Jean Genet, a French novelist and playwright, was a leading figure as a dramatist in theatre of the absurd during the twentieth century. Although his early life was rather atypical when compared to his peers, his work have nevertheless been celebrated by his contemporaries, public audiences, and critics alike. His work reflected his vivid political activism as well as own experiences in his lifetime that often lead him to portray obscene images or subject matter in his work. Through his notable works, audiences will notice that Genet was fascinated with violence and material that was culturally provocative, simulating, and immoral. Although his early life was filled with seeming misfortune, Genet managed to turn an adolescence of criminality to major success as a writer.
Jean Genet, born illegitimately on December 19th 1910 in Paris, France, came to the world with a nameless father and was abandoned at birth by his mother, Gabrielle Genet, leaving his family ancestry unknown (Knapp, 3). As a result, Genet was brought up by the Public Assistance until the age of seven, when he was placed as a foster child with a peasant family in the Morvan region of France, north of the Massif Central (Thody, 3). A a child living in the woodsy Morvan region he learned to become accustomed to nature and developed a vivid imagination, yet nevertheless, Genet was rather introverted and excelled in school (Knapp, 4). However, his new family spoke a dialect foreign to the Parisian and Genet insisted on speaking the proper French he learned in school, leaving him to be an alien to his peasant family (Barber and White, 7). At the age of ten however, Genet began his life of criminality and his petty theft compelled his family to send him to Mettray Reformatory, an infamous center for discipline, in the Loire region (Knapp, 5). Here, Genet became self-aware of own character and desires, developing his preference for theft and crime as well as his preference for boys (Knapp, 5). After fleeing Mettray in 1926, Genet joined the army, the French Foreign Legion, which he soon deserted, and became a vagabond, beggar, and criminal as he traveled through countries such as Spain, Italy, Poland, and Germany; throughout his travels, Genet ventured down a vile abyss, aiming to reach the lowest state of evil possible (Knapp, 6). His “pilgrimage” of sorts and isolation brought him an immense disdain for society and the ideals it championed. Ending his travels in 1940, it was in 1942 when Genet was sentenced to Fresnes Prison upon returning to France; during his dismal time spent in prison however, Genet began to write (Knapp, Chronology).
While imprisoned at Fresnes, Genet wrote his first novel, Notre-Dame des Fleurs [Our Lady of the Roses], in 1943 and from 1943 to 1949, he continued writing throughout multiple works including poems, novels, plays and even a ballet (Knapp, 10). In 1947 however, Genet was still serving his tenth and final sentence, a lofty number of violations that would result in life in prison, but thanks to popularity in the literally community, attracting the attention of people such as Sartre, Cocteau, and Claudel, a petition sent to the French Present Vincent Auriol granted him his freedom (Knapp, 11). Jean-Paul Sartre even began to become captivated with the work of Genet, often critiquing and collaborating with another. Even though his works had brought him fame upon his release, Genet still valued isolation and homosexuality as portions of his identity, but he strayed away from his hatred towards society and replaced it with a fierce passion for politics and critiques of the world in which he lived. Genet refrained from falling into ordinary society and instead chose to champion marginalized people who were despised and rejected by society; his novels like Notre-Dame des Fleurs reflected homosexual subculture whereas his plays such as Les Nègres [The Blacks] (1958) spoke of the black experiences (Barber and White, 8). A decade later, in 1968, Genet traveled to the United States where he worked alongside the violent political group, the Black Panthers where he even spoke against the American government on their behalf in 1970 (Knapp, Chronology). He continued his political activism from 1973 to 1977 where he became a supporter of the Palestinians and German anarchists under the Red Cause (Knapp, Chronology). However, after combatting throat cancer for years, which had greatly weakened his body, on April 15th 1986, his body finally collapsed and Jean Genet passed away in a room at Jack’s Hotel in Paris (Barber, 11).