The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade Summary

The 120 Days of Sodom is an explicit libertine novel written by French aristocrat Marquis de Sade during his imprisonment from 1777 to 1790. The work depicts extreme sexual violence, transgression, and philosophical explorations of absolute freedom unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. It explores controversial subjects including rape, bestiality, and necrophilia through a narrative framework that challenges conventional social codes and religious devotion.

Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman whose perverse sexual preferences and erotic writings gave rise to the term "sadism". Born into a noble family dating from the 13th century, Sade spent most of his adult life detained in various prisons and insane asylums for sex crimes, blasphemy, and pornography. His philosophical works advocate materialist philosophy in which Nature dictates absolute freedom, with the pursuit of personal pleasure as its foremost principle.

The 120 Days of Sodom is intended for mature academic readers, philosophers, and literary scholars interested in transgressive literature, Enlightenment-era political philosophy, and the boundaries of freedom and morality. This work is not recommended for general audiences due to its extreme sexual violence and disturbing content. Readers should approach it as a philosophical text examining power, control, and the darkest aspects of human nature rather than as entertainment or conventional literature.

The 120 Days of Sodom holds significant literary and philosophical importance for understanding extreme libertine thought and Enlightenment-era debates about morality and freedom. However, its explicit depictions of violence and sexual extremity make it extremely challenging and disturbing. The work is worth reading primarily for academic study, philosophical inquiry into the limits of freedom, or understanding the historical context of censorship, as it was banned from unfettered distribution in the UK until 1983.

Marquis de Sade wrote The 120 Days of Sodom during his first extended imprisonment from 1777 to 1790, creating a series of novels and other works that his wife smuggled out of prison. Born in Paris on June 2, 1740, Sade was detained in various prisons and insane asylums following a series of sex scandals. He spent the last 13 years of his life in the Charenton insane asylum, where he died in 1814.

The 120 Days of Sodom advocates a materialist philosophy in which Nature dictates absolute freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law, with the pursuit of personal pleasure as its foremost principle. Sade's work challenges conventional social codes by depicting practices that transgress social conventions—incest, sodomy, adultery—as the basis for a new system of behavior. His philosophy explores how codified transgression can become a sinister form of conformity that eliminates individual variation and imposes totalitarian control through violence.

The 120 Days of Sodom faced extensive censorship due to its explicit sexual violence, pornographic content, and transgressive subject matter including rape, bestiality, and necrophilia. Publication, dissemination, and translation of Sade's works were long hindered by censorship—not until 1983 were his works allowed unfettered distribution in the UK. Sade was re-arrested in 1801 specifically for his pornographic novels and was eventually incarcerated in the Charenton insane asylum.

The term "sadism" derives directly from Marquis de Sade's name, whose perverse sexual preferences and erotic writings depicting violence, criminality, and sexual cruelty gave rise to this psychological concept. Sade's works depict violence and blasphemy against the Catholic Church, with narratives exploring pleasure derived from inflicting pain. His childhood experiences with corporal punishment, namely flagellation, deeply influenced his adult obsession with violent acts, which became central themes throughout his literary career.

Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1975 film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom transposed Sade's eighteenth-century novel to 1944, setting it during a short-lived Fascist puppet government in Salò, Italy. Pasolini used Sade's framework to explore themes of power, conformity, and corruption, portraying how victims progressively adapt to atrocities through a pedagogical process of indoctrination. The film emphasizes how codified transgression becomes sinister conformity, with characters either becoming complicit in torture or being condemned to death for disobedience.

The 120 Days of Sodom explores themes of absolute power, sexual violence, philosophical materialism, and the transgression of moral boundaries. The work examines how power structures impose conformity through violence, how normal codes of conduct can be negated and replaced by practices that transgress social conventions, and how such inversions create new forms of totalitarian control. Additional themes include the corruption of innocence, the rejection of religious devotion and filial love, and the pursuit of personal pleasure as humanity's foremost principle unrestrained by conventional morality.

During the French Revolution, Marquis de Sade became politically active, first as a constitutional monarchist then as a radical republican, and was even an elected delegate to the National Convention. However, during the Reign of Terror, he was imprisoned for moderatism and narrowly escaped the guillotine. Upon his release, Sade concentrated on his literary career, publishing anonymous novels including Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795) and The New Justine and Juliette (1797-99).

The 120 Days of Sodom faces criticism for its extreme depictions of sexual violence, lack of moral framework, and glorification of cruelty without redemptive purpose. Critics argue that Sade's philosophical materialism prioritizing absolute freedom and personal pleasure above all ethics promotes dangerous nihilism. The work's explicit content—including rape, torture, and necrophilia—has led many to question whether such extreme transgression serves genuine philosophical inquiry or merely sensationalism. Additionally, feminist critics condemn the work's misogynistic violence and objectification of women throughout its narratives.