Born into the minor Austrian nobility in Lemberg in
1836, the son of a police chief, Sacher-Masoch lived most of his life in Graz
and died in Lindheim in 1895. A late Romantic novelist of some standing, he also
had an abiding interest in being dominated and humiliated by strong cruel women,
and a fetish for
furs, and managed a number of relationships satisfying both needs. His sexual
passions are most articulately expressed in his most notorious and scandalous
work, the semi-autobiographical Venus im Pelz (Venus in Furs), first
published in 1869 (Sacher-Masoch
1965, 1980).
Venus in Furs is a compelling and even witty work in which contemporary Dom/sub enthusiasts will find much that is recognizable. The hero Severin persuades his object of desire, Wanda (based on real-life character Wanda von Rümelin), to make him her slave, and to dress in furs and whip him. Eventually Severin voluntarily signs a lifelong slave contract with Wanda, but finds to his horror that she becomes crueler than he imagines, and hands him over to the brutal attentions of her new, macho lover. There is no genital sex in the book at all, and the characters stay clothed throughout. Furthermore the author makes an intriguing point when he speculates that his desire to engage in domination and submission with women may be to do with social inequality:
That the woman consults... like it the man at present, its enemy is and only to be, never however his companion knows his slave or his Despotin. This could be it only then if she is equal it at rights, if it is equal it by education and work. Now we have only the selection, hammer or anvil to be (Sacher Masoch 1980:138, cited in Heider 1986a:29)
Sacher-Masoch passed into immortality when Krafft-Ebing chose to name what he saw as the disorder of masochism after the author.
Contract Between Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and Wanda von Dunajew
Donatien Alphonse François, Comte de Sade (1740-1817), usually
known in English as the Marquis de Sade, was the French philosopher, novelist
and revolutionary whose name was appropriated for the term 'sadism'. His novels,
most notably Les 120 Journées de Sodome (The 120 Days of Sodom, 1785 --
see Sade
1966), Justine and Juliette, contain graphic descriptions of
sexual violence, though they are not straightforwardly pornographic, being
related both to his political ideas and to his desire to satirize both his own
aristocratic class and the rising bourgeoisie. And while there seems no doubt
that he indulged in some of the more extreme practices he describes, the
constant harassment and imprisonment he suffered from both royalists and
republicans was more to do with his political views than his sex life.
De Sade came to fame through the publication of his novels "Justine ou es les infortunes de la virtue" (1791) and "La nouvelle Justine, suivi de l'histoire de Juliette, sa soeur, ou es les properties du vice" (1797) and Philospohie dans le boudoir" (1795) De Sade defined art as "the perpetual immoral subversion of the existing order". This philosophy was also reflected in his writings which radically threatened the acceptable moral boundaries of the time. Amongst scenes of adultery, incest, sexual violence and sodomy de Sade also advocated the rights of women and their right to enjoy sexual freedom. For de Sade sex was politically imbued. He advocated the freedom of the individual to subvert and reject the existing social structures and institutions, moral codes and repressive forces of politics and society.
What was Sade's 'mission'? It was to set us free from the foolish and unrealistic ideas which clutter up our minds and cause so much suffering both to ourselves and to everyone around us. We are perfectly familiar with these sufferings, not only from our own lives, but also because they form the staple fare of the dominant art form of our age, the movie. It sometimes seems to me that almost every movie I see shows the same thing : husbands and wives, lovers and would-be lovers, ordinary people suffering the most intense anguish, frustration, rage, jealousy and despair simply because they are in the grip of false values. If only we could accept the fact of change - the fact that the person of yesterday or last week or last year is not and could not be the person who stands before us today. If only we could accept the truth about human desire, and could understand that the narrow channels into which we try to force desire have nothing to do with our real nature and are in fact harmful. Sade can help us to see these things. He can help us to realize that we are dominated by historically determined values which were not of our own choosing, and which are not perhaps the best. Once we have seen this, Sade has just one question for all of us. It is this :
"When shall you reclaim the freedom whereunto Nature destined you?"
Sade, Juliette, p.350.
Note: From Virginia_Creepers: First and foremost, I must say your site is one of the most educational sites I have ever seen! A job very well done! I've spent hours upon hours reading your site!
Which leads me to something a friend of mine and I had argued about. She had told me that The Marquis de Sade was known as the Marquis in English but the Comte in French. I had told her no, that wasn't true and she directed me to your site.
In wishing that your site be ever faithful to it's purpose in educating the masses, I am compelled to inform you!
Marquis and Comte are two different titles in nobility. The Marquis' father was the Comte de Sade as his wife, the Comtesse, was a cousin to royalty. Donatien Alphonse François became Marquis because he had a position akin to military. So, he is the Marquis de Sade in French and in English! But, the Comte de Sade had an infamous past as well that included homosexual tendencies with male prostitutes and various orgies, including his infamous dinner parties where after the dinner, the guests would act out various scenes from erotic texts. One could say "like father like son" when it comes to Sade!
As an end note I would like to give my thanks to you for creating this site. As I have mentioned, it's very educational and my friend had directed me to it due to an argument ( I am currently working on a presentation on Sade for a history course ) based on my information.
Keep up the good work and hopefully one day everyone can be comfortable with the idea of BDSM and D/s !