Sadism and masochism in fiction

The role of Sadism and masochism in fiction attracts serious, scholarly attention. John Kucich has noted the importance of masochism in late-nineteenth century British colonial fiction. [ [http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i8294.html Imperial Masochism: British Fiction, Fantasy, and Social Class] by John Kucich (Princeton University Press, 2006)] This article presents appearances of Sadism and masochism in literature and works of fiction in the various media. [ [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-114924480.html An esthetics of masochism? The author wonders if the curators of an Austrian exhibition on masochism in art erred in taking an overly literal approach to their subject] From "Art in America" (4/1/2004) by Barry Schwabsky] [ [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/22/steele.html Barbara Steele's Ephemeral Skin: Feminism, Fetishism and Film] by Lecturer Patricia MacCormack of Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge] [ [http://www.amateurgourmet.com/the_amateur_gourmet/2006/06/sadism_masochis.html Sadism, Masochism, Food and Television] ]

Novels

Titles are sorted in chronological order.
*"Fanny Hill" by John Cleland - depicts mutual flagellation, between Fanny and an English client.

*"The 120 Days of Sodom", "Justine" (1791) and "Juliette" (1797) by Marquis de Sade - Have an extreme, sadistic perspective. Harv|Wood|1995|p=1, "Derivations and Definitions". "The term sadism derives from the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), a French nobleman imprisoned for his libertinism, and for writing fantastic novels, such as "Justine" [1797] and "Juliette" [1797] that equated sexual pleasure with the inflicting of pain, humiliation, and cruelty". ]

*"Anti-Justine" (1793) by Nicolas-Edme Rétif A response to the works of de Sade, written in a like style, describing the opposite, political point of view.

*"Venus in Furs" (1870) by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch - A long, masochistic fantasy, wherein the protagonist encourages his mistress to mistreat him. Many of Sacher-Masoch's other works contain themes of sadomasochism and female dominance of the male.

*"The Torture Garden" (1899) by Octave Mirbeau - an allegorical examination of Western society, and of the human condition.

*"Les Onze mille verges" ("The eleven thousand rods") by Guillaume Apollinaire - written in the 1906-1907 period; the publication is unsigned and undated.

*"Histoire de l'oeil" ("Story of the Eye") (1928) by Georges Bataille - A short novel.

*The "Story of O" (1954) by Pauline Réage - A classic masochistic novel, by a woman. The protagoniste is kept in a château and mistreated by a group of men, one her official lover. Later, she resumes her normal life, while secretly becoming property of one, specific man, a friend of her lover's. Harv|Wood|1995|p=2, "Sadomasochistic Literature in Earlier Cultures". "Pauline Reage's "The Story of O" (1954) made a great impact on lesbian erotic writing..."]

*"L'Image" (1956) by Jean de Berg (a pseudonym of Catherine Robbe-Grillet), a French woman. In 1975, it was made into a film, "The Image", also titled as "The Punishment of Anne".

*"Gordon" (1966) by Edith Templeton

*"Je... Ils..." (1969) by Arthur Adamov – With stories like "Fin Août". About Masochism, regarded as an "immunisation against death", but does not aim erotic arousal.

*Horror novelist Clive Barker's "The Hellbound Heart" (1986), is an extreme, gruesome study of sadomasochism, graphically illustrated with the brutal rituals of demonic antagonists. See Cenobite (Hellraiser).

*"Die Klavierspielerin" (Reinbeck, 1983) or "The Piano Teacher" by Elfriede Jelinek.

*"The Ties that Bind (Le Lien)" (1993) by Vanessa Duriès

*"Matriarchy: Freedom in Bondage", 1997 by Malcolm McKesson (An Outsider artist) - A boy undergraduate student in Harvard college is dominated by his mistress, and forced to dress as a woman.

*"Killing Me Softly" (1999) by Nicci French

*"Marketplace" series of novels by Laura Antoniou

*"Macho Sluts" by Pat CalifiaHarv|Wood|1995|p=4, "Pat Califia".]

*"Kushiel's Dart" by Jacqueline Carey - A dual genre work, belonging to fantasy fiction and BDSM fiction, along with its sequels.

*Anne Rice's sado-masochistic writing includes: "Exit to Eden", "Belinda", and "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" and sequels, "Beauty's Punishment" and "Beauty's Release". The Sleeping Beauty books she wrote as A.N. Roquelaure.

pecialist publishers of S/M fiction

* Nexus Books
* Black Lace
* Silver Moon Books

Mainstream films

Consensual BDSM is not generally depicted accurately or sympathetically in mainstream films, to say the least; however, film-makers often find some way to incorporate BDSM imagery into many films. The following films feature BDSM as a major plot point, not just as an exploitative add-on. [ [http://www.jahsonic.com/SMCinema.html Sadism and masochism in mainstream film] ]

Crime Thrillers:* "The Dark Knight" (The Joker) (2008) (starring Christian Bale,Heath Ledger,Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart

Art movies:
* "The Whip and the Body" ("La Frusta e il Corpo") (1965) (starring Christopher Lee and Daliah Lavi)
* "Belle de jour" (1967) (starring Catherine Deneuve)
* "The Libertine", ("La Matriarca") (1969)
* "Daughters of Darkness", ("Le Rouge aux Lèvres") (1971) directed by Harry Kümel starring Delphine Seyrig
* "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant", ("Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant") (1972) directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
* "The Night Porter", ("Il Portiere di notte") (1974) (starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling)
* "Story of O", ("Histoire d'O") (1975)
* "The Image", ("The Punishment of Anne") (1975)
* "Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom", ("Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma") (1975) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
* "Maîtresse", (1976) starring Gérard Depardieu and Bulle Ogier
* "A Woman in Flames", ("Die Flambierte Frau") (1983)
* "Crimes of Passion", (1984)
* "", ("Verführung: Die grausame Frau") (1985)
* "Blue Velvet" (1986) (starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper and Laura Dern)
* "9½ Weeks", (1986) (starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke)
* "Tokyo Decadence", ("Topazu") (1991)
* "Bitter Moon" (1992) (starring Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Peter Coyote)
* "Spanking Love" (1994)
* "Venus in Furs" (1994)
* "Conspirators of Pleasure" (1996) directed by Jan Švankmajer
* "The Bondage Master" (1996) (Japanese indie film directed by Keisuke Konishi)
* "Of Freaks and Men", ("Pro urodov i lyudej") (1998)
* "Lies", ("Gojitmal") (1999)
* "Moonlight Whispers", ("Sasayaki") (1999) [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E2DC173AF931A15752C1A9669C8B63 FILM REVIEW; Masochists Always Hurt The Ones They Love] By A. O. SCOTT (November 22, 2000)]
* "Romance", ("Romance X") (1999)
* "Quills", (2000) (starring Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix)
* "The Piano Teacher", ("La Pianiste") (2001) (starring Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel)
* "Secretary" (2002) (starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal)
* "" (2004)
* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/24/7_The_Passion_of_Life "The Passion of Life"] (2005)
* "A Year Without Love" ("Un año sin amor") (2005) (directed by Anahi Berneri)
* "Hounded" ("Verfolgt") (2007) (directed by Angelina Maccarone)

Comedy:
* "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), musical version (1986) (starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, and Bill Murray)
* "The Choirboys" (1977)
* "Personal Services" (1987) (starring Julie Walters)
* "Exit to Eden" (1994)
* "Preaching to the Perverted" (1997) (starring Guinevere Turner)

Thrillers:
* "Videodrome" (1983)
* "Tightrope" (1984) (starring Clint Eastwood and Geneviève Bujold)
* "Basic Instinct" (1992) (starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone)
* "Body of Evidence" (1993) (starring Madonna and Willem Dafoe)
* "8 mm" (1999) (starring Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix)
* "The Cell" (2000) (directed by Tarsem Singh)
* "Ichi the Killer" (2001) (directed by Takashi Miike)
* "Killing Me Softly" (2002) (directed by Chen Kaige)

Television

*The FOX series "The Inside" episode "Old Wounds" dealt exclusively with S&M, and was criticized by the Parents Television Council as a result. [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/bw/2005/0627worst.asp Parents Television Council Presents: Worst TV Show of the Week] - "The Inside" on Fox By Caroline Schulenburg]
*The television series "" has featured sado-masochistic themes in the plots of a number of episodes, most notably in the special episode "Lady Heather's Box". [ [http://www.csiguide.com/episode.asp?csi=74 "Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke), a dominatrix"] ]
*Season 4 of HBO series "Six Feet Under" features a character (Joe) who wants to adopt a submissive sexual role in his relationship with Brenda.Fact|date=December 2007
*A "Family Guy" gag depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session while having a mundane conversation about unrelated matters from the plot of that episode. Toys have been made of this scene. [ [http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_051105a.htm Family Guy 'Nighttime' Peter and Lois] ] In the audio commentary for that episode it is noted that such a practice seemed normal to them.
*Season 2 of the FOX medical drama "House", a patient is deeply involved in a BDSM relationship.Fact|date=December 2007
* Rex Van de Kamp of "Desperate Housewives" was unveiled as a lover of S&M, much to the disgust of his wife, Bree. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146707,00.html "Cherry says other deleted "Housewives" content that could grace a DVD include an S&M sequence featuring Sharon Lawrence and Steven Culp, who plays Bree Van De Kamp's husband, Rex"] ] In one scene, Sharon Lawrence plays a dominatrix who walks across Rex's back in stiletto heels.
* Season 2 of NBC's Friday night drama "Homicide", in the episode http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0604331/synopsis [A Many Splendored Thing] ] . Detectives Bayliss and Pembleton investigate a murder in the S&M club scene. Bayliss expresses his disgust at the 'perversion', but the episode ends with his return to a leather shop, where he purchases a studded and belted leather jacket. This episode is the beginning of the character's sexual awakening, as he becomes comfortable with his bisexual feelings.

Drama

*Thomas Shadwell's play "The Virtuoso" (1676) includes an old libertine named Snarl who entreats a prostitute, Mrs Figgup, to bring out the birch rods. It is unclear if he is to flog her or be flogged.

*In Thomas Otway's play "Venice Preserved" (1682), Act III, Scene i, an old senator, Antonio, visits the house of Aquilina, a Greek courtesan. Antonio pretends to be a bull, then a frog, begging her to spit on him, and then a dog, biting her legs. She whips him, then throws him out and tells her footmen to keep him out.

* Jean Genet's play "The Maids" (1947) concerns two maids who play out dominant and submissive roles.

* Genet's play "The Balcony" (1959) is set in a brothel where clients and staff perform various fetishized roles while a revolution brews outside.

*The play "Oh! Calcutta!" includes at least two segments with sadomasochistic themes. One of them, set in a fantasy of an English girls public school, invites the audience to vote on which of four "girls" is beaten at the end.

Poetry

*Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote poetry on erotic flagellation.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Citation
last = Wood
first = Robert
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
publication-date =
date =
year = 1995
title = Sadomasochistic Literature
series = glbtq.com
publication-place =
place =
publisher = New England Publishing Associates
url = http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sadom_lit.html
accessdate = 2007-12-14

External links

* [http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sadom_lit.html An article on gay and lesbian sadomasochistic fiction]
* [http://www.bibliocuriosa.com/index.php?title=Accueil Biblio Curiosa, a bibliography of erotic and s&m literature] in English and French

ee also

*Marquis de Sade in popular culture