Juliette, or Vice Amply Rewarded (French: L'Histoire de Juliette ou les Prospérités du vice) is a Libertine horror novel written by the Marquis de Sade 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, morality, aesthetics, naturalism and also Sade's dark, fatalistic view of world metaphysics.
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. A long audience with Pope Pius VI 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".
See also
- Justine Paris
Bibliography
References
External links
- Full text of Juliette , in French
- La nouvelle Justine, ou les malheurs de la vertu, suivie de lHistoire de Juliette, sa soeur, vol. 5, vol. 6, vol. 7, vol. 8, vol. 9, vol. 10, en Hollande, 1797.