Today we present a brief biography of the Marquis of Sade, a character surrounded by legends, mostly false or unfounded. Basically, your big? He thought about sex and wrote about sex, in a way that defies the taboos and hypocrisies of his time.
If what he wrote was absurd or “crazy” as they called it, they would simply ignore it. The harsh, if not violent, reactions to him lead us to believe that his work was not so exaggerated, but that no one wanted to talk about.
“The body is the temple where nature demands to be revered. “- Marquis de Sade-
The name of the Marquis of Sade entered history as a way of naming a sexual perversion, sadism is defined as obtaining sexual pleasure through acts of cruelty against another person, this is not exactly what is in the work of the famous Marquis, but it was established by history.
The biography of Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade, the Marquis of Sade, begins with his birth in Paris on June 2, 1740, from a noble family, linked to the Bourbon dynasty, due to his father’s work as a diplomat, was raised by his grandmother and paternal aunts from the age of 4.
One of his uncles, Jacques Francois Paul Aldonce de Sade, a well-known libertine, resumed his studies and appointed Jacques Francois Amblet as tutor, who accompanied him for much of his life.
When the famous Marquis of Sade was only 16 years old he participated in one of the battles of the Seven Years’ War, his excellent performances led him to become captain of the Burgundian cavalry, returned to Paris and was forced to marry Renée Pélagie Cordier de Launay de Montreuil, although he is in love with another young woman, shortly after his marriage scandals began.
Shortly after his marriage, the Marquis de Sade officially began his writing career, in 1763 he was arrested for 15 days, apparently for writing something with strong sexual content, at that time he had several lovers and surrounded himself with prostitutes.
Two years later, the famous Arcueil scandal erupted. According to prostitute Rose Keller, the Marquis of Sade had whipped and tortured her. The fact had many repercussions and popular legend added fictional details to the point that no one knew what really happened. As a result, Sade spent seven months in prison.
Then, the case of Marseille. Sade was accused of practicing sodomy and of trying to poison prostitutes; in fact, during their, he gave them an aphrodisiac; although no one died, he was charged with attempted murder, arrested and sentenced to death; he was imprisoned for 13 years. first in Vincennes prison and then in La Bastille, it affected his health.
With the triumph of the French Revolution, the Marquis of Sade was sent to an asylum, but was soon released, released from prison at the age of 51, physically abused, however, during the period of terror, Robespierre sentenced him to death again. The Marquis miraculously saved himself from the guillotine. However, when he got out of jail, he was practically helpless.
His works have provoked enormous apprehension, as he has described rapes, paraphilia and all kinds of perversions. Napoleon himself threw Justine’s romance into the fire. According to him, it was the most abominable book ever created. At that time, many texts of the Marquis of Sade were destroyed and much of his work was lost.
In 1801, the Napoleonic regime accused him of “libertine dementia” and confined him to an asylum. After the death of the Marquis of Sade in 1814, his family burned what was left of his work.
Several generations of writers, especially those of the surrealist movement, have saved Sade’s work and given it great value; however, to date, opinions on his literary work are not unanimous. While Breton called him “the divine Marquis,” Bataille emphasized that his work was an apology for the crime.