''Juliette, or Vice Amply Rewarded'' (French: ''L'Histoire de Juliette ou les Prospérités du vice'') is a novel written by the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...

and published 1797– 1801, accompanying de Sade's 1797 version of his novel '' Justine''. While Justine, Juliette's sister, was a virtuous woman who consequently encountered nothing but despair and abuse, Juliette is an amoral nymphomaniac murderer who is successful and happy. As many other of his works, ''Juliette'' follows a pattern of violently pornographic scenes followed by long treatises on a broad range of philosophical topics, including

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

, naturalism and also Sade's dark,

fatalistic Fatalism is a belief and philosophical doctrine which considers the entire universe as a deterministic system and stresses the subjugation of all events, actions, and behaviors to fate or destiny, which is commonly associated with the cons ...

view of world

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

Plot summary

The majority of the novel is a first-person narrative in which the amoral Juliette recounts to her moral sister Justine, among other people, the events of her life. Juliette is raised in a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. However, at age thirteen she is seduced by a woman who immediately explains that

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and other such concepts are meaningless. There are plenty of similar philosophical musings during the book, all attacking the ideas of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, morals, remorse, love, etc., the overall conclusion being that the only aim in life is "to enjoy oneself at no matter whose expense." Juliette takes this to the extreme and manages to murder her way through numerous people, including various family members and friends. During Juliette's life from age 13 to about 30, the wanton

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

ine engages in virtually every form of depravity and encounters a series of like-minded libertines. She befriends the ferocious Clairwil, whose main passion is the murder of boys and young men, as revenge for the general brutality of men toward women. She meets Saint Fond, a 50-year-old multi-millionaire who murders his father, commits

incest Incest ( ) is sexual intercourse, sex between kinship, close relatives, for example a brother, sister, or parent. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by lineag ...

with his daughter, tortures young girls to death on a daily basis, and even plots an ambitious scheme to provoke a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

that will wipe out half the population of France. She also becomes acquainted with Minski, a gigantic ogre-like

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...

who delights in raping and torturing young boys and girls to death before eating them. The novel also contains several scenes of "fetishism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual masochism, sexual sadism, paedophilia, zoophilia, and necrophilia", as well as horrific sexual violence.

Real people in ''Juliette''

During her tour of Europe, Juliette encounters a series of libertines, including several historical figures who are all portrayed as depraved. A long audience with

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

is one of the more extensive scenes in ''Juliette''. The heroine repeatedly addresses the Pope by his legal name, "Braschi". She also flaunts her learning with a verbal, yet highly detailed, catalogue of alleged immoralities committed by his papal predecessors. Their conversation ends (like nearly every scene in the narrative) with an orgy, in which Pope Pius is portrayed as a secret libertine. While discussing murder, Braschi notes that cruelty is essential to pleasure, remarking that "killing is not enough, one must kill in hideous style". Soon after this, the male character Brisatesta narrates two scandalous encounters. The first is with "Princess Sophia, niece of the King of Prussia", who has just married "the Stadtholder" at

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. This is a presumed reference to Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange, who married the last Dutch Stadtholder, William V of Orange, in 1767, and was still alive when ''Juliette'' was published thirty years later. The second encounter is with

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, the Empress of Russia.

Publication and reception

Both ''Justine'' and ''Juliette'' were published anonymously.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

ordered the arrest of the author, and as a result de Sade was incarcerated without trial for the last thirteen years of his life. The essay (''Excursus II'') "Juliette or Enlightenment and Morality" in

Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer ( ; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist best known for his role in developing critical theory as director of the Institute for Social Research, commonly associated with the Frankfurt Schoo ...

and

Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...

's '' Dialectic of Enlightenment'' (1947) analyses Juliette as the embodiment of the philosophy of enlightenment. They write: "she demonises

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as the most-up-to-date

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

—and along with it, civilisation as a whole. Her comportment is enlightened and efficient as she goes about her work of sacrilege … She favours system and consequence."

Bibliography

References

External links