Donatien Alphonse François Sade, Justine, ou les malheurs de la vertu [Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue]

Robert Gillan (University of Manchester)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1791

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The “ Justine Texts”

Since the publication in 1791 of Sade’s first novel, Justine ou les malheurs de la vertu, his name has been indissociably linked with that of its eponymous heroine. The enduringly popular image of Sade as a sexually-frustrated pornographer visiting an endless series of fantastical torments upon a defenceless virgin is epitomized by his literary relationship with Justine. Yet behind the summary association of these two names, and the common reference to a work known simply as Justine, lie a sequence of literary events involving four different titles and a publication history straddling three centuries. These works, in their commonly …

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2445 words

Citation: Gillan, Robert. "Justine, ou les malheurs de la vertu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 September 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4266, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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