Your First Step into the World of Marquis de Sade

In our introduction to Marquis de Sade, we’re inviting those who are curious about his novels but haven’t yet delved into his world to take a step-by-step journey (with the intensity slightly toned down) into his unique universe.

This guide serves as a prelude to reading his actual works or for those who might not be keen on diving into the text but are still intrigued by the Marquis de Sade, often regarded as the pioneer of BDSM!

While Sade did write more conventional novels, we’ll set those aside for now. This feature will focus specifically on his most “Sadean” works.

Is the novelist Marquis de Sade really as crazy as they say?

Do you even need to know about Sade himself to read his novels?

French critic Gaëtan Picon (1915-1976) dubbed Sade “the Newton of abnormal desires.” Sade holds an especially peculiar position in French literature, and arguably in the entire history of human literature.

But let’s hit pause on the preconceptions!

Sade’s works are, after all, products of his imagination, and that doesn’t necessarily mean he was as extreme as his writings might suggest.

First, there’s the question of whether knowing about the author is necessary when enjoying a work, whether it’s a novel or something else. Some people believe that even if the author had a terrible personality, the work should be appreciated on its own if it’s moving and brilliant. Others think you need to know the author to truly understand the work.

For modern creations, I generally think a work should be enjoyed independently of the author. But with classic literature, it’s more interesting if you have some basic background on the author, since they often had unique talents or situations for their time.

The works of novelists who lived through turbulent times often deeply reflect that turbulence.

Sade was arrested so many times… really many times

So, what kind of person was the real Sade?

In a letter to his wife, Sade wrote, “I am a libertine, but I am neither a criminal nor a murderer.” It seems that he was concerned about being confused with the

“extreme characters in his works” and “Sade himself as the author.”

So, let’s dive into Sade’s life and see if he was truly harmless, shall we?

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• Arrested at the age of 23 for “outrageous orgies” (Jeanne Testal case)
• Arrested at the age of 28 for confining and flogging a woman (Arcueil case)
• Arrested at age 32 for alleged attempted poisoning of a prostitute and sodomy (Marseilles Affair)
• Imprisoned in Vincennes Prison at the age of 38, where he spent 11 years.
• Transferred to the Bastille prison at the age of 44
• Released at the age of 50 after the French Revolution
  
  
• At 53, still arrested as a counter-revolutionary
• Released again at the age of 54 after Robespierre’s downfall
• Arrested for publishing an obscene book at the age of 61
• At the age of 63, he was transferred from prison to Charenton Mental Hospital, where he remained for 11 years until his death.
• ……
  And most of his writings were written during a total of about 25 years of confinement

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Sade was arrested so many times, it wouldn’t even fit on his résumé.

But here’s an important point.

Yes, he was arrested a lot. However, the truth can be written in many different ways.

The reasons behind why Sade’s “dangerous persona” was crafted by society.

Looking at his history, he does seem like a notorious criminal. But let’s try describing the incidents he was involved in with a slightly different spin, without changing the facts.

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• He, an aristocrat, assaults a beggar woman and pays her a fee (still in the 18th century)
• Feeds a prostitute an aphrodisiac-laced “fart a lot” candy, and she accuses him of trying to kill her with the poison.
• Fucked a servant’s burly man in the anus.
• Wrote and published an extreme erotic book.

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…Well, he wasn’t exactly innocent, but surely there were far more wicked people out there.

During Sade’s lifetime, tabloids of the time spread sensational stories like “Aristocrat Murders Wife and Young Girls!” These reports contributed to Sade’s lasting bad reputation, especially since his works often depicted the brutal killing of countless people as if they were nothing.

However, court records show that Sade didn’t actually kill anyone. In fact, his wife tirelessly worked to help him when he was arrested.

If you think of the Marquis de Sade, the namesake of sadism, as a cruel noble like Dracula, that might be a bit off. Much of what he did wouldn’t even be considered a crime today if it were done in an S&M club.

Sade spent about 25 years in prison largely because his ideas clashed with the values of the ruling class at the time.

After all, back then, engaging in anal sex was punishable by death. (Sade himself was once sentenced to death, though it was later overturned.)

Sade’s radically free behavior certainly provoked the anger—or perhaps the fear—of conservative society. After the French Revolution, he became a convenient target for the public’s anger and criticism against the privileged aristocracy.

Interestingly, Sade’s long imprisonment also had to do with his own family. His relatives paid the government to keep him locked up, seeing him as a disgrace to the family. They preferred to have him restrained rather than free, considering it a way to protect the family’s honor.

However, even if some of his actions weren’t strictly illegal by today’s standards, various documents and letters suggest that Sade himself was far from a nice person. His behavior during his imprisonment was notoriously bad, and he seemed to have a selfish, difficult personality that would make him hard to deal with.

That strong-willed nature, though, is likely what allowed him to leave such a lasting mark on history.

When I first learned that he lived so long, I thought it might have been because, unlike other Versailles nobles, he was forced to live a simple life in prison, which helped him stay healthy.

But it turns out that, perhaps due to stress, he indulged in a lot of sweets while in prison, even paying out of pocket for large deliveries. Multiple visitors reported that “he’s gotten fat.”

Sade’s preferences and personality were definitely extreme, but by today’s moral standards, he might not be considered as monstrous as he was back then. What do you think?

Things to know before reading sadistic literature for the first time

Now, let’s set aside the discussion about Sade himself and start warming up to delve into his works. I’ll outline some key points, and we’ll go through them one by one.

(1) Safe hates female genitalia and likes anal

I think this is the point where people who read Sade thinking it is an extreme SM erotic novel will shrug it off when they read it.

The men in Sade’s novels, again, fuck the back, not the front. It is a familiar scene in Sade’s literature when a character shows an unusual and almost abnormal aversion to female genitalia and orders her to cover it up and offer only her anus.

If it were just one time, it could be considered a characterization of the character by Sade, but in Sade’s world line, sex = anal sex. In Sade’s world, sex = anal sex.

Well, he was sentenced to death for anal sex in the first place. Not to mention his court case when he was young, middle-aged obese Sade in Bastille Prison also half-openly wrote in a letter that he masturbated in the anus.

He has assaulted the anus of a burly, pockmarked-faced servant, and he has also plunged his penis into the anus of prostitutes. He also enjoys regular sex with his wife, with whom he has four children. He also impregnates maids, although he thinks that sex with his wives is obligatory. On the other hand, court records show that he ejaculated by simply whipping the woman and screaming. To top it all off, he started making out with a teenage girl 56 years younger than him in a mental hospital, and even recorded the timing of her menstruation in his diary.

The idea that “Sade dislikes female genitalia and prefers anal sex” is probably true, judging by the pervasive themes throughout his works. Otherwise, he wouldn’t go as far as to create characters who dislike female genitalia, even if they do have a preference for anal sex.

But, to be more precise, I think it’s more like, “He doesn’t particularly like female genitalia, but it’s not off-limits.”

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Oh, I almost forgot. Earlier, I mentioned the flatulence-inducing candy, but Sade was also deeply into scatology. According to court records, he even forced girls to undergo enemas and demanded that they defecate on a statue of Christ.

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Are you starting to think, “Oh, anal stuff isn’t that big of a deal anymore”?

Great, you’re all set to dive into Sade’s literature!

(2) Sade’s work isn’t just BDSM literature—it’s more like erotic, grotesque, nonsensical sci-fi.

If you thought Sade’s literature was just BDSM novels, you’re mistaken. For the purposes of this discussion, let’s define BDSM novels as erotic stories with a focus on the top/bottom dynamics.

Since these works are from 250 years ago, the concept of realistic depiction didn’t really exist back then. While the descriptions of scenes are somewhat detailed, the psychological portrayal of pain is not specific.

For example, if someone is whipped, it’s simply stated as “he was severely whipped,” or if a finger is cut off, it’s just “the finger was cut off.” After that, there’s no further mention of the missing finger.

On the other hand, what isn’t so straightforward is the “dialogue” of the characters.

Sade’s novels are long! The characters go on and on about SM philosophy, and those monologues are lengthy!

Finding enjoyment in a work where the brutality and eroticism are downplayed is a different matter altogether… The characters in Sade’s novels express their philosophies over several pages, turning them into walking bundles of ideology.

With this type of novel, if you don’t find these long-winded speeches interesting, it can be quite a slog. For some, “The Marquis de Sade isn’t scary” and “The Marquis de Sade isn’t interesting” might be almost indistinguishable.

When all is said and done, Sade’s works are, in their own way, artistic creations—not entertainment, and certainly not just pornography.

We may never fully understand what he was thinking when he created these works. But if, 200 years ago, someone read Sade and thought, “Well, maybe it’s true that living righteously and piously as religion suggests doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness,” then that alone gives his work significance.

Erotic and BDSM novels, while varying in content, are ultimately clear in their purpose and target audience—they follow a sort of template work.

But Sade’s works are something else entirely, breaking away from any template.They possess something unique that only Sade can offer. It’s not about catering to an audience; it’s clear that he’s writing purely because he wants to express these ideas

Summary: Sade just viewed the world through a different lens, maybe

Ultimately, while it’s true that Sade is a sadist in his creative works (though it feels strange to say “Sade is a sadist”), his focus isn’t on simply enjoying the specific scene of someone being whipped and suffering.

Of course, part of this may be due to the fact that the realism necessary for detailed scene depiction hadn’t fully developed during his time. However, the sadism he writes about seems more like:

• A controlled, power-play scenario, as seen in The 120 Days of Sodom, where rulers and the ruled are engaged in a twisted game.
• A structurally grand form of cruelty, as in Justine, where the protagonist’s life is relentlessly debased and tragic.

But isn’t this something other writers have also explored? Especially in classical literature, tragedies far outweigh comedies, and it’s not unusual for the protagonist to face unreasonable suffering.

Perhaps what Sade did was simply inject an unusual, taboo kind of eroticism into these stories of human suffering, which was especially shocking given the religious constraints of his time. While that might seem like a significant difference, he did what no one else dared to do. And that’s why his name has endured.

So, as I mentioned at the beginning, the Marquis de Sade was dubbed the “Newton of abnormal desires,” much like the scientist who discovered the obvious truth that apples fall from trees.