Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Der Marquis de Sade und seine Zeit
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers curious about the history of sexual science, the French Revolution and its aftermath, or the way a notorious name is made.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Marquis de Sade and His Time is a study of the life and writings of Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade, the French nobleman whose name gave English the word sadism. It was written by Iwan Bloch, a German physician who wrote under the pen name Eugen Duehren and who helped found the scientific study of human sexuality.
Bloch wrote at the start of the twentieth century. He wanted to treat Sade as a subject for medicine, history and literary study, not as a scandal to be whispered about. In this summary you get the shape of that effort: the world Sade was born into, the man and his imprisonments, the books he wrote, and the claims Bloch makes about what Sade tells us about desire and about his age.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1Sade belongs to a particular ageFree
- 2A life lived between prisons and freedom
- 3The books as a source of evidence
- 4Sade as a case for sexual science
- 5Legend, judgment and fair reading
Punkt 1 von 5
Sade belongs to a particular age
Bloch begins by placing Sade in eighteenth century France. Sade was born into the aristocracy in 1740, in a society that was powerful, rich and deeply unequal. The old order was losing its hold, and the ideas of the Enlightenment were spreading among the educated.
Bloch argues that a man like Sade cannot be understood apart from this setting. The court and the aristocratic world around him were known for loose manners and for a cult of pleasure. Sade grew up among privileges that few were allowed to question.
This context matters to Bloch's method. He wants the reader to see a person shaped by his time, not a monster who came from nowhere. That is the first step in treating the subject as a case for study.
That’s 1 of 5 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Der Marquis de Sade und seine Zeit
What is The Marquis de Sade and His Time about?
It is a scholarly study of the life, imprisonments and writings of the Marquis de Sade, set in the context of eighteenth century France and used by the author as a case in the study of sexual behaviour.
Who was Iwan Bloch?
Iwan Bloch was a German physician who helped found sexology as a science. He wrote on the history and study of human sexuality and sometimes used the pen name Eugen Duehren.
Where does the word sadism come from?
It comes from the name of the Marquis de Sade, whose novels describe cruelty as a source of pleasure. The term was coined in the nineteenth century and later used in medicine and psychology.
Is this book a biography or a medical study?
It is both. Bloch follows Sade's life and works in time, and he also reads them through the lens of early sexual science and cultural history.
Is the book hard to read?
No. The book follows a clear plan, moving from Sade's world to his life, his books and then Bloch's claims. Each part reads as its own short piece, and Bloch calmly explains the facts, so it is easy to start.