On Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy’s Decades-Long Friendship

Hannah Arendt’s life was surrounded by friendships, many of them with men. The letters she kept with her friends include works with Martin Heidegger, Karl Jaspers, Heinrich Blücher, Gershom Scholem, Kurt Blumenfeld, and Joachim Fest. The only woman whose letters are published separately is Mary McCarthy. However, Arendt had other close female friends such as Hilde Fränkel, Anne Weil, Charlotte Beradt, Rose Feitelson, and Lotte Kohler.

These women's voices are important but often overlooked in our understanding of Arendt's political ideas. One reason for this is that letters between women have historically been undervalued in philosophy. Another reason is that Arendt formed a more personal connection with women, one less tied to the public world and more based on emotional resonance, physical vitality, and care.

The exception to this pattern is McCarthy, whose letters to Arendt show a high level of intellectual discussion. Yet, her female friendships reveal a side of Arendt that is less frequently acknowledged: she was able to form intimate, even romantic bonds with women. Arendt split friendships into two categories: intimate friendships characterized by emotional openness and political friendships rooted in respect for others and their role in the "common world".

She rarely wrote about intimate friendships, preferring to focus on political connections. In her personal letters to women, the intimate side of her relationships emerges. While she had passionate moments with men like Blücher and Jaspers, her connections with women like Fränkel and Weil were more grounded in caring support. Even in her correspondence with McCarthy, a notable exception, we see a side of Arendt that is absent in her public writings: the power of friendship goes beyond politics to involve deep personal intimacy.

The bond between Arendt and McCarthy, one of the most significant American friendships, began with a disagreement at a party. McCarthy made a disparaging remark about Hitler, which infuriated Arendt, a Jewish refugee who had survived a concentration camp. They maintained a cold relationship for years until a chance subway encounter prompted Arendt to tell McCarthy, "Let's end this nonsense.

We think so much alike." Their correspondence became a philosophical discussion held in a living room. Critics have hailed Arendt and McCarthy as a prime example of intellectual confidence among women. McCarthy devoured Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism, calling it "an advance in human thought." Arendt, in turn, praised McCarthy's Oasis as "a veritable little masterpiece."

Their conversations spanned a wide range of topics, from domestic politics to philosophical ideas. Yet, there was also a romantic undertone to their relationship. Arendt confided in McCarthy, writing, "I am still deeply worried and quite unhappy I have to go to Chicago. We have been together for 28 years and life without him would be unthinkable."

Their friendship combined intellectual rigor with a tenderness that bordered on romance. The 28-year friendship between Arendt and McCarthy was marked by both intense discussion and tender moments, reflecting a friendship that transcended mere intellectual discourse.