The Subversion of Social Relationships

Throughout Sade's writings in this collection there are deliberate subversions of the social relationships of class, religion, and family. Sade uses these subversions to both criticize society and to increase the horror of his descriptions of outrageous vice and evil.

As an aristocrat himself, Sade seems at home placing most of his main characters in a high social class. In Sade's world however, the higher the class, the more likely a character is to be corrupt. The two most despicable characters among those in this collection are both members of the nobility, Count Oxtiern and the Duc de Blangis. Oxtiern is the wealthy young count in "Oxtiern" and "Ernestine" who uses his enormous influence to obtain Ernestine for himself and cast her lover into prison. The Duc de Blangis is the leader of the four friends who arrange the extended four-month debauchery in "The...