Has anyone read Marquis de Sade ?
"Philosophy in the Bedroom" specifically ?
Out of pure boredom, I have found out that it's now being published again, at least in some countries over seas. I don't think it's been published for a long , long time. Has it ever been available in the United States ?
My first experience with this book was back in 8th grade when my best friend and I stumbled upon it in the local library. It was in Russian and I doubt the librarians even knew what forbidden treasure they had ! We giggled and blushed all the way through it, but I think I can credit this book with making me a twisted person that I am today.
Well, not really THAT twisted , just a little bit. The book disappeared from the library short time afterwards and I have looked for it for years. I think De Sade is making a comeback. Recently I discovered a full text in English on one website, and some other Marquis classics like Justine and 120 days of Sodom.
Anyway, is anyone else familiar with his works ? I'm wondering what people think ? I realize that we live in different times and the writings of De Sade can be considered mild compared to stories on this site. So do you think De Sade works " lost their edge" and people are not shocked by the anymore, so do they still have their classic appeal ? Personally, I think they still remain the best work of BDSM fiction ever.
Just curious what people think.
I am NOT an historian, but here's my 2 francs worth
There are several reasons for the longstanding appeal of the Marquis de Sade, not the least of which is the quality of his work.
Just by virtue of the word “sadism”, he is immortalized.
He is a fascinating historical character. As I understand it, he is also misunderstood – his reputation overshadows his reality.
I am not an historian, so I may have some facts wrong, (feel free to correct any errors I have made)
but here goes:
One must look at de Sade in the context of the times as well as in what he wrote.
From what I have read and seen about him, de Sade was an anarchist, a nihilist, who delighted in tearing down the taboos of the French court. This at a time that the rule of the King was “absolute” as long as the King had the army and the Church behind him. He believed and practiced that all men are free and should not be subject to restrictions or laws – at that time, beggars were hanged for stealing bread. He was also a hedonistic spoiled brat who was reviled by almost all sectors of French society.
Anyway …. de Sade’s writing pales when compared with the horrors and excesses of contemporary French society. He extolled physical / sexual pleasure at a time that there were many sexual taboos yet court intrigue and “les liaisons dangereux” were commonplace. The Church was at its most powerful in France during the early years of de Sade’s life; the aristocracy at its most decadent and depraved; the mob mentality that seized the country during The Terror was even more so.
Interestingly enough, de Sade was a contemporary of Napoleon, Jefferson, Nelson, et al – late 18th and early 19th century. He died in 1814.
His internment in the Bastille was political ( a lettre de cachet from his wealthy mother-in-law) , and he was one of the handful of prisoners who were actually in the Bastille when it was stormed by the mob. Somehow although he was (a) aristocracy (b) a known criminal, he managed to be overlooked during The Terror, and his rather messy life continued. Again, he was later arrested and committed for publishing his stories - there was a very conservative , repressive side to French society during and after The Terror, and the Code Napoleon was just being instituted as common law. de Sade died in captivity.
What de Sade’s life did was provide a focal point for subsequent scholars. When it came time to coin a phrase, “sadism” was minted (masochism comes from Masoch, but I forget why – I guess I should be punished).
I have read some of his work. It is not surprising that it still holds up – after all, we still read Moliere, Voltaire, Hobbes, Dickens and others from that and earlier eras.
A current biography can be found here:
http://neilschaeffer.com/sade/
I have not read it.
For information about the man who gave his name to "masochism", try this site:
http://homepage.newschool.edu/~schle...er-masoch.html
This reminds of the following:
A true masochist says "hurt me, kill me"
a true sadist says "no"
I wonder that no one mentioned "Quills"
A movie about the Marquis de Sade starring Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, and Kate Winslet. It focuses on his time in the mental instution, and I'm not sure how historically accurate it is. However the theme--the power of a quill, i.e. written word--is highly interesting to a writer.
