philosophy, we can only attain the knowledge of reality in all its truth by reaching an enlightened state in the upper realm of ideals. He further states that we are all born with this understanding and have, since that moment, forgotten it; thus, we must endeavor to remember this knowledge by approaching the enlightened state (Plato 320). The ultimate result of having achieved this will be to "know what the several images are, and what they represent, because you have seen the beautiful and just and good in their truth" (Plato 322). By this he means that once man relearns the reality, he will know what each form is supposed to be at its ideal, and he will recognize that what he had up to that point perceived on earth as real to be only a shadow of its true form. Therefore, Plato wishes for people to recognize that their earthly perceptions cannot be trusted, and that they must instead seek the ideal that lays beyond their senses, which can only be attained through enlightenment of the mind.

Opposing Plato's philosophy in this issue is Beauvoir, as she reveals in her discussion of the feminine myth held by society in "Woman: Myth and Reality." She states that in society the idea of who a woman truly is becomes transformed into a myth, which she describes as a "static myth" which "projects into the realm of Platonic ideas a reality that is directly experienced or is conceptualized on a basis of experience" (821). The claim that the reality of women is placed in the upper realm of ideals as an unchanging myth may not sound especially objectionable, especially since it is based on experience. However, Beauvoir goes on to explain that there is harm in the fact that the experience that is at first based on "fact, value, significance, knowledge, empirical law" is replaced by a "transcendental Idea, timeless, unchangeable, necessary" (821). As the idea of what women represent and encompass is sent up to the Platonic realm of ideal forms, our perception of the female is altered from what we have experienced of them in our world to a fixed idea that is an immutable archetype. Moreover, Beauvoir considers an individual to be the sum of their actions; as she says, a person is "nothing other than what he does...essence does not precede existence" (825). It follows that there is nothing innate about an individual's self, and so the only reality of the individual rests in what he does here on earth, on his experiences and actions, and not in an idea that is beyond the solidity of which she speaks.

Hence we see the conflict between the views held by Plato and Beauvoir. Where Plato believes that one should not believe what he perceives in this world and must instead seek its truth in the ideal realm, Beauvoir argues that the truth is in what we sense in our everyday life, and that believing there is some kind of intangible paradigm that is to be found beyond what we experience on earth has a detrimental effect on society and its individuals, particularly women as they are affected by the feminine myth.

For Plato, the search for reality in the realm of ideals is not in the least harmful. In fact, what is harmful is to believe that the shadows we perceive on earth are real, therefore remaining ignorant of what is truly real and, as he says, what is "beautiful and just and good in their truth" (322). Thus, it seems that when one seeks the ideal, he should be applauded and encouraged in his efforts, as he is trying to improve his knowledge of the world and its reality and goodness. Yet by doing this he will cease to care about the things he perceives here on earth, an act which on its surface may seem as the right thing to do, but which upon further inspection gives rise to apparent problems. For example, as man attempts to reach knowledge of the ideal, might he not turn his back on the people that need and love him, on the account that they too are only shadows of what they truly are? Will not his family and friends suffer as they essentially lose him to that upper realm of ideals, which will be invisible to them unless they also attain the state of enlightenment? And what of the man's business or trade, which he will also leave behind? He may have ceased to care for his duties, as they are also not part of the reality which he seeks, but those who depend on his work will still need and count on him. Therefore, it seems that by searching for an ideal and leaving behind what is worldly, man will in essence be eschewing his obligations to his family and society at large. While Plato would most likely say that this is the sacrifice that must be made in order to become enlightened with the truth, it appears to be too severe a sacrifice to ask, not just of the man himself, but of those who have not asked to be part of this pursuit.

Likewise, when we apply Plato's view to the issue of woman and her ideal, we see that sacrifices are also an inevitable part of the search for truth. At first it may seem that it would be a good thing for a woman to aspire to seek her own ideal, because once she grasps it, she will have found her true existence. This certainly seems like a worthy task to pursue and accomplish. However, in the act of searching for her ideal, woman will be denying the worth of her life up to that point. She is, in essence, saying that all she has experienced and achieved does not hold any importance any longer, and so she will be sacrificing her life. She will also be sacrificing her loved ones; her children and husband, her family and friends, who will remain behind while she searches for the ideal. Yet, who is to say that she will not come back to them once she has achieved knowledge of the truth? Will her loved ones not rejoice when she returns to them an improved woman, as she is now aware of the ideal and can fulfill this role? The problem with this scenario lies in Plato's own words, as he states that those who achieve the enlightenment will wish to remain in that upper world, and that "they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the den" (322). If this results to be the case, does it not stand to reason that woman will return from the realm of ideals not only as an improved person, but one who no longer wishes to be in the earthly realm? It appears that by searching for the ideal, woman will negate her original life and family--and may not even wish to live a life outside the ideal realm--thus harming others and herself, since she will have to begin over again, this time following the ideal of which she is now aware.

It is the harmful effect of ideals on women--or myths against which they are measured--that Beauvoir focuses on in her essay. She states that when a woman does not meet the ideas embodied in the feminine myth, "we are told not that Femininity is a false entity, but that the women concerned are not feminine" (Beauvoir 821). This is to say that woman is essentially chastised for not fulfilling her role because the fault lies within her, and not in the myth, since it is "indisputable because it is beyond the given: it is endowed with absolute truth" (Beauvoir 821). How can one argue with something that cannot be grasped, something that is beyond--and ostensibly above--our human experience and understanding? It could be argued that this scenario is rather melodramatic and that in real life nothing of the kind takes place. After all, when is the last time we heard someone tell a woman that she is not feminine because she does not meet the standards of the myth? Yet this does happen, although it is not so obvious as this example. We see it happen every time a girl is teased at school because her body happens to be larger and softer than that of the girls on the cover of the popular fashion magazines. It occurs when a woman does not wish to put on makeup and style her hair when she leaves her home, as she will be talked about by others as not being feminine enough because she does not seem to wish to look like the ideal image of femininity. And it happens when a woman does not wish to be married or have children, as she will be described as having something wrong with her because she does not desire to have a family for which she can care and nurture. Every time a female does not fulfill the myth that is upheld by her society, she is seen and made to feel as an outcast to her gender, as less than what she should be, and it is viewed to be her fault because she is choosing to not follow what is expected of her.

On the other hand, one might say that plenty of women use the mythical idea of femininity to their advantage. There are those who pursue lucrative careers in which their thoroughly feminine appearances are used and even flaunted, as is the case with models or popular actresses; there are those who marry rich--and sometimes much older--men just for their money. These women seem to be content with the myth, as it brings them profit and even popularity. However, Beauvoir addresses this issue when she states that "woman is taught from adolescence to lie to men, to scheme to be wily" (Beauvoir 826). Woman learns from her society to use the myth for her own gain, and she is profits from it; so the question remains: how can it be said that she is being harmed by this myth? It may not be obvious at first, but in these instances woman is being harmed because she is not being herself, and as Beauvoir says, she is "wear[ing] an artificial expression on her face; she is cautious, hypocritical, play-acting" (826). Because she is trying to achieve the appearance that the feminine myth prescribes, woman gives up her personality, her true self, and she becomes an actress who must be careful about everything she says and does, and who may even do things with which she does not personally agree, all in the name of measuring up to the myth so that she can improve her life (as society has encouraged her to believe her life will be improved upon once she presents herself as feminine, as a faithful disciple and executor of the myth).

Therefore, even when it seems as though a person is doing a good thing by trying to reach an ideal--something that is beyond what we see in our earthly lives--the effects appear to be detrimental in nature to the person and to his or her surrounding society. Thus, Beauvoir's argument that society and its individuals should not look beyond what is perceived here on earth, and that instead should focus on actual experiences in everyday life, appears to be more compelling--and sensible--than that of Plato. This is not to say that there is no merit in his idea of trying to reach an ideal; there is nothing wrong with a person trying to improve himself, and indeed it can often be an admirable thing. But this should be done with caution so that the individual's life--and the lives of his loved ones and his society--are not adversely affected. Improvement to one's self should be done with this in mind, while also keeping grounded in who he or she is in this world; in this way one will most likely avoid floating up into the intangible realms of myths and ideals, where the self becomes trapped in a quest to become what it is not.

Works Cited

Beauvoir, Simone de. "Woman: Myth and Reality." A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston:
Bedford/St.Martin's, 2002. 820-830.

Plato. "The Allegory of the Cave." A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston:
Bedford/St.Martin's, 2002. 315-323.