 The
fun-loving dude who gave his name to the word 'Sadist' which is, as we
all know, a person who derives pleasure, especially sexual gratification,
from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on others. His name was
Donatien Alphonse Francois, compte de Sade, known as the Marquis de Sade
(1740 - 1814). A soldier and writer in 18th century France, he had his
career interrupted by long periods of imprisonment for cruelty and debauchery.
While in prison he wrote several sexually explicit works which explored
the darker side of sexuality. He was born in Paris in 1740 to a noble family
and fought in the French army during the Seven Years' War. In 1772 he was
tried and sentenced to death for a series of sexual crimes. He escaped
to Italy, but on his return to Paris in 1777 he was arrested and imprisoned
at Vincennes. After six years at Vincennes he was removed to the Bastille
and in 1789 to the Charenton lunatic asylum. He was released from the asylum
in 1790 but arrested again in 1801. For the rest of his life he was moved
from prison to prison and in 1803 again incarcerated at Charenton, where
he died. In many of his writings, which include The Story of Juliette (6
volumes, 1797) and The Bedroom Philosophers (1795), de Sade described in
great detail some of the extreme and sometimes cruel sexual activities
that he himself practiced. Other than his writing, his main claim to fame
is that the term sadism, originally used by psychiatrists to denote what
they considered a 'neurosis' wherein sexual satisfaction is gained by the
infliction of pain on others, is derived from his name. In de Sade's philosophy,
both criminal and sexually deviant acts are regarded as natural. His works
were condemned as obscene and their publication was banned well into the
20th century. They are more freely available now, so you can decide for
yourself whether de Sade was a persecuted surrealist long before the term
was fashionable or just cruel and crazy. |
