Books by Marquis de Sade

"When numerous critics have all pointed to the stunning mastery of dialogue evinced in [Sade's] novels, to say nothing of the truly theatrical disposition of many of the scenes-erotic or otherwise-this would seem to be linked to the theatrical obsession that persisted so disturbingly throughout his tempestuous existence. Shouldn't we therefore look more closely at this theatre...?" Annie Le BrunIn commemoration of the two hundred years that have passed since the death of the Marquis de Sade in 1814, the three-volume series, Rape, Incest, Murder! The Marquis de Sade on Stage, offers English translations of all of Sade's writings, for and about the theatre, with introductions that contextualize Sade's work within the theatrical climate of eighteenth-century France.Volume 3 presents Sade's plays and occasional verse written at the Charenton Asylum during the reign of Napoleon. The lunatic asylum provided Sade with a creative freedom that allowed him not only to conceive his most innovative and original work, but to stage it as well, using actors from the asylum and the professional theatre. The violence and eroticism of Sade's infamous novels continue to be present in the plays, to such a degree that the asylum directors considered Sade's theatre to be a dangerous threat to the inmates. "[I]t is at the theatre rather than somewhere else that we must revive the almost extinguished flame of the love that every Frenchman owes his country; there is where he'll be convinced of the dangers that would exist for him should he fall back into the hands of tyranny. He'll carry home the enthusiasm and teach it to his family and its effects will be so much more durable, so much more passionate than the momentary inspirations of a newspaper article or proclamation because at the theatre, he learns the lesson by example, and he remembers it."The Marquis de Sade

"When numerous critics have all pointed to the stunning mastery of dialogue evinced in [Sade's] novels, to say nothing of the truly theatrical disposition of many of the scenes-erotic or otherwise-this would seem to be linked to the theatrical obsession that persisted so disturbingly throughout his tempestuous existence. Shouldn't we therefore look more closely at this theatre...?" Annie Le BrunIn commemoration of the two hundred years that have passed since the death of the Marquis de Sade in 1814, the three-volume series, Rape, Incest, Murder! The Marquis de Sade on Stage, offers English translations of all of Sade's writings, for and about the theatre, with introductions that contextualize Sade's work within the theatrical climate of eighteenth-century France.Volume 2 presents Sade's plays written in prison during the years that preceded and immediately followed the fall of the Bastille in 1789. The revolutionary spirit of the time inspired Sade to pen his only tragedy, a music drama, and a comedy anticipating the Romantics, calling for a relaxation of the classical rules. The violence and eroticism of Sade's infamous novels are present in the plays, though in a lower dosage, obviously to render them accessible to public performance rather than private reading. "[I]t is at the theatre rather than somewhere else that we must revive the almost extinguished flame of the love that every Frenchman owes his country; there is where he'll be convinced of the dangers that would exist for him should he fall back into the hands of tyranny. He'll carry home the enthusiasm and teach it to his family and its effects will be so much more durable, so much more passionate than the momentary inspirations of a newspaper article or proclamation because at the theatre, he learns the lesson by example, and he remembers it." The Marquis de Sade

The name of the Marquis de Sade is synonymous with the blackest corners of the human soul, a byword for all that is foulest in human conduct. In his bleak, claustrophobic universe, there is no God, no morality, no human affection, and no hope. Power is given to the strong, and the strong are murderers, torturers, and tyrants. No quarter is given; compassion is the virtue of the weak. Yet Sade was a man of savage intelligence who carried the philosophy of the French Enlightenment to its logical extreme. His writings effectively release the individual from all social and moral constraint: for many, Sade is the Great Libertarian. The Victorians considered him `Divine' and Apollinaire called him `the freest spirit'; the Surrealists recognised him as a founding father, and he is a key figure in the history of modernism and post-modernism. With Freud and Marx, Sade has been oneof the crucial shaping influences on this century, and reactions to him continue to be extreme. But he has always been more talked about than read. This selection of his early writings, some making their first appearance in this new translation, reveals the full range of Sade's sobering moods and considerable talents.

A still unsurpassed catalogue of sexual perversions and the first systematic exploration of the psychopathology of sex, it was written during Sade's lengthy imprisonment for sexual deviancy and blasphemy and then lost after the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution in 1789.