Sadism and masochism in fiction
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In general, the depiction of sadism and masochism in fiction tends to be portrayed from the viewpoint of masochistic fantasy. Titles are sorted in chronological order.
Novels
John Cleland's novel Fanny Hill includes a detailed description of a mutual flagellation scene between Fanny and an English client.
The Marquis de Sade's works, including Justine (1791) and Juliette (1797) are written from an extreme sadistic viewpoint.
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel Venus in Furs (1870) is essentially one long masochistic fantasy, where the male principal character encourages his mistress to mistreat him. Many of Sacher-Masoch's other works include themes of sadomasochism and female dominance.
The novel The Torture Garden which has been interpreted as an allegorical examination of western society, written by Octave Mirbeau in 1898.
Around 1906-1907 (the publication is neither signed nor dated) Guillaume Apollinaire wrote Les Onze mille verges (The eleven thousand rods).
French writer Georges Bataille published the short novel Histoire de l'oeil (Story of the Eye) in 1928.
The Story of O (1954) is another classic masochistic novel, this time written by a woman, Pauline Réage. In this novel, the female principal character is kept in a chateau and mistreated by a group of men.
L'Image (1956) is another classic sadomasochistic novel, written by another French woman, Catherine Robbe-Grillet, under the pseudonym Jean de Berg. It was made into a 1975 film, The Image, also known as The Punishment of Anne.
In 1966, Gordon by Edith Templeton was published.
In 1969, Arthur Adamov publishes Je... Ils... with stories like Fin Août. The author revolves around Masochism, which he regarded as "immunisation against death", but does not aim erotic arousal.
In 1993, Vanessa Duriès wrote The Ties that Bind (Le Lien).
Outsider artist Malcolm McKesson published his novel, Matriarchy: Freedom in Bondage, in 1997. It tells the story of a Harvard undergraduate dominated by his mistress and forced to dress in women's clothing.
The writer Anne Rice has produced a number of examples of sado-masochistic fiction, including Exit to Eden and Belinda as well as The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty and its sequels, Beauty's Punishment and Beauty's Release.
As of 2006, sado-masochistic themes are now common in mainstream erotic fiction, to the point of cliché.
More literary sado-masochistic fiction includes the works of authors such as
- Laura Antoniou, including the Marketplace series of novels
- Pat Califia's works including Macho Sluts
Specialist 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.
Sado-masochism is featured as a central plot element in the following mainstream drama films:
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)
- Nine and a Half 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- [The Passion of Life] (2005)
- The Choirboys (1977)
- Personal Services (1987) (starring Julie Walters)
- Exit to Eden (1994)
- Preaching to the Perverted (1997) (starring Guinevere Turner)
- Tightrope (1984) (starring Clint Eastwood and Genevieve Bujold)
- Basic Instinct (1992) (starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone)
- Body of Evidence (1993) (starring Madonna and Willem Dafoe)
- Videodrome (1983)
Television
- Episode 1x02 of the 2005 FOX series The Inside dealt exclusively with S&M, and was criticized by the PTC as a result.
- 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".
- Season 4 of HBO series Six Feet Under features a character, Joe (Justin Theroux), who wants to adopt a submissive sexual role in his relationship with Brenda (Rachel Griffiths).
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.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
In Samuel Butler's satirical poem Hudibras (Part II, Canto I, line 833- ) a lady urges the knight to submit to a whipping as proof of his devotion to her. This is the origin of the maxim "Spare the rod and spoil the child", not the Bible as is often thought, although the maxim is clearly based on Proverbs 13:24 ("He that spareth his rod hateth his son.")Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote poetry on erotic flagellation.
External links
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