The Misfortunes of Virtue
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The Misfortunes of Virtue (original French title Les infortunes de la vertu) was an early work by the Marquis de Sade, written in two weeks in 1787 while imprisoned in the Bastille. It is a novella (187 pages) with relatively little of the obscenity which characterized his later writing.
A much extended and more graphic version, entitled Justine ou Les Malheurs de la vertu (1791) (English title: Justine, or Good Conduct Well Chastised or simply Justine) was the first of Sade's books to be published.
A further extended version La Nouvelle Justine ou Les Malheurs de la vertu was published in 1797 and accompanied by the novel Juliette about Justine's sister. The two together are nearly 4000 pages long.
Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the arrest of the anonymous author of Justine and Juliette, and as a result Sade was incarcerated for the last 13 years of his life.
Contents |
Plot
The plot concerns Justine, a young maiden who sets off, impecunious, to make her way in France. At every turn she is presented with vice and abuse, hidden under a virtuous mask that lures her. For example, she seeks refuge and confession in a monastery, but is forced to become a sex-slave to the monks, who subject her to countless orgies, rapes and other abuses.
These are, of course, described in true Sadean form. However, unlike some of his other works, the novel is not just a catalogue of sadism. Rather it purports to show, albeit in a hideously extreme way, an inversion of poetic justice: how those who live a life of vice prosper, whilst the virtuous suffer. Nonetheless, Sade invites us to live virtuously in hope of heavenly reward.
Quote
A quotation from the last paragraph of the book:
May you...be persuaded that true happiness lies in virtue alone and that, though God allows goodness to be persecuted on earth, it is with no other end than to prepare us for a better reward in heaven.
Adaptations
The story has been adapted for film several times, most notably in a 1969 international co-production directed by Jesus Franco and starring Klaus Kinski as the Marquis, titled Marquis de Sade: Justine.
External links
- Justine or Good Conduct Well Chastised, online e-bookes:Justina
