Le marquis de Sade wrote some of his "best" erotica while languishing in prison, and most of it isn't even necessarily erotica so much as thinly concealed social commentary and satire slipped between scenes of sexual dalliances of all manner. His modern image/interpretation continues to mystify me - he does have an actual articulate philosophy concerning his conception of Nature that intriguingly skews closely to some of Nietzche's later musings. It's not just unchecked, well, sadism. Justine is perhaps most illustrative of Sade's philosophical erotica, if it can be called that - though it seems later literary endeavors like Juliette tend to solely characterize Sade's modern perception, fairly or not.
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