'Sexuality is power' - so says the Marquis de Sade, philosopher and pornographer extraordinaire. His virtuous Justine keeps to the rules laid down by men, her reward rape and humiliation; his Juliette, Justine's triumphantly monstrous antithesis, viciously exploits her sexuality. In a world where all tenderness is false, all beds are minefields. But now Sade has met his match. With invention and genius, Angela Carter takes on these outrageous figments of his extreme imagination, and transforms them into symbols of our time - the Hollywood sex goddesses, mothers and daughters, pornography, even the sacred shrines of sex and marriage lie devastatingly exposed before our eyes. Angela Carter delves into the viscera of our distorted sexuality and reveals a dazzling vision of love which admits neither of conqueror nor of conquered.
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'Angela Carter is neither ordinary nor timid. The tone is one of intellectual relish ... rational ... refined ... witty' -- NEW STATESMAN
'The boldest of English women writers' -- LORNA SAGE
'The boldest of English women writers' -- LORNA SAGE
About the Author
One of Britain's most original writers, Angela Carter was highly lauded for her novels, short stories and journalism. She died in February 1992.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Angela Carter explores the depth of representation of the Marquis de Sade's heroines, Justine and Juliette, plus scenes from other pieces of his work, 20 Days of Sodom and Philosophy of the Boudoir. It is an intellectual critique, which has just the right mix of depth without being too heavy and is not in any way as pretentious as others could make it. Justine and Juliette are compared to contemporary roles of women today with quite shocking accuracy(e.g. fallen starlets and power business executives respectively). This may be a little dated in 2010, given the feminist bias/persuasion of the era in which the Sadeian Woman was written (late 70s) but nevertheless was worth reading. If you like the works of this particular author but have not ventured into her non-fiction branch of writing, then try this.
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Carter's non-fiction examination of De Sade's writing asks does pornography examine the real world of sexual relations or does it remain fixed to a timeless area outside history? This book envisages the idea of a moral pornographer who uses pornography as a critique of relations between the sexes.
Readers who enjoy Carter's fiction will see that the character of Justine who serves as a version of the perfect woman, appears and reappears in many of her works of fiction. Carter personifies De Sade's imagination into the molested and tortured woman, the celebrity victim, and Hollywood starlet.
Pornography it seems is not the enemy of women, but merely a reduction of sex to its formal elements. The arguement that pornography can be empowering is difficult to reconcile, and I am not sure I agree, but the idea is certainly thought provoking.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Clifford
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Marquis de Sade may well be more famous for misattributions of the terms `sadism' and `sadomasochism' than for what he actually wrote and thought. For many people who routinely involve an element of pain and/or humiliation in their erotic practices and fantasies, the bloody antics in Sade's works are simply nauseating. Angela Carter here provides a much needed context for these works, showing that Sade's view of the world was surprisingly egalitarian for his times, highlighting the gross inequities of class as well as gender. This is a scholarly book, containing much food for thought and contemplation. It provides a secure foundation stone for true feminism, in the sense of seeking true equality of humanity, and not simply a trivial glossy equality with overtones of revenge. Angela Carter was one of the most impressive writers of novels in the last century, and this deeply thinking work impressed me by its insight into what constitutes true equality. This book should interest anyone seeking enlightenment into the psychology that underlies so-called sadomasochistic activities, and indeed also the need for pain, inflicting or inflicted, in many common fantasies.
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