The Marquis de Sade is a figure with two sides. He has been read and appreciated by the serial killer Ted Bundy as well as surrealist artists such as Man Ray and Salvador Dali. Napoleon Bonaparte condemned his novels Justine and Juliette, stating that they were among “the most abominable books ever engendered by the most depraved imagination.” Yet in 2016 Penguin Classics released The 120 Days of Sodom, De Sade’s most controversial and sexually violent novel, under its prestigious banner, and a year later France declared the original manuscript to be a national treasure. Centuries after his death, De Sade continues to divide opinion, with scholars torn between rehabilitating him as a man who defied convention or condemning him as a monster and perverse deviant. But just who was this man whose extreme and violent writing can delight the academic and offend the prudish in equal measure?
Born in 1740 in Paris, the Marquis de Sade (byname of Donatien-Alphonse-François, Comte de Sade) was from noble stock and for a long time looked set for a prestigious military career. At the age of 14 the young man enrolled in the army and, despite his youth, his aristocratic background meant he was entitled to an officer’s commission, eventually reaching the rank of colonel. Although he seems to have excelled as an officer, serving with distinction in the Seven Years’ War, his behaviour on leave had already begun to earn him a scandalous reputation. De Sade
