The Maids: Study Guide

The Maids is an Absurdist drama by French author and playwright Jean Genet that was first performed in 1947 under the French title Les Bonnes. It centers on two maids—sisters Claire and Solange—and their complex relationships with each other and with Madame, their employer. In his introduction to The Maids, French Existentialist and fellow Theatre of the Absurdist Jean-Paul Sartre argues that both maids are "Others," defined by their opposition to societal convention. Not only are they Others to Madame, however, but they are Others to themselves.