As a revolutionary thinker, de sade was in maximum opposition to all his contemporaries, first of all, in his complete and constant denial of property rights, and further, in a similar view of the struggle not between the crown, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy or the clergy, or the sectional interests of each of them against each other (the angle of view of all his contemporaries), and between all the chicks at least somewhat united against the proletariat. Adhering to these views, he finally renounces the revolutionary thinkers of his personal time in order to become the thinkers of the mid-19th century. Thanks to this, the device can be called, with some justice, the first reasonable socialist. In his own attempt to reconcile the contradictory demands of the individual with political justice for anyone, he still stands apart, despite kropotkin and the anarchists." - Revolutionary ideas of the marquis de sade (1935), geoffrey gorer "the natives of the trobriand islands, who sometimes play the role of a standard for each of the people, consider eating the same internal document as any other function of the body." -- "The revolutionary ideas of the marquis de sade" (1935), jeffrey gorer, related to wikipedia in the wiktionary: "the revolutionary ideas of the marquis de sade" (1934, first published by wishart & co. Revised in 1953, 1964) - a book by jeffrey gorer about the marquis de sade with a foreword by j. B. S. Haldane. It was one of the earliest books about the garden. Gorer noted that sade was in complete opposition to modern philosophers both for his "complete and constant denial of property rights" and for the fact that he considered the struggle in french society at the end of the 18th century not between "the crown, the bourgeoisie, the aristocracy or the clergy, or the sectional interests of any of them." They are against each other," or rather they are all "more or less united against the proletariat." Adhering to these views, he completely cut himself off from the revolutionary thinkers of his time in order to join the thinkers of the mid-nineteenth century. Thus, gorer argued, "he can with some justice be called the first reasonable socialist." Contents 1 excerpts 1.1 on the case of rosa keller 1.2 on the death and legacy of the garden 2.1 contents 2.2 preface 2.3 preface 2.4 some preliminary judgments 2.5 chapter i life, 1740-1814 2.6 chapter ii literary creativity 2.7 chapter iii philosophy 2.8 chapter iv god and nature 2.9 chapter v politics i. Diagnosis 2.10 chapter vi politics ii. Proposed solutions 2.11 chapter vii sex, pleasure and love 2.12 chapter viii sadism and algolagnia 2.13 other judgment 2.14 bibliography and references excerpts "this meeting place of aristotle's catharsis and freud's sublimation is curious." - "The revolutionary ideas of the marquis de sade" on the case of rosa keller on the death and legacy of the garden full text[1] contents preface by professor j. B. S. Haldane, f.R.S. - Preface to some preliminary judgments chapter i. Chapter ii. Chapter iii. Chapter iv. Chapter v. Life 1740-1814 literary work - i. Literary principles, ii. Miscellaneous works, iii. Alina and valcour. Iv. Les 1 20 journees, justine and juliette. V. Literary influence. Philosophy - i. La metric. Ii. General principles. God and nature - politics i. Diagnosis - i. Class differences, ii. The nature of property. Iii. The ruling classes, their politics and mechanism. Iv. Their attitude towards the poor. The poor. V. Law and justice. Prisons. Death penalty. Vi. Other considerations. Vii. Butua and the parable of civilization. 5 page 7 ii '9 25 7* io2 118 129 contents chapter vi. Page 156 policy ii. Proposed solutions- - - - i. Utopia. 1788 ii. The plan for the creation of a european federation. 1788 year iii. Anarchy. 1 794 ? Iv. A legislative plan for the new republic. 1795 chapter vii. Sex, pleasure and love 200 chapter viii. Sadism and algolagnia 218 other judgment 247 bibliography and references - - 255 preface either of the two courses is open to self-esteem. He can dismiss this unread book as an attempt by an arrogant person to whitewash mongter or kelmai.J:eaa lt"._ then he will discover that if de sade indulged in abnormal pleasures several times, then he also risked his life to save the life of the woman for whom he was imprisoned for thirteen years ; that if the psychologist associated his name with some form of cruelty, then in fact he was an inveterate opponent of the death penalty. When the legend of the monster dissipates, escort in moscow it becomes clear that de sade was a very remarkable and original thinker. Today we find the philosophical fathers of the french revolution a bit ridiculous, because they usually assumed that with the abolition of a certain set of abuses, the golden age would return. De sade saw much more. He had no illusions about the natural goodness of man, but he believed that with full economic and sexual equality, people's living conditions could be significantly improved. Thus, he anticipated mai's views on the population and tolerance of the danish criminal code regarding sexual behavior. In some other respects, he has gone far beyond even the most "advanced" social thinkers of our time. It is doubtful whether an attempt will ever be made to put his ideas about sexual morality into practice. Nevertheless, they are interesting because they logically compromise less with our existing morality than plato's, or even more. If de sade had not spent twelve years almost in solitary confinement in the bastille, his system of political prefaces might have been more practical and had a better chance of acceptance. But it would be less intellectually consistent and therefore less interesting for students of political ideas. It is unlikely that the original documents on which mr. Gorer's work is based will be available to the public during our time. For this reason, his book will be absolutely indispensable for the student of political thought who wants to trace the genesis of many ideas that are now accepted, and others that still cause fierce debate. This will give intellectual ammunition to both sides. Conservatives will be able to say that sexual and economic equality are part of the same system of ideas as tolerance of murder and rape. The radicals will find in de sade a political thinker who foresaw with considerable accuracy the failure of the french revolution in achieving freedom, equality and fraternity and pointed out the reasons for this failure. Mr. Gorer did not try to hide his sympathies, and it is likely that his book would have been less valuable if he had done so. It would be beyond the power of someone who did not share many of de sade's opinions to reconstruct them, as he did, from the fragmentary remains of his works. His bias, at least, is undisguised, and therefore * can be admitted without difficulty. As a biologist, i can't finish without saying a few words about de sade's views on sex. It was based on actual observations and represents a contribution to the natural history of man. Unfortunately, our knowledge of human biology is still so fragmentary that a comprehensive study of human eroticism does not have an adequate background and stands out as obscenity. A man or woman who has studied the anatomy of the rest of the body can approach the anatomy of the reproductive system without undue excitement, and similarly, when human physiology becomes part of general knowledge, the physiology of sex will find its natural place in our intellectual equipment. And the study of his anomalies will shed considerable light on the normal process, as it was already done in the hands of freud. Then the time will come when de sade's novels will be appropriate for an educated public, and it is quite possible that they will look at him not as a supplier of dirt, but as a person who is significantly ahead of his age in the circle of his interests. It can be noted that 140 years ago, his observations on human behavior could not be published in any other form than fiction. Meanwhile, mr. Gorer did the psychology students a favor by pointing out that de sade should be considered a pioneer in their study, although his work could have been of great value if he had been born a century later. I do not want to say that de sade was a man of perfectly balanced mind, whose works should be taken as a guide either to thinking or to morality. Perhaps he would have been unhappy at any age. But he was doubly lucky: not only was he imprisoned under the old regime, but he also survived the french revolution, during which at least some of his ideas were put into practice. If mr. Gorer's book had no other justification, it would deserve an audience, because it pays posthumous justice to a very remarkable writer who was a victim of both himself and his fellow j.B. S. Haldane. Preface for a book about the marquis de sade, two excuses are usually required; firstly, the justification for writing about such a monster at all, and, alternatively, the reason for adding another book to the existing amount about him. My justification for both actions is that i found the development of his ideas extremely interesting, and i hope others will do the same.; And that all the books already published, without exception, are devoted exclusively to his life and legend, as well as the mechanics of the plots of his novels, sometimes with a weak and distorted presentation of his ideas about sex, but never with any development of his theories on this or any other topic. Therefore, i claim that this is the only book in any language in which the ideas of this outstanding man are presented in any way; and the only one that allows the general public to judge him from his own words. As far as possible, i have quoted it verbatim: and to avoid creating a bilingual book, i translated it into english, paying more attention to accuracy than elegance of translation. The quotes involved me in a clumsy set of points; de sade himself often uses... Three dots for my own effects; so i was forced to use four dots... To indicate the omission of some words in a sentence and five dots to indicate the omission of complete sentences. I believe that the main reason why there was not a single book about de sade's ideas for a hundred and twenty years after his death is due to the difficulty of obtaining copies of his works and the amazing obscenity of many of these works once received. (Throughout this book, i distinguish between "obscenity" and "pornography" in the same way that d.H. Lawrence distinguished obscenities related to the topics discussed and the language used, pornography - to the author's tickling intentions.) For most booksellers, the demand for his works will cause an ignorant look, violent indignation or a mocking offer of pornographic works, about which de sade said: "these pathetic volumes, written in cafes or brothels, demonstrate two voids in their authors at the same time: their heads and their stomachs are equally empty." 1 * by chance i found copies of "alina and valcourt" and "juliet" on the open shelves of booksellers in cambridge and london, respectively, and bought them out of curiosity. Since these were respectable shops, the books were not outrageously expensive. When i first read juliette, i found only the boring and nauseating perversity that i expected, but alina and vakur, which, due to the lack of obscenity, was almost completely ignored by people writing about de sade, seemed to me so full of ideas that i returned to juliette with new eyes. Then i discovered that if obscenity could be taken for granted, if not ignored, then a worldview of curious originality and power was presented here. After that, i set about trying to collect the rest of his work with indifferent success ; and if it wasn't for the energy of one person and the tremendous kindness of another, i would probably still be searching. Monsieur maurice heine, after the war, collected and edited de sade's books and manuscripts in limited editions and in various journals, which provided us with a lot of hitherto unknown materials; and mr. K. R. Dawes, whose book about de sade is in his - for convenience, i have added all the links to the sources at the end of the book. 12 preface self-imposed limitations the best thing that has ever been written on this topic has responded to a request for help from a complete stranger with kindness, for which i cannot find adequate gratitude. This summer, discouraged by the rest from futile attempts to gain recognition as a playwright, i decided to try to systematize de sade's ideas with a double purpose: to try to clear my own head by comparing my own ideas with the ideas of an original and extreme thinker, and to get some idea of the events around us, both at home and abroad, which seemed to correspond so closely to the circumstances described by de sade. This book is the result, i found that it gave me pretty good results that i wanted; if it succeeds in this for someone else, i would appreciate it. Before discussing de sade's ideas, i put a brief biography and an attempt to criticize his works. The biography was necessary to place him in a historical position, since the development of his thought is connected with the history of his time, and to try to dispel the legend of bluebeard surrounding him. As far as i could, i gave the main reliable facts about him and nothing more; i have not preserved a single legend, and only in one case did i go into any details. This is the story of the marseille scandal, the true facts of which were first made public by m. Maurice heine this summer.; And i thought it would be advisable to try to dispel the false versions that have now been willy-nilly given about this incident. I have not mentioned the other details of his sexual life that are now known, because they seem to me to have no meaning or interest other than an audacious and rather morbid curiosity. The main originality of this chapter lies in the autobiographical quotations, which, with one exception, were not (as far as i know) collected together or noted earlier. Trying to give an account of de sade's intentions and their result in his works, i did something that, as far as i know, has never been attempted before. The plots of the main works have been cited several times, but, as my analysis of "gentlemen prefer blondes" shows, this may be better than any other way to disguise the spirit and content of the book. The rest of the book is just a summary. Many of his ideas are still so new and revolutionary that they must inevitably offend some people. I have done everything possible to minimize this crime without distorting his true thoughts. I can make a reservation that i am presenting de sade's ideas, not my own; i was as objective as i could and cannot accept responsibility for his theories, some of which shock my feelings as much as they can shock any reader. The main trap i was aware of was the danger of choosing phrases and sentences that fit my purpose and distorting them out of context. To protect myself from this or the suspicion that i did it, i have given several long and continuous quotes, of which, perhaps, everything does not fit the issue under discussion, but which illustrate the trends of this passage. When i wanted to express my own opinion, i did it in the first person, considering it unworthy to hide behind an impersonal or editorial attitude and writhe behind the chinese fan of the "current unfortunate author"."When i first conceived this book, i thought that because of my ignorance of history, one could definitely say whether de sade was original or not in promoting his ideas, such as the theory of optimal population or equal rights for men and women; but i soon gave up on this attempt and contented myself with presenting my ideas and leaving the issue of priority to those who are more knowledgeable in such matters than i am. The priority of presenting some political ideas, which i claim for him, is justified by the history of guido de ruggiero and the preface to european liberalism. His originality in matters of psychology and sex is beyond doubt, since such topics were discussed only a century after his death. This book is open to attacks from two different sources: from those who believe that such a monster is better to be forgotten, and who will find in the ideas i have tried to collect only additional evidence of its monstrosity; and from that small group, the core of which are the surrealists, who will consider that any attempt to rationalize and explain the arch-criminal and arch-rebel is blasphemy. To both of these possible detractors, i will respond with the words of de sade, used in the preface to "aline and valcour": "nevertheless, we will undoubtedly have critics, contradictors and enemies: it is dangerous to love people, it is a crime to educate them. So much the worse for those who condemn this work and do not feel in what spirit it was done: slaves of prejudice and habits, they show that they are driven solely by opinion, and the torch of philosophy will never shine for them." August 2, october', 1933. Some preliminary judgments some preliminary judgments. . . . The author is a monster. . . Breton restif. 1,797. Readers familiar with the marquis de sade's justine and juliet will understand my horror and indignation at the style of entertainment provided by these dens. The volumes mentioned (the most blasphemous and obscene ever written and released from hell shortly after the date of writing this letter) are filled with records of experiments that were conducted with the aim of inciting all kinds of tortures of the most unheard-of debauchery. W. Beckford. A note added to a letter written in 1784. (// It can be noted that de sade did not publish anything on this date.) Get pleasure from blasphemy, from an obscene story, from terrible dreams, from the fact that you are worried about the lives of daimons and marquis de sade croy, from being with me, from touching life, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do you do, from what you do, from what you do, from, what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do, from what you do.. . . Janin, 1834. Criticism and a disgusting collection of crimes and fraudsters. F. Soulier. 1837. De sade, the hero of france, the martyr. P. Borel. 1839. You are self-asserting, not prone to striving for change, byron and de sade (i demand forgiveness for the rapprochement), people who are doubles and great inspirers of modernity, the only ones who manifest themselves secretly in the path of secrets. St. Beuve. 1 843. 19 some preliminary judgments about this illustrious and undeserved benefactor of mankind. Usually work is either a stimulant for an old beast or an emetic for a young man> instead of a valuable study of rational curiosity. I only regret that, by rightly attacking my charenton, i deliberately distorted the source. I would bow to the opinion of the judge if instead of "byron with honors" you said "de sade with honors." The poet, thinker and man of the world, from whom the theology of my poem emanates, was greater than byron. He really is a fatalist or not, he has seen gods and people to the end. Had he lied? Was he laughing? Does he know about it? Now he lies out of reach, out of breath, your prophet, your preacher, your poet? ..A. K. Swinburne (between 1860 and 1880). Ilfaut toujours en revenir y de sade, c'est-a-dire in human nature /, to explain evil. K. Baudelaire. Your intimate relationship. Flaubert, "the mind-blowing hunt for de sade", "the story of de sade", "return to life". Goncourt magazine. The marquis de sade is perhaps one of the most extraordinary people who have ever lived, a very interesting object for psychological research; nature has produced some strange abortions, both physical and mental, but there has probably never been a greater mental monster than de sade. Pisanus fraxi (h. S. Ashby). 1880. The marquis de sade believes that an indian engaged in synthesis and pusser simply limits the possibilities of spermocracy, abnormal and monstrous. 11 depassa dances in the genre of antiques advertising, ifixa dances in the world of horrors, in the columns of hercule priapus. Jamais evreusement on n*ire d'orme, australian loin, aura de sade, born on the horizon on the trotic field. Octave uzanne. 1901. C'est le 2 juin y 1 740 qui vit naitre un des hommes les plus remar* quables du dixuitieme siecle, disons m de humanitit en gtntral. . . . Les (works of the marquis de sade), constituting object 20 some preliminary judgments about history and civilization related to science mfdicale . . . . 11 and encore the author's point of view on the accomplished deeds of the marquis de sade, on the history that occupies civilization, on the solution, jurisprudence, economics and morality, on the genuine achievements of science and new concepts. Eugene dilhren (ivan bloch.Igor, 1904. To get a man who will not be a companion for rien durand, for dictating the rules, for dominating the game... The marquis de sade, because he loves freedom, because he exists for an encore.... . The lecturer, who talks about roman abortion in a non-remark way, talks about literature, what is happening, and analyzes what happens when people do not use life and spirit enough. G. Apollinaire. 1909. Sad, d. A. F. French licentious writer... The encyclopedia britannica. 1 3rd edition. De sade wrote according to his ideas, and although his ideas were extravagant, he was at least sincere. Perhaps that's what makes him such a sinister figure. Simple obscenity is always disgusting and almost always boring; but there was much more to it than that, and he was cruelly serious. K.R. Dawes. J 9 2 7- you will not come to visit a friend. P. Bourdain. !9 2 9- un ecrivaine quilfout placer without inflated parmi le plus grand. J. Paulhan. *93 o - ii y a done instead of avoiding responsibility for the garden> apres avoir inquittt tout un siecle qui ne pouvait le lire, sera de plus en plus lu to restore calm in life. M. Heine. J 93- del/o scritore non diciamo poi dello scritore di genio mancano al sade le qualita piu elementari. Polygrafo i pornografo maggiore titolo d'un aretino, tutto il suo merito sta nell 9. Affectionately documents a presentation on the phase of child mitology / psychopathology: informafiabesca egli da laprima sistematologia delle perversioni. M. Praz. J 93- 21 some preliminary judgments, as well as venn irgendvo, 1st garden abnormal, defect. Regulations on spannung-liegt, spaltung-for and zwar, spaltung-nicht-mit-dammersustanden and stdrungen-de-bevusseins verbunden ist. Er weicht dem conflicts with us, verandworthet that he is not to blame for anything, that he will not die wendigkeit, that he orders a man, dieter doppelter, to lead a man of genius, vird% eigt kierkegaard: negative von armer nutzloser tragedian: sad. O. Flake. 1930. Rien en saurait plus ten years to understand what is happening in a world where people are able to understand the meaning and not come into contact with the feelings of profon sa revelation. M. Heine. I am 93 1' that rabid pornographer.... Sade was born in paris in 1740 and in 1772 was sentenced to death for sexual practices to which he left his name. He managed to escape, and was subsequently imprisoned in vincennes and in the bastille, where he wrote several fantastic novels in which his imagination dwelt on those objects and scenes that excited and satisfied his peculiar sexual mania. He died insane in 1884. Desmond mcarthy. 1933-22 i don't care if a person is kind or evil? All that matters is whether he is a wise man or a fool. W. Blake, jerusalem. Chapter i life, 1740-1814 si les hommes, entering into life, saving people and accompanying: i do not depend on who hires me to work in the seraglio - i do not know what to do with the carridre! De sade, alina and valcour. The bastille is shaking... And the lair named horror held a man chained hand and foot: around his neck was an iron hoop chained to an impregnable wall; in his soul was a snake wrapped around his heart, hidden from the light, as in a rock crevice, and the man was imprisoned for a prophetic letter. W. Blake, the french revolution. "My mother was connected with the highest in the country; my father with everything that was the most outstanding in languedoc; born in paris amid luxury and abundance, i immediately believed as soon as i could think that nature and fortune combined to shower me with gifts. I believed it because people were stupid enough to tell me that, and this ridiculous prejudice made me arrogant, domineering and short-tempered; it seemed to me that the whole world had to give in to my whims and that it only needed to shape them so that they would be satisfied. I will give you one example from my childhood to convince you of the dangerous principles that were so idiotically allowed to grow in me. "I was born and raised in the palace of the illustrious prince marquis de sade (a relative of my mothers), almost my age, and i was encouraged to be with him as much as possible so that my childhood friend would be useful to me all my life.; But my vanity at that time, which did not understand any of this calculation, was once offended in our children's games because he wanted to take something away from me, and especially because, undoubtedly with great reason, he thought that his rank gave him the right to do so; i took my revenge, many repeated blows, without any considerations stopping me; only strength and cruelty could separate me from my opponent. "Around that time, my father was busy with diplomatic negotiations ; my mother went with him, and i was sent to my grandmother in languedoc, whose too blind kindness encouraged in me all the shortcomings i mentioned. "I returned to paris to go to school under the guidance of a firm and intelligent man, undoubtedly the most suitable for the formation of my youth, but with whom, unfortunately, i did not stay long. The war began. My men, who were in a hurry for me to serve, did not finish my education, and i joined my regiment at an age when i naturally had to go to school. ". . . . The campaigns began, and i dare say i succeeded. The natural impetuosity of my character, the fiery soul that i received from nature, only added even more strength and activity to that ferocious virtue called courage, which, undoubtedly, was mistakenly considered the only necessary thing for a soldier. "When our regiment was defeated in the penultimate campaign of that war, we were sent to the barracks in normandy; from there my misfortunes began. ~ "I was only twenty-one years old; until then, completely occupied with military work, i did not know my heart and did not realize that it was sensitive (he describes the 26th life of 1740-1814, seduction and abandonment of a young girl from a good family, a common custom in the dining room.) "My father called me to paris that winter, and i hurried to him: his health was failing, and he wanted me to settle down before he died; this project and the pleasures of the city distracted me, i spent two years in different pleasures. , . ."* This is the story of valcour, the hero, about himself at the beginning of the novel "alina and valcour" the details have nothing to do with the plot and so completely correspond to what we know about de sade that they can be considered autobiographical. Louis-donatien-francois-alphonse (or aldonze) there is considerable ambiguity regarding de sade's christian names: an ambiguity that later caused him considerable inconvenience and danger in the last years of the republic, when one version of his name was included in the list of emigrants.) Vlarkis, and later count de sade, was born on the second of june 1740 in the house of the grand prince of conde, who was a relative of his mother. He was the first and, apparently, the only child of the comte de sade, chevalier-comte de la coste and de mazan, seigneur de soman, lieutenant-general of the royal blood in upper and lower bresse, bugey, valrom and hex. The family, whose noble title dated back to the first years of the fourteenth century, was one of the most influential in provence. One of de sade's direct ancestors was hugo de sade, the husband of laura, who inspired petrarch's gentle and platonic son, nets. It is more than usually a pointed irony that representatives of the two extremes of sexual imagination should be so directly connected. Father de sade was a typical grand seigneur, cold, reserved and formal in the highest degree. He was also a 27-year-old marquis de sade, extremely extravagant, and when he died, he left little behind except inalienable land and debts. He served as ambassador first to russia and then to london. His numerous brothers and sisters, with one exception, were clergymen. At the age of four, de sade went to his grandmother in avignon; some time later he was placed in the care of his uncle, the abbot francois de sade, who by that time had retired from social life in paris to devote himself to studying petrarch at vaucluse. It is said that abba's research on the family poet is still useful for students. In 1750 he entered the college of louis-le-grand, then the most famous in paris, and stayed there for four years. There is a tradition, untested as far as i can tell, but not incredible, that he has already developed his senses, became a good musician, dancer and swordsman and spent a lot of time in the art galleries of the louvre. In later life, his love of art continued; i could not find out in which direction his musical taste lay, but in painting he preferred classical italian masters, especially titian, tintoretto and veronese. In 1754, the seven years' war with germany began, and he was sent to his regiment. He served with distinction, rising from second lieutenant of the royal regiment to captain of a cavalry regiment. He spent most of his time in germany, where he learned the language, and it is possible that he traveled further north. In 1761 he returned to france. Nothing is known about the next two years. Perhaps the above story of seduction and desertion of a young girl is true. His return to paris and his enjoyment of the pleasures of the capital are certainly such. 28 life 1740-1814 in 1763, de sade's father decided that his son, who was now almost twenty-three, should settle down, and there was aras rene, the twenty-year-old eldest daughter of monsieur de montreuil, president of the council of assistants, and the montreuils were extremely rich, although correspondingly stingy, and rene's point was generous. They were vivid examples of the flourishing of the "robinocracy" preached by his wife, who managed the affairs of her family and everyone she came in contact with with an energy, unscrupulousness and zeal that require a certain admiration. She was extremely influential at court and possessed a charm that, according to ye sade, she inherited from the devil. She had a very strong family pride, and she justified her most unforgivable actions by pointing out family interests. The first time de sade went to visit his prospective bride, it happened that rene was unwell, and one of her younger sisters, thirteen-year-old louise, left him to entertain. Louise was blonde and lively, well developed in every way; she entertained the young marquis by singing and playing the harp in a touching and skillful manner; by the end of the interview, the two young men were head over heels in love with each other, and de sade disliked his prospective bride even before he met her. His pleas to be allowed to marry louise were rejected by both his parents and hers. Louise was undoubtedly her mother's favorite child, and madame de montreuil had the most jealous affection for this daughter. Perhaps it was this jealousy that first aroused a deep dislike for her son-in-law, which led her to attack the marquis de sade and ruin him to the best of her abilities over the next thirty years. She is, by the way, one of the two women about whom we have any information who resisted the great charm of de sade. The other was the dancer mademoiselle riviere from the opera, whom in the autumn of 1767 de sade could not convince to spend with him at his house in arqueil those evenings when she did not appear. Yielding to the pressure of the family, de sade married rene on the seventeenth of may 1763 in an atmosphere of the greatest pomp, in the presence of the king and queen and most of the members of the court. Presumably, the marriage was followed by a short honeymoon, as a son was born the following year, but almost immediately he turned to debauchery, and in september of the same year he was arrested for the first time and imprisoned in vincennes. Apart from the fact that de sade was involved in some kind of orgy, which caused a significant scandal at that time, nothing is known about this first contact with the law and, as far as i know, does not even guess. Apparently, he spent about two months in prison, after which he was released, perhaps thanks to the intercession of his wife, but exiled to aigle, in normandy, for almost a year. It is to this period that the first letter we have about de sade belongs. This is a letter to the warden, and in view of future events, it is worth quoting in more detail. I don't think it's hypocrisy. "As unhappy as i am here, sir," the letter says, "i'm not complaining. I have earned god's vengeance and i feel it: mourning my sins and lamenting my mistakes is my only occupation. Alas, god could have destroyed me without giving me time to repent: what gratitude should i give him for allowing me to return to the bosom of the church. Sir, i implore you to provide me with the means to achieve this goal by allowing me to meet with the priest. Thanks to his kind services and my own sincere repentance over the 30 years of my life (1740-1814), i hope to soon be able to approach the holy mysteries, the complete neglect of which was the first reason for my fall. " I also hope that you will be kind enough to refrain from telling my family about the true reason for my conclusion: i would be completely destroyed in their assessment. - I dare also say that i got married on the seventeenth of may and i can assure you that i crossed the threshold of this house only in june. Then i went to the village for three months.... No matter how short the period of my sins was, i am nevertheless guilty: enough time has passed to anger the supreme being whose just anger i am now experiencing." The governor noted in the letter that a priest had been sent to him. In september 1764, de sade returned to paris. It is likely that at that time he was already conducting those ingenious experiments in sensuality, which have since brought him into disrepute, since in the same year the police inspector marais reports that he strictly advised la brisseau, without further explanation, not to provide him with girls to go with him to his a small house. It is most likely that for the next three years he took part in the social life of paris, and then received the nickname "divine marquis", in imitation of the divine aretino, since his father died in 1767, and then he inherited the title of count. Nominally, he was still serving in the army; he retired only at the age of thirty-one, in 1771, when he received the rank of mestre de camp, the equivalent of a colonel in a cavalry regiment. In october 1767, his reputation was already bad, because on that day the police inspector notes: "soon we will hear again about the horrors of the comte de sade." At the marquis de sade's easter the following year, the keller affair took place, and his reputation was cemented forever. So much has been written about this case that there is no need to describe it in detail again. Those who are interested in learning all the details should read the books mentioned at the end of the chapter, or, even better, the relevant letters of the marquise du deffand to horace walpole, which are the only modern description of this case. Apparently, de sade was molested by a thirty-year-old widow in paris, took her to his house near arqueil, forced her to undress, whipped her, anointed her with some ointment and comfortably put her to bed. The woman was afraid that she jumped out of the window with the help of knotted sheets, and contacted the police. She said that he also cut her abu with a small knife, but after two days could not show any scars, which makes this fact incredible. Foi although bruises may not leave surface marks after being treated with any ointment, there is no known ointment that will make the cuts disappear. De sade was probably being ridiculous when he told the police that not only had he not received a reprimand, but he also deserved public gratitude for paying attention to the ointment, which miraculously healed all wounds. In any case, this case caused a huge scandal. The magistrates gladly pounced on such a piquant case; the chief judge was the prince de maupoux, the sworn enemy of de sade's father-in-law in a humorous story that de sade wrote about this enemy character later; 2 he makes a remark to one of de maupoux's enemies: "remember the judges of paris.... That famous adventure of 1769 (so in the original), when their hearts were much more touched by pity for the beaten ass of a street woman than for the people whose fathers they consider themselves and who, nevertheless, were allowed to starve to death, forced them to accuse a young officer who in 1740-1814 returned from sacrificing the best during the years of his life in the service of his king, he found his only laurels in the humiliation prepared for him by the worst enemies of the country he defended."It is also possible that sartin, the infamous sartin who made a fortune from his corruption and then resigned on the grounds that he had gone bankrupt, sartin, whom de sade never tired of attacking, is already on his trail. However, the results of this case were not very serious for de sade. He was sentenced to pay rosa keller a hundred louis (with this dowry she remarried a month later) and was imprisoned for six weeks, first in saumur and then in lyon. He was then released thanks to the good offices of his wife and mother-in-law on the condition that he should not return to paris, but should live in the family estate of la coste, near marseille. For the next three years he lived there luxuriously but discreetly. His wife spent some time with him either in la costa or in soman, his estate next door. Two more of his children were born during this period. However, a dancer named la beauvoisin lived with him part of the time, and he is said to have introduced her as his wife while his real wife was in paris. He had a private troupe of actors who staged plays written by him. There is still an invitation to monsieur girard, dated january 1772, with a request to come to the second performance of his comedy and a request to openly criticize his work. This is the first indication we have of de sade's work. For the rest of his life, he was associated with the theater as an author, actor and producer, finding rest, friendship, love and even livelihood in it for various reasons. At some point, towards the end of this period, his wife brought with her her younger sister louise, now a 33-year-old woman, the marquis de sade, twenty-one years old, released from her convent. She probably thought that eight years should have been enough to stifle their mutual love, but she was wrong, in june 1772 there was a second important scandal in de sade's life, the scandal with poisoned sweets. Until last year, the truth about this case was completely unknown, and all reports about it were far from the facts ; but maurice heine, an indefatigable exposer of de sade's life and work, discovered copies of the original indictment and published them in the hippocrates review (number one, march 1933) along with witness statements. This article should be read for more information. De sade went to marseilles on some business, accompanied by his valet la tour, a tall, pockmarked man dressed in sailor clothes. Wanting to entertain himself without too much publicity, he sent his servant to make all the preparations for him for two consecutive evenings; however, due to the subsequent organization of the dinner, the events for two evenings were reduced to one. He visited a woman named marguerite coste with his servant, whom by some whim he called monsieur the marquis, while he himself was addressed as la fleur. He gave the woman some sweets flavored with anise and containing cantharides, treated her in a simple way, since she refused more complex sweets, and left. Some time later, the woman became very ill with severe vomiting, and she was in critical condition for several days before she recovered. On the same day, perhaps a little earlier, another orgy took place, also arranged by the valet. Three girls were engaged to a prostitute, but they were taken to a newer and more inconspicuous part of the city, as the brothel was too public. There they were received one after another by the 34-year-old marquis of 1740-1814 and his valet and slightly beaten by him. Then they were asked to beat him in turn, and he took out of his pocket a whip made of parchment studded with large and small nails and covered with blood stains. It was more than the girls, soft-hearted and simple-minded, like most whores, could bear, so he sent for a broom and received at least eight hundred blows from three girls and his valet, if the account he kept on the wall is not an exaggeration. He also slept with the girls and his valet, treating the girls the way his valet treated him, which so "choked" the audience that they burst into tears. He also gave these girls some sweets; one ate them, the others threw them away. The girl who ate them was also sick, although much less so than margarita cost. I have given this case in some detail (although very modified and abbreviated, as a comparison with the article already cited will show), because it is of great interest for the study of de sade. This is the only known account of his sexual habits, and it is as far as possible from what is usually considered "sadistic" behavior. However, i don't think any generalizations can be made from the behavior of this one day; de sade almost certainly conscientiously and practically explored all possible extensions of sensual pleasure, from which he was to draw his theory and criticism a few years later. Both his physical and mental courage were adequate to this task. Within a week, an order was issued to arrest him and the valet; but they both left the country, and de sade finally accompanied his beloved louise. A few weeks later, he and his valet were sentenced to death for poisoning (which was absurd: all the disabled were fully recovered) and sodomy, for which the 35-year-old marquis de sade was no longer sentenced to death; de sade was to be beheaded and the valet hanged after public penance. In their absence, they were convicted as defaulters and disobedient, and de sade's property was confiscated. The total disparity between the severity of the sentence and the alleged crime (it should be remembered that we only have the testimony of hostile witnesses) is so great that additional explanations are required. A great variety is expected. Firstly, by an unfortunate coincidence, the parliament in aix, where the trial took place, was influenced by the same de maupoux who condemned de sade in paris four years ago. This man, apparently, was a puritan, with an obscene mind and bitter cruelty, which are associated with puritanism. In addition, as explained earlier, he was a personal enemy of de mont-trey, sade's father-in-law, and anything that could disgrace his family would benefit him. This partly explains the continuation of the case even after the "poisoned" girls withdrew their complaints. This also explains the accusation, if true, that de sade makes against him 3 of making false evidence; he makes de maupeu say in the story already mentioned: "well, wasn't it a scandalous case? Didn't the thirteen-year-old valet we bribed come and tell us because we wanted him to tell us that this man was killing whores in his castle, didn't he tell us a story about a bluebeard that modern nannies wouldn't deign to use to put their children to sleep?"In the same story, he says: "colic is a serious disease in marseille and aix, because we saw how a group of idiots, comrades of this judge, decided that some prostitutes who had colic were poisoned by bztn" and further: 5 "in 1772, a young nobleman - 36 years old, 1740-1814, a provincial, wanted to whip a courtesan who gave him a bad gift in mock revenge; this joke was considered as a criminal case, as murder and poisoning, and this judge inclined all his colleagues to this ridiculous opinion, destroyed the young man and sentenced him to death by negligence, because they could not take possession of his identity. These judgments of de sade about his own condemnation, written in 1787, are interesting and, as far as i know, have not been mentioned before. But there is another possibility, also mentioned by de sade and also still ignored; it lies in the fact that the actual accusation was just an excuse, and the real reason for his conviction was political activity. The passage in question 6 discusses de sade's later capture in paris in 1777 and will be quoted at the appropriate time; when the judge (as always de sade's favorite villain, which is understandable) brags about how the accused was caught six years after the crime, his interlocutor says: "sir, your story terrifies me: i believe that the person in question should have been guilty of high treason / "not at all, the writings are against us magistrates... Against kings; some other youthful adventures"" and, so that no reader can recognize the theme of this passage, he adds a footnote: "monsters capable of this horror, you turn pale when you recognize your victim . . . ."The probability of such an interpretation is confirmed by the fact that in march of the following year, when he was in prison in chambry, ambassador de la marmora wrote to the governor "to keep the prisoner as close as possible so that he would not flood the public with his terrible writings and memoirs." Of course, the word "memoirs" is ambiguous, but, undoubtedly, even at that time, the ambassador would have been more concerned with political than immoral pamphlets. 37 marquis de sade another reason that makes me think that this is likely is a letter from mademoiselle de rousset, a friend of his wife, who in 1780 managed, after a great risk, to see an indictment against him. She writes: "thanks to this bold stroke, we discovered that the president is not as guilty as we thought. He deservedly has even more powerful enemies. Before he can hope for anything, some people have to die and others forget."This is, of course, quite vague; but since in his debauchery he seems to have been associated exclusively with whores, servants and peasants, his more powerful enemies must have been guided by some other motives. Before this new arrest in december of the same year, de sade and his daughter-in-law were enjoying their nine-year failed love in italy. But not for long. A few weeks later, de sade was left alone again. It's not entirely clear what happened. The generally accepted version is that louise fell ill and died suddenly at the age of twenty-two. However, there is a possibility that they broke up and louise returned home. Undoubtedly, mademoiselle de launay, by whom louise was known, lived until 1780, when she died of smallpox. However, if louise had died, it is quite possible that her title would have passed to her younger sister. The whole incident remains unclear. In any case, this flight so enraged madame de montreuil that she used all her influence at court and in embassies to arrest de sade; and thanks to her machinations, he was eventually captured at chambray in savoy, then part of the kingdom of sardinia. She revealed his whereabouts by intercepting his letters. It is likely that before this new imprisonment, de sade passed through geneva, and then he may, as he claims, visited rousseau and was inspired by him in his life 1740-1814 by his intention to devote himself to literature. This passage is of interest. "Rousseau was alive then," says valcourt, who, as we have seen, is partly a self-portrait of de sade, "and i went to him; he knew my family and received me with great kindness; he praised and supported the project that he saw me form to renounce total and fully devote yourself to the study of literature and philosophy; he gave me good advice and taught me to separate true virtue from the disgusting systems in which it is suppressed. . "My friend," he once told me, "as soon as the rays of virtue illuminated people, they, too blinded by their radiance, blocked the path of these waves of light with prejudices and superstitions, and the only refuge that remained for virtue was the bottom of the heart of honest people. Hate vice, be just, love your neighbors, ease them; then you will feel how virtue sweetly rests in your soul, and you will be daily comforted by the pride of the rich and the stupidity of despots.*"If this passage is not autobiographical, it is difficult to understand its existence, because in the whole book there is no other example of a famous person being mentioned by name; moreover, valcourt in this story is not a writer, but an exceptionally unhappy lover. And, of course, there is nothing incredible in the fact that de sade, who had recently experienced a bereavement and was almost financially ruined, had to make a decision at that time to completely change his life. It is pleasant to think that these two great revolutionaries, one a romantic, the other a realist, were to meet, although it is sad that the influence of the romantic so completely dominated both in his century and in the next. De sade was a prisoner in chambord for five months. It seems that he was quite comfortable there, he spent a lot on the maintenance of the marquis de sade and gambled with his fellow prisoners. On may 1, 1773, he violated his parole and escaped through the toilet window, leaving behind an ironic note of condolences and advice to the governor. Details of the escape: a mannequin in bed, a light left on, a ladder made of sheets - in the best traditions of an adventure novel. Traveling under an assumed name, he returned home at night, to la coste castle, to his wife. Of the many mysteries that make it so difficult to interpret de sade's life, none is darker than the character of madame de sade. She was called the saint of married life-a convenient but misleading label. She not only obeyed her husband, but also actively helped him; moreover, some of her actions seem to indicate that she was also his procuress. One of the young girls whom she took into her service and who was later taken away by her parents gave the most sinister testimony about de sade's behavior towards her; of his wife, however, she received only praise, adding that she was usually the first victim of rage close to insanity. (There is no certainty that this girl's story is true; de sade's reputation at that time was so bad that anything could be believed against him, and this story was pulled by his enemies.) But he undoubtedly made the maid pregnant, and in order to prevent this girl from telling uncomfortable stories, she arrested her and placed her in a monastery on a completely false accusation of theft. It seems that she meekly left her children in the care of their grandmother; she fought for her husband against his family and her own; she humiliated herself beyond measure; and yet she maintained almost absolute innocence to the end. 40 her life 1740-1814 cannot be considered simple-minded in any way; she was not particularly religious; passionate love is not quite an adequate explanation, because love requires some return, and although de sade usually treated her kindly and tenderly, he could never give the impression that he was in love with her. I think if we had her portrait, her behavior would be more understandable. I imagine that she was very ugly, we know that she was tall, awkward, ungracious and very shabby in her dress, wore clothes from ten years ago, and her love for de sade was the endless gratitude of a passionate woman without any sexual attraction to the only man who satisfied her. It cannot be said that she was restricted in any way; on the contrary, all sorts of tricks and bribes were used to separate her from her husband; in 1778, threats were used to prevent her from reuniting with him; her mother, who worked for what she considered her daughter's interests, became her daughter's worst enemy for fifteen years. Madame de montreuil is easier to understand. She was a very rich and very intelligent woman who had too little to do, so all her energy was spent on intrigue. After de sade's escape with her beloved daughter, her only goal was to destroy de sade. He should be imprisoned for life. At the same time, the verdict against him should be overturned, and the whole scandal associated with him should be hushed up.; For otherwise her daughter and grandchildren would have been dishonored, and her numerous other children would have lost all chances of successfully marrying. Pursuing this dual goal, she used her very significant influence on the judges and the court to obtain a review of the sentence; at the same time, she used all methods to ensure that after a formal acquittal, de sade would have no chance of freedom, more or less openly bribing the marquis de sade's relatives and servants; she even bought his lawyer so that de sade could not take a single step that she would not immediately find out about. During his enforced absences, de sade left his keys with this managing lawyer; madame de montreuil took advantage of this fact to force the lawyer to break into his desk and steal some of his notes that could be used against him. Although de sade apparently suspected this deception on the part of his lawyer, he was never completely convinced of it; moreover, this man gofridi was on the spot and could take his money during his many absences; so, despite his suspicions, he never broke up with him. Upon de sade's return to la coste, his wife used the money they had left to turn the castle into a real fortified place with high walls and a drawbridge; and for most of the next four years, the couple lived there under siege, seeing no one but servants and a lawyer; the bridge was closed for only a few hours in the middle of the day. It is quite possible that secret rooms were built, since at the beginning of 1774 a detachment of soldiers came in search of de sade; but although they turned everything upside down, they did not find him. In 1774, louis xv died, and the letter against de sade under his name became invalid; moreover, de maupassant was finally disgraced, and there was considerable hope for de sade's rehabilitation, madame de sade sued her mother for harassment, and later went to paris to try to interview the necessary people to get the verdict overturned. She received a lot of support, but nothing concrete; in the fall, her funds were completely exhausted, and she had to return to la costa.; By turning her back on her, the mother was able to destroy everything her daughter had achieved. The trial against madame de montreuil apparently lasted 42 years, 1740-1814, and ended in vain. On her return, she brought with her two young girls from lyon and vienna, as well as her husband's young secretary. In november, the castle was closed for the winter. Whether there were any orgies in the castle this winter, and if so, of what nature and who took part in them, one can only guess. Of course, in the spring, the parents of the three young men whom madame de sade had brought with her all came to demand the return of their children; but madame de montreuil was so deeply involved in the whole affair that it is difficult to say whether she was really trying to cover her tracks, as she claimed, or to manufacture new evidence. Given the nature of de sade, there is reason to assume that there were serious grounds for complaints; in this case, the role played by his wife becomes even more peculiar. This winter she imagined that she was pregnant again, but inaccurately; on the contrary, her maid was in this interesting state; to silence her, madame de sade arrested her on false charges and kept her on her own recognizance until her father also appeared. Either this winter or two winters later, de sade began a systematic study of sexual psychopathology. He wrote two volumes before his arrest in 1778, and also made numerous notes. There seems to be no doubt that the famous papers that madame de mont-trey stole from de sade's desk were notes for this work; in all likelihood, each of them was an analytical description of the behavior of all the people he had to deal with, as well as, possibly, second-hand reports. All this early work was destroyed on the orders of his mother-in-law, much to his chagrin; thirteen years later, he was still trying to recover those papers. 43 marquis de sade the complaints of little girls in the spring made de sade's stay in la costa unsafe; then he went to italy and spent a year visiting florence, rome and naples. In the latter place, he was presented to the court, and it is possible that he had a conversation with the pope. It is unknown if he traveled alone; in a note to "juliet"*, he declares the complete accuracy of the description of various historical characters on the grounds that he visited italy with a very beautiful woman, whom "solely on the principle of sexual philosophy, i presented to the grand duke of tuscany, to the pope, the princess borghese and the king and the queen of naples."This is obviously not verifiable. In 1776, the president of the parliament at aix sent a memorial to the guard of sceaux, protesting against the excessive condemnation of de sade; so, probably with a sense of some hope, he returned to la coste. He did not realize that his mother-in-law had bribed his lawyer in his absence. Moreover, both he and his wife were so short of money that they barely had enough for food. At the end of the year, another parent of another maid appeared to claim his daughter; he shot at de sade, but missed. This maid's name was justine. She was a very ugly girl at the beginning of 1777, de sade and his wife went to paris separately, he in the company of a valet, she with the maid justine. He barely managed to arrive when his mother-in-law arrested him on february 1-3. It was always assumed that the reason for this visit was some kind of debauchery, neither his detractors nor, with rare exceptions, his defenders do not want to find anything else either in his life or in his work, but he again gave an explanation 9: "a gentleman who had a case against him in 1740-1814 in parliament ex... And which parliament... He was ready to discuss with his wife's family only on condition of prolonged detention, this gentleman, i say, who had been hiding for several years, carried away by idiotic delicacy, wanting to take care of his dying mother, came to paris despite the dangers. As soon as he was in the dead woman's room, his wife's family arrested him. He complained about this procedure... They laughed in his face and threw him into the dungeon of the bastille, where, funnily enough, he could simultaneously cry about the loss of freedom, the death of his mother and the barbaric stupidity of his relatives." This is the passage to which de sade draws attention, naming himself in a footnote. The old countess de sade really died in january of this year. Since the autobiographical facts have recently been confirmed, there seems to be no reason to doubt his explanation of the true reason for his persecution. He was kept in vincennes for a little over a year. He obtained permission to communicate with his wife, and their joint efforts, accompanied by his protests of repentance for his stubbornness, led to a retrial of his case in aix in june 1778. The previous conviction was overturned as an "error and defect of form", and the punishment was replaced by a fine of fifty francs, a warning from the judge and an order to stay away from marseille for three years. From that date until the end of his life (with the exception of a few months in 1793), no charges were ever brought against him, nevertheless, he spent all but ten of the thirty-seven years that remained to him in close confinement. The means by which he was kept in prison until the revolution was a power of attorney issued to his mother-in-law. This monstrous pattern of tyranny, by which a person is kept in preventive detention, was a feature of the ancient regime well known to the marquis de sade. It has become doubly unbearable due to the fact that it was granted to certain individuals for reasons of family interests or personal revenge. Currently, of course, it is used only by the state. (Cf. The almost universal preventive arrest of communists before declared demonstrations, or the imprisonment of tom mann under the edward iii act; in the latter case, the magistrate was kind enough to tell the prisoner that he did not have to be charged with any crime.) It is quite possible that de sade was forced to agree with this letter. In the story of de maupoux already mentioned , he says:9 "the idea of a letter about porridge disgusts you, but didn't you complete the destruction of this gentleman with barbaric advice? Have you not dared, by an evasion as dangerous as it is punishable, to place this unfortunate soldier between prison and disgrace, and suspended your powers only on condition that he would be crushed by the forces of the king?" Here de sade again encountered one of his irreconcilable legal enemies. The police inspector marais, who had worked against him fourteen years earlier, was again in his care; and it was from him that he escaped for the last time in lambesque on the way from aix to paris. The details of this escape are given in several different versions, more or less contradictory. He managed to get by boat to avignon and return to la coste for the last time. His wife was in paris, unaware of what had happened; when she learned of her husband's freedom, she tried to reunite with him, but was restrained by force by her mother. De sade was visited by a friend of his wife, who may also have been his relative, mademoiselle de rousset, indefatigable, cheerful, 1740-1814 provincial blue stocking, well-meaning, stupid and consumptive, incurably crafty and impudent in her conversations and letters. She wholeheartedly supported the cause of de sade, lived with madame de sade in paris for several years and helped her in her attempts to regain her husband's freedom; for some time she conducted a flirtatious correspondence with the prisoner, in which they exchanged poems in provencal, which somewhat alarmed madame de sade, although completely unjustifiably; in the end, when there was no hope of de sade's release, she returned to la coast with the intention of restoring order, made a fantastic mess of everything and died there. De sade had only been in la costa for a couple of months, but it seems he had the illusion that he would now be left free, that his mother-in-law's anger would be satisfied; his wife also tried to calm madame de montreuil, but her mother refused to see her and returned her letters unopened. In september, marais managed to track him down and he was taken to vincennes without further incident. The inspector, however, went too far. When he arrested de sade, he said: "now, little man, speak up. You'll be locked up for the rest of your life for doing this and that in the black room upstairs where there are dead bodies!" This complete embodiment of the legend of bluebeard in all its details seems simply ridiculous; but police inspectors must learn that even if a lady sends them to arrest her son-in-law, they must treat their prisoner with the respect due to one of her relatives 1. The unfortunate marais was dismissed and ruined. In vincennes, de sade experienced for the first time all the bitterness of imprisonment. He was kept in the cold and damp dungeon of the marquis de sade, furnished only with a bed, which he had to make himself. He was fed like a ferocious animal in a menagerie, food was pushed through a hole in the door. He was denied both writing materials and books, with the exception of one letter, which he was allowed to send and receive every week. A couple of pathetic notes from that period have been preserved. One complains that he is "without air, without paper, without ink, without anything in the world," the other probably represents a request for "an hour's exercise and permission to write once a week." A regime of this kind for any person should be murderous ; for a man like de sade, who valued freedom above all else and at the age of thirty-seven was deprived of the greatest sexual freedom to complete abstinence, physical and mental torture must |
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