Justine (or The Misfortunes of Virtue, or several other titles: see below) is a classical erotic novel by Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, better known as the Marquis de Sade. Portrait of the Marquis de Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (c. ... In political geography and international politics a country is a geographical entity, a territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation. ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel was a literary genre that belonged to Romanticism and began in the United Kingdom with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... Erotica (from the Greek language Eros - love) — refers to works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or arousing descriptions. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The barcode of an ISBN . ... Juliette is a novel written by the Marquis de Sade and published 1797 - 1801, accompanying Sades Nouvelle Justine. ... Portrait of the Marquis de Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (c. ...

History of the work

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 as it was written in the classical style (which was fashionable at the time), with much verbose and metaphorical description. Portrait of the Marquis de Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (c. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Bastille The Bastille ( ) was a prison in Paris, known formally as Bastille Saint-Antoine—Number 232, Rue Saint-Antoine—best known today because of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, which along with the Tennis Court Oath is considered the beginning of the French Revolution. ... A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. ... Obscenity in Latin obscenus, meaning foul, repulsive, detestable, (possibly derived from ob caenum, literally from filth). The term is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions (words, images, actions) that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time. ...

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. It was accompanied by a continuation, Juliette about Justine's sister. The two together formed 10 volumes of nearly 4000 pages in total; publication was completed in 1801. This final version, La Nouvelle Justine, departed from the first-person narrative of the previous two versions, and included around 100 engravings. 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Juliette is a novel written by the Marquis de Sade and published 1797 - 1801, accompanying Sades Nouvelle Justine. ...

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. Napoleon called Justine "the most abominable book ever engendered by the most depraved imagination". Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des...

A censored English translation was issued in the USA by the Risus Press in the early 1930s. The first unexpurgated English translation (by 'Pieralessandro Casavini', a pseudonym for Austryn Wainhouse) was published by the Olympia Press in 1953. Wainhouse later revised this translation for publication in the United States by Grove Press. Other versions currently in print, notably the Wordsworth edition, are abridged and heavily censored. Olympia Press was a Paris based publisher, best known for the first print of Nabokov s Lolita; this led to copyright issues, since Nabokov was not satisfied with the publisher and the reputation it had, since besides some serious literature, it published mostly erotic novels. ... Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. ...

Plot introduction

Justine is set just before the French Revolution in France and tells the story of a young woman who goes under the name of Therese. Her story is recounted to Madame de Lorsagne while defending herself for her crimes, en route to punishment and death. She explains the series of misfortunes which have led her to be in her present situation. Justine may refer to: A fairly common female given name An alternate title for The Misfortunes of Virtue, a novel by Marquis de Sade A film by Jess Franco An alternate name of adult model Swan (actress) A novel by Lawrence Durrell This is a disambiguation page, a list of...

Plot summary

The plot concerns Justine, a 12-year-old maiden ("As for Justine, aged as we have remarked, twelve"...) who sets off, impecunious, to make her way in France. It follows her until age 26, in her quest for virtue. At every turn she is presented with vice and abuse, hidden under a virtuous mask that lures her. The unfortunate situations include the time when 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. When helping a gentleman who is robbed in a field, he takes her back to his chateau with promises of a post caring for his wife, but she is then confined in a cave and subject to much the same punishment. These punishments are mostly the same throughout, even when she goes to a judge to beg for mercy in her case as an arsonist, and then finds herself openly humiliated in court, unable to defend herself. Vice is a practice or habit that is considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. ... Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ) is moral excellence of a person. ... Modern confessional in the Church of the Holy Name, Dunedin, New Zealand. ... Monastery of St. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A château ( French for castle; plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of gentry, usually French, with or without fortifications. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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. Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ... Poetic Justice is a 1993 drama/romance film starring Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson and directed by John Singleton. ...

The story is told by "Therese" in an inn, to Madame de Lorsange. It is finally revealed that Madame de Lorsagne is her long lost sister. The irony is that her sister submitted to a brief period of vice and found herself a comfortable existence where she could exercise good, while Justine refused to make concessions for the greater good and was plunged further into vice than those who would go willingly.

The story ends with Madame de Lorsagne relieving her from a life of vice and clearing her name. Strangely though, Justine quickly becomes introverted and morose, before finally being struck by a thunderbolt and killed instantly. Madame de Lorsagne joins a religious order.

Major themes

De Sade was strongly involved in both the development of his own philosophies (which later became many of the principles of sadism) and an investigation into the changing nature of his country. As, later in life, he became very involved in politics and became a member of the National Convention, we can see many of his ideas introduced in this, one of his earlier works. This article is about a legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ...

Key philosophical ideas as follows: Philosophy (from the Greek words philos and sophia meaning love of wisdom) is understood in different ways historically and by different philosophers. ...

• going against accepted tradition
• the subjectivity of virtue and vice
• the pursuit of desire and the consequences of it
• the evils of absolutism for either the purposes of good or evil
• Nature, as being the only true ruler of man
• The notion of Reason as dominating disinterested system

The more political ideas focus on: Politics is the process by which decisions are made within groups. ...

• the hierarchy and inequalities within a class system
• the corruption of the church, the justice system and most major institutions
• the respective roles of the sexes
• the necessity of reliance upon others (appropriate as De Sade advocated a form of utopian socialism, at least later in life)

Left panel (The Earthly Paradise, Garden of Eden), from Hieronymus Boschs The Garden of Earthly Delights. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ...

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. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Contemporary reference

Justine was written around 30 years after Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, and the influence is very clear thematically. The story is quite related in terms of the endless trials which face each heroine, but with the opposite results. While Pamela's unwavering dedication to virtue does force her to suffer the threat of some vices, and confinement similar to that which befalls Justine, she is eventually successful in reforming Mr B. and becoming his wife. She then leads a life of prosperity and happiness. Justine may refer to: A fairly common female given name An alternate title for The Misfortunes of Virtue, a novel by Marquis de Sade A film by Jess Franco An alternate name of adult model Swan (actress) A novel by Lawrence Durrell This is a disambiguation page, a list of... Samuel Richardson (August 19, 1689 – July 4, 1761) was a major 18th century writer best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and Sir Charles Grandison (1753). ... Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. ...

Film, TV or theatrical 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. There has also been a graphic novel version by Guido Crepax. For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Jesus (or Jess) Franco (born May 12, 1930 as Jesús Franco Manera) is a Spanish film director, writer, cinematographer and actor. ... Klaus Kinski. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Guido Crepax Guido Crepax (born Guido Crepas, Milan, July 15, 1933-July 31, 2003) was an Italian comics artist, who deeply influenced the European adult comics world in the second half of 20th century. ...

In the motion picture Breaking the Waves, the director and script writer Lars Von Trier based the character of Bess McNeill upon the story of Justine.^{[citation needed]} Breaking the Waves is a 1996 film, set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s, which tells the story of Bess McNeill, who marries oil-man Jan, despite the apprehensions of her community and Calvinist church. ... Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish film director closely associated with the Dogme95 collective, calling for a return to plausible stories in filmmaking and a move away from artifice and towards technical minimalism. ...

See also

• Gothic novel

Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel was a literary genre that belonged to Romanticism and began in the United Kingdom with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ...

External links

• Justine or Good Conduct Well Chastised, 1791, online e-book.
• Complete text of the 1791 edition, in the original French.
• Complete text of the final 1797 version, in the original French (WikiSource).
• Full Russian translation of the final 1797 version.
• Justine (fr)