Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings

Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings

Sadism

If you’ve also never read Sade before, then this is the omnibus for you. Yes, it’s very dense, but it contains all the major works and enough criticism to understand his philosophy within its historical context.

The front matter includes two essays, one critical and one biographical. The critical essay is especially helpful because it explains that Sade was writing in opposition to Rousseau whose idea of Natural Man Sade had to negate. A chronology follows these essays then seven letters, notes on his detention, and his last will round out the documents chronicling the life of the man behind the cruel philosophy.

The next section contains two dialogues. Priest and a Dying Man discusses the nonexistence of God and the idea of true freedom within a fairly tight structure. For a new scholar, this is an excellent introduction to Sade’s work because there is very little extraneous to the philosophy within the text, so you can get a good sense of how Sade approaches moral problems. Philosophy in the Bedroom follows. If you are curious about Sade but do not wish to get lost in a novel as complicated as Justine, this is the work I would recommend reading above all else. Philosophy in the Bedroom alternates between extremely graphic sex scenes and incredibly dense philosophical approaches to government, libertinage, and personal independence. At times I wondered if Sade is merely using sex to keep the reader’s attention through the duller discussions because it drags a bit while they’re reading the pamphlet “Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans”, but the sexual acts are intended to be displays of the values Eugenie is being taught. The ending is especially terrible and brutal but a fitting punishment to the wrong-doer as espoused by the participant’s ideals.

Two moral tales follow the dialogues. Unfortunately, due to the time it took for me to finish this omnibus, Eugenie de Franval and Justine blend together in their similarities. I am sure real Sade scholars would wonder how but the former seems like a shortened version of the latter. Justine is normally cited as Sade’s most well-known novel, but I suspect that is because it lends itself so well to visual adaptation. There are several adventures within the whole of Justine’s terrible existence that layer cruelty upon cruelty for no particular reason. People she helps only betray her. People she tries to deceive discover it and punish her even more. Nothing but misadventures for this pious girl yet she still dies as an example to piety despite all the libertines arguing otherwise throughout the course of the novel. I’m not sure if that’s because it had to have such an ending to assure publication or because Sade wanted the reader left a bit confused.

After Justine the omnibus closes with a comprehensive bibliography of works Sade were claimed authorship, were published posthumously, were unpublished manuscripts, or were manuscripts referred to that were either destroyed or have not been recovered.

Although it’s not a first edition, this was an excellent overview and introduction to the critical sexual and political philosophy of the Marquis de Sade.

Marquis de Sade

Grove Press

c1965

Jean Paulhan

Maurice Blanchot

Richard Seaver

Austryn Wainhouse

Justine

Philosophy in the Bedroom

Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man

Eugenie de Franval

Cover

English

Book