:: The Young Enthusiast ::

This novel is written in dialogue form with four characters: Madame de Saint-Ange, a 26-year-old married woman who has been living the life of a libertine for some time; Le Chevalier, her brother, nearly the same age and an avowed libertine but with some reservations about giving others pain in order to give himself pleasure; Dolmance, an avowed sodomite and a libertine of the highest order, also a consummate Sadist who values his own pleasure above all else, even the lives of others; and Eugenie, a 15-year-old girl who is desired sexually by Madame. She is willing to become a libertine but is so innocent that she must be educated in the ways of deviant sexuality by the rest of the party.

Dialogue I: Madame de Saint-Ange and her brother Le Chevalier set the stage. They discuss Eugenie, whom Madame has persuaded to come on an extended visit. Eugenie’s mother is by no means approving of this, but Madame seduced Eugenie’s libertine father in order to gain advantage over the family and put her plan into execution. The siblings also discuss Dolmance, a notorious libertine whom Madame would like to seduce. Chevalier warns his sister that Dolmance is a sodomite both in principle and practice, and if she is to seduce him she must exchange genders with him and play the part of the man. Madame asks her brother if Dolmance has managed to seduce her brother; though he generally prefers the company of women, Madame knows that the reputation of her brother’s huge member precedes him and that Dolmance would find this irresistable. Dolmance notes casually that they have had sex and graphically describes a dinner-party that ends in a scene where Chevalier, Dolmance and another man sodomize one another simultaneously.

Dialogue II: A very brief stage-setting dialogue in which Eugenie arrives at the Madame’s home. The two greet one another and enter the boudoir.

Dialogue III: This lengthy dialogue begins as Madame and Eugenie enter the boudoir to find Dolmance already there. Eugenie is startled at first but Madame assures her that it’s okay. The trio wastes no time getting undressed and Madame and Dolmance admire Eugenie’s young, nearly-naked body. Madame and Dolmance undertake a “dissertation” whereby they exemplify the libertinish behavior that they hope to cultivate in Eugenie, and Madame promises Dolmance that sodomizing Eugenie will be his reward for educating the girl.

I think this dialogue is especially interesting since Sade seems to point consciously to a divide between theory and practice that he seems to find arbirtrary. The scene constantly swings back and forth between academic and hot-and-heavy; every so often one of the characters will become aroused and they will all start fornicating vigorously, though Madame attempts to remind Dolmance again and again of the educational nature of this rendez-vous. Sade seems to be pointing out that empty theorization is impossible; I think it is a basic assumption of scientific and academic inquiry that we can talk about things without actually being complicit in them; I think Sade questions that assumption, both in the way his characters talk and in the way he writes. Just by reading these graphic, disturbing stories it seems as if you are complicit in their creation and dissemination. Perhaps a more conservative reading would be that it is impossible to theorize about sex; since it is primarily an activity of the imagination (as Dolmance points out repeatedly), to theorize about sex is to imagine sex, which is to participate in sex. Not only does this argument inculcate the reader, but it also Dolmance’s jumps from the world of imagination to the world of real-world practice less dramatic (though this begins to break down as Madame and Dolmance insinuate that they have committed murder for pleasure).

Also of interest to me is the issue of identity in this novel. The most obvious place this comes up is the issue of heterosexuality and homosexuality; while Dolmance is referred to repeatedly as a “sodomite,” it is clearly his love of the anal oriface and not his love of men that gives him that title. In other words, the things that one does do not become inextricably bound to one’s identity in Sade; his characters remain free to do and be whatever they like. The only thing that seems to be an essential component of personal identity in Sade’s world is one’s physical body; indeed, the body is the very center and end of personal identity, since all of its activity is directed toward the end of bodily pleasure.

Throughout this dialogue Eugenie constantly probes Dolmance and Madame for limits; she asks repeatedly whether there be any crime that is abhorred by all and is constitutionally opposed to human nature. Dolmance insists that there is not; since the human imagination knows no bounds, it is ridiculous to put even the slightest limitation on human behavior. This is part of a larger pattern of arguing for Libertine Naturalism that Dolmance displays throughout the dialogue; his chief arguments for his behavior seem to be this libertine naturalism—the idea that he is merely following the desires with which nature endowed him—and philosophical skepticism. This is an inteersting combination, and I think it’s in tension throughout the dialogue. In order to maintain both positions, Dolmance must insist that nature has endowed human beings with absolutely no benevolence or fellow-feeling, something that most people would disagree with. The main instance where I feel this tension is when Madame and Dolmance are dissertating upon the superiority of sodomy to any other sexual practice. Eugenie asks if sodomy is painful to the recipient, and Dolmance’s responses is essentially “why should I care?” He insists that even the slightest pleasure he might experience is enough to inflict even the cruellest pain on another individual. He softens his point by insisting on the pleasures of being the recipient of sodomy as well as his promise that he will never inflict cruelty on Eugenie, but his point is disturbing nonetheless.

Also interesting his Dolmance’s anti-religious treatise, which comes about 2/3 of the way through the chapter. This is another place where Dolmance’s views seem to be in tension, since he argues expressely for the fraud and uselesness of religion, yet a great deal of his sexual pleasure comes from cursing God during sex. One could argue that this pleasure is purely sadistic, the result of offending others’ sensibilities, but I don’t think that’s the case; I think the Dolmance still has enough God-fearing nature in him that uttering these curses gives him a thrill. If he had totally rid himself of any attachment to religion where would that pleasure come from?

The republican treatise apparently written by Dolmance that comes near the end of the novel is also interesting. In it the author argues that religion, morality and the cult of reproduction are institutions propped up by religious and monarchical governments. One of the chief ends of this system of overpopulation, a situation which feeds into the power of the monarchy since it allows the monarchs to oppress their citizens and keep them in check more efficiently. A republican government, on the other hand, is interested in only making its population large enough that its economy is sustainable, so they do not condone their citizens reproducing as often as possible. While this is a very interesting political treatise I’m befuddled as to what to think of it; sure, it was written after the revolution so perhaps Sade simply put it in so that he could count himself as a republican, but does he really believe this? It seems that throughout the work he tends toward a kind of libertarianism and I’m not sure how that squares with the vehemently republican ideas presented in the treatise.

Easily the most disturbing part of the novel is its closing scene when Eugenie’s mother returns to collect her from Madame’s house. I had a feeling throughout the novel that Sade was going to end on a shocking, disgusting note and such was the case. When Eugenie’s mother arrives the company greet her in their state of undress and she immediately orders Eugenie to follow her, and Eugenie refuses. From their, the company proceed to rape and sodomize her violently, clearly taking pleasure in the intense pain they inflict upon the woman. Even the Chevalier, who expresses some concern at the proceedings, participates and seems to receive some degree of sexual pleasure from the exchange. After briefly discussing in what manner they would like to complete the scene by murdering Eugenie’s mother, Dolmance insists that they follow his plan. He has a servant infected with syphillis, and he proposes that they make this young man rape and sodomize the old woman and after that action is completed they use a needle and thread to sew up her vagina and anus to be sure that the infection will take hold. This plan is executed with the maximum degree of violence; particularly disturbing is when Eugenie and Dolmance begin to sew up the mother while all of the characters climax, their bodily fluids mixing with the massive amounts of blood flowing from the mother’s newly-inflicted wounds.

While Sade managed to make his ideas somewhat digestible in the main part of the book, the final dialogue in which those disgusting, sadistic scenes happen make me, as a reader, revolted that I could go along with so many of his ideas. While I’m sure it isn’t the case, one is tempted to argue that Sade is illustrating the slippery slope of taking pleasure in these types of perversions; their is a clear sense of escalation that happens throughout the novel, and the fury and excitement with which the company abuse Eugenie’s mother is certainly the climax of the novel… their is an almost orgasmic, disembodied feeling that I get when I read that section of the novel, which I think is evidence of Sade’s skill as a (pornographic) writer.

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