Category: The Marquis de Sade

A lot of the information I found about the background of the text/ how we got the text comes from the scholarly introduction and notes about the translations.

The translated publication we have from Penguin Classics is from 2016. A direct quote from the book,”This translation is based on Maurice Heine’s edition of Les 120 journées de Sodome (Paris: Stendhal et Cie, 1931-5).” This was the second edition of the novel after Iwan’s version. This is also one of the only copies based on the original piece.

The translators make a note that the only editing they will be doing is translating directly from what the text means so the original intention isn’t lost. The only changes they made was correcting verb endings and making sure things stay consistent.

An important thing to note while Marquis wrote 120 days of Sodom was his work kept getting taken away from him while he was in jail. Him being in jail and slowly losing his sanity could also add to the reason why some parts were inconsistent.

The effect of his work being published seemed to only hurt him as a writer. Since many believed books had the power to corrupt others in the 18th century, they believed the people would become more violent. There were more crimes being committed but it couldn’t be proven the crimes were committed because of the book release.

A lot of the effects were exaggerated, like the increased rates of crime, due to information being spread verbally. The truth and fiction blended together and by the time all the scandals reached everyone, no one knew which parts were real.

In the beginning, I didn’t understand how graphic it would be. The descriptions got very descriptive and it sexualized almost everyone who came into contact with the group: The Duke, the Banker, the Bishop and the Judge.

There were points in the scholarly introduction where they tried to separate the author from the text and give Marquis some breathing room. Both the people and the text do some horrific actions. He is later said to be trying to defend his actions against the women he abused,

” Yes I am a libertine, I admit; I have imagined everything that can be imagined of this kind, but I have surely not done everything I have imagined and will surely never do so. I am a libertine, but I am not a criminal or murderer.” (Marquis xix)

This is him not taking accountability and trying to say there could have been worse things he could have done but chose not to do.

I understand why others would want to analyze Marquis behavior and what would get someone to act like this and his work could be interpreted as a commentary. I believe this takes away any responsibility and any accountability for his actions. They try to paint a picture of him being an innovator of sorts.