The Château de Lacoste above Lacoste, a residence of Sade currently the site of theatre festivals On the other hand, the French hedonist philosopher Michel Onfray has attacked this interest in Sade, writing that 'It is intellectually bizarre to make Sade a hero.' There have also been numerous film adaptations of his work, the most notable being Pasolini's Salò, an adaptation of Sade's controversial book The 120 Days of Sodom, as well as many of the films of Spanish director Jesús Franco. Prolific French intellectuals such as Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault published studies of him. There continues to be a fascination with Sade among scholars and in popular culture. Many of his works were written in prison. During the French Revolution, he was an elected delegate to the National Convention. ĭespite having no legal charge brought against him, Sade was incarcerated in various prisons and an insane asylum for about 32 years of his life (or, after 1777, solely due to lettre de cachet and involuntary commitment): seven years in the Château de Vincennes, five years in the Bastille, a month in the Conciergerie, two years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes Convent, three years in Bicêtre Asylum, a year in Sainte-Pélagie Prison, and 12 years in the Charenton Asylum. Sade was a proponent of free public brothels paid for by the state: In order both to prevent crimes in society that are motivated by lust and to reduce the desire to oppress others using one’s own power, Sade recommended public brothels where people can satisfy their wishes to command and be obeyed. While Sade mentally explored a wide range of sexual deviations, his known behavior includes 'only the beating of a housemaid and an orgy with several prostitutes-behavior significantly departing from the clinical definition of sadism'. The words sadism and sadist are derived in reference to the works of fiction he wrote which portrayed numerous acts of sexual cruelty.

He was a proponent of absolute freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, suffering, anal sex (which he calls sodomy), crime, and blasphemy against Christianity. In his lifetime some of these were published under his own name while others, which Sade denied having written, appeared anonymously.

His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts.

Marie Eléonore de Maillé de Carman (mother)ĭonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( French: 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his libertine sexuality.

Jean Baptiste François Joseph, Comte de Sade (father).

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